Sean Penn and Richard Ramirez
After being sentenced to 60 days in county jail for assault, Penn found himself incarcerated alongside one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, Richard Ramirez, also known as “The Night Stalker.” Ramirez developed an unsettling interest in Penn, after seeing the actor around the jail for about a month, he sent Penn a note via a guard, asking for an autograph. The note, which was adorned with a pentagram and a rendition of the devil, read: “‘Hey, Sean, stay tough and hit them again — Richard Ramirez, 666.”
Unnerved by Ramirez’s request, Penn responded with a scathing rebuke that read, “You know, Richard, it’s impossible to be incarcerated and not feel a certain kinship with your fellow inmates. Well, Richard, I’ve done the impossible, I feel absolutely no kinship with you. And I hope gas descends upon you before sanity does, you know? It would be a kinder way out.”