9 great reads from CNET this week
We contemplate the pros and cons of a rumored return of MagSafe to MacBooks. Plus: the messy hunt for COVID-19 s origins, nightmares about Netflix s Night Stalker, and more. Listen - 02:16 For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO website.
People have strong feelings about the things they plug into and sync up with their devices. Keyboards. Headphones. USB-C this and that. Even the humble power cord.
That s evident in a little debate between CNET s Dan Ackerman and Ian Sherr that popped up this week. Dan got things going with a commentary on how he s less than thrilled about rumors Apple may bring back the MagSafe connector for MacBooks. Ian responded with a hearty rebuttal, lauding one of the most important quirky features Apple ever built into its laptops and then took away.
Transcripts of the Night Stalker murderer’s confession interview have resurfaced, after Netflix released “Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer” – a four-part series looking at the crimes and ultimate conviction of Richard Ramirez.
Ramirez is one of the most notorious serial killers in US history, after a huge police investigation led to him being found guilty of 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries. He was sentenced to 19 life sentences and ruled to die by gas chamber.
via Netflix
In his confession interview he said he deserved to die and offered to shoot himself
According to court transcripts released at Richard Ramirez’s trial, he said he was the killer and offered to kill himself. He told police robbery-homicide detective George Thomas: “I did it, you know. You guys got me, the Stalker. Of course I did it. You know that I am a killer. So what. Give me your gun. I’ll take care of myself. You should. I am a killer. So shoo
Netflix
Unlike many other entries in the true crime genre, Netflix s newest docuseries places its central focus not on the criminal, his crimes, or his victims, but on the police s efforts to collect clues, piece them together, and track him down. Obviously,
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer includes plenty of (very graphic, often disturbing) details about so-called Night Stalker Richard Ramirez s horrific crime spree across California throughout 1985. But, as the show s full title hints, Ramirez s string of murders, burglaries, carjackings, and sexual assaults is retraced specifically through the lens of the detectives who spent months trying to figure out who he was and bring him to justice.
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Timeline: Night Stalker Richard Ramirez’s L.A. reign of terror and its aftermath [Los Angeles Times :: BC-VID-NIGHT-STALKER-TIMELINE:LA]
Reports of his brutality left a generation of Angelenos in fear when night fell.
Under cover of darkness in 1985, Richard Ramirez went on a months-long spree of murder, sexual assaults and other crimes that spread terror and anxiety throughout the Southland. Monterey Park, Whittier, Arcadia, Rosemead and Monrovia no suburban window felt safe from his intrusion. His reign of terror yielded many monikers, including the Walk-In Killer and the Valley Intruder. But the Night Stalker would ultimately become synonymous with his modus operandi.