Authorities in Northern California have arrested a 75-year-old Hawaii man in reference to the rape and killing of a teen in Sunnyvale practically 40 years in the past, utilizing forensic family tree to zero in on the suspect from his household tree.
Gary Ramirez was arrested Aug. 2 at his residence in Makawao on the island of Maui, the Santa Clara County district lawyer’s workplace stated Tuesday. As soon as extradited, he will likely be arraigned on a cost of homicide with rape and kidnapping particular circumstances, in addition to being armed with a harmful or lethal weapon throughout the fee of a felony.
Karen Stitt, 15, of Palo Alto was final seen the evening of Sept. 2, 1982. She and her 17-year-old boyfriend met at a 7-Eleven shortly earlier than 9 p.m., walked to a miniature golf course and continued on to Ponderosa Elementary Faculty, based on an announcement by Sunnyvale Det. Matthew Hutchison.
Hutchison’s assertion was included with charging paperwork filed in opposition to Ramirez. Stitt’s then-boyfriend was not recognized.
Round midnight, Stitt’s boyfriend walked her from the college again to the realm close to the comfort retailer so she may take a bus again to Palo Alto, Hutchison stated.
The boyfriend “later informed police that he felt dangerous about leaving her alone, however he didn’t need to get in hassle along with his dad and mom for being residence late,” based on the assertion.
Round 10:45 the following morning, a truck driver found what he thought was a feminine’s nude physique mendacity within the bushes on the base of a cinderblock retaining wall alongside the driveway of the Woolworth Backyard Middle, the place he was making a supply, Hutchison stated.
Stitt’s wrists have been certain behind her again along with her shirt, her jacket was tied round her left ankle, and a blood stain was discovered on prime of the cinderblock wall simply above her physique.
A health worker discovered that she had been stabbed 59 occasions in her neck, chest, stomach and again, Hutchison stated. Her explanation for loss of life was discovered to be “stab wounds to the chest and neck.”
Stitt’s physique was discovered about 100 yards from the bus cease, and investigators famous that leaves and filth round her ft have been disturbed and kicked, “suggesting that she was nonetheless alive when her physique was moved there,” Hutchison stated.
An in depth investigation was not capable of determine a suspect, and the case went chilly for 20 years.
By 2000, DNA evaluation expertise allowed investigators to construct a genetic profile of the suspect from a pattern taken of the bloodstain on the cinderblock wall above Stitt, Hutchison stated. Swabs taken from the scene in addition to objects collected from Stitt’s physique have been additionally despatched to the Santa Clara County crime laboratory.
Investigators discovered that an unknown male’s DNA taken from the pattern on the wall matched the profile for DNA discovered on Stitt’s jacket and from sperm cells discovered on vaginal slides taken throughout her post-mortem.
A DNA pattern from Stitt’s boyfriend on the time didn’t match, and he was excluded as a suspect, the detective stated. No matches have been discovered after evaluating the unknown profile to a nationwide DNA crime database.
Hutchison stated that in 2021, he obtained a tip {that a} male member of the Ramirez household could have killed Stitt, launching his genealogical search.
U.S. census information and different public databases confirmed that the household lived in Fresno, about 160 miles from Sunnyvale, as early as 1950, based on the detective’s assertion.
Hutchison discovered that there have been 4 residing Ramirez brothers; additional investigation dominated out two of the brothers, and he was not capable of conclusively rule out a 3rd, main him to show his focus to Gary Ramirez.
In early March, Hutchison used social media to determine Ramirez’s daughter, and he “obtained a pattern” of her DNA on April 8. Courtroom paperwork didn’t say how the detective acquired the pattern.
Investigators discovered “very sturdy statistical help” tying DNA from Ramirez’s daughter to the unknown male DNA from the Stitt crime scene, the detective stated, establishing Ramirez because the prime suspect.