Gary Ridgway
Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949 in Salt Lake City , Utah ) is an American serial killer from Seattle . He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003 for 48 confessed murders of women . In 2011 he confessed to a 49th murder. He became known as the Green River Killer because he deposited his first victims primarily in or near the Green River .
His arrest was preceded by one of the largest and most drawn-out investigations in US history.
Family history
Ridgway was born the second of three sons in Salt Lake City. He was drawn to his dominant mother from an early age and less to his father, a bus driver. The parents sometimes fought violently. On the other hand, the mother washed the genitals of the obedient son after he had wet the bed into his early teens . Events like this aroused and repelled Ridgway alike. His mother is said to have been free and unabashed in public. During bus tours through the Strip , a prostitute district, the religiously conservative father is said to have expressed his aversion to the “scum” surrounding him. Nevertheless, he associated with prostitutes.
When Ridgway was 11, he lived in SeaTac , a suburb of Seattle, Washington state near the airport , an area that attracted many because property prices were low and jobs were available - underpaid. Casinos , cheap motels and brothels , attractions for prostitutes, drug dealers , petty criminals and runaways shaped the image of the district. Ridgway first experienced violence at the age of 16: He stabbed a six-year-old with a knife and then ran away laughing. The act went unpunished. Otherwise, he was considered the average teenager with below average school performance. He had a talent in American football and was socially well integrated among his peers. He was considered friendly and not very eloquent. He was happy to host parties in the local youth club and approach girls.
As a young man he worked in a truck factory and turned to military service in the US Navy . A year later, in 1970, he married. The couple moved to San Diego , where Ridgway was stationed. His wife was left alone for long periods of time when Ridgway was with the Navy in the South Pacific . Both entered into affairs, with Ridgway not tolerating his wife's. The marriage broke up; In 1973, Ridgway remarried. His second wife later stated that Ridgway saw her as a sex object and a housekeeper, and that sex was often practiced in the tall grass of the nearby Green River. The birth of a son in 1975 allowed Ridgway to turn to a religiously shaped life. He read the Bible and turned to the Baptists , and later the Pentecostal movement . At the same time he gave in to his fantasies of violence. He suddenly choked his wife into unconsciousness and integrated the practice into sex games. In 1981 the marriage ended in divorce. Now he lived out his sexual needs unrestrainedly. He was later to tell the authorities, "If I had killed my second wife, I would never have killed another woman."
The murders
Procedures
More than a year after his divorce, Ridgway began one of the biggest series of murders in US history. To do this, he drove his car through the streets around Seattle and loaded prostitutes and runaways onto his pickup truck to either drive them to his home or to favorite places in the woods around the Green River where he had sex with them. He then murdered them, often following the same pattern: from behind, he surprisingly put his arm around their necks and choked them to death. Then he went on the corpse. He committed various acts in his bedroom and quickly covered the traces. He took the bodies to the woods around the Green River or other remote places. He often returned at night to have sex with the dead women again or to mutilate their bodies. He sometimes displayed jewelry that he had taken from women at his workplace, although it appealed to him when colleagues took it and wore it. He is said to have organized garage flea markets for sale . Ridgway's character is said to have seemed innocent, downright harmless to the women, which is why they basically trusted him. The same became stronger when he built up an intense relationship with his son and took him in every other weekend or on the night trips with the women. The toys in the house were inviting and calming to the female guests.
Victim
Ridgway did not favor any particular type of woman. The only thing that mattered was that he could regard it as "garbage". The youngest victim was 12, the oldest 38 years old, including blacks , whites of any hair color, Latin American women , fat, thin, tall and short with no particular preference. Ridgway claimed to have murdered so many women that he could not possibly remember all of them. The highest estimates are over 71 suspected victims and 49 confirmed bodies.
