The magazine editor Doreen Lioy seemed to garner widespread attention for her crazy and horrifying decision. What was it? It was the decision to marry the devil. That’s correct; nothing less can be spoken about the notorious serial killer Richard Ramirez or famously called the “night stalker.”
In this piece, we will cover the entire incident in detail. Stay with us throughout the end if you too, are interested.
Here Goes The Story
We hear bizarre details about Doreen Lioy and her choices in life. After 11 years of writing love letters to the love of her life, Doreen Lioy finally officially got married to the love of her life. Although Lioy was overjoyed, the news of her wedding shocked the world. Furthermore, the wedding ceremony took place in San Quentin State Prison in 1996. Pathetic as it seems, her new husband was the infamous serial killer Richard Ramirez.
Popularly called the “Night Stalker” by the media, Ramirez was sentenced to death for killing over a dozen people in the mid-1980s. That is just the official report. We don’t know how many more went unreported. Furthermore, this devil’s murder spree terrorized California. To top the horror, he targeted his victims while they were asleep. Probably sleep had left the state for quite some time.
Although there was horrific and grisly evidence against Ramirez, Doreen Lioy wasn’t convinced. She wholeheartedly believed that he was innocent. This calls for more information. She isn’t the only woman who had fallen for him. It Seemed Richard Ramirez was popular with the ladies. However, Lioy stands out among many of them because she refused to accept her husband’s verdict.
“I can’t help the way the world looks at him,” she said at the time. “They don’t know him the way I do.” Love is blind, or so they say.
Why Did She Take This Decision?
According to many sources, we hear that before she met Ramirez, Lioy was living a relatively normal life. This is the reason why her decision confuses us this much. Why did a successful magazine editor give up everything to marry the “Night Stalker”? Let’s see if we can find some answers.
Briefly about Doreen Lioy
Doreen Lioy was born in Burbank, California, in 1955. Although we know very little about her early life and childhood, it was probably quite different from the sad early life of Richard Ramirez. Lioy was a meritorious young woman who took up a successful career in journalism.
While working as an editor for ‘Tiger Beat’ in the late 1970s to early 1980s, Lioy met up-and-coming celebrities. Furthermore, she groomed them to become cover stars. Did you know that actor John Stamos credited and thanked her for helping him become a celebrity? We are talking about the time when marrying a serial killer should have been disgusting and ridiculous to Doreen Lioy.
As for Stamos, he remembered Lioy as a “very lonely woman” and later reflected on her choice to marry Ramirez. “To be that lonely that this is the only man on the planet that she can find, I just thought, ‘How horrible.’ This man is the personification of evil, just a monster.”
The Disturbing Life of Richard Ramirez
Richard Ramirez had an extremely disturbing start to life. Firstly, he was born on February 29, 1960. Secondly, Ramirez was raised in El Paso, Texas. Thirdly, we hear that he was abused by his father for which he had multiple head injuries as a child. Fourthly, his pathetic older cousin Miguel, a Vietnam veteran used to narrate sickening stories of torturing Vietnamese women during the war to him.
In fact, when Ramirez was just 13 years old, he saw Miguel murder his wife. That is when Ramirez’s life began to take a dark turn. He seemed to have taken a thrill in the act, having a traumatic childhood. Besides, he got addicted to drugs, developed an interest in Satanism, and started doing everything illegal. While many of his early crimes involved theft and drug possession, he then committed more violent acts, especially after he moved to California.
His Heinous Acts
According to sources, from 1984 to 1985, when he was arrested, Richard Ramirez murdered around 14 people across California. That is just the official report. Furthermore, he had other horrifying sins to add to the list. Like rapes, assaults, and burglaries. There was an element of extreme Satanism in his acts. Many of his crimes included a Satanic element, like carving pentagrams into his victims’ bodies.
In August 1985, the press had made it clear that nobody was safe. Every person was constantly living in fear of the night stalker. Ramirez attacked both men and women, and the young and the old. In addition, people licensed more for guns, burglar alarms, and attack dogs and their sales surged as a result.
However, the LAPD’s new fingerprint database saw the “Night Stalker” captured in the process of committing another act. Authorities already had his mugshots from his previous arrests. Furthermore, one of his surviving victims had provided police with a detailed description.
The Twisted Sort of Attraction
After Richard Ramirez was arrested, Doreen Lioy realized she was attracted to the man. She wasn’t even thinking that he was found guilty of horrific crimes. Like slashing a woman’s throat so deeply that she was nearly decapitated and gouging another victim’s eyes out. Unfortunately, she didn’t mind his Satanism, which he flaunted during his trial.
Doreen Lioy did not believe that Richard Ramirez was guilty. And even though she was not the only woman who sent Ramirez love letters, she was by far the most persistent. Lioy sent him 75 letters in 11 years.
Lioy also became his biggest defender in the public eye, sometimes even praising his character in interviews.
He’s kind, he’s funny, he’s charming,” she told CNN. “I think he’s a great person. He’s my best friend; he’s my buddy.”
On November 7, 1989, Ramirez was sentenced to death. Lioy was his most frequent visitor. Los Angeles Times reporter Christopher Goffard, who visited the facility to conduct an interview and also questioned Lioy, said she appeared to be drawn to Ramirez’s “vulnerability.”
Their Marriage
October 3, 1996, prison staff arranged a visiting room for the couple and allowed them to get married. None of their relatives was in favour of this.
On their wedding day, Lioy bought a gold band for herself and a platinum one for Richard Ramirez. Furthermore, he had already explained to her that Satanists don’t wear gold.
We hear that the pastor removed the line “until death does you part” from the official proceedings.
Where is She Now?
Lioy and Ramirez did not see each other for a few years before he died.
It is not clear what drove the couple apart. However, some believe the 2009 evidence that he murdered a 9-year-old in 1984 was too much for Lioy. She loved children.
Nevertheless, Ramirez was not executed but instead died of complications from B-cell lymphoma in 2013. However, Lioy has been absent from the public eye for several years. We are not sure if she ever got in touch with her loved ones and her whereabouts today remain unknown.
Ending note
There is no sane justification for this love story. But it seems love is truly blind for some. We hope Doreen Lioy is doing well in her life.
