(KRON) — A Hawaiian man was convicted Monday of brutally murdering a 15-year-old Palo Alto lady, Karen Stitt, prosecutors stated. Stitt was sexually assaulted and stabbed 59 occasions close to a Sunnyvale bus cease in 1982. Her killer remained at massive for many years.
On Monday, Gary Ramirez pleaded no contest to the 1982 slaying. Ramirez, 78, of Maui, will face a life jail sentence when he’s sentenced on Might 12 in Santa Clara County Superior court docket.
District Lawyer Jeff Rosen stated, “Karen Stitt would have been 57 years old today. Today I am thinking of a young woman whose life and future were torn from her.”
Stitt was final seen alive on the night time of September 2, 1982 strolling towards a bus cease. Her teenaged boyfriend walked her to the world of El Camino Actual and Wolfe Street as a result of she was going to catch a bus in Sunnyvale again to her residence in Palo Alto.
“Her boyfriend, worried he would get grounded for being out after his curfew, ran home after watching Ms. Stitt walk toward the bus stop,” prosecutors wrote.
The subsequent morning, the lady’s bare physique was discovered hidden behind a blood-stained cinderblock wall. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed dozens of occasions. Her lifeless physique was discovered simply 100 yards from the bus cease.
“The killer left both his blood and bodily fluid on Ms. Stitt,” prosecutors wrote.
Rosen stated that from 1982 till 2022, a steady line of detectives at Sunnyvale Division of Public Security put their “heart and soul” into investigating the case.
Starting in 2019, SDPS Detective Matt Hutchison used a tip to find out that Stitt’s killer was seemingly considered one of 4 brothers from Fresno. In 2022, Ramirez was recognized because the seemingly supply of blood and bodily fluid left on the crime scene. The Santa Clara County DA’s Crime Lab confirmed the identification.
Rosen stated, “Her murder was solved by forensic science, a remarkably stubborn detective, and a determined prosecutor. May their efforts serve as our memorial to this innocent teen and as a message from all of us in law enforcement to our community: We don’t give up. Ever.”
