Conclusion

The Green River murders wreaked havoc on the Seattle, Washington strip for over 20 years. Starting with the discovery of three women along and in the river, these murders led to a huge run-around investigation as well as a body count that exceeded 60 victims. DNA testing was not a well known technology in the 80’s, so it was near impossible for police to use the small samples that they were able to collect. Because of this, the Green River Task Force was forced into waiting and marking the case as ‘unsolved’. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s when detective Jensen was finally able to reopen the case and use the evidence that finally allowed him to track down the murderer; Gary Leon Ridgway of King County, Washington.  Originally charged with just four murders, Ridgway believed that he would be able to escape prosecution and the death penalty by pleading “not guilty”. But as more and more evidence was mounted against him, linking him to more than the original three murders, he finally realized that he had lost. Ridgway admitted to over 60 murders. When questioned why, he responded, ‘I hate most prostitutes and I did not want to pay them for sex.” (Green River Running Red (Book)) He agreed to help police locate the missing bodies and received a life without parole sentence. The Green River murders and the hunt itself became very famous. Several musicians wrote songs referencing to Ridgway and the murders including Julie Ruin’s song I Want to Know What Love Is and Neko Case's famous song Deep Red Bells. Multiple books were also written about the investigation including Chasing the Devil by actual detective David Reichert and Green River Running Red by Ann Rule. The Green River murders are definitely one of the most notorious serial murder cases in the U.S., right along with the ones committed by Bundy, Gacy, and even Mason.