Cynthia Horner, like the rest of the world, was stunned to hear that Doreen Lioi had started a relationship with the “Night Stalker.”
The Tiger Beat magazine editor married Richard Ramirez in a visiting room at San Quentin Prison in 1996.
The serial killer, who died in 2013 at the age of 53 while awaiting execution, is the subject of a new true-crime documentary series about Peacock, “Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes.''
Serial killer's daughter reveals chilling secret and turns the case to police
On October 3, 1996, photos of the wedding of “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez and his new wife Doreen Rioi were released to the media outside the gates of San Quentin Prison in San Quentin, California. The photo was taken of the couple during a wedding ceremony inside the prison on the same day. (AP Photo/Lacey Atkins)
The special, available to stream, is based on 25 hours of audio recordings from Ramirez's death row prison, as well as new interviews with the victims' relatives and loved ones.
“People always ask me about Richard Ramirez because 40 years later they're still fascinated by him,” Horner explained to FOX News Digital. “They are fascinated and terrified at the same time.”
“I think we can all learn some lessons from this story: Just because someone is in prison and they wrote you a letter doesn’t mean you have to give your life to them. That's not what I mean.
Richard Ramirez was dubbed the “Night Stalker” by the media for his violent crimes in California. (Getty Images)
Mr. Lioi, whose previously televised interviews have been featured in a documentary series, did not participate. The 69-year-old did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Horner worked as an editor for Right On! A magazine from the late 70's where she met Rioi. The two women worked for the same publishing company.
“Right On! was focused on Michael Jackson,” Horner said. “And, of course, Tiger Beat featured all the teen idols who had appeared on various TV shows such as 'The Partridge Family.'” The company had a photo studio on its premises, and all the stars were there to film. Everyone was very friendly in the office.”
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Doreen Rioi begins writing letters to serial killer Richard Ramirez, much to the dismay of her colleagues. (Peacock/NBC News Studio)
One day in his office, Horner noticed that many of his co-workers were visibly upset. She learned that Lioy had become pen pals with Ramirez.
Before Lioi started writing letters to Ramirez, she believed he was innocent and had publicly defended him. people magazine Reported.
She wrote to Ramirez in February 1988 and met him that year, the newspaper said.
“It didn't look good,” Horner said. “We all worked at teen magazines…so it was never good for us for her to have a relationship with Richard Ramirez…she was a superfan.”
Doreen Lioy frequently visited Richard Ramirez in San Quentin. Relatives called Rioi a recluse who lived in a fantasy world. (Peacock/NBC News Studio)
“A superfan, in my opinion, is someone who tries really hard, do or die. She is someone who goes the extra mile to be the biggest supporter there can be.”
“… Doreen went the extra mile. When Richard Ramirez was in prison, she not only wrote letters but also tried to contact the media out of the fact that she felt he was innocent. I was trying to be like the person in charge.'' In a way, I was trying to change the trajectory of what was happening. ”
“The whole world saw him as someone who had committed a horrific crime that killed people and harmed people,” Horner continued. “But she didn't see him that way. She saw him as someone who needed help. She's putting her name out there and trying to help him in any way she can.” did.”
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Doreen Lioi said she was a virgin when she met Richard Ramirez. (Peacock/NBC News Studio)
Ramirez was convicted of 13 murders that terrorized Southern California in 1984 and 1985, as well as rape, sodomy, oral sex, robbery and attempted murder.
Murders peaked in the summer of 1985, when nocturnal killers entered homes through unlocked windows and doors. He killed a man and woman with a gunshot to the head and a knife to the throat, sexually assaulted a female victim, and robbed a home.
There were also signs of devil worship. At one crime scene, he drew a pentagram, and survivors said the killer told them to “swear to the devil.”
At his first court appearance, Richard Ramirez raised his hand with a pentagram on it and shouted, “Hail, Satan.” (Peacock/NBC News Studio)
He was dubbed the “night stalker” by the media and residents were warned to lock their doors and windows.
In 1985, Mr. Ramirez was eventually chased and beaten by residents of a blue-collar neighborhood in East Los Angeles who attempted to carjack him. They recognized him after his photo appeared in the news media that day.
Ramirez's trial took a year, but the entire trial was bogged down in pretrial motions and appeals and lasted four years, making it one of the longest criminal cases in U.S. history. he was sentenced to death.
