1. Gary Ridgway aka the green River killer
“I always wondered what it was like to kill someone”

2. Background Ridgway home
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

3. Background cont Judith Mawson
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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Cultural references
Books (3 of many)
Green River Killer Green River Killer: Defending Gary:
Non-fiction A True Detective Story Unraveling the Mind of the
Non-fiction Green River Killer
Non-fiction

8. Cultural reference cont.
(3 of many)
Movies/Film
Movie Movie Documentary
June 13, March 15, May 6, 2013

9. 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.

10. 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.