‘Night Stalker’ claimed 2 victims in Glendale

The death of “Night Stalker” serial killer Richard Ramirez Friday morning closes another chapter in a gruesome story that included the murders of 13 people in the mid-1980s, two of them in Glendale.

Ramirez died of natural causes at 9:10 a.m. Friday at a Bay Area hospital, corrections officials confirmed to the L.A. Times. He was convicted by a Los Angeles jury for the 13 killings that terrorized Southern California in the mid-1980s.

Sentenced to death, Ramirez had been serving time on death row in San Quentin since 1989.

Among his victims were Maxon and Lela Kneiding, who were shot, stabbed and nearly decapitated on July 20, 1985, in their Glendale home, according to an L.A. Times database.

Evidence collected at the scene, including a gun that had been used in previous shootings, linked Ramirez to the killings.

Just a year earlier, Jennie Vincow was found murdered in her home in Glassell Park with multiple stab wounds. Ramirez’s fingerprints were reportedly found at the scene.

INTERACTIVE MAP: The Night Stalker’s path

The deaths were part of a rampage of sexual assault and murder that generated widespread fear throughout Southern California in the mid-1980s.

The rampage finally ended on Aug. 31, 1985, when Ramirez was captured by angry citizens in East Los Angeles after he tried to steal a woman’s car to escape pursuing LAPD officers.

L.A. TIMES: Complete “Night Stalker” coverage

Los Angeles Times staff writers Kate Mather and Paige St. John contributed to this report.

-- Jason Wells, jason.wells@latimes.com

Follow on Facebook, Google+ and on Twitter: @JasonBretWells.

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