Quotes from Philip Carlo

Carlo: Yeah. You were seen in court once with a Pentagram inside your hand and you held it up and showed it to the press and the audience. Why did you do that? Did you feel that it would protect you, or were you just making a statement that you were in alliance with the Devil? Ramirez: Yes, it was a statement that I was in alliance with ... the evil that is inherent in human nature. And ... that was who I was.

Carlo: The phenomenon of serial killers—is it a sexual thing, too, Richard? Is sex part of the crimes? Ramirez: Sex? For some serial killers, sure. For some it is the very act of killing another human being that is ... that ... uh ... that is sexual to them. It's a bloodlust, I guess you can say.

Ramirez: Yes. Serial killers and most killers in general have a dead conscience. Carlo: When you say a dead conscience that means they don't respond— Ramirez: No morals, no scruples, no conscience. They are ... uh ... they sometimes ... some of them don't even care if they live or die themselves and they are just the walking dead.

Richard took to putting crime-scene photographs on the walls of his cell, using soap and toothpaste as glue. He'd gotten the photographs, which were part of the discovery, from Daniel Hernandez.

Whatever Richard wanted, Doreen secured for him. He was the boss in their relationship. She made sure Richard had money in his commissary account at the jail and sent him books and magazines, writing paper and stamps.

Richard wanted to write a letter to Ted Bundy, on Florida's death row, and he asked Doreen to get Bundy's prison number and address. He had, he said, some things he wanted to ask Ted about.

Carlo: Do you feel that evil can be reincarnated? Ramirez: I hope so. [laughs]

They say it's worse to see someone you love getting tortured or hurt than being tortured or hurt yourself.

Carlo: Give you a sense of well-being. Do you think young children, young teenagers, actually, should be kept away from music like that? Ramirez: No, because I believe that a person that ... a person that is destined or inclined to be evil will be evil with or without music. Music I don't believe has a part in anything. Carlo: Even young, impressionable minds? Ramirez: Yes, yes ... because I believe that it is the environment that will determine who a child will grow up to be.

The news that Richard had been identified as the Night Stalker hit El Paso like an atomic bomb. At 11:15 Friday evening, Joseph and Sofia were

Publisher's Note Richard Ramirez died on June 7, 2013 from complications related to lymphoma. He was 53 years old and had been on death row for 23 years.

was like being struck by a speeding train.

Richard began going to Jehovah's Witnesses meetings on Sapian Street with his friend Eddie. At the meetings, he heard about the treacherous, terrible power of Satan—how if a man wasn't careful, he'd be in the grip of Satan before he knew it, destined to all kinds of pains in hell. Richard often had thoughts of violence fused with sex that were far from Christian. He knew they were diametrically opposed to the teachings of the Church.

Carrillo asked him about his belief in Satan and Richard readily admitted that he followed the ways of Satan, walked the left-hand path, and wholly believed in the existence of Satan and his omnipotence over all things in this world and the spirit world. "It's he who really rules," said Richard. Gil turned the conversation back to El Paso, where Richard said he'd been brought up a Catholic, and told Gil his mother took him to church all the time.

Hän uskoi sisimmässään, että mitä hirvittävämpiä ja pahempia hänen hyökkäyksensä olivat, sitä tyytyväisempi saatana olisi ja soisi hänelle tulisen siunauksensa.

Richard began to experiment with hallucinogens. LSD was still popular with America's youth, and he tripped many times on acid. He also took magic mushrooms and peyote, which were both plentiful and readily accessible in El Paso. High, he'd go out to the desert at night and hunt by the light of the moon, imagining he was in touch with Satan, that Satan was communicating with him.

For the last few years Richard had been mailing Ruth costume jewelry, which he'd told her he'd bought from some fence. Ruth kept it all in a box in the garage. Despite the accusations that her brother was a thief, it had never occurred to her that the jewelry might be stolen and she should hide it.

The closer he drew toward Satan, the more estranged he became from society, as well as his parents. Richard began to conceive of Satan as a friend, an ally he could be himself with, share his inner thoughts with, and not be judged by.

Julian bought a few bottles of wine and beer. In the car on the way to the house, Julian said, "Why? Why do these things happen to me; what did I do to deserve such a fate, such a thing? I always did my best, didn't I?

When Adashek first spoke to Richard at the jail, Richard was despondent, humble, and shy. He said he didn't think he'd ever get a fair trial, that everyone already felt he was guilty, and he wanted to plead guilty to get it all over as fast as he could. Adashek advised him not to plead guilty and to fight the case. Richard said he'd think about it and was then taken back to his cell.

On all the important decisions, Judge Nelson ruled against the defense: he allowed in the evidence recovered from the bus station and from Richard's car and his sister Ruth's house.

Killing with a knife is very personal; you actually are holding it as it goes in, and when death comes, you can feel your victim dying through the knife. It's like sex.

Haven't I been a good father?" he asked Joseph. "I always

Halpin did not want Ruth or Ruben in the courtroom and he demanded they leave. He said they were going to be witnesses and had no right sitting in on the proceedings. The judge told them to leave.