Gary Ridgway and Richard Speck

The history of Gary Ridgway, also known as the “Green River Killer,” is a complex and disturbing story. Ridgway perpetrated numerous murders of women and girls from 1982 through 2001 along the highways of King County, Washington. His history of homicide places him among the most notorious serial killers in recent history.

Gary Leon Ridgway was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 18th, 1949. His father was an autoworker and his mother was a housewife. Ridgway grew up in Auburn, Washington, and had three brothers. He suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder and did not perform well in school. He left without a diploma only completing his freshman year of high school.

Nonetheless, Ridgway was able to maintain work. In 1969, after a minor conviction he joined the US Navy and was stationed in San Diego. After his honorable discharge in 1971, he worked in truck factories and married to his first wife. The marriage was not successful and ended in a divorce in 1981.

Ridgway’s known history of homicide started in 1982. He began his career as the “Green River Killer” so called by investigators due to the location of the first five victims near the Green River in Washington. Ridgway’s modus operandi was to pick up sex workers and women engaging in prostitution along Pacific Highway South and strangle them. His preferred method of killing was manual strangulation. In addition to the use of transactional sex workers as victims, forensic evidence suggests that he chose some of his victims from locations such as truck stops and convenience stores.

Ridgway was eventually linked to the crimes after DNA evidence collected from several of the victims was matched to his. After admitting to multiple murders, he was convicted of killing 49 women in Oregon and Washington. In 2003, he was arrested for the murder trial and sentence to life in prison without parole.

In 2011, Ridgway passed the notorious serial killer’s body count of 50 murdered victims set by Ted Bundy in the 1970s. He confessed in exchange of avoiding the death penalty and was thus sentenced to life in prison in the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Ridgway’s life-long history of murder and depravity has entranced and appalled the public. His heinous crimes left a permanent mark on the communities affected by them and will remain part of the culture of the Pacific Northwest.

Richard Franklin Speck was born on December 6th, 1941 in Kirkwood, Illinois. He was the seventh of eight children born to Mary Margaret and Carl Speck. Growing up, Richard was known to be a bit of a troublemaker, known for his temper tantrums, playing pranks, staying out all night, or creating mischief. As a teenager Richard had a string of petty criminal offenses including burglary and assault.

In 1966, Speck moved to Chicago and worked as a laborer for the United States Steel Corporation. He also worked as a barroom bouncer, an occupation which he was kicked out of multiple times due to his tendency to get in fights and start trouble.

On July 14, 1966, Speck was arrested and sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison for attempted burglary. During his incarceration, he was said to frequently get into fights and be defiant to the prison guards. On October 3rd, 1966, Speck escaped from the university hospital in Mankato, Minnesota while receiving medical attention. He then proceeded to commit a series of armed robberies in Illinois and Kentucky.

Speck eventually returned to Chicago, where he rented an apartment in the town of South Chicago. On July 13th, 1966, Speck gained access to a local townhouse in the Bronzeville area of Chicago that was being used as a residence for eight student nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital. Once inside he tied up the eight student nurses and shot each one of them multiple times with a .22 caliber pistol. He then proceeded to sexually assault, stab, and strangle his victims to death. It was one of the most horrific mass murders in the history of Chicago.

Speck was identified from fingerprints found at the crime scene, and on July 17, 1966. He was found hiding in a rooming house in the Lakeview section of Chicago. He was then arrested and sent to trial for the murder of the eight student nurses.

He was represented by attorneys who tried to get him declared insane, but the prosecutor argued that he was legally sane and guilty of all counts. He was found guilty and sentenced to 400 to 1,200 years in prison. He served his sentence at the Stateville Maximum Security Prison in Joliet, Illinois.

In the year 1991, Richard Marshall Speck died in Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet due to heart failure. His murderous rampage was a gruesome reminder of what a criminal can do when they go unchecked. Despite his lengthy time in prison, Speck was never truly brought to justice for his horrific acts.