Laser Plays Key Role in Stalker Arrest : Sheriff’s High-Tech Criminal Lab Called ‘a Hero’ in Investigation

A state-of-the-art laser beam that detects fingerprints helped to identify Night Stalker suspect Richard Ramirez, but Frank Fitzpatrick, a criminalist with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department who helped operate the device, calmly deflected praise Saturday after Ramirez was arrested.

Fitzpatrick, chief criminalist in the department’s Identification Bureau, said he is happy that his group is winning recognition for use of the laser--unique among West Coast law enforcement agencies--as well as a sophisticated array of other laboratory equipment.

“It’s my bureau that’s the hero. It makes me feel great,� Fitzpatrick said. “We had upwards of eight people working around the clock (in shifts) trying to do all the work.�

Fitzpatrick and forensic specialist Becki Morgan scanned a Toyota station wagon that Ramirez allegedly stole before the most recent attack, in Mission Viejo, and then abandoned in Los Angeles, using the hand-held, argon ion laser machine designed to pick up fingerprints that are otherwise invisible.

The prints were fed into a computerized fingerprint file, which produced about 100 sets bearing similarities. The prints were later matched with those of Ramirez, police said.

“I think the greatest feeling you have is for the whole identification bureau. We go out to crime scenes--about 300 a year--and it isn’t as apparent all the time as it is in a case like this,� said Fitzpatrick. “It makes the members of our bureau feel great that their contribution is being recognized.�

Fitzpatrick said that the case appears to have caused more widespread fear than other murders.

“It may not be the biggest in terms of numbers of deaths, but it certainly is in terms of the fear he has instilled in the community,� he said. “My wife has been very nervous about it. She can sleep now and so can I.

‘Worried About It’

“Everyone’s been worried about it. It’s all anyone talks about. Plus it’s invading your castle. It’s not like the Freeway Killer, where you had a guy picking up young men. The community can’t necessarily relate to that. But this was someone breaking into homes.�

Starting at noon Wednesday, Fitzpatrick and forensic specialist Morgan spent about 14 hours going over the stolen Toyota station wagon. Fingerprints of those people who might have had some contact with the car were collected and a process of elimination was begun until prints matching those of Ramirez were isolated, police said. Fitzpatrick wouldn’t say where the prints were found or how they were matched with those of the suspect.

The high-powered laser, which resembles a flashlight attached to a 200-pound machine, makes faint fingerprints glow yellowish-white under its ray. Users wear goggles that block out the laser’s blue-green beam and make the prints more visible.

Fiber-Optic Wand

The device has a “series of mirrors where argon gas is ionized and creates light--a very pure light that goes through a fiber-optic wand,� Fitzpatrick said. A six-inch area is covered by the beam and evidence of fingerprints is obtained through photographs taken by a 35-millimeter camera equipped with special filters.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is the only West Coast police agency using a laser, said Fitzpatrick, and one of about 30 departments across the nation. Local police departments and those in other counties working on special cases such as the Night Stalker often use Fitzpatrick’s bureau in their investigations.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said that a proposal to purchase a laser is being considered. Orange County purchased its laser about a year ago.

Fitzpatrick said that cases such as the Night Stalker may spur more cities and counties to consider using lasers. “One of the problems is that a lot of people aren’t aware that a big-ticket item like this--it cost $35,000--really can deliver,� he said. “We’re fortunate that the sheriff and the supervisors believed that it would.�

News of Arrest

Fitzpatrick, a native of New York City who moved to Orange County 10 years ago, heard the news of the suspect’s arrest from friends while conducting a garage sale.

“Some neighbors were watching the Angels game and saw the news reports. They came over and told us about it,� he said.

He revealed little excitement about the arrest and said the news wouldn’t change his schedule, which called for a quiet day at home. “I plan on finishing up my garage sale. That’s about it.�

The Night Stalker case is believed to involve 16 murders from San Francisco to Orange County in which the killer entered homes in early morning, shot any men and attacked the women. The most recent attack in the seven-month spree was the one last Sunday in Mission Viejo, where William Carns, 29, was shot three times in the head and his girlfriend, also 29, was raped.

Bystanders Attacked

Ramirez, 25, was arrested about 9:30 a.m. Saturday when he allegedly tried to steal a car in East Los Angeles. Failing that, said Los Angeles Police Department officials, he attempted to steal another car and apparently struck the female driver, but the woman’s husband and bystanders attacked and held him for police.

Fitzpatrick’s state-of-the-art bureau has received high praise from police officials. “Orange County has the best, most sophisticated equipment on the West Coast,� said Willie Wilson, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. “We do not have (a laser) or anything like it.