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A sketch of Richard Ramirez before his arrest. (Peacock/NBC News Studio)
Inexplicably, Ramirez had a young female fan. His groupies regularly came to court and sent him love letters.
Horner said Lioi “knew how to push himself to the top.”
“As a magazine editor, you know what works and what doesn't,” Lioi explained. “She knew what to say in the letter that might get his attention…and I think he liked the fact that she worked for a magazine.
Due to its notoriety, more than 1,600 potential jurors were called. The trial was almost halted during the final stages when a female juror was murdered during deliberations. (Peacock/NBC News Studio)
“The magazine we published featured some of the most famous people in the world, but this man had a big ego. He was fascinated by the kind of relationship he had with her. I think so.”
“I think he thought it was funny at first,” she recalled. “And he realized how helpful she was because she was in love with him.”
Relatives called Rioi a recluse who lived in a fantasy world. That didn't stop her from expressing her devotion to Ramirez. Ms. Horner claimed that a jealous Ms. Lay would always arrive at the prison early to meet Mr. Ramirez, knowing that there were many other women who wanted to meet him.
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Doreen Lioi, center, of San Rafael, California, walks with her head bowed as she is escorted by a corrections officer to the assembled media outside the gates of San Quentin Prison on Thursday, October 3, 1996. Author Philip Carlo (left). San Quentin, California, shortly after marrying serial killer “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez. “I just want to say that I'm really happy today and I'm very, very proud to have married Richard and to be his wife,” Lioi said. (AP Photo/Lacey Atkins)
“I know she was concerned because a lot of these groupies were really gorgeous,” Horner said. “And these were women who would try to visit once or twice a week, sometimes on a regular basis. So she made sure she stayed on his radar.”
Ms. Layee's friend said Mr. Ramirez had his eyes glued to her because Layy said she was a virgin. SF gate Reported.
According to Los Angeles Times, Lioy visited Ramirez four times a week and was often at the front of the visiting line.
Here, Richard Ramirez is seen being led out of court after being found guilty of murdering 13 people. He was sentenced to death in the gas chamber. Coach Ramirez flashed his devil horns sign and yelled at reporters. (Getty Images)
“She fell in love with him,” Horner said. “When you're in the working world, sometimes you don't build relationships because you're so obsessed with your career, especially careers like ours. That's why so many people don't stay in our industry. At some point, some of us wanted to get married and have children.
Horner said Ramirez was a “kind, safe boyfriend” to someone like Lioi.
“He was someone she could write to and confide in,” she says. “He was able to confide in her too. That's how it all started.”
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Richard Ramirez's marathon trial, which ended in 1989, was a horror show as jurors heard details about his crimes. Courtroom spectators shed tears as survivors of some of the attacks testified. (Getty Images)
Ramirez's crimes were unimaginably gruesome, but that didn't stop wide-eyed admirers, including Rioi, from flocking to him.
“I understand how something like this could happen,” Horner said. “We didn't have social media…we had television, photography, print media. And when people saw his pictures, they fell in love with him, because he was a rock star. He didn't look like a rock star.'' I think a lot of people really looked at him in prison.
“Now some people might not think he looked that great, but that's what he looked like in the '80s. You can see that in pictures of various celebrities, rock stars, etc. from the '80s. They all had that…bad boy swagger, and people were into it. ”
Richard Ramirez was convicted of 13 murders that terrorized Southern California in 1984 and 1985, as well as rape, sodomy, oral copulation, robbery, and attempted murder. (Peacock/NBC News Studio)
When Ramirez and Rioi said they would, no one in her family attended the event. They were not given conjugal visitation, the report said.
Two years after his arrest, San Francisco police announced that DNA had linked Ramirez to the 1984 murder of 9-year-old May Leung. She was murdered in the basement of a residential hotel in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, where she lived with her family.
Ramirez was staying at a nearby hotel.
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This photo shows Richard Ramirez at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California, on June 15, 2007. He passed away in 2013. (AP/California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
According to the documentary, after the police announcement, Lioi distanced himself from her. Her whereabouts were unknown at the time of Mr. Ramirez's death, and she was not listed as his next of kin.
According to the documentary, Lioi doesn't want to be recognized.
Horner has not been in contact with Rioi in recent years. But she would like the chance to sit together again.
“Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes” is available for streaming. (peacock)
“It’s been quite a long time,” she said. “However, I would like to contact you because I have some questions…I would like to know what kind of answers I can get.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
