True Crime Friday: Gary Leon Ridgway, the Green River Serial Killer
Gary Leon Ridgway was born February 18, 1949. He is one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. He is known as the Green River Killer. I remember in the early eighties David Soul from Starsky and Hutch television series hosted a show on Sunday Nights called the Green River Task Force. This was before Gary Ridgway became known as the Green River Killer. When this show aired Ridgway had killed at least twenty women and girls. The bodies were piling up and the police formed a task force to assist with finding this vicious killer.
Ridgway had been a suspect in the murders since 1982 but investigators were unable to link him directly to the murders. The authorities had many chances to catch Gary Ridgway but failed to connect the dots so he just went on killing innocent victims. Gary Ridgway was convicted for forty eight murders committed during the 1980s and 1990s. Gary Ridgway eventually was convicted for another murder which brought his total to forty nine. He is the second most prolific American Serial Killer only behind Samuel Little who confessed to ninety three murders. This information was confirmed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
The Less Dead Theory
The Less Theory are poor people and minorities that are considered undesirable by society and the elites. These groups generally are the poor, women and children who are ignored and devalued in life. Therefore, in death they are also devalued essentially ignored by their own communities or members of their neighborhoods and generally not missed when they are gone. They lack prestige or power and the police generally devalue their lives as well. This is one of the reasons they are prime targets for serial killers.The Early Childhood of Gary Ridgway
Gary Ridgway was born and raised in the state of Utah to parents Mary and Thomas Ridgway. They had three children all of them boys. Ridgway home life as with many serial killers was chaotic, abusive and neglectful. The mother was domineering and the father was abusive. Ridgway’s father would complain about sex workers on his route as a bus drive. As with many people like Ridgway’s father he complained about sex workers but also used their services. Ridgway and his brothers would face corporal punishment from his mother for the slightest infractions. Ridgway said he had conflicting feelings of anger and sexual attraction toward his mother. He also fantasized about killing her. It was said that Ridgway was a bed wetter. His mother would demand he get in the tub and she would wash his manly area. Ridgway wanted to have sex with his own mother.The Victims of Gary Ridgway
- Wendy Lee Coffield
- Gisele A. Lovvorn
- Debra Lynn Bonner
- Marcia Faye Chapman
- Cynthia Jean Hinds
- Opal Charmaine Mills
- Terry Renee Milligan
- Mary Bridgett Meehan
- Debra Lorraine Estes
- Linda Rule
- Shawnda Leea Summers
- Denise Darcel Bush
- Shirley Marie Sherrill
- Becky Marrero
- Colleen Renee Brockman
- Delores Lavern Williams
- Alma Ann Smith
- Gail Matthews
- Andrea M. Childers
- Sandra K. Gabbert
- Kimi Kai Pitsor
- Sandra D. Major
- Marie Malvar
- Carol Ann Christensen
- Carrie Ann Rois
- Martina T. Authorlee
- Cheryl Lee Wims
- Yvonne Shelly Antosh
- Constance Naon
- Kelly Ware
- Tina Marie Thompson
- April Buttram
- Debbie May Abernathy
- Tracy Winston
- Maureen Sue Feeney
- Pammy Avent
- Mary Sue Bello
- Delise Louise Plager
- Kimberly Nelson
- Lisa L. Yates
- Mary Exzetta West
- Cindy Ann Smith
- Patricia Barczak
- Roberta Hays
- Marta Reeves
- Patricia Yellowrobe
The Unknown Survivors of Ridgway
- Any women and girls that came in contact with this monster.
The Unknown Victims of the Ridgway
- Three Unidentified victims.
Lady Justice
The authorities long suspected that Ridgway was the Green River Serial Killer but struggled to prove it. He was almost caught when he picked up Marie Malvar from a restaurant where she was dining with her father and boyfriend. They followed Ridgway to his home and all the police. The police showed up and ask Ridgway about the report that he had picked of Malvar. Ridgway denied this and said she was not in his home. If the police had asked Ridgway to roll up his sleeves and conducted a real search they would have realized that he had scratches over his body and face from Malvar fighting for her life. It just so happen he knew the police officer and the officer believed his story so he left the home. Ridgway had killed Malvar and was about to roll her body in carpet and throw it in the river. With the advancement in DNA authorities were able to link Ridgway's DNA with a number of his victims. On November 30, 2001, as he was leaving the Kenworth truck factory where he worked in Washington State he was arrested for the murders. His plea bargain included that Ridgway had to disclose the locations the missing women and girls he had murdered. He is serving life without the possibility of parole.Developing Story Regarding the Green River Killer
The reason that this sadist killer is back in the news is because the King County detectives are trying to discover where the remains of Ridgway’s victims are buried. It is believed that he murdered roughly eight women and girls during his reign of terror. During his plea deal Ridgway had to disclose where all of his victims were buried. This trip with Ridgway had been planned by authorities for September of 2024.The visits to the grave site had been planned to take several days given Ridgway's age and health. Ridgway has routinely met with detectives since 2003 as part of his plea agreement. Ridgway had been meeting with detectives Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla but was moved temporary to King County Jail regarding the investigations of unsolved homicide cases.