Netflix is releasing an original true-crime docuseries on serial killer Richard Ramirez. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer will take viewers into the disturbing investigation of the man who many consider one of the most notorious murderers in American history.
The crimes began in 1984 when Ramirez started breaking into homes across the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas where he murdered men, women and children. He also raped many of his female victims. His victims ranged in age from six to 82 and came from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.
In the trailer for Night Stalker, docuseries creators interview the two men who were put on the case back in the 1980s—Gil Carrillo from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and legendary homicide investigator Frank Salerno.
“There was no doubt about it—this was a pretty sick individual,” Salerno says in the trailer, adding that it’s the only time in his career in law enforcement that he slept with a gun. Carrillo adds: “We’ve never encountered anyone like that in criminal history.”
Through archive footage of news reports and interviews, the docuseries looks like it’s really going to paint a picture of just how fearful the people of California were during those unnerving months Ramirez went on a killing spree.
“The pressure was on to stop the madman who was doing this,” Carrillo says.
Ramirez was captured in the summer of 1985 and later convicted of 13 counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder, 11 counts of sexual assault and 14 counts of burglary. He was sentence to death. He died in prison in 2013 from complications of lymphoma.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer premieres on Netflix January 13, 2021.