Green River Killer
Overview of a Serial Killer
In August 1982, law enforcement authorities had discovered six bodies in six months. All were young women. All were discovered in or near the Green River, on the edge of Seattle in King County, Washington.
Detective Dave Reichert of the King County Major Crime Squad led the largest task force put together since Ted Bundy's murder investigation. The FBI helped them out. Initially, they were swamped with information by the public. Evidence got lost. Information was overlooked.
The victims shared a common profession - prostitution. A few possible suspects were investigated but the case continued to drag on. Captain Frank Adamson took over the task force in January 1984. That year, Ted Bundy became a consultant to help police understand the mind of a serial killer.
In 1985, FBI profiler John Douglas took another look at the profile and decided there were actually two killers. The theory sounded good, but that is as far as it went. By the spring of 1986, the public was mocking the task force for its inability to stop the murders.
The number of men assigned to the task force was reduced in 1986, and it the new leader was Captain James Pompey. The following year, detectives began to piece together clues that led to a suspect previously encountered during the investigation.
A warrant was signed on April 8, 1987, allowing police to search the house and take DNA samples from Gary Ridgway. Insufficient evidence was found and he was released. Weeks later, Captain Pompey died of a heart attack. Rumors suggested the Green River Killer had done it.
The discovery of over 20 dead prostitutes in San Diego in 1988 prompted Detective Reichert and the new task force commander Bob Evans to join forces with California authorities. Their work together led to a new suspect. After being profiled on "Crime Stoppers," the name of William J. Stevens came up. There was insufficent evidence to connect him to the murders.
By July 1991 the task force was reduced to only one - Tom Jensen. With a track of record of about 49 victims and $15 million dollars spent in the last nine years, this had become the nation's largest unsolved murder case. Ten years went by.
Detective Reichert became King County Sherriff Reichert in 2001. The Green River Case still bothered him, and he reopened the investigation. New technology was used to test the remains of the victims. There was a sperm match between some of the girls and Gary Ridgway. November 30, 2001, he was arrested and charged with four murders.
The trial, sentencing, conflicting statements, and inconsistencies withint the Green River Case still leave many questions unanswered. Was Ridgway the real killer, or just one of them?
