Evidence: Reflection

The fact that it took 20 years to find enough evidence to convict Ridgway can’t really be blamed on the task force responsible for collecting it. For years, they help the evidence that would have ended the search, if they had only been able to use it. They did what they could with the evidence they could use. It has to be noted that they did narrow in on the real killer twice, even though they were unable to solidify the evidence. Lack of technology prevented them from doing what would condemn Ridgway sooner rather than later. The rising body count provided tons of evidence that couldn’t be used. So it was smart of detective Reichert to preserve what he had to test at a later time. Body evidence is fragile and cannot be recreated, especially if the person it was taken from is dead like the victims were. If the decision to go ahead and send the samples off for testing had went through, it is possible that they would have been destroyed. They could have lost all the evidence they had and been left with only circumstantial evidence, which is not allowed in court solely on its own.