Gary Ridgway

Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949) is a former truck painter for the Kenworth Truck Company and the most prolific serial killer in American history. He was arrested on November 30, 2001, for the murders of four women whose deaths were attributed to the Green River Killer and two years later pleaded guilty to 48 counts of murder. He has been married several times and has one son.

Related Topics:
February 18 - 1949 - Kenworth Truck Company - Serial killer - November 30 - 2001 - Murder

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Ridgway was raised in a seemingly stable home, but his mother reportedly dominated the household and, especially, her son. Friends and family alike described him upon his arrest as friendly but strange; the same man who went door to door for his Pentecostal church was also obsessed with prostitutes and had dysfunctional relationships with women. He once claimed that prostitutes did to him what drugs did to a junkie.

Related Topics:
Pentecostal - Prostitute - Dysfunctional

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Ridgway was arrested in 1982 and 2001 for charges related to prostitution. He became a suspect in 1983 for the Green River killings, and on April 7, 1987, police took hair and saliva samples that were later subjected to a DNA analysis, which provided the evidence for his arrest warrant.

Related Topics:
1982 - 1983 - April 7 - 1987 - Police - Hair - Saliva - DNA

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Early in August 2003, Seattle television news reported that Ridgway had been moved from a maximum security cell at King County Jail to an undisclosed location. Other news reports stated that his lawyers were closing a plea bargain that would spare him the death penalty in return for his confession to a number of the Green River murders.

Related Topics:
2003 - Seattle - Television - King County - Jail - Death penalty

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On November 5 2003, Ridgway entered a guilty plea to 48 charges of aggravated first-degree murder as part of a plea bargain, agreed to in June, that would spare him execution in exchange for his cooperation in locating the remains of his victims and providing other details. In his statement accompanying his guilty plea, Ridgway explained all of his victims had been killed inside of King County, Washington, and that he had transported and dumped the remains of the two women near Portland, Oregon, to confuse the police.

Related Topics:
November 5 - 2003 - Aggravated first-degree murder - Plea bargain - Execution - King County, Washington - Portland, Oregon

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Public opinion remains divided as to whether a confessed murderer of 48 people should be spared execution in a state that has the death penalty and imposes it on people who have killed far fewer victims. Deputy prosecutor Jeffrey Baird noted in court that the deal contained "the names of 41 victims who would not be the subject of State v. Ridgway if it were not for the plea agreement," and King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng explained his decision to make the deal:

Related Topics:
Jeffrey Baird - State v. Ridgway - King County - Prosecuting Attorney - Norm Maleng

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"We could have gone forward with seven counts, but that is all we could have ever hoped to solve. At the end of that trial, whatever the outcome, there would have been lingering doubts about the rest of these crimes. This agreement was the avenue to the truth. And in the end, the search for the truth is still why we have a criminal justice system.... Gary Ridgway does not deserve our mercy. He does not deserve to live. The mercy provided by today's resolution is directed not at Ridgway, but toward the families who have suffered so much...."

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On December 18, 2003, King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones sentenced Ridgway to 48 life sentences with no possibility of parole and one life sentence, to be served consecutively.

Related Topics:
December 18 - 2003 - King County Superior Court - Richard Jones

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