THE MAN WHO CAUGHT THREE SERIAL KILLERS
MOST DETECTIVES WON’T COME UP AGAINST A MULTIPLE MURDERER IN THEIR LIFETIME. FRANK SALERNO BROUGHT DOWN THREE…
To catch a killer, first you have to understand them. A detective has to be in tune with their target, learn their patterns and explore the most tenuous links in a case. Perhaps most importantly, they need to delve into the murky psyche of the killer to answer the hardest question: what drives them to murder? No detective in living memory has addressed these issues better than Frank Salerno, the man behind the capture of three of the most infamous killers in US history. The standout star of new Netflix documentary Night Stalker: The Hunt For A Serial Killer, Salerno worked in police departments for over 30 years. Beginning his career in LA’S narcotics and juvenile bureaus, he headed into the homicide department, where he worked for 17 years. His attention to detail and perseverance in the most stubborn of cases earned him huge respect, and he would go on to become instrumental in the capture of Richard Ramirez in the 1980s. But a decade before, he was dealing with the notorious Hillside Stranglers.
Between October 1977 and February 1978, Los Angeles was terrorised by a series of crimes. Young women were being raped and killed, their bodies dumped on hillsides. Over four months, ten women and girls were kidnapped off the street in a string of brazen attacks.
The youngest was 12 years old. But the investigating team – led by Salerno – soon realised the crimes were not the work of one man, but were being committed by a pair of killers. Examination of the crime scenes revealed there were no drag marks on the steep banks leading to where the bodies were found – meaning they had to have been carried to the spots where they were eventually found. That kind of physical effort would have needed two people. It was also quickly discovered that there was a particular MO to the abductions. Two men – dressed as policemen, and driving a blue-and-white car – would cruise the streets looking for a target. Once the men sighted a suitable woman, they would approach in the car and engage them in conversation. The women would then be propositioned, as
‘THE MURDERS WERE NOT THE WORK OF JUST ONE MAN, BUT A PAIR’
many were sex workers, or “arrested” by the impersonators. Once inside the vehicle, the horrific assaults were carried out. Nearly all of the bodies were found to bear the same distinctive ligature marks on the neck, wrists and ankles, and all had been strangled, which earned the killers their moniker. The behaviour of the killer pair escalated, as the torture of the girls became more extreme. As some of the bodies were posed in a sexually suggestive manner, it was believed the suspects took pleasure in humiliating the women even
‘HOW DO YOU CATCH A PREDATOR WHO HAS NO PATTERN?’
after their deaths, as well as shocking those who found them. It was also thought publicity surrounding the case motivated the killers. Surprisingly, the murders stopped after the discovery of Cindy Hudspeth in February 1978. The case went cold and LA gradually returned to some level of normality.
But just when it was thought the stranglers would never be caught, a break came.
In January 1979 – over 1,000 miles north of Los Angeles, in Bellingham,
Washington – Kenneth Bianchi was arrested when two students were murdered. After background checks linked him to two of the Strangler cases, he sensationally confessed that he had been responsible for the LA killings – along with his cousin, Angelo Buono Jr. Both were convicted and given life sentences with no possibility of parole. Bianchi testified against his cousin to avoid the death penalty.
A NEW MONSTER
Salerno’s role as primary investigator was lauded by the media, and he became something of a celebrity. He was even popular in the criminal underworld of LA, with many offenders familiar with his work. But despite his new-found fame and respect, Salerno was about to face a new challenge – one that would take every ounce of his skill to solve.
Although the Hillside Stranglers amassed a high body count, they
didn’t go to great lengths to throw investigators off their scent. They followed a clear MO, targeting young women alone at night. Their methods of killing and the disposal of the bodies were also strikingly similar.
But what about a killer with no pattern at all? One whose victims varied greatly in age and gender. One who attacked some in their homes, while others were dragged from cars. One who raped some, while shooting others execution-style. A man seemingly killing at random, with no regard for human life. Catching an assailant like that was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Richard Ramirez, better known by his media nickname of the Night Stalker, was one of the most dangerous people to ever walk the California coastline. Over a 14-month period, between 1984 and 1985, Ramirez killed at least 13 people and attempted five more murders in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Salerno and his rookie partner on the case, Gil Carrillo, had few leads to work on as the case developed. With forensic investigation in its infancy and eyewitnesses few and far between, the pair were up against it from the beginning. The biggest hindrance to detectives at the time was the lack of cooperation between police departments. Los Angeles County alone has dozens of different agencies, making the sharing of information difficult. Ramirez’ brief relocation to San Francisco posed even more problems. In order to try to overcome these issues, Salerno served on the national committee that created a manual for inter-agency investigation work, called the Multiple Agency Investigative Team.
Salerno had two key pieces of evidence at the outset of the case: several of Ramirez’s shoe prints at crime scenes, and a dentist’s business card found in an abandoned vehicle known to have been stolen by the Night Stalker. The card was traced to a local dentist in the Chinatown district of LA, where the dentist confirmed someone called “Richard” had visited. A view of his dental records showed a rotting tooth, which the patient would have to come back to have treated. Two officers were placed discreetly in the dentist’s waiting room, ready to arrest “Richard” when he returned. However, due to an agonising twist of fate, a lack of budget
‘DETECTIVES WERE UP AGAINST IT FROM THE START’
meant the officers had to be removed and replaced with an alarm instead. The next day, Richard (whose second name was unknown at the time) returned. The alarm failed to work and Ramirez evaded capture.
The shoe print lead also concluded disappointingly for Salerno and Carrillo. The attention to detail displayed by both men allowed them to narrow down the prints to a rare type of Avia shoe in a men’s size 11 .5. It was found that only one pair of those shoes had been sold in Los Angeles, meaning the equation was simple: find the shoes, find the killer. Despite this hugely promising lead, the Avias were never found. Additionally, in 1985, the mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein made a major blunder when she revealed the details of the shoe prints to the media, facts previously not released to the public. This made the prints effectively useless, as now the information was out there, the killer would be aware they were using the prints to track him. Those prints were not found at any future crime scenes.
CAPTURED AT LAST
In August 1985, their luck finally changed when an eyewitness saw Ramirez flee the scene of a crime in a stolen car. When the vehicle was found, Ramirez was identified by a single fingerprint. His picture was released by L A newspapers and he became the most wanted man in California overnight. Unaware of this development after a trip to Arizona, Ramirez returned to his home city. There, he was attacked by a mob, who recognised him from the news. In 1989, Ramirez was sentenced to death, but he died of lymphoma in 2013.
Salerno handed in his badge after the Ramirez case in order to spend more time with his family. He set up Salerno & Scully Investigations, and also taught on homicide cases at San Jose State University. He will undoubtedly be remembered as a fine detective, who helped bring to a close two of the worst homicide cases in Californian – and US – history.
But, despite all of his strengths as an investigator, even he serves as a reminder that to catch a serial killer, you need more than a fair slice of luck.