US Edition78-year-old man sentenced for 1982 Sunnyvale cold case murder of teen Karen Stitt | News Channel 3-12
- On May 12, 2025, 78-year-old Maui resident Gary Ramirez received a life sentence, with the possibility of parole after 25 years, for the 1982 murder of 15-year-old Karen Stitt in Sunnyvale.
- The case went cold for decades until new DNA technology and a 2019 tip linked Ramirez to the brutal killing marked by sexual assault and numerous stab wounds.
- Karen Stitt’s boyfriend accompanied her to a bus stop in Sunnyvale after an evening out before leaving abruptly, and the following morning, her body was discovered hidden behind a blood-streaked cinderblock wall about 100 yards away.
- Jeff Rosen, the District Attorney of Santa Clara County, emphasized that although Karen Stitt was killed over four decades ago, her memory has endured, underscoring the ongoing commitment of law enforcement to solve the case.
- Ramirez entered a no contest plea to first-degree murder and was handed the maximum sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years; he is now serving his sentence under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, bringing some resolution after more than four decades.
13 Articles
13 Articles
78-year-old man sentenced for 1982 Sunnyvale cold case murder of teen Karen Stitt
By Dustin Dorsey Click here for updates on this story SUNNYVALE, Calif. (KGO) — The man charged with the brutal murder of 15-year-old Karen Stitt from 1982 finally received his sentence in a Santa Clara County courtroom on Monday. The investigation went cold after decades without any new leads before new technology and a tip linked Gary Ramirez to the crime back in 2022. It has been more than 40 years since Karen Stitt was murdered, taken fr…
78-year-old man sentenced for 1982 Sunnyvale cold case murder of teen Karen Stitt | News Channel 3-12
By Dustin Dorsey Click here for updates on this story SUNNYVALE, Calif. (KGO) — The man charged with the brutal murder of 15-year-old Karen Stitt from 1982 finally received his sentence in a Santa Clara County courtroom on Monday. The investigation went cold after decades without any new leads before new technology and a tip linked Gary Ramirez to the crime back in 2022. It has been more than 40 years since Karen Stitt was murdered, taken fr…
Man, 78, sentenced in vicious 1982 rape, stabbing death of California teen
In 1982, 15-year-old Karen Stitt’s naked body was discarded near a bus stop in Sunnyvale after she was brutally raped and stabbed and finally, more than 40 years later, her killer has been sentenced. 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 …
78-year-old man sentenced for 1982 Sunnyvale cold case murder of Karen Stitt
The murder investigation of then 15-year-old South Bay teen went cold after decades without any new leads, before new technology and a tip linked Gary Ramirez to the crime back in 2022.
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