Where is the Night Stalker detective Gil Carrillo now?

Gil Carrillo is introduced to viewers of Netflix’s Night Stalker as one of the hot-shot detectives working in Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide team. He joined the team relatively young with only nine years’ experience, causing some senior officers to bat away his conclusions about the Night Stalker case, considering him to be a rookie. 

Early on in the investigation, detective Gil Carrillo was convinced the same person responsible for the brutal murders and rapes across the city was the same person responsible for abducting and sexually assaulting children. Only after a series of footprints connected the cases did the rest of the force start to listen to the young detective.   

In Netflix’s Night Stalker, the audience get an insight into Gil Carrillo, his life in the police force and his role in capturing Richard Ramirez. But where is Gil Carrillo now, is Gil Carrillo still a police officer, and what did he get up to after the Night Stalker was put in jail?

This is what Gil Carrillo is up to now

After Gil Carrillo put away the Night Stalker, he was promoted to Lieutenant of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, the first Latino to do so. After nearly 40 years in the service, and 24 years after the Night Stalker was caught, Gil Carrillo retired from the police in 2009. 

During his career, Gil estimates he investigated between 700-800 murders. 

“He was always one of the people you could ask his opinion of,” Detective Philip Guzman said of Gil’s retirement. “Somewhere in the vast channels of all his experience you knew he had some idea or advice that would help you in your investigation.

“He was enthusiastic and he took a lot of pride in not only the Sheriff’s Department but the Homicide Bureau in particular. When you have somebody who’s been around that long and still enthusiastic about the job, it’s always inspiring to everyone.”

Gil now travels around the world lecturing about how to catch killers, the inner workings of their minds and what evidence to look out for.

Is Gil Carrillo still with his wife?

In Netflix’s Night Stalker, Gil’s wife Pearl expresses how difficult it is being the wife of a police officer. She recalls Gil working 18 hour days, barely sleeping, paranoid, and absent from his three children growing up, leaving nearly all the parenting to her. 

However Pearl stuck by Gil throughout the investigation. At one point she left the family home with their three children, after the Night Stalker attacked a close by neighbour. Pearl returned with the children, like she said she would, once Gil was able to protect them again at home. 

At a graduation ceremony for new police recruits, Carrillo said: “After 38 years I have some words of wisdom to impart on young deputies and their families. This job is not easy and it’s not easy on family life. But you need the family and the family needs you.

“If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Gil and Pearl are still together and the family look like a tight unit. They go travelling together and regularly post pictures of one another on social media.

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, quizzes, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related Night Stalker stories recommended by this writer: 

• Night Stalker Richard Ramirez got married to a pen pal whilst he was on death row

• Night Stalker: How a six-year-old girl was key to hunting down the serial killer

• The true story of the Hillside Strangler, the murders spoken about in Night Stalker