Confirmed victims
| # | Surname | Age | Disappeared | Found |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wendy Lee Coffield | 16 | July 8, 1982 | July 15, 1982 |
| 2 | Gisele Ann Lovvorn | 17th | 17th July 1982 | September 25, 1982 |
| 3 | Debra Lynn Bonner | 23 | July 25, 1982 | August 12, 1982 |
| 4th | Marcia Fay Chapman | 31 | August 1, 1982 | 15th August 1982 |
| 5 | Cynthia Jean Hinds | 17th | August 11, 1982 | 15th August 1982 |
| 6th | Opal Charmaine Mills | 16 | August 12, 1982 | 15th August 1982 |
| 7th | Terry Rene Milligan | 16 | August 29, 1982 | April 1, 1984 |
| 8th | Mary Bridget Meehan | 18th | September 15, 1982 | November 13, 1983 |
| 9 | Debra Lorraine Estes | 15th | 20th September 1982 | May 30, 1988 |
| 10 | Linda Jane Rule | 16 | September 26, 1982 | January 31, 1983 |
| 11 | Denise Darcel Bush | 23 | October 8, 1982 | June 12, 1985 |
| 12 | Shawnda Leea Summers | 16 | October 9, 1982 | August 11, 1983 |
| 13 | Shirley Marie Sherrill | 18th | 20.-22. October 1982 | June 1985 |
| 14th | Rebecca "Becky" Marrero | 20th | 3rd December 1982 | December 21, 2010 |
| 15th | Colleen Renee Brockman | 15th | December 24, 1982 | May 26, 1984 |
| 16 | Alma Ann Smith | 18th | March 3, 1983 | April 2, 1984 |
| 17th | Delores LaVerne Williams | 17th | 8-14 March 1983 | March 31, 1984 |
| 18th | Gail Lynn Mathews | 23 | March 10, 1983 | September 18, 1983 |
| 19th | Andrea M. Childers | 19th | April 14, 1983 | October 11, 1989 |
| 20th | Sandra Kay Gabbert | 17th | April 17, 1983 | April 1, 1984 |
| 21st | Kimi-Kai Pitsor | 16 | April 17, 1983 | December 15, 1983 |
| 22nd | Marie M. Malvar | 18th | April 30, 1983 | December 26, 2003 |
| 23 | Carol Ann Christensen | 21st | May 3, 1983 | May 8, 1983 |
| 24 | Martina Theresa Authorlee | 18th | May 22, 1983 | November 14, 1984 |
| 25th | Cheryl Lee Wims | 18th | May 23, 1983 | March 22, 1984 |
| 26th | Yvonne "Shelly" Antosh | 19th | May 31, 1983 | October 15, 1983 |
| 27 | Carrie Ann Rois | 15th | May 31 - June 13, 1983 | March 10, 1985 |
| 28 | Constance Elizabeth Naon | 19th | June 8, 1983 | October 27, 1983 |
| 29 | Kelly Marie Ware | 22nd | July 18, 1983 | October 29, 1983 |
| 30th | Tina Marie Thompson | 21st | July 25, 1983 | April 20, 1984 |
| 31 | April Dawn Buttram | 16 | August 18, 1983 | August 30, 2003 |
| 32 | Debbie May Abernathy | 26th | 5th September 1983 | March 31, 1984 |
| 33 | Tracy Ann Winston | 19th | September 12, 1983 | March 27, 1986 |
| 34 | Maureen Sue Feeney | 19th | September 28, 1983 | May 2, 1986 |
| 35 | Mary Sue Bello | 25th | October 11, 1983 | October 12, 1984 |
| 36 | Pammy Annette Avent | 15th | October 26, 1983 | August 16, 2003 |
| 37 | Delise Louise Plager | 22nd | October 30, 1983 | February 14, 1984 |
| 38 | Kimberly L. Nelson | 21st | November 1, 1983 | June 14, 1986 |
| 39 | Lisa Yates | 19th | December 23, 1983 | March 13, 1984 |
| 40 | Mary Exzetta West | 16 | February 6, 1984 | September 8, 1985 |
| 41 | Cindy Anne Smith | 17th | March 21, 1984 | June 27, 1987 |
| 42 | Patricia Michelle Barczak | 19th | 17th October 1986 | February 1993 |
| 43 | Roberta Joseph Hayes | 21st | Last seen leaving Portland, Oregon Prison on February 7, 1987 | September 11, 1991 |
| 44 | Marta Reeves | 36 | March 5, 1990 | 20th September 1990 |
| 45 | Patricia Yellowrobe | 38 | January 1998 | August 6, 1998 |
| 46 | Unidentified female corpse | 12-17 | Died before May 1983 | March 21, 1984 |
| 47 | Sandra Denise Major | 20th | December 24, 1982 | December 30, 1985 |
| 48 | Unidentified female corpse | 14-18 | December 1980 - January 1984 | 2nd January 1986 |
| 49 | Unidentified female corpse | 13-24 | 1973-1993 | August 2003 |
Investigations
Corpse finds and Green River Task Force
On July 15, 1982, children found the body of sixteen-year-old runaway Wendy Lee Coffield floating in the Green River. She had been strangled. The police believed that this was a victim of domestic violence. From August 12 to August 15, four other women's bodies were found in or near the Green River. The police now suspected that they were dealing with a serial killer. The investigation was led by Dave Reichert of the King County Sheriff's Office . Ridgway was already known there as a customer of the street prostitute , as he had been convicted by an undercover officer from the public. From his credit card statement, they could find out that he was running a huge amount of gas. During these years, Ridgway is said to have changed his pick-up more often in order not to attract attention. After the 18-year-old prostitute Marie Malvar disappeared on April 30, 1983, her friend identified the pickup truck Ridgways as the one she had last boarded on the Pacific South Highway . Ridgway denied having had contact with her, but first registered the arm of the judiciary in connection with the body finds. On November 20, 1983, police announced that 11 women found dead in South King County had been murdered by the same man.
