Gary Ridgway: Why Serial Killers Kill People

He did have some close calls. In 1983, a victim named Maria was taken off the strip where her boyfriend saw her being taken. The boyfriend followed the pickup truck, yet the truck got away from him(Harthorne, 2013). The police questioned Gary Ridgway because the boyfriend recognized it to be his truck. Gary Ridgway convinced the police that it was not his truck.

Gary Ridgway went on a killing spree for about 19 years. He would strangle young female runaways and prostitutes after having

It was a summer Sunday afternoon in 1982, a partially clothed body discovered floating in the river, becoming a gruesome welcome to a serial killer’s trail (McCarthy & Thornburgh, 2002, p. 1). Next to this woman’s body was a naked 17-year-old girl who was strangled in the same manner as the first (McCarthy & Thornburgh, 2002, p. 1). The horrific discovery of these two women, Marcia Chapman and Cynthia Hinds, will become the beginning of a trail of serial murders. As murders mounted, the killer would be identified as ‘The Green River Killer” because his identity would remain unknown for 19 years. In 2001 detectives were able to use a new technology that tested DNA samples (McCarthy & Thornburgh, 2002, p. 8).

Gary Ridgway is known as the most prolific serial killer in the United States. Over the course of approximately ten years (1980s-1990s), Ridgway self-reported that he killed at least 71 women, if not more, claiming in his court statements to having “lost count”. Gary Ridgway was convicted for the murders of 49 women despite his confessions. The victims of these murders were found to be mostly prostitutes and sex workers that were drawn in to Ridgway’s car, raped, strangled, and dumped into the woods near the Green River (hence the alias name provided to Ridgway by law enforcement). In an interview conducted by police, Ridgway stated how unfair it was that “everyone knows about Ted Bundy, but not about the Green River Killer”, leaving police

Ridgway committed all his murders between 1982 and 1998 (Seattle Times). His victims were all prostitutes or runaways as he considered them easier targets, knowing it would take longer for them to come up as missing. He often stated he hated prostitutes for being around, while simultaneously and frequently utilizing their services throughout his whole life. It is also on record that his father had a deep hatred toward prostitutes. Ridgway made himself as appealing to the women as possible, often planting his sons toys in his truck, or showing them a photo of his son he kept in his wallet, in order to make him seem less dangerous.

Such as any other serial killer the Green River Killer, also known as Gary Ridgway was one of the worst serial killers whose reign ended in 1998. Targeting mainly prostitutes because he didn’t want to spend money for sex. How does that make someone go on a rampage to killing more than 40 people? Thus, Gary’s sickness of violence started since his childhood.

Case Study 1: BTK In 2005, serial killer Dennis Rader, also known as BTK (bind, torture, and kill), was arrested and convicted of murdering 10 people in Kansas between the years of 1974 and 1991. Rader sent numerous notes to the police, but they couldn’t prove for sure that he was the one committing the murders. In 2004, he began sending things to the police once again. However, this time Rader sent a document created in Microsoft Word on a floppy disk.

There have been millions of serial killers who are homosexual, but has someone ever wondered about their reason for killing? Many have different reasons finical gain, jealousy, or even hatred for a specific group, even themselves. John Wayne Gacy is one of the most famous homosexual serial killers out there and his reasons for killing stood out among the others. His reasons for killing were contrasted with other serial killers, they seemingly were more hateful and horrendous. John Wayne Gacy killed 33 young men and boys due to his abusive childhood, his relationship with his father, the ostracization he went through as a child, and the raging homophobia he grew up with.

John Wayne Gacy is a serial killer who killed 33 people in total. He was born on May 17th 1942 in Chicago where he was physically and verbally abused by his father. Since this age he showed unusual behaviours and avoiding society, but then was determined that he has a psychological disorder. He moved to Los Angeles and was living a normal life however he started showing his real face in 1968 where he raped a young, male employee.

It can be difficult to understand why anyone would choose to murder another human being. However, not all serial killers have the same motivation behind their crimes. There are many different categories, and each tend to have different reason for why they choose to take the lives of others. The two main types of serial killers are organized and disorganized. From there, they can be broken down into even more specific categories, however, each category will usually fall under organized or disorganized.

The serial killer I am researching is Ed Gein. He was born on August 27, 1906 and died on July 26, 1984. He was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He lived with his dad, his mom, and his older brother named Henry.

Gary Ridgway On February 18, 1949, Mary Rita Ridgway and Tom Ridgway welcomed their son Gary Leon Ridgway into the world (Gary Leon Ridgway).This child would grow up to be famous for admitting to the most serial killings(Gary Ridgway). Gary Ridgway committed his series of murders over a period of twenty years, until he was caught in 2001(Gary Ridgway-bio). He was caught then because of a DNA test (Gary Leon Ridgway). Gary Ridgway has admitted to killing at least forty-nine women, but there is a possibility that number of deceased women is actually higher. (Gary Leon Ridgway).

Ted Bundy was a notorious serial murderer who’s reign of terror lasted from 1974 to 1978. Bundy was convicted of three homicides and was sentenced to death for all three charges. However, at the time of his execution, Bundy confessed to 30 murders however the exact number of victims is still unknown. Bundy’s crimes evolved over time but he was both a sexual sadist and a necrophiliac serial killer. At the beginning of his rampage, Bundy would sneak into the victims house in the middle of the night, violently attack them while they were sleeping with a blunt object and then Bundy would usually sexually assault them.

Criteria: Describe the criteria for a serial killer and what did the person do to qualify as a serial killer? A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people. The murders take place within a certain period of time and takes a break (cooling off period) between murders. The FBI believe it’s two or more murders which are done as separate events, and may be done with a second offender.

It is frightening having to conduct a study on certain people that have been bad to society. The reason for saying that is because there are certain studies that have committed horrible crimes where there were many deaths involved. Some of the studies I am referring to are serial killers and terrorists. I believe that individuals that have committed many terrible crimes will not have the ability to reason with anyone, because they believe their actions to be normal or that were meant to happen. When it comes to terrorists committing crimes the American Psychological Association says that they commit those crimes, because they “feel angry, alienated or disenfranchised, believe that their current political involvement does not give them