Man, 78, sentenced in vicious 1982 rape, stabbing death of California teen
The Palo Alto teen had spent the evening with her 17-year-old boyfriend, who, after a night of walking around together, left her at the bus stop around midnight so she could get back home, and he wouldn't miss his curfew.
A truck driver spotted Stitt's body, bloody and tied up, in the bushes near a bloodstained cinder-block wall just before 11 a.m. the following day, officials with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.
She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed more than 50 times in the neck, stomach, chest and back, and despite the killer leaving both his blood and semen on the teen's body, police were unable to implicate anyone in the gruesome murder and the case went cold.
In the years that followed, investigators used DNA technology to create a profile from the bloodstain found on the wall and the bodily fluids on Stitt that exonerated her boyfriend, but did not match anyone else in the national DNA crime database, the L.A. Times reported.
In 2019, Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Detective Matt Hutchinson used a tip that the teen's killer was likely one of four brothers from Fresno and launched a genealogical investigation to find a family member that matched DNA from the crime scene.
Some three years later, in April 2022, Gary Ramirez, now 78, a resident of Maui, was identified as the suspect after his daughter provided a DNA sample to investigators.
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Four months later, he was arrested at his Maui home, extradited to Santa Clara County and charged with murder, rape, kidnapping and being armed with a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
In February, the 78-year-old pleaded no contest to the 1982 slaying and on May 12 was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 25 years.
'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.'
Several of Karen Stitt's friends and family reportedly attended Monday's sentencing, where they were able to share the pain that the long-unresolved case continues to cause.
'Justice is a difficult thing,' Robin Morris, Stitt's aunt, said in an interview, according to The Times. 'He's lived his entire life, and my niece didn't get that privilege.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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