Innocent Plea Given in Night Stalker Case

Night Stalker suspect Richard Ramirez pleaded not guilty in Orange County Municipal Court on Friday to shooting a Mission Viejo man in the head and raping his girlfriend last summer.

Clad in a blue Los Angeles County prisoner’s jump suit, Ramirez spoke during the five-minute court appearance only to waive his right to a preliminary hearing within 10 days.

The tall, rangy 25-year-old drifter from Texas also is accused of committing 14 murders in Los Angeles County between June, 1984, and August, 1985. His attorney, Arturo Hernandez, told Judge B. Tam Nomoto in Santa Ana that the preliminary hearings on the Los Angeles charges are expected to continue another four months.

Court Date June 27

Nomoto ordered Ramirez to return to court June 27, when she will set a date for his Orange County preliminary hearing.

Ramirez is charged with attempted murder, burglary and two counts each of rape, forced oral copulation and robbery stemming from the Aug. 25 attack on William Carns, 29, and his girlfriend in their Mission Viejo home. Carns, a computer engineer, was shot three times in the head and is still undergoing therapy.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. James Enright, noting that the Orange County hearing will last two to three weeks, said he is willing to wait until the Los Angeles hearings end.

“Our case won’t go stale,” Enright said outside the courtroom.

While Carns’ girlfriend is the prosecution’s key witness, Carns also may be called to testify, Enright said. “But he has only limited memory of what happened,” he said.

Moments after the hearing ended at 11 a.m., the entire 11-story courthouse was evacuated because of a telephoned bomb threat. Marshal’s Lt. Mike Carona said the threat was not aimed at Ramirez. Following a search, the building reopened at noon.

Security for Ramirez’s second appearance before Nomoto was not as tight as in December when marshals made spectators pass through a metal detector before entering the courtroom. On Friday, eight marshals were posted around the room and another four stood directly behind Ramirez as he sat at a table.

The Night Stalker spread terror throughout California last summer by sneaking into darkened houses through unlocked doors and windows to attack his sleeping victims. The victims were shot to death, bludgeoned with hammers or tire irons or stabbed.

Ramirez was pinpointed as the suspect after authorities recovered fingerprints from a stolen car they believe was used in the Mission Viejo attack.

Six days after that assault, Ramirez was captured in Los Angeles by neighborhood residents who foiled an attempted car theft.