1. Gary Ridgway
The Green River Killer

2. Childhood Born on February 18th, 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah
His parents were Mary Steinman and Thomas Ridgway
He has two brothers, Gregory and Thomas Jr.
His home life was a bit troubled with a domineering mother and having to witness many violent arguments
He had a problem with wetting the bed and his mom would embarrass him about it and belittle him in front of their family
This lead him to have conflicting feelings of sexual attractions and anger towards her

3. Childhood He did poorly in school and had very low intelligence
When he was a teenager, he led a 6 year old boy into the woods and stabbed him, luckily the boy lived
The boy said that Gary walked away laughing and heard him say “I always wondered what it would be like to kill someone.”

4. Adult Life He graduated from high school and married Claudia Barrows
He joined the navy, where he spent a lot of time with prostitutes and ended up contracting a STD
He had a second marriage after divorcing Claudia, who he had a son, Matthew, with and that marriage also ended.
Both of his ex wives claimed that he was abusive and would even place them in chokeholds at times, as well as trying to make them perform sexual acts in inappropriate, public places.
He married a third time in 1988 to Judith Mawson

5. Crimes *He was convicted of 49 murders but confessed to
killing 71 in total
Crime
Date
Victims
Punishment
Murder (all first degree)
July 8th, 1982
Wendy Lee Coffield
Life sentence
Murder
July 17th, 1982
Gisele Ann Lovvorn
July 25th, 1982
Debra Lynn Bonner
August 1st, 1982
Marcia Fay Chapman
August 11th, 1982
Cynthia Jean Hinds
August 12th, 1982
Opal Charmine Mills
August 29th, 1982
Terry Rene Milligan
September 15th, 1982
Mary Bridget Meehan
September 20th, 1982
Debra Lorraine Estes
September 26th, 1982
Linda Jane Rule
October 8th, 1982
Denise Darcel Bush
11/49 of his
victims that
he was convicted
of killing

6. Evidence he was guilty
tiny spheres of sprayed paint were discovered at a number of the crime scenes and it was the same paint from where Ridgway worked at a truck factory
his DNA was a match with some found on the bodies of the victims
He was able to lead the police to exact locations where other bodies were
He lived in/around the area where all the victims were killed
He had an obsession with prostitutes and almost all of his victims were prostitues

7. Charges and Sentence Convicted in January 2004
48 charges of first degree murder
48 life sentences with no possibility of parole and one life sentence to be served consecutively
Sentenced to an additional 10 years for tampering with evidence for each of the 48 victims, adding 480 years to his 48 life sentences
He is currently serving his time at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington.

9. Nickname
The Green River Killer

10. Books Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule
Defending Gary by Mark Prothero
The Green River Killer by The King
County Journal Staff
Green River Serial Killer by Pennie Morehead

11. Movies Green River Killer The Capture of the Green River Killer

12. Songs “Deep Red Bells” by Neko Case
“I Wanna Know What Love Is” by Julie Ruin
This song was inspired by her own life while she was growing up as a teenager during the time of the murders
“He led you to this hiding place His lightning threats on silver tongue The red bells beckon you to ride A hand print on the driver’s side It looks a lot like engine oil”
This song mentions the Green River Killer and his violence against women
“how many girls stay awake all night too scared to sleep and too scared to fight back i know you know what i'm talking about another woman killed and hardly a pout about it green river killer my f****** a** the cops have gotta be deaf, dumb, and spastic to not catch the killer(s) of one hundred woman i guess it'd be different if they thought we were human”

13. Theory
Gary Ridgeway’s crimes and harmful acts can be observed and categorized within the differential-association theory, which states how criminal behavior is learned from interactions with others. Based on his belittling and shameful childhood, it leads to belief that he was grown up with an internal anger. His mother abused him and embarrassed him, making him feel of lesser value in life. Growing up that way, he was used to that kind of aggressive environment, so he thought it was ok to act in the manner that he did. Also, his bus driver father constantly complained to their family about the prostitutes on the side of the road on the routes that he took. Gary’s victims were almost all prostitutes, so he learned to develop a sort of grudge against them while growing up and held onto it. The differential-association theory also states that one is more inclined to become a criminal if their values and the values of the individuals who has a strong influence over them supports criminal activity. There are various aspects in his life that support this reasoning. His mother, someone a child is supposed to look up to, beat and abused her children. The Ridgway home was a rough household but it was just normal to Gary, so he thought nothing wrong of the behavior. Also, Gary received little to no punishment when he stabbed a six year old boy in the woods, leading him to believe he can get away with things like this. If Gary Ridgway would have been raised and taught differently at an early age, then there may not have ever been a “Green River Killer”.