Naman Shrestha
After Richard Ramirez was arrested and taken into custody for the havoc he wreaked in the Los Angeles area in 1985, he gained popularity among the women who sent him letters in prison, hoping to get acquainted with the serial killer. Out of all the women, Doreen Lioy was someone who managed to steal his heart. In Peacock’s ‘Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes,’ the focus is on the life and crimes of Richard. The two-part documentary series also includes how he formed a relationship with Doreen and their consequent marriage in prison.
Doreen Lioy Was Deeply in Love With the Night Stalker
Born on March 1, 1955, Doreen Lioy was raised in Burbank, California, alongside his twin sister, Denise, and a brother named Richard Lioy. At the time of Richard Ramirez’s arrest in 1985, she was a freelance magazine editor with experience working for the Tiger Beat magazine. When she saw him for the first time on television, she felt an undeniable attraction towards him from the get-go. In hopes of getting to know him personally, she began writing letters to him in prison and sent him dozens of letters.
After striking up a friendship with him, she was also given visitation access four times a week at California’s San Quentin State Prison, where the Night Stalker was incarcerated. When Doreen and Richard’s relationship turned serious and romantic, the former’s family reportedly disowned her, including her twin sister, who was shocked when she learned about it. Denise claimed that it was an unfortunate and painful event for the family, and she wanted no part in it.
On October 3, 1996, about eight years after Richard proposed marriage to her, the controversial pair took their relationship a step further as they tied the knot at the prison in the presence of Richard’s sister, brother, niece, and lawyers. For the first few years, Doreen Lioy, who went by Doreen Ramirez at the time, couldn’t stop declaring her love for her husband as she labeled him charming and funny in interviews. Although she was able to spend a limited amount of time with Richard, who was on death row, Doreen was admittedly content with her life. She even claimed that she would take her own life after Richard was executed by the state.
Doreen Lioy Reportedly Separated From Richard Ramirez Several Years After Their Prison Marriage
At first, it appeared that the marriage of Doreen Lioy and Richard Ramirez would stand the test of time, but after more than a decade into the marriage, some more disturbing crimes of the latter surfaced in 2009. The police had discovered substantial DNA evidence against Richard being involved in the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl in San Francisco in 1984, about a year before his murder spree across California commenced. As per reports, after she learned about his involvement in crimes against children, she cut ties with him for good, which was confirmed when Richard’s body was not claimed by anybody for several weeks upon his demise in prison.
After possibly separating from Richard, Doreen decided to lead her life more privately and away from the prying eyes of the media. The former teen magazine editor was reportedly employed at a party supply store at some point in the past decade or so. Moreover, she suffered a huge loss when her 90-year-old estranged father, Albert Peter Lioy, passed away on July 9, 2019, in Cambria, California. Ever since the death of the Night Stalker, Doreen Lioy’s whereabouts have been a mystery to the public.
Read More: Peter Zazzara: Where is the Son of the Night Stalker’s Victims Now?
