Male Serial Killers: Gary Ridgeway In the summer of 1982, one of the nation’s worst and deadliest serial killers would start a killing spree that would last for almost 2 decades. This killer was known as the “Green River Killer,” but his real name was Gary Leon Ridgway. Ridgeway would murder numerous women in and around the Seattle, Washington area during the 1980s and the 1990s. When he was captured in 2001, Ridgway had admitted to killing 48 plus women. (Rule, 2004) Though, it is still believed that there are other victims that have not been identified. In the following, I will describe who Ridgway is, how he committed his crimes, what makes him unique, and how he was finally caught. I will also describe the mistakes the …show more content…
The task force would go on to interview several other suspects, including an unemployed cab driver named Melvin Wayne Foster. (Rule, 2004) Foster, just like Tackley, had no connection to the murders. All the suspects investigated during the fall of 1982 showed no connection to the Green River murders. The first real evidence came in February 1984. Mike Barber, a reporter for the Post-Intelligencer, received a letter that contained information about the Green River murders that was not released to the public. (Rule, 2004) The letter was written with no spaces between the words and was intended to help the investigators learn who the killer was. (Rule, 2004) The letter never did lead investigators in the right direction, but it did give them insight into how he thought. The investigators also spoke with Ted Bundy. (Rule, 2004) Though, the information given by Bundy did not help, nor did it have any real impact on the investigation at all. In the late 1980s, the Green River Task Force had no leads or suspects wanted in connection with the Green River murders. The investigation started to slow and many investigators started to lose interest into finding who the killer was. Though, the investigators did take one last look at suspects, which Ridgway caught their eye. Ridgway was someone who liked to have sex with prostitutes and the investigators searched his home, work locker, and three vehicles he owned at the time. (Rule, 2004) The
Back on October 3, 1974 at approximately 10:45pm two Memphis police officers were on patrol and received a complaint from dispatch to respond to a burglary in progress (Tennessee v. Garner, 1986). Officers Leslie Wright and Elton Hymon took the call and responded to the location in question (Tennessee v. Garner, 1986). After arriving, a neighbor told the two officers she heard glass breaking next door and “they” were breaking into the home (Tennessee v. Garner, 1986). While officer Wright radioed back to dispatch the situation, officer Hymon proceeded to the backyard of the home (Tennessee v. Garner, 1986). Hymon then heard a door slam and seen a person running across the lawn towards a chain link fence, later identified as Edward Garner
Crime occurs every day, all over the world. Most crime is unreported or is unknown to the vast majority of the populations. Over time, crime has grown to become a normal part of society and typically people are not surprised to hear that a crime has been committed. Most crimes are dealt with and forgotten, however a few crimes grab the media’s attention and are highly publicized, ultimately giving the criminal their 15 minutes of infamy. Ted Bundy was one of these criminals. Bundy was a law student in Utah and during the 1970’s, he assaulted, raped and murdered at least 30 known women with some criminologists suspecting as high as nearly 100 victims. The tactics he used along with the extent of his killings is how Bundy acquired his long lasting infamy and notoriety as one of America’s top 10 most wanted during his time. Our true focus here is explaining why these murders occurred; truly understanding the motivation behind Bundy’s actions and finding the roots of causation which could lead a person to commit such serious crimes.
The Green River Killer Type of Trace Evidence Used: Paint Date of Case: 1982-1987 Location of Case: Seattle, Washington, U.S. Summary of Case: Gary Ridgway was suspected of being the Green River Killer. A microscopic search of his clothing showed that paint spheres on his clothes were identical to paint spheres on six of the victims. The paint was identified as Imron, a paint manufactured before 1984. On top of that, two of the victims related to Ridgway through DNA evidence. Ridgway confessed to the murders of 48 women to avoid the death penalty.
From Ted Bundy to BTK to the “Zodiac Killer”, serial killers have been around the United States for a long time, but none is better than Richard Chase, or better known as the “Vampire of Sacramento”, to investigate the reasons behind serial killers. Born on May 23, 1950, Chase was raised in a very strict house and was constantly abused by his parents. As a
Gary Ridgway was a truck painter and he had a special place where he would go and dump his victims; in and around the green river. The first body was discovered in the green river by passing pedestrians in spring of 1982 it was the body of young 16 year old Wendy Lee Coffield and she was strangled to death. (Seattle times 2003) It seems that the green river killer didn’t care what age a girl was he was cynical enough to have sex with her and kill her. Age was defiantly not a factor; he viewed women as objects
Los Angeles, California went through a time period where serial killings happened and the suspect was on the run for over two decades. Most of the victims were prostitutes in South Los Angeles. The serial killer began his killings in 1987, apparently stopped for 13 years then resumed with his killings. The killer left little to no evidence, besides his DNA from sexually assaulting his female victims. For decades LAPD failed to find the killer or anyone who was related to him (Dolan & Landsberg, 2010).
