Richard Ramirez: Letters and memories by Linda Watson (Prisoners' Rights Activist)

Linda Watson was a member of a California-based association that fought against the death penalty and for more humane conditions on death row in San Quentin. In the late 1990s, she regularly corresponded with Richard Ramirez. In her reflections, Linda emphasized that Ramirez was incredibly humble in his letters. While other inmates asked to be sent money, cigarettes, or food, Richard asked for only one thing: drawings of nature, photographs of animals, or descriptions of what an ordinary day in freedom looked like.

She described him as a “lost and wounded soul” who, in every letter, sent warm greetings and expressed gratitude for being treated as a human being rather than a political exhibit. For her, this humility was the ultimate proof that he did not have the mind or character of a cold-blooded killer.