The Case of Maxon and Lela Kneiding

Maxon and Lela Kneiding were murdered inside their Glendale home on July 20, 1985, after Richard Ramirez entered the residence during the night. Both were shot and attacked with a machete, and their bodies were severely mutilated. Evidence recovered from the home, including a firearm previously used in another Night Stalker attack, helped connect the murders to Ramirez.

Maxon Kneiding, 68, and his wife, Lela, 66, lived in a quiet Glendale neighborhood. Their murders occurred during the final weeks of Richard Ramirez's 1985 crime spree. By this point, a growing number of Southern California residents had been attacked in their homes, and fear surrounding the unidentified offender was spreading throughout the region. On July 20, Ramirez entered the Kneidings' home and attacked the sleeping couple. The murders occurred on the same night as the separate attack on the Khovananth family in nearby Sun Valley, in which Chainarong Khovananth was killed and his wife and young son survived.

Ramirez entered the Kneidings' home during the night. The couple were attacked in their bedroom. Both were shot and stabbed with a machete, and their bodies were severely mutilated. The violence at the scene was extreme and became one of the most disturbing aspects of the Night Stalker investigation. Ramirez also burglarized the residence and stole property. Investigators recovered a firearm from the scene that had previously been used in another shooting attributed to Ramirez. This provided important physical evidence connecting the Glendale murders to the wider series of Night Stalker crimes.

The Kneiding murders immediately became part of the growing regional investigation into the Night Stalker. The firearm evidence was particularly important because investigators had already been using ballistic comparisons to connect shootings occurring in different jurisdictions. The weapon recovered from the Kneiding crime scene had been used in a previous Night Stalker shooting, providing investigators with a direct forensic connection between separate incidents. After Ramirez was arrested in August 1985, investigators consolidated evidence from the various crime scenes and established the connection between Ramirez and the Kneiding murders. The case was subsequently prosecuted as part of the 1989 trial that resulted in Ramirez's conviction for 13 murders.

Richard Ramirez was convicted of murdering both Maxon and Lela Kneiding in 1989. Their murders formed part of the 13 murder convictions that resulted in Ramirez receiving a death sentence. Ramirez remained on California's death row until his death from complications of B-cell lymphoma at San Quentin State Prison on June 7, 2013.

The Kneiding murders were among the most brutal incidents attributed to Ramirez and became particularly important to the prosecution because of the firearm evidence linking the crime scene to earlier Night Stalker shootings. The murders also occurred during the same night as the separate Khovananth family attack, demonstrating how rapidly Ramirez was moving between locations during the final phase of his crime spree.