Quick Facts
Nick Name: Green River Killer
Also Known As: Gary Leon Ridgway
Age: 76 Years, 76 Year Old Males
Family:
Spouse/Ex-: Claudia Kraig Barrows (m. 1970–1972), Judith Lorraine Lynch (m. 1988–2002), Marcia Lorene Brown (m. 1973–1981)
father: Thomas Newton Ridgway
mother: Mary Rita Ridgway
siblings: Gregory Ridgway, Thomas Edward Ridgway
children: Matthew Ridgway
Born Country: United States
Serial Killers American Men
Height: 1.78 m
More Facts
education: Tyee High School (1969), Tyee Educational Complex
Childhood & Early Life
Gary Ridgway was born on 18 February 1949, in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He spent his early childhood at a neighborhood near SeaTac airport close to Seattle’s Pacific Highway.
Ridgway was not good at studies and was a poor student. He joined the navy and went to Vietnam after completing high school. He served on board a supply ship.
When he was 16, he stabbed a six-year-old boy who survived the attack.
Murders
Upon his return from Vietnam, he started working as a truck painter and continued to do so for 30 years.
Ridgway became a serial killer around early 1980s on account of his hatred towards women. He started targeting prostitutes and other young vulnerable runaways. Most of the murders took place near Seattle and Tacoma, Washington.
He picked them up from state Route 99 in south King County, from where they were reported to have disappeared, and often brought them home. He would strangle the women using bare hands or ligature and leave their bodies at remote places. He dumped many bodies along the banks of Green River, located south of Seattle.
He would offer a lift in his car after engaging them in small talk and often showed the photographs of his son to win over their trust.
Planning of the murders and disposing of the corpses were done carefully to escape from the eyes of the police. He would use long ligature so that there would be no marks on his body during the struggle with his victims.
Many a times, the investigation was misled by cleverly dumping the bodies at unexpected locations. Once, he took two bodies to places near Portland, Oregon while going for a camping trip with his son. He also left fake evidence near the bodies like throwing gum and cigarettes used by others. Ridgway maintained a very pious image in the neighborhood by proselytizing and reading out the Bible loudly.
Due to the confusing trail of evidence, the authorities took almost 20 years to arrest Gary Ridgway. The police left no stones unturned as they searched for the killer by organizing a ‘Green River Task Force.’
Ted Bundy, a convicted serial killer, helped Robert Keppel and King County Sheriff Dave Reichert solve the case by providing his views about the behavior of the killer. He provided an important insight that the killer would return to the dumping site to engage in necrophilia. He suggested that the police should leave the newly found bodies unattended and wait till the killer returns to the site.
The real breakthrough in the case was the evidence collected with the help of the newly developed DNA-testing technology. Ridgway’s DNA matched with the remains of four victims and this brought an end to Ridgway’s killing spree.
Gary Ridgway was arrested and charged for four murders in December 2001. Forensic experts linked three more murders to Ridgway when they found spray paint traces on the bodies of the victims. The paint was used by Ridgway for painting trucks.
After his arrest, he made a deal with the investigators by pleading guilty of 49 murders and helped the authorities locate some of the missing bodies of his victims. He also claimed to have committed more murders for which evidence could be found. In December 2003, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
When another body was found in 2011, Ridgway got another life sentence. In 2013, during a media interview, he confessed to have killed as many as 70 women.
Personal Life
Gary Ridgway married thrice. In 1969, he married his 19-year-old high school girlfriend Claudia Kraig. They have a son.
In 1981, sometime before Ridgway began his killings, his second wife Marcia Winslow divorced him.
He met a woman named Judith Mawson in 1985.
Gary Ridgway and Judith Mawson married in 1988.
Facts About Gary Ridgway
Gary Ridgway, also known as the Green River Killer, was an avid painter during his time in prison, showcasing a creative side that many may not have expected from him.
Ridgway was known for his meticulous attention to detail in his work as a truck painter before his criminal activities came to light, demonstrating a surprising level of skill and precision in his craft.
Despite his heinous actions, Ridgway has been reported to have a soft spot for animals, particularly dogs, and was known to care for them in his own way.
Ridgway was a skilled chess player and enjoyed challenging his fellow inmates to games, showcasing a strategic and intellectual side that contrasted with his violent tendencies.
In interviews, Ridgway has expressed remorse for his actions and has worked with authorities to help locate the remains of his victims, showing a degree of accountability and cooperation that is rare among serial killers.
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