In the mid-’80s, residents of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area found themselves in the grip of one of America’s most notorious serial killers: Richard Ramirez, a.k.a. The Night Stalker. Though his story has been told countless times over the years,Peacocklooks to shed new light on his reign of terror with its latesttrue crimedocuseries,Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes, whichpromises to tell the killers' tale like never before.
Debuting today, Dec. 10 onPeacock,the two-part docuseries features 25 hours of audio recordings of Ramirez himselfthat were taken while he sat on death row awaiting his execution. The Night Stalker is credited with killing at least 14 people between April 1984 and August 1985, and was later sentenced to death in 1989. However, Ramirez died at Marin General Hospital in 2013 thanks to complications secondary to B-cell lymphoma while still going through the appeals process.
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Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapesalso features unearthed interviews with those closestto the serial killer, including his wife, Doreen Lioy,whom he married in 1996. Based on the description alone, the docuseries looks as if it’ll appeal to not only those fascinated by Ramirez’s story, but also those who have long asked:how is a serial killer formed?
“In advance of the 40th anniversary of his murderous reign of terror and epic arrest, this project uses Death Row audio interviews with Ramirez as well as audio and video interviews with his family, friends and wife – most of which have never been heard before – to explore how a perfect storm of child abuse and twisted boyhood influences enabled a troubled young man from El Paso, TX to become the infamous Night Stalker. These tapes offer an unsettling and thought-provoking look into the mind of a brutal serial killer and, by the end of the series, will provide significant findings to the age-old question of whether a monster is born or created – or both.”
The Night Stalker Discusses His Satanic Ties
Abused by his father as a child, Ramirez turned to drugs at a young age beforedeveloping a keen interest in Satanism and the occult. At the height of the Satanic Panic, the news media latched onto that part of his story, sensationalizing it to the point where everyone and their dog believed he was atrue agent of the Devilsent to unleash hell on earth.
In a new clip fromRichard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes(seen above), however, Ramirezdiscusses at length what drew him to Lucifer, saying, “When I was 20, 21, I came to California and met a guy, and he told me about Satan and I picked it up from there.”
“Satan is a stabilizing force in my life. It gives me a reason to be. It gives me an excuse to rationalize. I was in alliance with the evil that is inherent in human nature, and that was who I was.”
It chills our bones to hear his voice, yet we’re still curious to hear more, which is a testament to how much the true crime genre has managed to capture our collective imaginations these past few years. For those looking to dive deep into the history of one of the most infamous killers ever born, check outRichard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapesstreaming now on Peacock,and watch the full trailer below.