On January 16, 1984, the Kings County Sheriff's Office established the largest task force since the Ted Bundy case . It consisted of people from the Port of Seattle Police Department , the Seattle Police Department , the Pierce County Sheriff's Office , the Washington State Patrol , the FBI, and the Washington State Attorney General called the Green River Task Force . For years she tried to collect evidence against the more than 12,000 suspects, had the particularly endangered locations monitored, collected every evidence of the location of the bodies and cataloged it, but mostly unsuccessfully.
On April 2, 1984, five other skeletal remains of women were found. The number of victims was officially given as 20, the number of unreported cases estimated at 30. On April 20, 1984, the remains of two bodies were found, including that of 36-year-old Amina Agisheff, who was last seen in Seattle in 1982. It was only marginally linked to the other murders. In May 1984, Ridgway contacted the Green River Task Force, ostensibly to provide information. The investigators subjected him to a polygraph test, which he passed without any problems. On November 29, 1984, the prostitute Rebecca Garda Guay announced that she had been violently attacked by Ridgway during a "date". He choked her, but she escaped. Ridgway did not deny this, but claimed that she bit his penis during oral sex and that he struggled . In December 1984 the police put the number of victims at 42. Meanwhile, Ted Bundy, also a notorious murderer of women, had turned to the task force with a letter in which he had drawn up a psychological profile of the Green River murderer. On February 6, 1986, police unsuccessfully searched a house near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport . During 1986, the Green River Task Force came under increasing public attack, demanding that the perpetrator be arrested quickly. The officials were accused that if the victims did not come from the lowest social class, the police would have been more committed to the case and would have caught the killer long ago.
Temporary end
On April 8, 1987, police raided Ridgway's house and vehicles because he was the last seen with at least 2 of the 46 victims. The State Patrol crime lab took samples of his hair, pubic hair, and saliva. The DNA identification techniques were not fully developed at this point in time, which is why the samples could not be properly evaluated. There was no other evidence that could have led to his arrest. At this point the perpetrator felt invincible and the authorities were demoralized. In 1988, Ridgway married for the third time. Neighbors described him and Judy Lynch as "inseparable". That same year, a two-hour television program about the country was Green River Killer aired, and there were 100,000 US dollars exposed to information leading to his arrest. Over 4,000 phone calls were received during the television broadcast, but with no results.
In the following years the Green River Task Force shrank continuously, in July 1991 it consisted of only one man. Despite years of investigation, the formation of a task force, expenses of more than 15 million US dollars, the use of a 200,000 dollar computer, thousands of questioning of suspects and the filling of more than 750 ring binders, Ridgways could not be got hold of. It was presumed that the killer was meanwhile in prison for another case or that he had died or moved away from the area. No more prostitute homicides were attributed to the Green River serial killer.
DNA saliva sample and assistance in the investigation
On November 2, 1999, a novel DNA test finally identified the remains of a victim found near the Green River in 1986 as nineteen-year-old Tracy Winston, who disappeared from a Seattle mall in 1983. The new test procedure was used in the Washington State Forensics Department in March 2001 to find clues about the perpetrator through seized evidence. On November 30, 2001, it was revealed that traces of DNA matching that of Ridgway's saliva sample had been found on four of the early victims. Ridgway was arrested. At the time of his arrest, he was 52 years old and residing in Auburn , Washington state .
