New Charges to Be Filed on Ramirez
Sixty-one new felony charges, including at least 12 murder counts, are expected to be filed this morning against Night Stalker suspect Richard Ramirez, The Times learned Thursday.
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner is scheduled to announce the new charges during a 9 a.m. press conference at the Criminal Courts Building downtown.
The additional counts reportedly involve 18 separate incidents, according to sources familiar with details of the new criminal complaint.
Ramirez already faces eight felony charges, including one count of murder with special circumstances, involving two early morning attacks in the San Gabriel Valley last May. He is also charged with a murder in San Francisco.
Law enforcement officials have identified the 25-year-old drifter, originally from El Paso, as the chief suspect in the so-called Night Stalker slayings.
Authorities believe a single assailant killed as many as 15 people and assaulted nearly two dozen others in communities from Mission Viejo to San Francisco in attacks that could have begun as early as last year.
Could Face Death Penalty
Ramirez was captured Aug. 31 in East Los Angeles by angry residents who had spotted him as he allegedly tried to steal two autos. The capture came about 12 hours after Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block identified Ramirez as the Night Stalker suspect and released his photo to newspapers and television stations.
Ramirez, who could face the death penalty if convicted, is being held without bail in County Jail.
J. Schuyler Sprowles, Reiner’s press secretary, refused to confirm the specific number of new charges to be announced today. However, he said the number will be “substantial.”
Ramirez’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Allen Adashek, declined to comment, citing a gag order imposed on attorneys in the case by Municipal Judge Elva R. Soper. The order was issued at Adashek’s request.
Ramirez is due back in Municipal Court at 10:30 a.m. today to enter pleas to the original charges, which were filed Sept. 3. It could not be determined Thursday if Ramirez will plead to the new charges or seek a postponement until Adashek reviews the new allegations.
The earlier Los Angeles County charges involve the May 14 shooting death of William Doi, 65, of Monterey Park and a sexual assault on his wife, who survived.
In a second case, Ramirez was charged with robbing Clara Ceclia Hadsall and burglarizing her Monrovia home on May 9.
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