GARY RIDGWAY
AKA THE GREEN RIVER KILLER
“I always wondered what it was like to kill
someone”
BACKGROUND
•
Mother, Mary Rita, was mentally and physically abusive towards Gary, his two brothers, and her
husband
•
Has a history of having very violent arguments with parents, especially mother
•
Due to the abuse, he held lots of anger towards mom but was also sexually attracted to her
•
Animal abuser: he has a history of abusing animals – once killed a cat by locking it in a fridge
•
Father, Newton Ridgway, was a bus driver and often complained of prostitutes who frequented
the streets on his route
•
Gary had an IQ of 82 in school which signified low intelligence – he had to repeat a grade twice
just to pass it (also had dyslexia)
•
Very shortly after high school, Married Claudia Borrows but broke off shortly due to affairs
•
Joined the Navy right after high school and got very involved with prostitutes
•
Married Marcia Winslow and had a son with her, eventually divorced (7 yrs)
•
Married Judith Lorraine Lynch
Ridgway home
BACKGROUND CONT
•
Very shortly after high school, Married Claudia Borrows but broke off shortly due to affairs
•
Joined the Navy right after high school and got very involved with prostitutes
•
Married Marcia Winslow and had a son with her, eventually divorced (7 yrs)
•
Married Judith Mawson
•
Had lots of intense sexual urges, wives have stated that he demanded sex several times
a day and in open places like the woods – some even later discovered have been body
dumping sites
Judith Mawson
PREVIOUS RUN IN WITH LAW
•
At age 14, Gary attempted killing an 8 year old boy but was never caught
•
At 16, Gary stabbed a 6 year old boy who survived the initial stabs. Then, Gary lured him
into the woods and proceeded to kill him. According to Gary, he left the woods laughing.
•
Second wife, Maria Winslow, claimed during an argument he placed her in a choke hold
•
Ridgeway confessed to more murders than any other serial killer at the time: claims up to
90 but only charged for 48 victims
•
In 1982 he was arrested on prostitution charges which ultimately lead to him becoming a
subject in the string of murders in the area – passed a polygraph test where he plead to
be not guilty but police took hair and saliva samples for future reference
Green River
victims
CONVICTIONS
November 5, 2003
Ridgway plead guilty to 48 charges aggravated first degree murder and to spare him the execution
charge he cooperated by locating remains of victims and providing other details
December 13, 2003
King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones sentenced Ridgway to 48 life sentences with no
parole and one life sentence to be served consecutively with additional 10 years for tampering with
evidence for 48 victims, which added 480 years to his 48 life sentences.
Most of the victims were young women, particularly prostitutes. He received him nickname “Green
River Killer” because he dumped the bodies all around the Colorado River, aka the Green River.
A person is guilty of aggravated first degree murder, a class A felony, if he or she commits first degree murder as defined
by a set of about 14 aggravating circumstances
A person is guilty of aggravated first degree murder, a class A felony, if he or she commits first degree murder as defined
by
a punishment for a felon of imprisonment for life
Tampering with evidence is an offence and there are statutes proscribing tampering with evidence, fabricating evidence,
and the concealment or destruction of evidence for the purpose of impairing its availability as evidence in an investigation
or official proceeding
EVIDENCE
•
During the previous conviction for prostitution, hair and saliva samples were taken but
they didn’t have the technology to accurately pull DNA off of the many victims bodies
•
Many years later when that technology was available, detectives were able to full off
semen off of many of the bodies. When tested to see against the hair and saliva samples
of Ridgway, it was a match and on November 30, 2001 Gary was arrested on account of 4
murdered women.
•
Eventually Ridgway ended up to admitting to many more than those four murders
CULTURAL REFERENCES
Books (3 of many)
Green River Killer Green River Killer:
Non-fiction
A True Detective Story
Non-fiction
Defending Gary:
Unraveling the Mind of the
Green River Killer
Non-fiction
CULTURAL REFERENCE CONT.
(3 of many)
Movies/Film
Movie
Movie
Documentary
June 13, 2005
March 15, 2008
May 6, 2013
http://youtu.be/6e6FmBMCMqM http://youtu.be/ucSEuP5ts1k http://youtu.be/FgcAEpWt1NM
THEORY
Gary Ridgway’s criminal and deviant behavior can mostly be described within the differential association theory. Within this theory it states how criminal behavior is learned with interaction
with others. It’s no secret that Ridgway’s childhood has led him to grow up to be filled with
anger. His mom abused him as a child, making him feel and think lesser of himself than he
was. Growing up in that environment lead Gary to believe that kind of behavior is okay and
accepted in society, or even outside the home. Also, growing up in the Ridgway home, Gary
experienced his father complaining of prostitutes. He was a bus driver, and the women often
were along his route. This provides the motive behind all the killings. As the theory states, the
younger you are, the quicker you are to learn deviant behavior and beliefs.
THEORY CONT.
The differential-association theory states that someone is more likely to become a
criminal if their values and the values of the individuals who has greatest influence of them
strongly supports criminal activity. There are many examples in Ridgway’s life where you can
see this theory coming into play. Let alone the ongoing abuse he got from his mom, his
mother abused everyone else in the family, too. The home life wasn’t very safe but nobody
ever did anything to stop it, so that led him to believe everything was normal. Also, whenever
Ridgway claimed to of killed the six year old boy in the woods, he never was caught. The first
time it was even brought to attention was when Ridgway admitted it to the police. Not
receiving any form of punishment or even scolding really showed Gary that killing wasn’t such
a big deal (in his mind). Gary Ridgway’s entire “criminal career” is due to his upbringing in his
family. Maybe if he would have had different parents, at least 48 victims could have been
saved.