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The Maui man charged with the cold-case murder of 15-year-old Karen Stitt of Palo Alto has been flown from Hawaii to Santa Clara County and is now being held in the county jail in San Jose.
Gary "Gene" Ramirez, 75, of Maui, Hawaii, was transported from Hawaii to California, where he was booked into Santa Clara County jail on Aug. 20, 2022. Courtesy Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.
Gary Gene Ramirez, 75, a former Fresno resident, was to appear in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Monday afternoon for arraignment; however, the court appearance was postponed until Aug. 29 due to a medical issue. Judge Hector Ramon ordered Ramirez to be held on a no-bail status.
Stitt, a Palo Alto High School student, in 1982 had recently moved to the Bay Area from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She had taken a bus from her home in Palo Alto to Sunnyvale to visit her 17-year-old boyfriend on Sept. 2, 1982. The two met at a 7-Eleven convenience store near the intersection of El Camino Real and Wolfe Road, across the street from the Woolworth Garden Center at 861 E. El Camino Real, at around 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. and purchased drinks, according to a court complaint filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
They walked north to the Golfland miniature golf course and then several blocks northeast to Ponderosa Elementary School.
The boyfriend walked her back toward the bus stop, but he left because he was afraid he would be grounded by his parents if he wasn't home before midnight, according to police. He last saw her walking toward the bus stop.
The next morning her body was found behind a blood-stained cinder block wall. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 59 times, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Karen Stitt, 15, of Palo Alto, was last seen on Sept. 2, 1982 in Sunnyvale, where her body was found the next day near a bus stop. Courtesy Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
The identity of Karen's alleged killer eluded police for 40 years. But Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Detective Matthew Hutchison tracked down Ramirez through a tip about the possible involvement of one of four brothers and by using DNA evidence. Using newspaper notices of family obituaries, databases and social media posts, Hutchison located the family members. He identified a grandchild of one of the brothers, Gary Ramirez, and on April 8 of this year, Hutchison obtained a sample of the grandchild's DNA, according to a complaint filed in the court.
Ramirez was identified as the likely source of blood and bodily fluid left at the crime scene, which was confirmed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Crime Lab earlier this month.
He was arrested at his home in Makawao, Maui, Hawaii on Aug. 2, and he waived extradition back to the Bay Area.
Ramirez faces murder, kidnapping and rape charges. Police and the DA's Office are looking into any other possible similar crimes that might be connected to Ramirez.
His brother, Rudy Ramirez, told the Weekly by phone after the arrest that he was stunned that Gary Ramirez had been charged with the violent crimes. He said they had not been in contact for some time.
