Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramirez, born February 29, 1960, in El Paso, Texas, was one of America's most notorious serial killers, rapists and burglars. Murdering 13 people in California from 1984 to 1985. Ramirez was convicted and sentenced to death but died on June 7, 2013, in Greenbrae, California, while in prison.
Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Ramirez was the youngest child of five siblings. Ramirez was born into a large family and spent most of his childhood with his cousins. According to reports, “When he was 12, a Vietnam War veteran's cousin showed him pictures of Vietnamese women he had allegedly raped, tortured, and killed. The following year Ramirez witnessed his cousin’s fatal shooting of his wife” ( McKenna 2). These events clearly had an impact on Richard Ramirez and his life. This was around the same time Ramirez dropped out of high school during the ninth grade
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Richard Ramirez’s photos and name were released to the public. Also, Ramirez’s surviving victims described his appearance to the police as a tall Hispanic and long, dark-haired man. The police also were able to obtain fingerprints on the rear-view mirror. More evidence of Ramirez’s presence was found at a crime scene where he broke into a house, stole money and valuables, tortured, raped, and killed the homeowners. “A shoemark from the brand Avia was present on the pan crime scene, and eventually, the shoemark was matched to a limited-edition design where only six shoes were made in size 11.5 for men. 5 of those shoes were shipped to Arizona, and only one was sold in a store in Los Angeles, which confirmed Ramirez’s connection to the crime scenes.” (Hashem 2021) On the scene of the Zazarra case, the bullets were found to be a match to those used in previous attacks. This led the police to believe a serial killer was on the