[12], In the early 1980s, the King County Sheriff's Office formed the Green River Task Force to investigate the murders. On November 30, 2001, as Ridgway was leaving the Kenworth truck factory where he worked in Renton, Washington, he was arrested for the murders of four women whose cases were linked to him through DNA profiling evidence. Gary Leon Ridgway, AKA “The Green River Killer,” has been convicted of 49 murders, making him the most prolific confirmed serial killer in American History. 01-1-10270-9 SEA; State of Washington vs. Gary Leon Ridgway; in the Superior Court of Washington for King County", "Profiler can't recall why he said letter wasn't from Green River killer", "Gary Ridgway, America's Most Prolific Serial Killer, Out of Colorado", "Wife of Nation's Worst Serial Killer Shares Her Story", "Cold Case is Closed by DNA Match: Green River Killer", "With 48 Guilty Pleas, Killer avoids Death Penalty", "Statement of Norm Maleng on Ridgway Plea", "Gary Ridgway, Green River Killer, Charged With Murder #49, but Still Won't Face Execution", "Remains of a Green River killer victim found near Issaquah", State of Washington, Plaintiff, vs. Gary Leon Ridgway, Defendant, Statement of Defendant on Plea of Guilty, "Green River killer admits to murder of 48 women", "Ridgway Reveals Gruesome Details In Chilling Confession", "Green River killer's return to Washington may not bring closure to victims' families", "Department of Corrections: Gary Ridgway returned to Washington State Penitentiary", "Green River victims' list may grow by six", "Remains found in Auburn, Wash. possible Green River victim", "Genetic Genealogy Helps ID Victim of Green River Killer", "Attorney: Ridgway will likely plead guilty to new murder charge", "Skull of Woman Killed by Ridgway Found but It Turned Up Miles from the Rest of Her Remains", "Victim of Green River killer identified 30 years later after relative sees TV movie", "Wash. officials say Green River Killer victim ID'd", "Green River Killer: Youngest victim of serial killer identified", National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, "Cleaning Up Sea-Tac Strip – Officials Target Prostitution, Dance Clubs", "Police identify remains, look for link to 'Green River Killer, "Could killer strike again? At the end of that trial, whatever the outcome, there would have been lingering doubts about the rest of these crimes. "Even when I was in fourth grade, when I was with soccer, he’d always, you know, be there for me," he told The News Tribune in a previous interview. He killed many teenage girls and women … She was murdered between 1970 and 1993, but she is believed to have been murdered during the first decade of Ridgway's murder spree. The press gave him his nickname after the first five victims were found in the Green River before his identity was known. "I killed so many women I have a hard time keeping them straight," he stated, before adding that "I wanted to kill as many women I thought were prostitutes as I possibly could.". [18], Early in August 2003, Seattle television news reported that Ridgway had been moved from a maximum security cell at King County Jail to an Airway Heights Minimum-Medium Security Level Tank. This agreement was the avenue to the truth. All Rights Reserved. Gary Ridgway told investigators this summer he sometimes showed his son’s picture or the boy’s room at his home to women to put them at ease. Ridgway, a Washington State truck painter who confessed to killing up to 49 women in the 1980s, was sentenced in 2003 to life in prison without the chance of parole. Sandra Denise Major was not identified until June 2012. He claimed to have killed as many as 80 women—many of whom were prostitutes—in Washington during the 1980s and ’90s, although he pled guilty (2003) to only 48 murders. He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders. [3] He strangled his victims, usually by hand but sometimes using ligatures. Liles remained unidentified until 1998 and Girdner until October 2009. Ridgway had led the boy into the woods and then stabbed him through the ribs into his liver. 1975). He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders. [27], At the time of Ridgway's December 18, 2003, sentencing, authorities had been able to find at least 48 sets of remains, including victims not originally attributed to the Green River Killer. Gary Ridgway : Dubbed the "Green River Killer," Ridgway received a life-long prison sentence after pleading guilty to murdering 48 women in 2003, though he later confessed that the count was probably higher. Serial killers with the highest known victim count. Ridgway denies ever seeing her, and the police believe him. Over a period of five months of police and prosecutor interviews, he confessed to 48 murders—42 of which were on the police's list of probable Green River Killer victims. No charges have been filed. After strangling them, he would dump their bodies in forested and overgrown areas in King County, often returning to the bodies to have sexual intercourse with them.