Sources: Green River Suspect OKs Plea Deal

Washington Post ^ | October 31, 2003 | GENE JOHNSON

[GreatOne]

SEATTLE - The man suspected of being the Green River Killer has agreed to plead guilty next week to the murders of 48 women in a deal that would spare him from execution, two sources close to the case told The Associated Press.

Gary Leon Ridgway, a 54-year-old truck painter arrested in the serial killer case in 2001, will admit to murdering 42 women on investigators' list of Green River Killer victims as well as six women not on the list, said the sources, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The numbers of killings he pleads to "could change between now and Wednesday, but that's where it stands," one source said.

The Green River Killer preyed mostly on prostitutes, drug addicts, young runaways and other women on the streets. The case is named for the waterway where the first bodies were found in the suburbs south of Seattle in mid-1982.

[GreatOne]

Surprised I haven't seen this posted here yet - this is huge news. This guy is one of the most prolific serial killers ever (that we know of). How was he finally caught?

[razorback-bert]

Gary Ridgway

RIDGWAY CHRONOLOGY (Posted Oct. 30, 2003)

• July 21, 1980: Gary Leon Ridgway is accused of choking a prostitute.
• 1982: Police see Ridgway parked with Keli McGinness, an 18-year-old prostitute.
• April 1982: Ridgway is arrested during a prostitution sting on the airport strip. He is found guilty.
• Aug. 1, 1982: Marcia Chapman disappears.
• Aug. 11, 1982: Cynthia Hinds disappears.
• Aug. 12, 1982: Opal Mills disappears.
• Aug. 15, 1982: Remains of Chapman, Hinds and Mills are found in the Green River.
• 1983: Ridgway emerges as a suspect in the disappearance of Marie Malvar.
• May 3, 1983: Carol Christensen disappears.
• May 8, 1983: Christensen's remains are found in Maple Valley.
• June 1983: McGinness disappears. Her body has not been found.
• 1987: Investigators again question Ridgway and make him bite down on gauze to give a saliva sample that was preserved until DNA testing technology became available and reliable.
• Nov. 30, 2001: Ridgway is arrested as he leaves work, after the saliva samples taken nearly 15 years earlier linked him to several of the Green River killings.
• Dec. 5, 2001: Ridgway is charged with aggravated murder in the deaths of Chapman, Hinds, Mills and Christensen.
• March 27, 2003: Ridgway is charged in connection with three additional killings.
• August 2003: The Green River Task Force steps up its efforts to find Green River victims, searching nearly two dozen sites over the summer.
• Sept. 28, 2003: Malvar's remains are found near Auburn. In all, at least 49 women are suspected to be Green River victims.
• Oct. 29, 2003: Ridgway is expected to plead guilty to at least 48 killings, a source close to the case says.

[wideminded]

No one has commented on whether life for Gary Ridgway is justice.

[cgk]

The Big Break

(partial quote):

In April 2001, almost 20 years after the first known Green River murder, Detective Reichert, who had become the sheriff of King County, began renewed investigations into the murders. It was a case he refused to let go of and he remained determined to find the killer. This time the task force had technology on their side.

Reichert formed a new task force team initially consisting of six members, including DNA and forensic experts and a couple of detectives. It wasn't long before the force grew to more than 30 people. All the evidence from the murder examination was re-examined and some of the forensic samples were sent to the labs.

The first samples to be sent to the lab were found with three victims that were murdered between 1982 and 1983, Opal Mills, Marcia Chapman and Carol Christensen. The samples consisted of semen supposedly taken from the killer. The semen samples underwent a newly-developed DNA testing method and were compared with samples taken from Ridgway in April 1987.

Gary Leon Ridgway (Corbis)

  
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 victims and Ridgway. On November 30, Ridgway was intercepted by investigators on his way home from work and arrested on four counts of aggravated murder.

[VOA]

If the show airs this evening (sometimes pre-empted), I suspect that famed FBI profiler
John Douglas will have some comment on this on his show.
That's the "Mindhunter" show he has on KFI 640AM in Los Angeles Saturdays at 7-10 PM
with co-host that is one of KFI's reporters.
(Folks can listen live over the net at www.kfi640.com).