On December 15, 2001, eleven investigators were assigned to collect evidence against Ridgway. Three days later, encouraged by previous inconclusive investigations against him, Ridgway pleaded "not guilty" in the murders of Marcia Chapman, 31, Cynthia Hinds, 17, and Opal Mills, 16, whose bodies were on August 15, 1982 near the Green River and Carol Christensen, whose remains were found in the Maple Valley on May 8, 1983. On March 27, 2003, Ridgway was charged with three other murders: Wendy Lee Coffield, 16, Debra Bonner, 23, and Debra Estes, 15. Police and prosecutors announced that microscopic paint particles on women's clothes were associated with Ridgway truck painter could become. Summoned to court on April 3, Ridgway denied the facts. His family and neighbors stood by him, unable to believe that he could be linked to the crime.
On July 26, 2003, Ridgway was transferred from King County Jail in Seattle to an undisclosed location. From now on he cooperated with the authorities to avoid the death penalty . He led the officers of the Green River Task Force to crime scenes and corpses: On August 19, 2003, the remains of sixteen-year-old Pammy Avents were found east of Enumclaw . She was identified by information Ridgway gave in exchange for his life. On August 24, 2003, seven bones were found that the King County Medical Examiner Office's coroner identified as human. On September 27, 2003, the bones of 17-year-old April Buttram, who had disappeared in August 1983, were identified. On October 2, 2003, the Green River Task Force found the remains of Marie Malvar, the woman Ridgway had been linked to since 1983, in a ravine outside Auburn. In October 2003, Ridgway also disclosed the details of two other murders that had not previously been linked to him: Patricia Yellow Robe, 38, who was found dead on August 6, 1998, and Marta Reeves, 36, who died in Was killed in 1990. On February 18, 2011, he was still waiting with information about Rebecca "Becky" Morrero, whom he had murdered 28 years ago. Just before Christmas 2010, children playing found human remains, including those from Morrero.
judgment
On November 5, 2003, Ridgway pleaded guilty to the King County Higher Court of 48 murders of 42 of the originally listed victims and 6 other women (Linda Rule, Roberta Hayes, Marta Reeves, Patricia Barczak, Yellow Robe and a stranger) . In court, he showed no remorse or compassion to relatives of the victims. Nonetheless, in the course of the trial, he burst into tears when the father of a victim forgave him for his act. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of probation and serving them in the prison of the State of Washington in Walla Walla .
Film adaptations
In 2004, the American / Canadian feature film The Riverman was made , which deals with the investigation into the murder cases for which Ridgway is responsible. Actor David Brown can be seen in the role of Ridgway .
In 2005, the director Ulli Lommel processed the subject in his film Green River Killer .
In 2007, a US adaptation was made, based on the book Chasing the Devil by then investigator Dave Reichert (played by Thomas Cavanagh ), a two-part TV series by Norma Bailey with the German title Green River: The Killer Trail . The film had on May 4, 2009, his Germany debut at Premiere .
literature
- Axel Estein: The Green River Killer or enjoying is reason enough. In: Howl , No. 13, December 1994, Munich, pp. 56-59.
- Graphic novel Green River Killer - The true story of a serial killer , text Jeff Jensen (son of investigator Tom Jensen), drawings by Jonathan Case, Carlsen Verlag, February 2014, ISBN 3551736448 .
Web links
- Comparison of the cut versions No youth approval - Uncut by Green River Killer at Schnittberichte.com
Individual evidence
- ^ "Green River Killer" sentenced to life. In: Stern . December 19, 2003, accessed on March 10, 2013 (German).
- ↑ Serial killer confesses to 49th murder. In: Stern . February 19, 2011, accessed on March 10, 2013 (German).
- ↑ a b c Haglund, WD; Reichert, MA; Reay, DG & Donald, T. (1990): Recovery of decomposed and skeletal human remains in the `` Green River Murder '' investigation. At the. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. , 11: 35-43.
- ↑ Overview of the places where the bodies were found
- ↑ Rachel Quigley: 'I had the perfect husband ... but he was the perfect murderer': Wife reveals moment she found out she was married to Green River Serial Killer who murdered up to 70 women. In: Daily Mail . November 3, 2011, accessed March 10, 2013 .
- ^ Congressman Reichert on new Green River remains linked to Ridgway | KING5.com | Seattle Area Local News
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ridgway, Gary |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ridgway, Gary Leon (full name); Green River Killer |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American serial killer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 18, 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Salt Lake City , Utah , USA |