Hawaii man, 75, is arrested for 1982 murder of a 15-year-old girl who was raped and stabbed 59 times in Palo Alto after police say DNA genealogy evidence links him to victim's jacket

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A 75-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the 40-year-old cold-case murder of a 15-year-old girl who was raped and stabbed 59 times in Palo Alto, California, after police matched his DNA to blood found on the victim's leather jacket.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday that Gary Gene Ramirez had been arrested in Hawaii in connection with the grisly murder of Karen Stitt, the teen who was raped and stabbed at a Northern California bus stop. 

Ramirez was arrested at his home in Makawao, Maui, on August 2 and will be arraigned on charges of murder, kidnapping and rape once he is extradited to Santa Clara County. 

His next court date in the extradition process is on Wednesday; if convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Stitt was murdered on the night of September 2, 1982, near a bus stop in Sunnyvale. She was last seen by her teenage boyfriend near the stop after they took a walk together. 

Karen Stitt was 15-years-old and visiting her boyfriend when she was brutally murdered at a California bus stop late at night

Gary Gene Ramirez, pictured above, approximately 40 years ago, has been arrested in connection with the killing and charged with murder, kidnapping, and rape 

Stitt had been visiting her 17-year-old boyfriend in Sunnyvale after taking the bus from her home in Palo Alto. The two took a casual stroll through his neighborhood before parting ways.

Stitt's boyfriend said he was worried about being grounded for missing his midnight curfew, so he headed home after seeing her walk toward the bus stop. 

Her body was left naked behind a blood-stained cinderblock wall and was found the next morning by truck driver Steven Bound; Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety was eventually called.

Officers responding to the scene found Stitt naked with her wrists bound behind her back with her shirt and her jacket tied around her ankle.

Medical Examiner Dr. Angelo Ozoa concluded she had been violently stabbed 59 times across her neck, chest, abdomen and back.

According to the report, Stitt was stabbed 18 times in the heart, had 10 stab wounds on her lungs, wounds to her neck punctured her larynx, trachea and esophagus. 

Kicked leaves and disturbances in the dirt at the scene indicated Stitt was still alive when her body was left at the scene. 

A current view of the corner in Sunnyvale, Calif., where Karen Stitt was murdered in 1982

Though the killer's blood and bodily fluid was found on Stitt's body, police had no leads on who the killer may be for decades -- until receiving a tip in 2021 on the killer's identity. 

Detective Matt Hutchison used the tip to determine Karen's killer was one of four brothers from Fresno, located about a three hours drive from Sunnyvale.

'In 2021, the genealogist identified the perpetrator as one of four brothers, but couldn’t say which one. That's when the detective began traditional investigative work to figure out which of the four brothers was the source of the crime scene evidence,' Deputy District Attorney Robert Baker said.

That traditional investigative work resulted in Hutchison locating Ramirez's family members through obituaries, social media posts and databases. 

Ramirez was caught after a 2021 tip led detectives to his family, which then allowed authorities to obtain a DNA sample and match it to the blood found at the crime scene

He eventually used Facebook to find the grandchild of one of the brothers, and on April 8 of this year, Hutchison was able to obtain a sample of that grandchild's DNA. 

The DNA sample led to Ramirez being identified as the killer after there was a match for the blood and bodily fluid left on crime scene in 1982. 

Hutchison said when he arrested Ramirez, the man was so shocked he could barely say more than just 'Oh my gosh.'

Ramirez grew up in Fresno and frequently visited or lived in different areas along the west coast, including the Bay Area, San Diego, Colorado and Hawaii. 

Ramirez, a former bug exterminator, had no previous criminal record according to police. 

Stitt was stabbed 18 times in the heart, had 10 stab wounds on her lungs and the wounds to her neck had punctured her larynx, trachea and esophagus

His brother, Rudy Ramirez, told PaloAltoOnline that he was shocked at his brothers arrest, and said 'I can't believe he would do that. It's unbelievable this has all come about.'

'I’ve never seen him violent or get angry ever,' Ramirez’s brother said. 'He wouldn’t hurt a fly.'

'Behind every old murder file in every major police department, there is a person, heartbreak, and a mystery,' District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement.

'The mystery of Karen's death has been solved thanks to advances in forensic science and a detective that would never, ever give up,' he continued.

Hutchison said when he opened the email containing the DNA match to the killer, he 'wanted to scream, but I can’t because I didn’t want to wake up the hotel.'

The detective said he then opened up a picture of Stitt and told her 'we did it.'