Gary Ridgway

Gary Ridgway is an American serial killer convicted of murdering 49 women and girls in Washington State. Known as the Green River Killer, he confessed to additional murders.

Green River Killer: The name given to the unidentified serial killer responsible for a series of murders near Washington’s Green River. Ridgway became known by this name after the murders were linked to him.
Serial murder: The killing of multiple people in separate events by the same offender, with time between incidents. Ridgway’s murders are classified as serial murder.
Missing and murdered women: A broad social and investigative issue concerning women who disappear or are killed, often amid barriers to recognition and justice. The victims’ cases drew attention to how missing women could receive unequal investigative attention.
Ted Bundy: An American serial killer convicted of murdering multiple young women during the 1970s. Bundy’s crimes in Washington preceded Ridgway’s and are often compared in accounts of regional serial murder.
Green River Killer investigation: The decades-long law-enforcement effort to identify and prosecute the Green River Killer. Its changing methods and unresolved leads shaped the case against Ridgway.
Forensic DNA analysis: The use of genetic material as evidence to identify individuals or establish biological relationships. Stored evidence was reexamined with improved DNA methods to identify Ridgway.
Media coverage of crime: The reporting and public presentation of criminal events by news and entertainment media. Coverage popularized the Green River Killer name and shaped public understanding of the case.
John Wayne Gacy: An American serial killer convicted of murdering 33 young men and boys in Illinois. Gacy’s prosecution offers a distinct comparison in the scale and investigation of serial murder.
Green River Task Force: A multiagency Washington law-enforcement unit formed to investigate the Green River murders. The task force coordinated the original investigation that eventually led to Ridgway.
Plea bargain: An agreement in which a defendant pleads guilty in exchange for specified prosecutorial concessions. Ridgway’s agreement exchanged guilty pleas for cooperation locating victims’ remains.

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Ann RuleBroader topic: He was the killer identified in the Green River case Rule reported.