California serial killer's chilling five-word reason for murdering 20 people

Richard Ramirez boasted he could have had twice as many victims had he wanted

Richard Ramirez, dubbed the Night Stalker by the media, terrorized California during the mid-1980s as a serial killer.

His frightening method of operation, which also made him particularly difficult to apprehend, involved breaking into seemingly random residences and launching brutal attacks on whoever was inside.

Before his eventual capture, Ramirez killed up to 20 individuals, though a former jailor revealed that the serial killer claimed he could have doubled his victim count if he'd chosen to. It comes after a separate horrifying incident where a woman, 27, was gang raped, stabbed 50 times, and forced to carry her intestines in her hands.

Sheriff's Deputy Jim Ellis testified in court that Ramirez spoke for approximately half an hour, calmly detailing the series of shootings, stabbings, and mutilations he had committed.

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Ramirez allegedly stated that his capture only occurred because he accidentally left a fingerprint at one crime scene, and expressed disappointment at not killing the police officers who discovered it.

During this unsettling confession, Ramirez ultimately revealed his motivation in five bone-chilling words. As Ellis recounted, the serial killer declared: "I love to kill people."

Ramirez reportedly said: "I love watching people die. I would shoot them in the head, and then they would wiggle and squirm all over the place, and then just stop, or cut them with a knife, and watch the face turn really white the-mirror-icon_news_us-news_serial-killers.

"I love all that blood."

Despite Ramirez's legal team contesting the statement, a judge later ruled it admissible as evidence. He was ultimately convicted of 13 murders and dozens of additional violent crimes carried out during his terrifying rampage across California.

Ramirez was convicted of 13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries, and was sentenced to death.

Throughout the trial, courtroom observers noted that Ramirez appeared to smirk, seemingly entertained by the proceedings unfolding around him.

He died of natural causes on death row.

It comes after a separate horrifying crime in which parents laughed as their burned, beaten and tortured 9-day-old baby died.