The Original Night Stalker – called original to avoid confusion with the Night Stalker Richard Ramirez, who came after him – was a heinous serial killer and rapist who terrorized California for ten years, from 1976 to 1986. He was never apprehended, nor positively identified.
Details about this cruel and aggressive murderer are scarce, and to this day, the police agencies responsible for his capture know very little factual things about him. This occurred mainly because the Original Night Stalker was a ghost: he invaded homes quietly, silently attacked his victims during the night, blinded them with a flashlight, raped the woman, in some cases, next to her husband, killed both, and then he was gone, disappearing into the night, leaving without a single trace. His modus operandi made police believe that the criminal may have had some sort of military background, which fits perfectly with his meticulous nature, planning capacities, methodical abilities to attack, and sagacity to avoid capture. Another uncommon trait of him was the fact that he also tied his victims with a very intricate and complex knot, called Diamond Knot, which requires a great deal of agility and experience to tie. With such uncommon remarkable features, and a high degree of intelligent premeditation –
impossible to find in ordinary criminals –, the Original Night Stalker made himself quite an enigma to the law enforcement authorities responsible for his capture.
Details about this cruel and aggressive murderer are scarce, and to this day, the police agencies responsible for his capture know very little factual things about him. This occurred mainly because the Original Night Stalker was a ghost: he invaded homes quietly, silently attacked his victims during the night, blinded them with a flashlight, raped the woman, in some cases, next to her husband, killed both, and then he was gone, disappearing into the night, leaving without a single trace. His modus operandi made police believe that the criminal may have had some sort of military background, which fits perfectly with his meticulous nature, planning capacities, methodical abilities to attack, and sagacity to avoid capture. Another uncommon trait of him was the fact that he also tied his victims with a very intricate and complex knot, called Diamond Knot, which requires a great deal of agility and experience to tie. With such uncommon remarkable features, and a high degree of intelligent premeditation –
impossible to find in ordinary criminals –, the Original Night Stalker made himself quite an enigma to the law enforcement authorities responsible for his capture.
Initially been a serial rapist, who raped approximately fifty women in Northern California, mostly in East Sacramento, from 1976 to 1979, the criminal was then dubbed The East Area Rapist. The killings of the Original Night Stalker from 1979 to 1986 were considered unrelated, until DNA evidence proved conclusively that this was the work of the same criminal. So investigators were astounded to discover that The East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker were exactly the same person. But what made him become a killer? Police theorized that his criminal life may have begun in a very elusive and increasing pattern. He probably at first started his illicit activities burglarizing homes. Upon doing it several times, he started to get urges that demanded more action, and very soon, burglary wasn’t satisfying him anymore. Then, seeing how easy it was to enter another person’s home, he became a rapist. Unpunished, he became reliant and self-confident, believing he would never be caught. Repeating the pattern over and over again, his behavior turned serial, and seeing how easy it was to subdue a victim, he started killing.
The great feature of the Original Night Stalker was his remarkable ability to avoid capture. Even with the police forces intensifying the investigations, he never was more than a ghostly shadow, blending into the night, unforeseeable, unpredictable and mysterious, becoming a ghoul that made people in California go to sleep with fear for at least a decade. The very own definition of terror.
Gun sales increased with the Original Night Stalker paranoia. Nevertheless, police continued the investigations, that were constantly plagued by unbearable dead ends. All that they could possibly say for a fact was that the Original Night Stalker was a man in great physical shape, being able to jump large fences, and run great distances, using a bicycle sometimes, that he abandoned, as soon as he could get to his car, that he probably kept in a nearby neighborhood. Police also believe that he used to observe the homes he was eager to enter prior to the invasions. He normally chose quiet upper to middle class suburbs, probably blending to the general neighborhood population during the daytime. Numerous times, law enforcement officials reported that people living in those areas said that a mysterious unrecognizable individual was watching their neighborhood or home in a very disturbing manner, but the man vanished as soon as he perceived his presence to become suspicious.
With such a high degree of scrupulous planning and meticulous execution, it became quite impossible for law enforcement agencies to catch the criminal. Now, thirty years after the end of his predatory activities, the investigation teams are still active in the case, hoping to bring a solution to the crimes of the Original Night Stalker.
There’s the chance of these crimes ever being solved? I don’t think so. This killer probably hasn’t stopped. As serial killers can cool off, but never stop, he may have simply changed location. Or perhaps, he is in prison, incarcerated on an unrelated crime. Since thirty years have passed since his last known attack, it is plausible to think that he just became too old, and now, being an elderly man, he is no longer able to kill. Or he may have died, after all. Who knows? Being a lot smart than the cops that he successfully eluded over a period of several years, what we will certainly never know is his true identity. After so much time, the most plausible conclusion is that the Original Night Stalker will always remain a mystery.
The great feature of the Original Night Stalker was his remarkable ability to avoid capture. Even with the police forces intensifying the investigations, he never was more than a ghostly shadow, blending into the night, unforeseeable, unpredictable and mysterious, becoming a ghoul that made people in California go to sleep with fear for at least a decade. The very own definition of terror.
Gun sales increased with the Original Night Stalker paranoia. Nevertheless, police continued the investigations, that were constantly plagued by unbearable dead ends. All that they could possibly say for a fact was that the Original Night Stalker was a man in great physical shape, being able to jump large fences, and run great distances, using a bicycle sometimes, that he abandoned, as soon as he could get to his car, that he probably kept in a nearby neighborhood. Police also believe that he used to observe the homes he was eager to enter prior to the invasions. He normally chose quiet upper to middle class suburbs, probably blending to the general neighborhood population during the daytime. Numerous times, law enforcement officials reported that people living in those areas said that a mysterious unrecognizable individual was watching their neighborhood or home in a very disturbing manner, but the man vanished as soon as he perceived his presence to become suspicious.
With such a high degree of scrupulous planning and meticulous execution, it became quite impossible for law enforcement agencies to catch the criminal. Now, thirty years after the end of his predatory activities, the investigation teams are still active in the case, hoping to bring a solution to the crimes of the Original Night Stalker.
There’s the chance of these crimes ever being solved? I don’t think so. This killer probably hasn’t stopped. As serial killers can cool off, but never stop, he may have simply changed location. Or perhaps, he is in prison, incarcerated on an unrelated crime. Since thirty years have passed since his last known attack, it is plausible to think that he just became too old, and now, being an elderly man, he is no longer able to kill. Or he may have died, after all. Who knows? Being a lot smart than the cops that he successfully eluded over a period of several years, what we will certainly never know is his true identity. After so much time, the most plausible conclusion is that the Original Night Stalker will always remain a mystery.