Douglas has talked about his involvement in the case and about Ridgway on a couple
of previous shows. Douglas' involvement is even more memorable for him, as he
had a life-threatening serious of blood clots in the lungs (maybe due to over-work)
during the case.

Douglas is not the best radio presence...but he does have his moments when recollecting
some of the more chilling cases.

[VOA]

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 victims and Ridgway.

RE: the photo of Ridgway...
Reminds me of what I often say to friends and family when we see photos of
criminal monsters who look fairly normal/non-threatening:
"They walk among us."

[cgk]

I remember reading about how he nearly died because of overwork on a case... I had forgotten it was THIS case. There used to be a website called "greenriverkiller.com" I believe.. (I couldn't find it tonight), that was hosted by one of the victims' relations. This case was one of the worst I've ever read. Zodiac ranks right up there.

I had no idea Douglas was on KFI, as I usually listen off and on during the week. Thanks for that head's up! I just picked up his "Mindhunter" book today in fact. I had the other one already and am looking forward to the read.

[cgk]

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 victims and Ridgway.

Yes they do walk among us. Just look at what happened to our country the very next day! I just noticed this and imagine that must've drained every bit of relief out of the detectives that bled for this case.

[MaeWest]

This creeps me out. He looks like a guy who accosted me in a hospital parking lot in Portland, Oregon a few years ago. As I walked past he said he had locked himself out of his vehicle and asked if I could reach in through the partially open passenger window and pop the lock. I never forgot it. He was driving a red pickup truck and acted irked when I refused to stop.

[GreatOne]

That's not an uncommon tactic to use by rapists to lure victims. Trust no one (as you rightfully did). Amazing that this still works today. Always thought that with all of the condoms and sodomy education our kids are learning today in school, that perhaps they could teach how to avoid be victimized (although you may be training some pervert at the same time how to do it).

[GreatOne]

How many people were killed/disappeared after they took his DNA sample in 1987? What was it that led to him being a suspect; just his being seen in the area?

[VOA]

I had no idea Douglas was on KFI, as I usually listen off and on during the week.
Thanks for that head's up!

The show has been a real up-and-down experience.
I caught the first episode, which was just Douglas by himself. While it was a little
slow because Douglas is usually pretty low-key, what I noticed was that when he finally
took callers...it was virtually ALL females. Given the usual demographics of talk-show
listeners, I said "KFI has struck gold!", as in now they can open up the
sponsorship on a wider base due to a diverse (male-female) listener base.

But, then for some reason KFI teamed him up with one of their news reporters (Eric..can't remember
last name); last night it was Wayne Resick taking that part.

Anyway, there have been some bumps...one time Douglas couldn't be on air, so that
Eric-guy did a decent crime-events show.
And one time KFI just rolled tape of a previous show without using a "best of" label.

I don't know what's going on at KFI, but I think they've got a potentially
great show that they've turned into a good, middle-range show.

[cgk]

I wonder if the show would be better as a crime program if they teamed him up with Fuhrman, even if only on occasion. I've had no luck listening to his own show out of Spokane as the station doesn't offer "listen live" over the internet, but I've heard it's very good.

[cgk]

How many people were killed/disappeared after they took his DNA sample in 1987? What was it that led to him being a suspect; just his being seen in the area?

It's not only how many were killed after the DNA sample, it's how many were killed after he passed the polygraph. He first became a suspect when he tried to choke a prostitute, and then again when he solicited an undercover. He also picked up a prostitute and was followed later to his home by the victim's brother/boyfriend (? i can't remember which), who told police where he lived and everything. The warrant turned up nothing, and my memory is fuzzy if that particular victim was ever located, or just reported missing.

[cgk]

Not only is that tactic not uncommon, it's very similar to what Bundy did. And the fictional Buffalo Bill in "Silence of the Lambs"...

[Bonaparte]

All your GRK questions answered in one place.