In the mid-1980s, no name was more feared on the streets of Los Angeles than an unknown assailant nicknamed The Night Stalker. With seemingly no rhyme or reason, the bloodthirsty slayer picked his victims at random, putting them through horrific tortures before brutally taking their lives. Law enforcement had a near impossible time tracking down the faceless killer, with his capture eventually being a group effort by a myriad of citizens in a stranger-than-fiction chase through the streets of the Californian city. While The Night Stalker aka Richard Ramirez’s story has been investigated before through on-screen productions, Peacock will soon deliver a brand-new docuseries with a bit of a twist. This time, viewers will hear straight from the killer from his prison cell through audio recordings. Today, Collider is thrilled to debut the first-look trailer for the streamer’s latest dip into true crime with Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes.
Taking audiences back to some of the darkest days in the history of Los Angeles, the trailer turns the clock back to the mid-’80s when Ramirez terrorized the streets for a full summer. Worried about how he’ll be portrayed, the convicted killer shares his concerns with the interviewer, who says that he’s just looking to find the truth. Not only will the docuseries roll the conversation between the subject and interviewer — with much of their discussions having never before been heard — but viewers will also meet family members close to Ramirez and even some who had sympathy for a man who claimed to be under the employment of Satan.
Who Was Richard Ramirez?
Those looking to get a better understanding of how Ramirez became the monster that will be investigated in Peacock’s upcoming true-crime production needn’t look any further than his upbringing. The El Paso, Texas native was a member of a volatile family who faced regular beatings from his father, with some being so bad that they caused brain damage. Beyond his father, Ramirez’s other big influence was his psychotic older cousin, who had used his time serving abroad during the Vietnam War to rape and torture innocent people, telling his younger cousin about his exploits and even killing his wife in front of Ramirez when the boy was just 15 years old. The documentary will undoubtedly dig into the future serial killer’s background and study how these early life experiences left an unshakable mark that would drive Ramirez to carry out a reign of terror years later in Los Angeles.
You can check out the exclusive trailer for Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes above and tune into Peacock for both episodes on December 10.
via Collider