[4]. King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng explained his decision to make the deal: We could have gone forward with seven counts, but that is all we could have ever hoped to solve. In September 2015, after a public outcry and discussions with Governor Jay Inslee, Corrections Secretary Bernie Warner announced that Ridgway would be transferred back to Washington to be "easily accessible" for open murder investigations. Three more victims—Wendy Coffield, Debra Bonner, and Debra Estes—were added to the indictment after a forensic scientist identified microscopic spray paint spheres as a specific brand and composition of paint used at the Kenworth factory during the specific time frame when these victims were killed. Ridgway was arrested on suspicion of murdering four women nearly 20 years earlier after first being identified as a potential suspect, when DNA evidence conclusively linked semen left in the victims to the saliva swab taken by the police. Here are 5 serial killers who are still alive today. 7. The King County Prosecutor confirmed that Ridgway would be formally charged with her murder on February 11, 2011. OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Gary Ridgway, one of the nation's most prolific serial killers, is being returned to a Washington prison after he was transferred out of state earlier this year. Wendy Stephens, previously known as "Jane Doe B-10", was previously unidentified. [33] Ridgway confessed to murdering at least 71 victims. [27] In another taped interview with Reichert on December 31, 2003, Ridgway claimed to have murdered 71 victims and confessed to having had sex with them before killing them, a detail which he did not reveal until after his sentencing. One of the most prolific serial killers in American history has been denied a possible prison release, petitioned for in defense of his well-being. I miss 'em and felt like they were taking something of mine that I put there," Ridgway described in the trailer of The Green River Killer: Mind of a Monster. In addition to his confirmed murders, Ridgway has been linked to at least 22 other murders. Some have speculated that Ridgway was torn between his lusts and his staunch religious beliefs. Ridgway pleaded guilty to the murder of 48 women in King County Court, Seattle, WA, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003. Ridgway was long suspected for the 1987 murder of Rose Marie Kurran, a 16-year-old addict and prostitute, The ninth episode of the 2010 American documentary show, The Green River murders are discussed in the, Ridgway is repeatedly mentioned in episodes of the American crime drama show, This page was last edited on 10 May 2021, at 08:31. Mawson speculated that he must have committed some of the murders while supposedly working these early morning shifts. Investigators believe her remains had lain undiscovered for one year or more prior to their March 1984 discovery. As the interview reveals, Matthew and his father had a relatively average relationship. Ridgway is serving life without release in solitary confinement at the state prison in Walla Walla, where he is allowed out of his cell for only one hour a day four times a week. On November 23, 2005, the Associated Press reported that a weekend hiker found the skull of one of the 48 women Ridgway admitted murdering in his 2003 plea bargain with King County prosecutors. In court statements, Ridgway later reported that he had killed so many that he lost count. [7] On April 7, 1987, police took hair and saliva samples from Ridgway. The remains of Tracy Winston were found, without a skull, in. If you have any unfortunate news that this page should be update with, … This title has since been taken by Samuel Little, but Ridgway can still keep the title as one of the vilest men alive. After killing his victims, Gary Ridgway also had sex with them. He suggested that the killer was revisiting the dump sites to have sex with his victims, which turned out to be true, and if police found a fresh grave, they should stake it out and wait for him to come back. On Dec. 18, 2003, Ridgway was sentenced to 48 consecutive life terms in prison and fined $480,000 — $10,000 for each victim, according to CNN. In his statement accompanying his guilty plea, Ridgway explained that he had killed all of his victims inside King County, Washington, and that he had transported and dumped the remains of the two women near Portland to confuse the police.[12]. The victims were believed to be either sex workers or runaways, whom he picked up along Pacific Highway South. As per our current Database, Gary Ridgway is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: February 26, 2021). Eventually, with Bundy's help, Gary Ridgway was caught and admitted to his 49th murder on February 18, 2011, with actual estimates being closer to 80 victims. Gary Ridgway prepares to leave the courtroom where he was sentenced in King County Washington Superior Court December 18, 2003 in Seattle, Washington. Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, American criminal who was the country’s deadliest convicted serial killer. Read More: Where is Gary Ridgway Now? He didn’t do it, you know," said Matthew while describing his first reaction to the shocking news about the police investigation into his father's movements. She has never been located or identified. [30] On May 14, 2015, he was transferred to the USP Florence High, a high-security federal prison east of Cañon City, Colorado. It seems he is still living there, happy and well-settled. He was finally caught and convicted based largely on DNA evidence. [8], Ridgway's IQ was recorded as being in the "low eighties". [10] Often, he would want to have sex in a public area or in the woods. He was also sentenced to an additional 10 years for tampering with evidence for each of the 48 victims, adding 480 years to his 48 life sentences.[23]. Because the remains were partial, her face could not be reconstructed and her race could not be determined, but she was estimated to have been between 13 and 24 years old at the time of her death. Jane Doe B-20, also unidentified, was discovered in August 2003. Their bodies were discovered within a mile of the bodies of known victims Shirley Shirell and Denise Bush. [5] He became religious during his second marriage, proselytizing door-to-door, reading the Bible aloud at work and at home, and insisting that his wife follow the strict teachings of their pastor. [6][7], Ridgway is dyslexic, and was held back a year in high school. Gary Leon Ridgway ruling planet is Uranus. [7] He would later tell defense psychologists that, as an adolescent, he had conflicting feelings of anger and sexual attraction toward his mother, and fantasized about killing her. Matthew struggled to believe that his father could be one of the suspects, and he certainly didn't think he could be the killer behind the gut-churning homicides. Shortly before her disappearance, McGinniss was questioned by a Port of Seattle police officer while "dating" Ridgway near the. [4] Most of their bodies were dumped in wooded areas around the Green River, Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, and other "dump sites" within South King County. In 2003, Ridgway claimed responsibility for her death. "[19], The samples collected in 1987 were later subjected to DNA profiling, providing the evidence for his arrest warrant. Gary Ridgway used to be considered the most prolific killer in American history. Gary Ridgway is one of many serial killers in prison. Ridgway pleaded guilty to the murder of 48 women in King County Court, Seattle, WA, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003. Below are Paul Bernardo is probably one of the most dangerous serial killers alive. In 2003, Gary Ridgway received a life-long prison sentence without parole. [31] Ridgway was returned by chartered plane to Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla from the High Security Federal Prison in Florence, Colorado, on October 24, 2015. [27], In his confession, he acknowledged that he targeted prostitutes because they were "easy to pick up" and that he "hated most of them. On Tuesday, December 21, 2010, hikers near the West Valley Highway in Auburn, Washington, found a skull in the vicinity of where Marie Malvar's remains had been found in 2003. If you have any unfortunate news that this page should be update with, please let us know using … Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949), also known as the Green River Killer, is an American serial killer. He is a celebrity criminal. The marriage ended within a year. Please ignore rumors and hoaxes. [32], Before Ridgway's confession, authorities had attributed 49 murders to the Green River Killer. The police interview the owner, one Gary Ridgway. No one knows why the killings stopped. "You had to remind yourself of who he was and what he was capable of doing [...] he came across as a goofy, middle-aged guy who desired to have people around him," Patty Eakes, who was one of the people who helped get the killer to confess, told Fox News. [12] Ridgway sometimes showed the women a picture of his son, to trick them into trusting him. Ridgway's confession and directions led police search crews to find the bodies of Avent, Buttram, and Malvar in August and September 2003. Gary is alive and kicking and is currently 72 years old. Ridgway denies ever seeing her, and the police believe him. [24], Ridgway confessed to more confirmed murders than any other American serial killer. According to CNN, his victims included a 16-year-old named Wendy Lee Coffield, alongside Cynthia Hinds, Opal Charmaine Mills, and Marie M. Malvar, three teenagers who were thought to be friends. Ridgway’s victim count, however, continued to grow, and he received his 49 th Mawson told a local television reporter, "I feel I have saved lives ... by being his wife and making him happy.

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