Who was Richard Ramirez's wife? Doreen Lioy became pen-pal and married serial killer while he was on death row
Richard Ramirez aka Nightstalker was born in 1960 in El Paso, Texas, and was a serial killer responsible for killing at least 14 people in California between 1984-1985. He was convicted and had been sentenced to death but died while he was in prison. Netflix has come up with a new documentary titled 'Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer', which will premiere on January 13. The documentary looks at the gruesome and brutal murders of Ramirez and also follows the detectives who were able to help nab him.
Who was Richard Ramirez?
It is said that Ramirez was responsible for murdering at least 14 people and had raped and attacked several others before he was eventually caught in 1985. He was born in El Paso, Texas, and was raised by Mexican immigrants. As a child, he was epileptic and became a heavy drug user as he grew up.
He had also been very heavily influenced by his older cousin Miguel who had fought in the Vietnam war and had reportedly tortured and mutilated Vietnamese women. He even saw Miguel murder his wife at the age of 13. He had also developed an attachment to Satan once he had moved to California during the late 1970s.
When it came to Ramirez's crimes, there was no distinguishing between the victims and he would attack all ages and any ethnicity. He was also known to sexually abuse children.
Richard Ramirez's wife Doreen Lioy
After Ramirez was convicted, he was imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison. It was at this time that he got a pen-pal who later became his wife, Doreen Lioy. Ramirez and Lioy wrote 75 letters to each other and went on to tie the knot in October 1996.
The Ramirez-Nightstalker case drew a lot of media attention and the courtroom proceedings were all televised. As his name grew, he started to gather fans and had started to communicate with them through letters. His biggest fan turned out to be Lioy who was a magazine editor. According to Affairpost, Lioy had an estimated net worth of around $300,000 and earned a good salary as a magazine editor.
She started to write to him on a daily basis and established a relationship with him. The two started communicating in 1985 and even started to see each other regularly with Lioy visiting him around four times a week. As the years went by, their relationship blossomed and Ramirez even proposed to her in 1988.
In the year 1996, the two were able to get married at the San Quentin State Prison. At the time, Lioy spoke to KRON4 and said, "I can't help the way the world looks at him. They don't know him the way I do." It is said that she was also the biggest defender against his execution and threatened to commit suicide if he was ever killed.
Their marriage lasted for seven years until Lioy eventually left him in 2009. She left him after DNA confirmed that he had raped and murdered Mei Leung, 9, in 1984.