New Technology Finally Ended the Depredations of This Homicidal Stalker
Gary Ridgway attracted law enforcement’s attention in 1987. Many prostitutes who worked along Washington State Route 99 – which he drove to and from work – described a suspect who resembled him. When investigators scrutinized his work record, they discovered that many victims’ disappearances coincided with Ridgway’s days off. Police took him into custody, but he passed a polygraph test, and allowed investigators to take hair and saliva samples. Released for lack of evidence, the Green River Killer was soon back on the prowl. Finally, in 2001, a new generation of detectives took over the investigation.
They had been children when Ridgway got started as a deadly stalker and serial killer of prostitutes, and now made effective use of computers in their investigations. They also had access to modern DNA techniques that had not existed in the 1980s. Ridgway’s hair and saliva samples, carefully preserved since 1987, were sent for DNA analysis. They returned a match that tied him to four victims. He was arrested, and entered a plea deal in which he disclosed the locations of dozens of still-missing women. In exchange, Ridgway was spared the death penalty, and was sentenced instead to life in prison without the possibility of parole.