Gary Leon Ridgway – The Green River Killer
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Gary Leon Ridgway: The Green River Killer
Elijah K. Hurnes
Criminal Justice 395 Ð- Criminal Profiling
Spring 2007
There is not too much known about Gary Leon Ridgeways past. He was born on February 18, 1949 to Tom and Mary Ridgway. Gary was the middle child, his brother Greg was one year older and his brother Thomas was two years younger. They lived in Utah at the time Gary was born and in 1960 the family moved to McMicken Heights, Washington. The family lived by a highway. They called it the “Night of the Living Dead”, a procession of streetwalkers, johns, drug dealers, and runaways. This is where Gary Leon Ridgway grew up, and where he always returned. Garys father, Tom Ridgway, was a Metro Transit bus driver. Garys parents and family were generally very reserved people. They kept to themselves and did not associate with their neighbors often. In one account, it was said that Garys mother, Mary Ridgway, was “frequently yelling at his father”. It was also reported that Garys mother once, “got so angry at his father that she broke a dinner plate over her husbands head while he was sitting at the dinner table. Ridgways father didnt retaliate; he simply got up from the table and left”. Conspicuously enough, was the way that Garys mother dressed, “She wore tight clothes and excessive makeupÐShe looked like a prostitute”. Garys prime suspects in his killings were prostitutes.
It would be decades later that Ridgway would tell detectives of his real relationship with his mother, of his sexual attraction to her, of his sexual attraction to her, of his feelings of lust and humiliation. After Gary got married, his mother remained an influence in his life. His wives, all three, often said that Garys mother was very overbearing and far too controlling. His father died in 1998 and his mother died in 2001. (Horvitz)
In the early years of his life, Gary never exhibited the usual characteristics of a serial killer. He was a nice reserved boy who was rather slow when it came to learning. He did not graduate from high school until the age of 20. A generally typical teenager, neighbors and classmates describe Gary in the following ways:
“He didnt strike me as somebody who had a lot of anger.”
“I never ever imagined that (he would become a killer)ÐHe was just kind of there like the rest of us. There were few standouts, but he wasnt one of them”.
“There was nothing that would draw your attention to Gary as being different form anybody else.”
“He was just a normal guy who was quick to smile. He was just one of the kids trying to make it through school”. (Horvitz)
After Ridgway was taken into custody, he did admit to several things that are characteristics of a serial killer. He told a psychologist, “about wetting the bed until his early teens and that he had vivid memories of his mother washing his genitals afterward”. (Harden) The issue with his mother was the only thing that psychologists say was a quality or characteristic of serial killers. Ridgway
also thought of killing his mother on several occasions because of his feelings for her. One psychologist said, “With humiliation would come rage toward the mother. That is very common in serial murderersЖdisplaced matricide. Unconsciously, he is killing his mother over and over again”. (Harden)
Aside from his problems with his mother, Gary never was a typical serial killer. He was very self-disciplined and never told anyone about his killings. “To have strong feelings of pride in ones career as a serial murderer and then not communicate that to anyone for 21 years is a measure of remarkable discipline”. This said by Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist and associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California in San Diego. (Harden) Prosecutors from Ridgways case said that he suffered from no mental illness that would absolve him of responsibility for these heinous crimesÐIn five months of interviews, he displayed no empathy for his victims and expressed no genuine remorse. He killed because he wanted to. He killed because he could. He killed to satisfy his evil and unfathomable desires. (Harden)
However, according to Ridgways lawyer, Michele Shaw, he was very remorseful. By her account, Gary frequently broke down in tears. He worried about whether news of his crimes would ruin his elder brothers marriage. He thanked God that his mother (who had died three months before his arrest) was not around to learn the truth. He talked about how any profits from a book or movie about the crimes should go to the families of his victims. (Harden)
The Green River murders took place between the years 1982-1984. The entire ordeal started out with women, mainly young prostitutes, in the Seattle, Washington area going missing. Bodies all over the Green River area started to turn up. At first the bodies were found whole. Then after increased publicity, the bodies started showing up in “clusters”. There were no big breaks in the case for years. Throughout the investigation, dozens of bodies kept turning up. After the case came to a close, a total of around 49 bodies were found.
At one time during the early investigation, Ted Bundy was called upon to aid in the investigation. He gave detectives a greater insight into the profile of the Green River killer. Even after all of the help, and evidence, a killer was not found. Then at one point during the search, Gary Ridgway became a suspect. One of the victims boyfriends had last seen her get into Ridgways car. The police thoroughly searched Ridgways car and home but found nothing to hold him on. Gary was released and left the police with the one thing that broke the case about a dozen years later, a saliva sample. In July, 1991, the investigation came to a close due to lack of moral support and suspects. Ten years later, in 2001, Detective Dave Reichert decided to reopen the case. New technology assisted the newly formed team in matching Ridgways DNA to DNA found on some of the victims. (Bell)
On September 10, 2001, Reichert received news from the labs that reduced the hardened detective to tears. There was a match found between the semen samples taken from the