Elderly man sentenced for sexually assaulting and stabbing 15-year-old more than 50 times in 1982

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) — A 78-year-old Hawaii man will spend the rest of his life in prison for sexually assaulting and fatally stabbing a teenager more than four decades ago.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced that on May 12, a judge sentenced Gary Ramirez to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years served in connection with the death of 15-year-old Karen Stitt. Ramirez previously pleaded no contest in February to the girl’s murder.

On the evening of Sept. 2, 1982, Stitt reportedly traveled from Palo Alto to Sunnyvale to see her boyfriend and then headed back toward El Camino Real and Wolfe Road to take the bus to her home. According to prosecutors, a delivery man discovered her body the following day approximately 100 yards from the bus stop next to a bloodstained wall.

The victim had reportedly been thrown over the wall and was found naked and bound with her own clothing with a hat nearby. The district attorney’s office said Stitt had been sexually assaulted and stabbed over 50 times, and her killer’s blood and bodily fluid were on the victim.

According to authorities, a machinist working that night saw an “unusual and out-of-place truck” parked near Stitt’s body. The parking lights were reportedly on. No arrests were made at the time, and the case went cold.

Decades later, in 2019, a detective determined one of four brothers from Fresno likely killed Stitt. The district’s attorney’s crime lab later identified Ramirez as “the likely source of blood and bodily fluid left at the crime scene.”

At sentencing, prosecutors noted that many of Stitt’s family members and friends were present in court to “express their continued grief and anger about this terrible crime, making clear that she has never been forgotten.”

In a statement, District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, “Over 40 years ago, Karen Stitt lost her life, but she was not forgotten. Today, thanks to a dedicated detective, a persistent prosecutor, and our Crime Lab, the person responsible is behind bars.”

MORE: