Gary Ridgway: Dark Truth Behind the Quiet Life of the Worst Killer in America

Gary Ridgway is a name that still scares people over the United States.

It is a name that starts with a truth that’s hard to believe.

He did not grow up looking like a person. In fact his early life seemed normal and calm.

This makes what happened later more disturbing.

Gary Ridgway was born on February 18, 1949, in Salt Lake City.

His father worked as a bus driver and his mother worked as a salesperson. They lived in a home where the kids had enough space to play outside.

From the outside everything seemed fine. Friends said Gary Ridgway was polite and easy to talk to. He liked sports. Liked girls. He fit in with teenagers at school. People who knew him said he was a nice guy.

Beneath the surface something was not right. His mother, Mary was strict and controlling. She would sometimes hit him for things. This made the home a tense place, for the younger kids.

Gary Ridgway had feelings towards his mother. He was angry with her. He also had thoughts about her that were not right. These feelings stayed hidden. They affected how he behaved over time.

Neighbors noticed some things. One neighbor remembered hearing people shouting and getting punished in the household.

The punishments could be harsh with crying coming from the yard. These moments hinted at an unstable home life than it seemed.

In school Gary Ridgway had some problems. He had trouble reading. Had to repeat a grade. He did not do well in class. Often felt behind his friends.

When Gary Ridgway was sixteen something big happened. He took a six year boy to a wooded area and stabbed him. The boy did not die. The attack showed that Gary Ridgway was capable of violence.

After school Gary Ridgway joined the Navy in 1969. He did this of waiting to be drafted. Around the time he married his high school girlfriend, Claudia Kraig.. The marriage did not last long.

When Gary Ridgway was in Vietnam his behavior became more reckless. He would often go to sex workers. Got a disease called gonorrhea. Though he was married he kept doing these things and did not care about the consequences or his wife’s feelings.

The marriage with Claudia ended quickly. Within a year they got divorced. This was a sign of how unstable Gary Ridgway’s personal life could be.

In 1973 Gary Ridgway married again. This time he married Marcia Winslow. They had a son together. At first the relationship seemed okay. There were some warning signs.

Gary Ridgway met Marcia in a way. He pulled her over like a police stop. He looked like a police officer. He was not. He later said he had tried to be a police officer but failed.

As they got to know each other some unsettling things came up. Sometimes when they were intimate Gary Ridgway would call Marcia by his wife’s name. Over time his behavior became more controlling and unpredictable.

Gary Ridgway also became very religious. He would read the Bible loud at home and even at work. He would go door to door preaching.

Wanted everyone to follow the Bibles teachings. He would cry during church services, which made people think he was very emotional and sincere.

Gary Ridgway’s religious behavior was mixed with some bad actions. He would secretly go to sex workers while demanding that his wife follow rules. This made his behavior confusing and troubling for people to him.

There was a lot of tension in the household. Marcia had some weight problems. Got surgery to lose weight. When she started getting attention from people Gary Ridgway got jealous. They would argue a lot.

Gary Ridgway’s mother was still very involved in their lives. She controlled the money. Made many decisions, including what Gary Ridgway wore.

Marcia felt alone and unsupported especially when Gary Ridgway’s mother would criticize her parenting.

After seven years Gary Ridgway and Marcia got divorced. Marcia later said that during one argument Gary Ridgway choked her. This showed a pattern of control and aggression that had been building for years.

In 1985 Gary Ridgway married again. This time he married Judith Mawson. They met through a group for parents. Judith thought Gary Ridgway was dependable and calm. He had a job and a normal life.

He worked as a truck painter. Had kept that job for over ten years. Before Judith moved in he even fixed up the house. This made people think he was a person.

At the same time something much darker was happening. In the 1980s the first victim connected to Gary Ridgway was found in the Green River. This was the start of a series of murders that would shock the area.

The victims were mostly women who were in bad situations. Many were sex workers or runaways near Seattle. These people were often ignored, which allowed him to hurt them without being caught away.

As more bodies were found the police started a group to investigate. They did not have the technology they have today so they had to use fashioned police work.

Over time they found some patterns that suggested one person was responsible.

Gary Ridgway became a person of interest. He had been in trouble with the police before for things involving sex workers. One time he choked a woman and another time a woman went missing after getting into his truck.

There was not enough evidence to arrest him. He even passed a lie detector test. This allowed him to avoid being arrested even though people were suspicious of him.

By 1987 the police were watching Gary Ridgway. They searched his house. Found some things that belonged to the victims… They still did not have enough proof to do anything.

It took years for the technology to catch up with the case. New DNA testing reopened the investigation. Finally gave the police the connection they needed.

In 2001 Gary Ridgway was arrested. The DNA evidence linked him to victims. As they found evidence the case against him became clear.

Gary Ridgway agreed to a deal. He said he was guilty of murders and showed the police where the bodies were hidden. His stories revealed how bad his crimes were.

He said he used strangulation and would go back to the crime scenes to move the bodies. Gary Ridgway also explained how he tricked his victims into trusting him. He would use things or pretend to be someone else to avoid suspicion.

Before he confessed the police had linked 49 murders to Gary Ridgway.. He said he was responsible for at least 71 killings. Most of his victims were women who were in situations and would not be missed right away.

In court, he talked openly about what he did. He said he targeted sex workers because he thought they would not be missed quickly. His words showed that he planned his actions carefully.

In 2003 Gary Ridgway said he was guilty of 48 counts of murder. He was sentenced to 480 years in prison without the chance of parole. This meant he would spend the rest of his life in jail.

He is officially guilty of 49 murders. The real number might never be known. During his confession he said he had trouble remembering all of his victims because there were so many.

As part of the deal he gave information about missing victims in exchange for not getting the death penalty. This helped the families of the victims get some closure even if it did not feel like justice.

Today Gary Ridgway is in confinement at the Washington State Penitentiary, in Walla Walla. His story is still studied as one of the disturbing examples of how someone who seems normal can hide a lot of evil.