Monday Maniacs - Gary Ridgway aka Green River Killer
March 3, 2008
Gary Leon Ridgway was raised in a seemingly stable household in Washington. Born in February 1949 to Mary Rita Steinman and Thomas Newton Ridgway, his mother was very controlling of him. His wife, says she has many fond memories “of the man I knew, not that man they took away.”
While Ridgway’s official victim count stands at 44, he is believed to have killed as many as 50 women, mostly prostitutes and runaways, but has claimed numbers as high as 75 during some interviews. Ridgway would pick his victims up along the Pacific South Highway in Washington State. After picking them up, he says he would have sex with them and then strangle them. Ridgway said he started burying bodies to resist the urge to return and have sex with the corpses later.
Ridgway was arrested in 1981 and 2001 on prostitution related charges. It wasn’t until 1983 that the King County Sheriff Department’s Green River Task Force actually considered him a suspect. However, he passed a polygraph test in 1984 and was released. It wouldn’t be until 1987, and many victims later, that the police would take hair and saliva samples from Ridgway.
These samples wouldn’t lead to an arrest until almost 20 years after the killings began. Due to DNA testing, Gary Ridgway was arrested on November 20, 2001. He was initially arrested on four counts of murder, but would later confess to 48 murders. Due to his confession and subsequent plea bargain, he would be spared the death penalty. Instead, King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones would sentence Ridgway to 48 life sentences on December 19, 2003.
Ridgway would eventually lead police to many of his unfound victims. He also confessed to murders as recent as 1998. To watch an A&E Biography on the Green River Killer, check out page 2 of this article (link after the list of victims).
Ridgway’s victims ranged from 15 to 38 years of age:
| # | Name | Age | Date of Murder | Date Body Discovered |
| 1 | Wendy Lee Coffield | 16 | July 8, 1982 | July 15, 1982 |
| 2 | Gisele Ann Lovvorn | 17 | July 17, 1982 | Sept. 25, 1982 |
| 3 | Debra Lynn Bonner | 23 | July 25, 1981 | Aug. 12, 1982 |
| 4 | Marcia Faye Chapman | 31 | Aug. 1, 1982 | Aug. 15, 1982 |
| 5 | Cynthia Jean Hinds | 17 | Aug. 11, 1982 | Aug. 15, 1982 |
| 6 | Opal Charmaine Mills | 16 | Aug. 12, 1982 | Aug. 15, 1982 |
| 7 | Terry Rene Milligan | 16 | Aug. 29, 1982 | April 1, 1984 |
| 8 | Mary Bridget Meehan | 18 | Sept. 15, 1982 | Nov. 13, 1983 |
| 9 | Debra Lorraine Estes | 15 | Sept. 20, 1982 | May 30, 1988 |
| 10 | Linda Jane Rule | 16 | Sept. 26, 1982 | - |
| 11 | Denise Darcel Bush | 22 | Oct. 8, 1982 | - |
| 12 | Shawnda Leea Summers | 17 | Oct. 9, 1982 | Aug. 11, 1983 |
| 13 | Shirley Marie Sherrill | 18 | between Oct. 20 and Nov. 7, 1982 | - |
| 14 | Colleen Renee Brockman | 15 | about Dec. 24, 1982 | May 26, 1984 |
| 15 | Alma Ann Smith | 18 | March 3, 1983 | April 2, 1984 |
| 16 | Delores LaVerne Williams | 17 | March 8, 1983 | March 31, 1984 |
| 17 | Gail Lynn Mathews | 24 | April 10, 1983 | Sept. 18, 1983 |
| 18 | Andrea M. Childers | 19 | April 16, 1983 | Oct. 11, 1989 |
| 19 | Sandra Kay Gabbert | 17 | April 17, 1983 | April 1, 1984 |
| 20 | Kimi-Kai Pitsor | 16 | April 17, 1983 | - |
| 21 | Marie M. Malvar | 18 | April 30, 1983 | Sept. 29, 2003 |
| 22 | Carol Christensen | 21 | May 3, 1983 | May 8, 1983 |
| 23 | Martina Theresa Authorlee | 18 | May 22, 1983 | Nov. 14, 1984 |
| 24 | Cheryl Lee Wims | 18 | May 23, 1983 | March 22, 1984 |
| 25 | Yvonne Shelly Antosh | 19 | May 31, 1983 | Oct. 15, 1983 |
| 26 | Carrie A. Rois | 15 | May 31 to June 13, 1983 | March 10, 1985 |
| 27 | Constance Elizabeth Naon | 21 | June 8, 1983 | Oct. 27, 1983 |
| 28 | Kelly Marie Ware | 22 | July 19, 1983 | - |
| 29 | Tina Marie Thompson | 22 | July 25, 1983 | April 20, 1984 |
| 30 | April Dawn Buttram | 17 | Aug. 18, 1983 | Aug. 30 and Sept. 2, 2003 |
| 31 | Debbie May Abernathy | 26 | Sept. 5, 1983 | March 31, 1984 |
| 32 | Tracy Ann Winston | 19 | Sept. 12, 1983 | March 27, 1986 |
| 33 | Maureen Sue Feeney | 19 | Sept. 28, 1983 | May 2, 1986 |
| 34 | Mary Sue Bello | 25 | Oct. 11, 1983 | Oct. 12, 1984 |
| 35 | Pammy Avent | 16 | Oct. 26, 1983 | Aug. 16, 2003 |
| 36 | Delise Louise Plager | 22 | Oct. 30, 1983 | Feb. 14, 1984 |
| 37 | Kimberly L. Nelson | 26 | Nov. 1, 1983 | June 14, 1986 |
| 38 | Lisa Yates | 26 | Dec. 23, 1983 | March 13, 1984 |
| 39 | Mary Exzetta West | 16 | Feb. 6, 1984 | Sept. 8, 1985 |
| 40 | Cindy Anne Smith | 17 | March 21, 1984 | June 27, 1987 |
| 41 | Patricia Michelle Barczak | 19 | October 1986 | - |
| 42 | Roberta Joseph Hayes | 21 | Last seen leaving a Portland, Ore., jail in 1987 | - |
| 43 | Marta Reeves | 37 | Disappeared 1990 | - |
| 44 | Patricia Yellow Robe | 38 | Disappeared 1998 | Aug. 6, 1998 |
via Wikipedia
Further Reading:
- Letter from Ridgway to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Green River Killer Avoids Death Penalty
- Crime Library Article on Green River Killer
- Wife of Green River Killer Breaks Silence
- Prosecutor’s Summary of Evidence Update
This article is licensed under the GFDL.
On Page two - A&E Biography on Gary Ridgway aka Green River Killer
Posted in Monday Maniacs
June 20th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Where did you end up putting the gril called hel
June 20th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
What maded you want to kill all of them and just keep doing the same thing to the rest of the girls and why did you do it. Because4 you should have known they would have caught you sooner or later.