A Hawaiian man has been sentenced to life in prison more than 40 years after he brutally murdered a teenage girl.
Gary Ramirez, 78, will not be eligible for parole until he is 103 years old after he pleaded no contest to the 1982 murder of 15-year-old Karen Stitt.
The Palo Alto teenager had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 59 times, with her brutally battered body dumped behind a cinderblock wall in town.
Stitt’s boyfriend had last seen her about midnight September 2, walking toward a bus stop in Sunnyvale, planning to return home to Palo Alto.
He ran home after watching her approach the bus stop, because he was out after his curfew and feared his parents would ground him for being home late.
Her body was found 100 yards from the bus stop the next morning.
Karen Stitt was 15-years-old and visiting her boyfriend when she was brutally murdered at a California bus stop late at night
Gary Gene Ramirez (left recently, and right at age 40) has been sentenced to life in prison over the murder, kidnapping, and rape
They killer’s blood and bodily fluid were found on her body.
Between Stitt’s death in 1982 and the identification of Ramirez as her likely killer, a host of detectives worked tirelessly trying to investigate the tragic crime.
In 2019, Sunnyvale Detective Matt Hutchison received a tip tracing her killer to a family of four brothers in Fresno.
By April 2022, Ramirez had been identified as the likely killer and his DNA had been traced to that left behind at the crime scene.
The 78-year-old Hawaiian man living in Maui was arrested at his home and charged with murder, kidnapping and rape.
The Palo Alto teenager had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 59 times, with her brutally battered body dumped behind a cinderblock wall in town
Ramirez was caught after a tip led detectives to his family, which then allowed authorities to obtain a DNA sample and match it to the blood found at the crime scene
Hutchison said when he arrested Ramirez, the man was so shocked he could barely say more than just ‘Oh my gosh.’
Ramirez grew up in Fresno and frequently visited or lived in different areas along the west coast, including the Bay Area, San Diego, Colorado and Hawaii.
Ramirez, a former bug exterminator, had no previous criminal record according to police.
‘Over 40 years ago, Karen Stitt lost her life, but she was not forgotten,’ District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.
‘Today, thanks to a dedicated detective, a persistent prosecutor, and our Crime Lab, the person responsible is behind bars.’
