Mission Viejo Night Stalker Hearing Put Off Until ’87

An Orange County preliminary hearing for Night Stalker suspect Richard Ramirez, accused of shooting a Mission Viejo man in the head and raping his girlfriend last summer, was postponed for a year Friday.

Both Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. James Enright and defense attorney Arturo Hernandez agreed in the hearing before Municipal Judge B. Tam Nomoto in Santa Ana that the delay until June 26, 1987, was necessary to clear the way for Ramirez’s anticipated lengthy trial in Los Angeles, scheduled to begin Sept. 2.

Ramirez, 25, spoke only to waive his right to a speedy preliminary hearing.

Victim Shot 3 Times

He is charged with attempted murder, burglary and two counts each of rape, forced oral copulation and robbery stemming from the Aug. 25, 1985, attack on William Carns, 30, and his girlfriend in their Mission Viejo home. Carns, a computer engineer, was shot three times and is still undergoing therapy.

Following Friday’s hearing, Hernandez said Ramirez is “hanging in there . . . his mood is on the upswing. He feels he is being represented effectively and the fact that 23 of the 68 counts in Los Angeles were dropped convinces him that he at least has a chance.”

The tall, rangy drifter from Texas is also accused of killing 14 people in Los Angeles County and a San Francisco man between June, 1984, and August, 1985.

Hernandez also said he failed to see the reason for two wrongful-death lawsuits filed in Los Angeles County this week by families of two Night Stalker victims “since the court has already declared Mr. Ramirez an indigent.”

The Night Stalker terrorized California last year by sneaking late at night into darkened houses through unlocked doors and windows to attack his victims, who were either shot to death, bludgeoned with hammers or tire irons or shot.

Ramirez was pinpointed as a 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 East Los Angeles by neighborhood residents who foiled an attempted car theft. He has been held at Los Angeles County Jail.

Ramirez has long had a fascination with Satan and devil worship, according to court records and interviews with friends. In an earlier court appearance in Los Angeles, Ramirez shouted, “Hail Satan!” as he left the courtroom.

And at a previous hearing, he opened a manacled hand to reveal a circumscribed, five-pointed star, similar to the pentagrams found scrawled in some victims’ homes.