Netflix's latest true crime documentary, Night Stalker—The Hunt for a Serial Killer, takes viewers into the horrors committed by serial killer Richard Ramirez. Known as the "Night Stalker," Ramirez terrorized Los Angeles, and the broader Southern California area, with a violent killing spree in the mid 1980s. Convicted of thirteen murders and eleven sexual assaults, Ramirez was sent to death row following his capture, where he died before his execution.
Related: These Books About Richard Ramirez "The Night Stalker" Are Terrifying
Revisiting his crimes and the investigation that led to his eventual arrest, Netflix's new four part docuseries gives an intense look into the lives forever altered by Ramirez's crimes. The series not only interviews survivors about the experiences they endured, but also interviews two detectives who pursued Ramirez. It weaves together photographs from crime scenes and first-hand accounts to trace the events that led to Ramirez's capture, after a terrifying summer of killings left the entire city on edge.
In an interview with VICE, director Tiller Russell explained his approach to the project. Elaborating on his decision to focus on those affected by Ramirez's crime spree, Russell said:
"We wanted to show the human toll of it, being able to tell it from the perspective of these two partners who have the case of a lifetime, and the only way to solve it is for another person to die. That, paired with the point-of-view of survivors, victims, and family members whose loved ones didn't survive make us look at the real impact of [Ramirez' killings] instead of a tabloid top-line version of it."
Avoiding sensationalizing the case any further, Russell's docuseries shares the ugly and painful reality of the story with its viewers. Watch the trailer below to get a glimpse into the series, and the indiscriminate and jarring crimes that made the case of the "Night Stalker" unlike any other.
[Via vice.com]
Featured still from "Night Stalker—The Hunt for a Serial Killer" via IPC
