Bullet in Man’s Slaying Linked to Ramirez

A ballistics expert testified Monday that a Monterey Park homicide victim was shot with a bullet from a gun previously linked in court to Night Stalker suspect Richard Ramirez.

The expert, Sheriff’s Deputy Edward L. Robinson, also linked several rounds of ammunition recovered in a downtown bus depot to a gun used in the shootings of a Diamond Bar man and a Northridge couple.

In addition, Robinson sought to tie Ramirez to several other shootings through scientific examinations of spent bullets recovered at the crime scenes.

In all, Robinson testified, at least four guns were used in the series of killings attributed to Ramirez. Only one gun has been introduced as an exhibit at the Ramirez preliminary hearing. That weapon, a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol recovered in Tijuana, was used to kill William Doi, 66, of Monterey Park, Robinson said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. P. Philip Halpin is expected to conclude his case later this week after presenting expert fingerprint, shoe-print and blood witnesses.

Defense attorneys Arturo Hernandez and Daniel Hernandez indicated they will probably wait until the trial stage to call their own witnesses to rebut prosecution experts.

Ramirez, a 26-year-old drifter from El Paso, is charged with 14 murders and 54 other felonies in Los Angeles County from 1984 until his arrest in August, 1985.

Municipal Judge James F. Nelson will rule at the end of the hearing, now in its ninth week, whether Ramirez must stand trial.