Serial murder crime though rare, is not a a new phenomenon. This crime has been committed for centuries and will continue to be a crime that is committed throughout the world. It is unfortunate and scary that this is probably one of the most serious of crimes that cannot be prevented. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, serial murderers commit their crimes because they want to. Rehabilitation is not obtainable for serial killers due to their inability for remorse and empathy, or to see people as people and not objects(Knight 2006). This research paper will focus primarily on serial murder within the U.S. First and foremost, a legal definition provided by the U.S. Department of Justice will be presented to set forth the discussion of this research paper. As follows will be a detailed discussion explaining serial killer typologies with the use of examples of known serial killers in the U.S. Types of serial killers are: power oriented, mission oriented, visionary, and hedonistic, each typology will be clearly defined and explained. Some serial killers can have a mixture of each typology’s characteristic. Serial killers that will be discussed and used as examples to represent the content of this research paper will be, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Robert Berdella, Jeffery Dahmer, and lastly the most prolific serial killer in American history, Gary Ridgeway. Problems with studying serial killing, are that because of rarity and access. Most of what we think
The investigation of Rita Crundwell started with a tip from the interim Controller of the city of Dixon, Kathe Swanson. She was taking the place of Rita Crundwell while Rita was partaking in an extended vacation. Swanson noticed a suspicious account called R.S.C.D.A., which stood for Reserve Sewer Capital Development Account. Large amounts of city funds were being deposited into this account, and there was no evidence that the money in this account was being used for city purposes. This is a major red flag to Swanson, who immediately took that information and reported it to the Mayor of Dixon, James Burke. Burke then contacted the FBI to further investigate the incident.
The case was like any other, but a surprise witness played a big role in the case. Vivian Gordon, informed the investigators women were falsely arrested for prostitution by the New York Police Department, for doing this the police officers received extra money on their usual pay checks. After Vivian testified in court she was randomly found dead in a park in the Bronx, New York. The death of Vivian Gordon would show the people of New York that corruption can lead to horrible and unchangeable acts and also Walker could most likely be linked back to
Ted Bundys murders took place in the years of 1966-1978. His first victim went by the name of Lonnie Trumball. She was killed in Seattle on June 23, 1966. He began a killing spree around the year 1972. Bundy said he first murder was like a “horrible dream.” Bundys last known victim went by the name Ann Leach. She was believed to be killed on February 9, 1978 in Salt Lake City, Florida. Some people believe that his first victim may have been an eight year old girl from Tacoma. If that was true he would have been fourteen at the age of his first murder, but that statement was not proven true. The majority of his victims were young women who looked like a girl that had ended a long-term relationship with him. Bundy said that when he committed these horrific murders, it felt like being possessed by something awful and alien. Ted Bundy blamed nothing but himself and pornography for his murders.
Although the Gilgo Beach killer had been active for years his presence was made known in 2010. In May 1, 2010 Shannan Gilbert a sex worker form New Jersey disappeared after leaving a clients (Joe Brewer) home. Ms. Gilbert responded to an AD she posted on Craigslist and went out to meet her client in Oak Beach, Long Island. The night she disappeared Shannan Gilbert called 911 claiming that someone was out to get her and that they were trying to kill her. Ms. Gilbert was last seen banging on someone’s door before she completely disappeared. Meanwhile on June 5, 2010 another sex
1. What led the FBI to investigate this particular place was that there was a rumor that had said that Sunny Red and two other gang members had been murdered in an ugly power struggle in the banana crime sinican.
Gary Leon Ridgway was born on February 18, 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was raised in the McMicken Heights in SeaTac, Washington by both of his parents. Growing up Ridgway saw a lot of violence and arguments between his parents. Growing up, his mother noticed that he was constantly wetting the bed. After cleaning him up, she would embarrass him in front of family members. As a young boy, he sort of developed a sexual attraction towards his mom because she would always wear tight clothing and a lot of make-up. He would be attracted to her, but he would also have anger towards her at the same time. Like everyone else, he took the Intelligence Quotient Test, but did not do so great. His IQ score was 82 which is fairly low. His IQ
The ones most responsible for controlling crime in the community is the community itself. Although the other factors, such as government, education, and families, are crucial, the community is ultimately accountable. They are the ones who control a large group of people and attend their specific needs. In order to control crimes within the neighborhood, it should be solved by the people who live within the region. In addition, the individuals living in the area must be able to solve their own situations, which in this case includes controlling crime.
No one will ever really know what happened to set Ted Bundy off, but around 1973 he began raping and murdering women at a surprising rate. No one really knows exactly when and how many woman he had murdered but he was a prime suspect in many unsolved murders. Kathy Devine was last seen getting into a green pick-up on November 25, 1973, which was later found that Ted Bundy had the same green pick-up at the time. Fifteen year old Divine's decomposed remains were found on December 6 with her jeans cut open in between her legs. Her throat was cut and the investigators concluded that she was murdered right after she disappeared and there were no leads or evidence to bring someone to justice for the acts they have committed on this poor girl.