Gary Ridgway
Gary Ridgway, known as the "Green River Killer," is recognized as the deadliest convicted serial killer in the United States. His criminal activities began in 1982 and spanned nearly two decades, during which he murdered primarily women involved in sex work. Ridgway's method often involved luring victims with charm, then strangling them after sexual assault, after which he meticulously disposed of their bodies in remote areas near the Green River, leading to his infamous moniker. In 2001, he was arrested after DNA evidence linked him to four victims, culminating in a plea deal in which he confessed to forty-eight murders to avoid the death penalty.
Born on February 19, 1949, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ridgway faced a tumultuous childhood marked by familial abuse and significant academic challenges. He served in the U.S. Navy and struggled with personal relationships, resulting in three marriages. Ridgway's life has been characterized by a disturbing blend of normalcy and heinous crime, culminating in his imprisonment where he continues to serve multiple life sentences. His case has had a lasting impact on law enforcement practices in tracking and apprehending serial offenders.
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Gary Ridgway
Serial killer
- Born: February 18, 1949
- Place of Birth: Salt Lake City, Utah
Significance: Gary Ridgway is the deadliest convicted serial killer in the United States. He began his killing spree in 1982 and continued for nearly twenty years, eluding police until a DNA test linked him to four victims. To escape execution, Ridgway pleaded guilty to forty-eight murders in 2003, though he later said he killed more than seventy women, mostly prostitutes. When another body was discovered in 2011, Ridgway pleaded guilty to a forty-ninth murder and received an additional life sentence. Because Ridgway's first five victims were found near the now-famous Green River near Seattle, Ridgway is often called the "Green River Killer."
Background
Gary Ridgway was born on February 19, 1949, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Thomas and Mary Ridgway. When he was a boy, Ridgway's family moved to Washington State. Ridgway and his two brothers, Gregory and Thomas, were raised in a poverty-stricken neighborhood near Seattle's Pacific Highway.
While the family appeared ordinary to neighbors, Ridgway was frequently abused by Mary. Ridgway's domineering mother was known to humiliate him in front of the family for his frequent bed-wetting. Psychologists claim that while Ridgway hated her, he also was sexually attracted to her from an early age. Ridgway struggled in school. He was a poor student who had a low IQ score and dyslexia. He had to repeat one grade twice before passing.
Ridgway committed his first crime when he was sixteen. He lured a six-year-old boy into the woods and stabbed him through the ribs and into the liver. The boy survived, and Ridgway was never caught. The boy later said that Ridgway laughed as he walked away.
After graduating from high school at the age of twenty, Ridgway served two years in the US Navy, beginning in 1969. He married his girlfriend, Claudia Barrows, before leaving for Vietnam. While in the military, Ridgway began his lifelong obsession with prostitutes. Claudia, who was nineteen and alone, began dating while Ridgway was away, and the couple soon divorced.
Overview
Ridgway married Marcia Brown in 1973 and had a son, Matthew. During the time of their marriage, Ridgway became a religious fanatic, preaching door to door and reading the Bible aloud at work. He insisted that Marcia follow the strict teachings of their church pastor. Marcia later described Ridgway's mother as a source of conflict in their marriage. Mary controlled the couple's finances and even purchased Ridgway's clothes. By 1980, Ridgway and Marcia had divorced.
In 1982, Ridgway is believed to have begun killing women, mostly prostitutes and runaways, usually by strangling them after he raped them at his home. His first victim is believed to have been a sixteen-year-old who had run away from a foster home. Her body was discovered near the Green River a week after her murder.
Over the next two years, Ridgway killed at least forty women. His meticulous planning helped him elude capture. He picked up many of his victims on state Route 99 in King County. He engaged with them in small talk, often showing them pictures of his son to gain their trust. After murdering them, Ridgway was careful to leave no evidence behind. In fact, he even planted evidence on his victims to mislead police. He sometimes placed a used cigarette butt or gum wrapper near a body. He dumped the bodies in remote wooded areas. He most often chose prostitutes as his victims because he believed police would not bother investigating their disappearance.
In 2001, after nearly two decades of investigation, investigators arrested Ridgway when a DNA test linked him to four victims. Prior brushes with law enforcement had made Ridgway a suspect. In 1980, Ridgway choked a prostitute during sex in an area where some of the victims' bodies were later found. The case was dismissed, however, because Ridgway said he acted in self-defense after the prostitute bit him. Two years later, Ridgway was questioned again by police when he was riding with a prostitute in his truck. The passenger, Keli McGinness, disappeared and is believed to be one of Ridgway's victims. Later that year, a prostitute named Marie Malvar, who was last seen in Ridgway's truck, disappeared. In 1985, Ridgway solicited an undercover police officer who was posing as a prostitute. He was taken into custody but released after passing a lie-detector test. At the time of his arrest, Ridgway appeared to be living an ordinary, peaceful life with his third wife, Judith Mawson, whom he met at a "Parents without Partners" meeting.
To avoid execution, Ridgway struck a deal with prosecutors. He confessed to the murders of forty-eight women and helped authorities locate some of the missing bodies. He was sentenced to forty-eight consecutive life sentences. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to another murder and was sentenced to an additional life sentence. He was serving forty-nine years in the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. However, in 2024, Ridgway was unexpectedly moved to King County Jail in Seattle, Washington. He was moved a second time, but the location was not revealed to the public. No reason was given for these transfers.
Impact
Ridgway is perhaps the most brutal and prolific serial killer in US history. In 2015, Ridgway was moved from Washington State Penitentiary to a federal prison in Colorado that was better designed to manage high-risk inmates. Ridgway had lived in isolation in Washington but would have more social interaction in Colorado. Families of the victims protested the move, however, and Ridgway was later transferred back to Washington.
Personal Life
Ridgway was married three times: first to Claudia Barrows (married 1970; divorced 1972); then to Marcia Brown (married 1973; divorced 1981); and then to Judith Mawson (married 1981; divorced 2002). Ridgway has a son, Matthew, with Marcia Brown.
Bibliography
"Gary Ridgway." The Famous People, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/gary-ridgway-30407.php. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.
Ko, Michael. "Ridgway Gave No Hint He Was a Killer, Son Said." Seattle Times, 23 Dec. 2003, community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20031223&slug=ridgway23m. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.
Montaldo, Charles. "Gary Ridgway: The Green River Killer." ThoughtCo., 4 Apr. 2017, thoughtco.com/green-river-killer-gary-ridgway-973098. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.
O'Sullivan, James. "State Changes Story on Why Green River Killer Gary Ridgway Was Moved." Seattle Times, 20 Nov. 2015, www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/state-corrections-chief-changes-story-on-why-killer-ridgway-moved/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.
Rafterty, Isolde, and Oxley, Dyer. "The Green River Killer Has Been Brought Back to Seattle, Booked Into King County Jail." NPR, 9 Sept. 2024, www.kuow.org/stories/the-green-river-killer-is-back-in-seattle-september-2024. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.
Robinson, Sean. "The Gary Ridgway They Knew." News Tribune, 20 May 2008, www.thenewstribune.com/news/special-reports/article25855195.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.
Simpson, Mark. The Serial Killers: Gary Ridgway. Amazon Digital Services, 2016.
Smith, Carlton, and Tomas Guillen. The Search for the Green River Killer.Signet, 2004.
Staff of the King County Journal. Gary Ridgway: The Green River Killer.King County Journal, 2003.