How Did Gary Ridgway Become the Green River Killer?
Gary Leon Ridgway, the so-called Green River Killer, is the most prolific serial killer of all time in US history. He committed a thirty-year murder spree without anyone catching him, yet he seemed as ordinary as he could be from the outside. The neighbors regarded him as an inoffensive truck painter, managing a household. However, behind that front, Gary Ridgway was a predator of vulnerable women, and his trail of terror haunted Washington state for almost two decades. How did he evade punishment for so long, and what led him to his downfall?
Childhood and Problematic Youth
Gary Ridgway was born on 18th February 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Thomas Newton Ridgway and Mary Rita Ridgway. His father was a mortuary worker, and his mother was a strict and controlling woman. Her actions made him angry, which eventually turned into an ugly perception toward all females. At school, he performed poorly, and in 1969, he graduated with an IQ of 82 from Tyee High School. In a bid to prove himself, he enlisted in the US Navy after high school and served in Vietnam. Nevertheless, even at that time, signs of darkness were already emerging.
Gary Ridgway’s Secret Double Life
Gary Ridgway appeared to be just like any other man on the outside. He had three wives and fathered a son in 1975 with the second wife, Marcia. His third spouse, Judith, described him as a caring and supportive husband who could never make her suspect anything about him. At the same time, beyond family life, he led a troubled dual life. He harbored a deep obsession for sex workers whom he frequently employed, and neighbors reported his strange mix of religion and disturbing manners.
The Beginning of the Murders
The nightmare commenced in summer 1982. On July 15, two teenage boys discovered the corpse of 16-year-old Wendy Lee Coffield in the Green River in Washington. Soon after, there were four additional women found in that region. As time went on, investigators discovered more bodies, and panic was spreading. The majority of the victims were runaways or sex workers, whom society frequently ignored. As a result, the investigators knew that they were dealing with a serial killer. People even named the murderer “The Green River Killer”.
The Frustrating Search for the Murderer
In 1985, the FBI joined the Green River Task Force established by the King County Sheriff’s Office to halt the killings. Investigators once sought the advice of another serial murderer, Ted Bundy, regarding how the killer selects and hides the victims. Despite this effort, the task force kept on striking dead ends. The murderer was very careful; he took bodies to remote woody locations and left them with minimal traces. Years elapsed, and the case became colder, while the families of missing women were still begging for answers.
Suspicion on Gary Ridgway
As early as 1983, police recorded Gary Ridgway’s name in their files. Before Marie Malvar disappeared, a witness had spotted a man who looked just like him with her. Polive interrogated Ridgway few times, but in the end, nothing came out. In 1984, he successfully took a polygraph test, and it turned the suspicion away from him. Later, in 1987, police took hair and saliva samples of Gary as a normal evidence-gathering activity. These samples appeared to be of no use at the time, but little did anyone know they would later lead to the truth.
The Breakthrough with DNA
The Green River murders appeared to be unsolvable till the end of the 1990s. However, scientific innovation modified that. In 2001, investigators used advanced DNA technology to revisit old evidence. They took preserved frozen samples from multiple victims and compared them to a saliva sample taken by Ridgway in 1987. Eventually, the results matched. Also, the forensics discovered the tiniest mote of paint on the body of some of the victims used solely in the Kenworth truck factory where Ridgway had worked. There was now solid evidence against Ridgway.
Gary Ridgway’s Arrest and Stunning Confessions
Police finally arrested Gary Ridgway at his workplace on November 30, 2001. The silent truck painter was, in fact, the Green River Killer. Ridgway pleaded guilty to incontestable DNA evidence. In the year 2003, he entered a plea bargain to evade the death penalty. He acknowledged killing 48 women and even agreed to guide detectives to where their bodies were. His confessions were shocking. He frequently chose women who did not have anyone to file a missing complaint, and in some cases, he returned to the bodies to engage in necrophilia. Years later, in 2011, the court convicted Gary of one more murder, making the known number 49, though Ridgway stated it was more than that.
Sentencing and Imprisonment of Gary Ridgway
Ridgway deserved a commensurate punishment. The court sentenced him to 49 life sentences without parole and 480 years for tampering with evidence. To this day, he spends his days in Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, where he is to stay until death.
The History of Fear and Lessons Learnt
Gary Ridgway scarred Washington state and the families of his victims with his case. Moreover, it transformed the method of handling the cold case by the investigators, and DNA evidence is essential. The crimes committed by Ridgway revealed the risks of ignoring the most vulnerable members of society and, above all, demonstrated how a person who appears to be a normal individual can conceal the secrets of a monster.
The question remains, even today, was the full truth ever disclosed, or are there still victims to be discovered?
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