"I Am Beyond Good and Evil": Richard Ramirez Before Sentencing, 1989

Invited to speak before a Los Angeles judge sentenced him to death, Richard Ramirez called the court hypocrites, declared himself "beyond good and evil" and ended, "Lucifer dwells within us all."

Subject

Richard Ramírez

Recorded

about November 7, 1989

Runtime

0:44

Content warning: The page refers to murders and sexual assaults, and the statement invokes Satanism.

The Interview

On November 7, 1989, before Judge Michael Tynan passed sentence, Richard Ramirez was given the chance to address the court. In this short clip he begins, "I do have something to say. I don't even know why I'm wasting my breath." He tells the court, "You don't understand me. You are not expected to. You are not capable of it," and declares, "I am beyond good and evil." He calls on the "legions of the night" to "show no mercy", says "I will be avenged", and ends, "Lucifer dwells within us all. That's it."

Historical Context

Between 1984 and 1985 a man who broke into homes at night murdered, raped and assaulted people across Los Angeles County and in the San Francisco area. The press called him the "Night Stalker". On August 31, 1985, Ramirez was recognised from a photograph published in newspapers and was caught by residents in East Los Angeles. His trial lasted more than a year; on September 20, 1989, he was convicted of 13 murders and all 43 counts against him, and the jury recommended death.

Circumstances of the Interview

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Tynan denied a defense motion to reduce the penalty to life imprisonment. Ramirez, who had shown a pentagram drawn on his hand in court and called out "Hail Satan" during the case, then spoke. Judge Tynan then sentenced him to death in the gas chamber, with additional prison terms for the other felonies.

What the Interview Covers

The statement is brief and defiant. Ramirez dismisses the court and society's "rationalizations", says he is beyond the court's understanding and beyond "good and evil", addresses his followers as "legions of the night", and invokes Lucifer. He mentions no victims and does not refer to the evidence against him.

What Makes the Recording Significant

These are among the most quoted words Ramirez spoke in court. Wire reports of the hearing carried the same phrases, and the statement became central to his public image. After the jury's death verdict, he is reported to have told reporters, "Big deal. Death always went with the territory."

Archival Importance

The clip preserves Ramirez's own delivery of the statement at the moment of his sentence, from the trial in which he was convicted of 13 murders.

Important Caveats

The clip is an excerpt of about 44 seconds; it appears to be cut after the opening sentences, and the uploader's description (not reproduced here) gives a longer text. The uploader's title calls them his "last words"; they were not: Ramirez died on June 7, 2013, of complications of B-cell lymphoma, while still on death row. His statements are his own rhetoric. Several words are bracketed in the transcript until a human listener confirms them.

Richard Ramirez: I do have something to say. I don't even know why I'm wasting my breath, but what the hell? [apparent edit] You maggots make me sick. Hypocrites one and all. [unclear: "You need to hear" / "want it all to hear"] all of society's rationalizations? I've heard them all before, and the fact remains that what is, is. You don't understand me. You are not expected to. You are not capable of it. I am beyond your experience. I am beyond good and evil. Legions of the night, [unclear: "night breed" / "night and week" / "night"], repeat not the errors of [unclear: "Night Prowler" / "night father" / "my father"] and show no mercy. I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells within us all. That's it. ---