Satanic killer turns bright green as he dies after 24 years on death row
Richard Ramirez, who spent 24 years in prison after a spree of demonic murders in California, died Friday, but not before turning a shocking shade of green.
The serial killer, who left satanic signs at murder scenes and mutilated victims' bodies during a reign of terror in the 1980s, died reportedly after 'sitting up in his bed doing stretches' just the day before at Marin County Hospital.
Ramirez, 53, had been taken from San Quentin's death row to a hospital where authorities said he died of liver failure.
A source said the self-proclaimed Satanist exhibited the ghastly-hued skin Thursday and was up and moving around his hospital bed.
He had been housed on death row for decades and was awaiting execution, even though it has been years since anyone has been put to death in California. He was convicted in 1989 of 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries, which terrorised Southern California in 1984 and 1985. His charges included rape, sodomy and oral copula- tion.
Though he died of liver failure, the exact cause of the ailment has not been released. At his first court appearance, Ramirez raised a hand with a pentagram drawn on it and yelled, 'Hail, Satan.'
His marathon trial, which ended in 1989, was a horror show in which jurors heard about one victim's eyes being gouged out and another's head being nearly severed.
Satanic symbols were left at murder scenes and some victims were forced to 'swear to Satan' by the killer, who entered homes through unlocked windows and doors. Ramirez was finally run down and beaten in 1985 by residents of an East Los Angeles neighbourhood while attempting a carjacking.
After his conviction, Ramirez flashed a two-fingered 'devil sign' to photographers and muttered a single word: 'Evil.'