Gary Ridgway

On November 30, 2001 Gary Ridgway, was arrested for the aggravated murder in the deaths of four young women, Marcia Chapman, 31, Opal Mills, 16, Cynthia Hinds, 17, and Carol Christensen, 21.

The four women were identified as among the estimated 49 victims of the Green River Killer in the early 1980s. He has pleaded not guilty.

His arrest came after a saliva sample he gave 15 years ago -- along with hair and blood samples -- was tested last year with modern DNA technology. Police and prosecutors say the new test showed that Ridgway's DNA was a full or partial match to semen found on the bodies of three women previously identified as Green River victims. The fourth victim was linked to Ridgway by circumstantial evidence, prosecutors said.

Several Green River victims were last seen alive while getting into blue or green pickup trucks in March and April 1983. Ridgway drove a 1975 maroon Dodge pickup truck that was broken down during that time, and instead had access to his brother's 1970 aqua Dodge pickup and his father's pickup truck.

He first came to the attention of authorities in the 1980s when he was reported to have been the last person seen with several victims.

In 1987, they say Ridgway had similar green carpet in the bedrooms of his home

At five of the sites -- including the Green River where the first victims were found -- investigators discovered something different: metal fragments, containing aluminum.

The search warrant says aluminum is a metal used at Kenworth Truck Manufacturing Company in Renton, where Gary Ridgway is employed.

Bibliography

Newspaper Articles from time of Ridgeway's arrest

Written by Korey Sifuentes

Copyright © 2002  by [The Crime Web].

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Original Written: December 3, 2001

Updated: January 30, 2002