Today's Wicked is a particularly nasty SOB, who managed to elude police for almost twenty years after his first known murder. Gary Ridgway - better known as The Green River Killer - was convicted of 49 murders, but confessed to over 70 and is suspected of more than 90 murders. The first in his long line of killings dates back to 1982.
But that's not where his evil started. When he was 16, he lured a 6 year old boy into the woods and stabbed him. The boy lived to tell the tale of Ridgway laughing afterwards and talking about how he had always wondered what it felt like to kill someone.
From what I could research, Gary left little boys alone and chose the remainder of his victims from a wide pool of woman and girls employed in the oldest profession. Despite his religious fervor and apparent distaste for these women, he spent a great deal of money spending time with them before and during the years he killed them.
Thanks to the advances in technology, authorities were finally able to connect DNA evidence to Gary Ridgway. He was arrested in 2001. After a plea deal for information leading to the whereabouts of some of his victims' bodies, he is spending his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The deaths attributed to Gary Ridgway span the years of 1982 to 1998. But there still remains suspicion that his last murder may have actually been in 2001. Whether or not that is true is something we may never know.
The unfortunate thing is that Ridgway was actually investigated as The Green River Killer back in 1983, but there didn't seem to be insufficient evidence to actually arrest the dude. The sick thing he passed a lie detector test - which is probably why they're still not admissable in court. After all, if a sicko like Ridgway can pass one, who know how many other criminals would escape justice?
In this case, DNA put the right man away - probably almost 20 years too late, but he'll never kill another woman. Personally, I'd be happier if he was extra-crispy, but I understand the plea bargain in this case. The families of those missing women deserved to know where their loved ones went.
What do you think about lie detector tests? Do you think you could pass one? Personally, I think I'd fail them all - even telling the perfect truth - because I totally spazz in confrontational situations.
I'd totally fail too.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I just hope I never have to take one!
ReplyDeleteI'd fail, too. I've heard for years they don't work for beans. Sociopaths have no trouble with them.
ReplyDeleteI saw a documentary about this guy in which you saw him in court and in interview and he was scary calm & cool. No emotions at all, to my mind a stone cold killer. I felt so sorry for his wife.
ReplyDeleteI can't even walk through the green at customs checkpoints without flushing & feeling guilty. I'm live in a block of flats, ground floor, and my next door neighbour got raided by the Police on a lovely Sunday morning. When the copper outside yelled "Police, stay where you are", I did! Took me a couple of minutes to realise they didn't mean me....doh! Even though I hadn't done anything, I still responded to police authority. I can't lie for toffee so I'd fail. I think the anxiety of having to take the test would cause me to fail as well.
I've taken a couple of lie detector tests. A lot of it depends on the operator and how they read the responses. And yes, I passed them (job related, LOL) Yes, you can fake them with a great deal of control. Pathological liars and psychopaths can pass them--the liars because they believe what they are saying is the truth, and psychos because they have no guilt.
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