Man Convicted of 1982 Sunnyvale Cold Case Homicide

78-year-old Gary Gene Ramirez has pleaded no contest to first-degree murder charges in the death of 15-year-old Karen Stitt.

Ramirez appeared in a Santa Clara County courtroom on Feb. 24. He will be sentenced on May 12, 2025.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, Stitt, a Palo Alto resident, took a bus to visit her boyfriend in Sunnyvale on Sept. 2, 1982. Around midnight, Stitt’s boyfriend walked her to the bus stop near the intersection of El Camino Real and Wolfe Road so she could take the bus back home.

Her naked body was found about 100 yards from the bus stop the next morning behind a blood-stained cinderblock wall. According to the DA’s Office, Stitt had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 59 times.

The DA’s office says the killer left blood and bodily fluid on Stitt.

For several years, the case had no leads. However, in 2019, a Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety detective, Matt Hutchinson, received a tip that her killer might be one of four brothers from Fresno, according to the DA’s office news release.

In 2022, Ramirez’s identity was confirmed by the Santa Clara County DA’s Crime Lab. Ramirez was living in Hawaii at the time. He was extradited from Hawaii and brought back to Santa Clara County to face charges.

“Today I am thinking of a young woman whose life and future were torn from her,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Karen Stitt would have been 57 years old today. Her murder was solved by forensic science, a remarkably stubborn detective, and a determined prosecutor.”

Other Cold Cases:
Local Agencies Collaborate To Crack Seven-Year-Old Sunnyvale Gang Murder
Advancements in DNA Technology Help Prosecutors Charge Santa Clara Man in Cold-Case Murder
Coroner IDs Body Found in Santa Clara, Seeks Public Assistance in Tracking Down Family