I was living in Los Angeles when the famous serial killer known as the night stalker, Richard Ramirez was actively killing people. He was arrested in 1985.I was married with a toddler and living in West Hollywood, one of the neighborhoods he targeted. He also targeted young married couples like my ex-husband and myself. I think he raped the wife and killed them both or something like that.
My brother Chris was living with us. It was summer and a heat wave was bringing the temperature up to around 110 or higher some days.
Affordable apartments in L.A. did not include air conditioning or refrigerators for that matter. The windows were small as well. We lived upstairs in a two story building across from Plumber Park on Fuller Street. That connects Santa Monica Boulevard to Fountain and then on to Sunset and then Hollywood further North, and then on to Laurel Canyon and areas they call North Hollywood.
My brother was going to U.S.C. studying film making and my husband and I were working. My ex rather was also attending school, acupuncture school which was my place of employment after a couple of lousy jobs. That one was pretty good and I held it for quite a while.
One night it was so hot, my brother decided to sleep on the couch in the living room rather than in his room. I noticed he had the front door open. It was dark out, and the night stalker was out and had not been caught yet. I said, "you should not have this door open." There was a screen door, but the actual door was open. When I went to close it he protested.
"Don't close the door. It is so hot," he said.
"The night stalker is out. We need this door closed and locked. This is very serious,"
I told him. I do not recall if he got his way, but when I watch Criminal Minds I realize how scary and serious that was. I do not know why Chris was not taking it more seriously. We talked about it to today, just talking about old times. He suggested I blog about it. I did not want to at first, but then I decided to.
I added a few facts of interest in the comment below. This is interesting if you are interested in criminology. I think if I could have been anything, I would have liked to be an FBI agent. It is true. Feel free to comment.
This was the summer of '85. this was the same year he was arrested after killing at least twelve people. First he was attacked by a mob when recognized on the street. He is famous for writing pentagrams on his hand during the trial and marrying a fan in 1996. It seems there are women who actually go after serial killers. Strange. Some are sicker than others.
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