Gary Ridgway
Gary Ridgway who would become infamous as the 'Green River Killer' was
born in Utah. He then moved to Washington state where he worked as a
truck painter in Renton Washonton for nearly 30 years. Ridgway also
worked at a computer company. Ridgway claims to have killed a man as
early as 1971 but it was only on July 15, 1982 that the first of the
Green River Killings would be committed. This would go on to become one
of the longest and most expensive serial murder cases in the US. The
task force included Major Richard Kraske, Detective Dave Reichert, FBI
profiler John Douglas and criminal investigator Bob Keppel. His victims
ranged in age from 15 to 31 and one victim even had an unborn baby!
They were all prostitutes who worked the main strip in Seattle,
stretching from South 139th Street to South 272nd Street. The bodies
were fished out of the Green River in King County and hence the
nickname for the killings. His m.o. was to have sex and then strangle
them. In April 1983 attention was drawn to Ridgway in the killings when
his 1977 black Ford F-150 was spotted where a victim was last seen. He
was released after questioning. During this period Keppel in
collaboration with notorious serial killer Ted Bundy published a book
called The Riverman (2004) which used Bundy's own insight into serial killer
to try and profile the psyche of the Green River Killer. A psychic,
Barbara Kubik-Pattern was also involved in the case. In May 1984
Ridgway was again a suspect and even passed a polygraph test. In April
1987 his house was examined and insufficient evidence was found. In
September 2001, detective Reichert asked for samples from Ridgway to be
examined with newer techniques. On September 10th he was told that
there was a match between Ridgway's semen and those found on the
victims. On November 30, 2001 Ridgway was arrested for murder. During
pretrial on November 5, 2003, Gary Ridgway, avoided the death penalty
in Washington state by confessing to the murders of 48 women. He was
sentenced to 48 life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Ridgway may have actually killed more than 48 but cannot remember the
exact number. It is believed that he might have even killed as far
north as British Columbia in Canada. He could however still face the
death penalty for murders in Oregon and other areas outside King County
jurisdiction.
