Quotes from Philip Carlo

It takes years to learn how to steal, to use the cover of night. It's not easy. You have to practice it. And you need someone who knows what they're doing to teach you. You've got to be aware of everything at once. And you always have to be careful about making noise. You've got to learn to move without noise.

Richard Ramirez was the fifth and last child born to Julian Tapia Ramirez and his wife, Mercedes. They had had three boys, a girl, and finally Richard—or Richie, as the family affectionately calls him.

Judge Nelson set May 21 as the date Richard had to enter a plea on the fifty new felony charges. There were now fifty-eight, including the initial charges leveled in September 1985. Richard was taken out of the courtroom, chains rattling, feeling triumphant, feeling that Satan's hand had helped in getting the eighteen charges dropped.

On May 21, Ramirez was back in court.

Judge Nelson sent the case for trial to Superior Court Judge Dion Morrow.

When Julian, who was big for his age, was fourteen, he stood up to his father, pulled the belt from his hand, and threw it on the ground. "You are not beating me anymore!" he proclaimed defiantly. This was a crime punishable by death in Camargo, Mexico, in 1944. A son did not defy his father. There were customs and regulations that had to be adhered to, but after that day, Jose Ramirez and his father did not beat Julian anymore.

By the end of November, Halpin had had enough. He made a motion to have the case moved to another judge, citing all the delays Morrow had allowed in the case. Morrow granted Halpin's motion, and the case was moved to Supreme Court Judge Michael Tynan, who would preside over the case to its resolution.

By the time of the jury selection, the State of California had spent $1,301,836 on Richard Ramirez, and the case hadn't even gone to trial.

Julian arrived in Juarez with all his possessions contained in a single battered cardboard suitcase on August 3, 1948. He and Mercedes were married on August 9 at Juarez City Hall, in the Presidency Building, before a few friends and no family.

Soon after their marriage, Julian got a job as a laborer in a Juarez clothing factory. Mercedes continued working in El Paso as a domestic. The poverty and crime in Juarez in the 1940s was extreme and Mercedes was unhappy living there. Because she'd been born in the States, she could, if she chose, live in El Paso. Julian was not an American citizen and could not move to El Paso until he was approved by the U.S. government.

During this time, the U.S. government was conducting nuclear bomb tests in nearby Los Alamos, New Mexico. Little was known about the detrimental effects of nuclear fallout in 1949. Juarez was about 200 miles from Los Alamos, and when the winds were right, fallout from the bombs was regularly carried to Juarez and El Paso, where it settled on the populace and the cattle and in the milk and water.

Richard wrote back: Dear Sean: Stay in touch and hit 'em again. Richard Ramirez, 666. Penn said Ramirez masturbated excessively. "He was like an animal in heat. He had pictures of his victims on his cell walls. He kept them up with toothpaste.

During the course of Sean's stay in the jail, Ramirez asked Penn for his autograph. Sean wrote: Dear Richard: It's impossible to be incarcerated and not feel a kinship with your fellow inmates. Well, Richard, I've done the impossible. I feel absolutely no kinship with you. Sean Penn

Tynan gave the defense two weeks to prepare their case and set a firm court date of May 1 to begin.

Richard didn't want to put on any defense at all. He had continually told his lawyers the trial was a circus and a farce. He refused to take it seriously or give it the dignity of putting on a defense. Clark strongly urged him to plead insanity and try to show the court through expert medical witnesses that he was crazy, but Richard told him he would never plead insanity. He had his pride, his dignity.

Clark and Daniel spoke to Ruth and implored her to try and change her brother's mind. She came up from El Paso to visit Richard that weekend, but even she couldn't alter his resolve not to put on a defense.

Against Richard's wishes, Daniel and Ray Clark went ahead and put together as good a defense as they could muster without their client's cooperation, support, or input. They hired private detectives to dig up more information on Solano, and they had found several other thieves who'd dealt with him. They had also located a burglar who used to do burglaries with Richard, Sandra Hotchkiss, who was also the woman the police tried to entrap Solano with.

Julian was introduced to the commandante of the Juarez Police. He immediately liked the way Julian looked and was pleased to hear he knew about the handling of guns from his time in the army. He was sworn in right away, given a uniform and a gun, and told to report for duty the next morning.

What makes serial murder cases so difficult to solve is the fact that the killer and the victim are strangers. You've got two ships passing in the night and for no good reason, one blows the other out of the water.

Clark said it was stupid not to put his father on the stand. Daniel told Richard he had spoken to his mother and she had cried and begged him to convince her youngest-born to put up a defense. That seemed to strike a chord somewhere deep inside of Richard. He said he would like to talk with Dr. Jo 'Ellan Dimitrius and ask how the jury might react if he didn't put up a defense, didn't take the stand and deny the charges.

Mercedes was not a strong woman. Her bones and limbs seemed too fragile, as if they could break easily if she were pushed or fell. It had taken her months to recover from each birth. She was an extremely sensitive woman, and the brutalities she had observed in life had given her a seriousness beyond her years. She put her faith in God and believed Satan was always there, tempting people with all things bad. One always had to be vigilant against the forces of evil.

When court resumed, Clark told the judge Richard had changed his mind and was now thinking about putting on a "limited defense," but he wanted to speak with Dr. Dimitrius. Reluctantly, Tynan agreed to give the defense until morning to decide what direction they were going to take.

Halpin finished his summation on July 21. The people had presented 139 witnesses and 537 pieces of evidence.

On August 14, juror Phyllis Singletary didn't show up. Judge Tynan brought the jury into court and told the jury they couldn't continue without Ms. Singletary and court was recessed to the following day. In fact the judge had learned that Ms. Singletary had been found murdered.