Gary Leon Ridgway American serial killer. Date of Birth: 18.02.1949 Country: USA

Biography of Gary Leon Ridgway

Gary Leon Ridgway, an American serial killer, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Mary Rita Steinman and Thomas Newton Ridgway. He grew up in a difficult household, witnessing intense family arguments caused by his mother's volatile temperament. Ridgway had a complex mix of sexual attraction and hatred towards his mother.

During his youth, Ridgway did not excel academically, scoring consistently low on intelligence tests and struggling in school. However, his classmates described him as intelligent but incredibly absent-minded. As he grew older, Ridgway's personality underwent a significant change.

At the age of 16, Ridgway stabbed a six-year-old boy just because he wanted to experience killing someone. After graduating high school, Ridgway volunteered for the Navy and served in Vietnam, participating in combat missions on supply transport ships. When he returned from the military, Ridgway appeared friendly but eccentric to those around him.

Ridgway's two marriages ended in divorce due to mutual infidelity, with both wives, Rebecca Guay and Marcia Ridgway, recalling that he had attempted to strangle them. In 1975, his second wife gave birth to their son, Matthew, who later became a Marine and currently resides in San Diego.

Ridgway is attributed to the murders of 49 women, primarily prostitutes and runaways, in the areas surrounding Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. He targeted his victims along the Pacific Highway South. Ridgway disposed of the bodies of his victims in the forest near the Green River, except for four women found near Portland, Oregon. It was later discovered that he intentionally moved some victims outside of his usual hunting grounds to confuse the authorities.

His modus operandi involved gaining the trust of the women he picked up on the highway, showing them a photo of his son. After engaging in sexual intercourse, Ridgway would strangle them. Initially, he used his bare hands, but switched to using ligatures after realizing that scars on his hands could draw attention.

In the early 1980s, a special task force was formed by the sheriff's office to investigate the Green River killings, which included Robert Keppel and Dave Reichert. They sought consultation from another infamous American serial killer, Ted Bundy, but found his advice largely unhelpful.

Ridgway was arrested twice, once in 1982 and again in 2001, primarily on prostitution-related charges. In 1983, he was first suspected of the Green River murders and underwent a successful polygraph test in 1984. Three years later, in 1987, samples of Ridgway's hair and saliva were taken, which played a crucial role in the subsequent investigation.

In 1985, Ridgway started a relationship with Judith Mawson, who became his third wife in 1988. Mawson later revealed that Ridgway spent a significant amount of time away from home, supposedly on additional morning shifts. Ridgway claimed that his desire to kill diminished after meeting Mawson, and she believed that she saved lives by being a good wife to him.

After a thorough analysis of Ridgway's DNA samples, he was arrested on November 30, 2001, initially charged with the murders of four women two decades earlier. More victims were added to the list later after paint found on their bodies matched the type used in the factory where Ridgway worked as a painter.

On November 5, 2003, Ridgway was charged with 48 counts of first-degree murder, which could have led to the death penalty. However, a plea deal was reached, reducing his sentence to life imprisonment without parole in exchange for him revealing the burial sites of all his victims. On December 18, 2003, Judge Richard Jones sentenced Ridgway to 48 consecutive life terms and an additional 480 years for the concealment of evidence, totaling 48 life sentences and 480 years.

Ridgway fulfilled his promise and assisted the police by pointing out three previously undiscovered female victims. He admitted to more murders than any other American serial killer, with all 48 charges being certain and an additional 42 cases where he was a suspect. Ridgway confessed to these crimes within a span of five months while serving his sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington.