Case Analysis of Richard Ramirez

Introduction This paper presents a case analysis of Richard Ramirez, the serial killer of the 1980s better known as “The Night Stalker”. Using the qualitative method and content analysis, the findings reveal that the law enforcement procedures were minimal because of the technology available during that time and the prosecution was sufficient because of the criminal justice system.
Literature Review For instance, Vetter (1990) studied the association of the intensity of the violence within the crime, with the reactions and assessment that humans provide for the motive of the crime. He states that, “ To many, a person who commits a series of heinous, apparently senseless, murders must be ‘out of his mind.’ The exact nature of the ‘mental illness’ is not especially important, but the more bizarre the murders, the more convincing is the self-evident proposition that they are the work of someone who is ‘mad’.” Vetter goes on to say that criminal law associates with incompetence and insanity. He states that it does not connect with mental illness. (1990) According to criminal law, when the courts find a person mentally insane, they are almost automatically found not guilty by reason of insanity. Vetter’s studies help categorize the serial murders to allow criminologists to better analyze the reasoning behind the crimes. Ressler (1988) and other authors looked at the aspect of how a person’s childhood relates to the effects on their brain and the type of people they will become. In their studies, they research many serial killers childhood and backgrounds. Their findings were that all of the serial killers they chose, had some sort of a troubled past. Many of them were abused mentally, physically, and/or sexually. They thought that this was a big part of their drive to kill and hurt others. Ramirez’s background and childhood involved a mother who worked around chemicals while pregnant, and was rarely present in their life because of a hard work schedule. Another