Crime
Sean Penn Details Interaction With the ‘Night Stalker’ While in L.A. Jail: ‘I Could Flatten Him Out’
Sean Penn has lived a lot of lives in his 65 years, including a run-in with the “Night Stalker,” Richard Ramirez.
The Mystic River actor was sentenced to 60 days in jail for reckless driving and punching an extra on the set of one of his films in 1987, according to the Los Angeles Times. During his stay in the Los Angeles County jail, Penn’s cell was just steps away from the infamous serial killer.
“Richard Ramirez was there the whole time, and I twice had access to him,” the actor said during a July 16 interview with Vice News. “I got moved out of general population because of some kind of threat…I slept with one eye open, of course.”
Penn, who was married to Madonna at the time, was eventually moved from a “big dorm” style block to an “8-and-a-half by 11” cell by himself.
“Through a little wire glass door, there’s Richard Ramirez, not 20 feet away,” he recalled. “We’re both insomniacs, but I came out of my cell for a phone call…So, they take you, like I say, you’re shackled and belly chained. They take one cuff off, put on the eyehook so that you’ve got a hand for the phone. And Ramirez is seated right next to me. He’s going to do a call also. There’s nobody else there.”
According to the Academy Award winner, the guards on duty were not at their station at the time, leaving him alone with the notorious murderer.
“I knew what he did to some of these people,” he continued. “This wasn’t today’s phones…I’m right next to him. I could flatten him out. But who was I? It was just another person. If I saw it happen, if it were happening — I’m so glad I didn’t think I was important enough to do that. But you have the thought.”
Penn ultimately served 34 days of his sentence before being released. Ramirez, however, was convicted of 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. He received 19 death sentences in November 1989 but died of B-cell lymphoma in 2013 while awaiting execution, BBC reported.
