#Green river serial killer victims free

In a plea bargain that would spare him the death penalty in return for his confession and information regarding the details of the murders and locations of the bodies, Ridgway entered a guilty plea to 48 charges of aggravated first-degree murder. Nearly two decades after the first murder, King County Sheriff Reichert announced that Ridgway, 52, was arrested in connection with four of the Green River KillerвЂ™s early victims: Marcia Chapman, Opal Mills, Cynthia Hinds and Carol Ann Christensen - whose body was recovered in 1983. November 30, 2001: Police announce the arrest of the Green River Killer

#Green river serial killer victims free

But due to insufficient DNA testing at the time, Ridgway remained a free man for more than a decade. It was at that time Ridgway finally provided police withВ a saliva sampleВ that would later tie him to the crimes. READ MORE:В How Ted Bundy Helped Catch the Green River Killer 1987: Ridgway provides a DNA sample that would eventually be his downfallД«ecause Ridgway wass the last person allegedly seen with two of the victims, police eventually searched his home and vehicles in 1987 in connection with the murders.

During discussions, Bundy reportedly advised authorities that the killer may be revisiting his victimвЂ™s corpses and performing sexual acts on them, a hypothesis Ridgway later confirmed. Reichert flew to Florida where Bundy was being held on death row. Having read about the ongoing case in the press, convicted serial killer Ted Bundy wrote to Reichert offering his help in the case. With few reliable leads in the Green River Killer case, authorities were desperate for any information to further the investigation. He then passed a polygraph test in which he denied killing any women. May 1984: Ridgway passes a polygraph testДЄlready a person of interest due to his known association with area prostitutes, Ridgway contacted police with the supposed intention of assistance. In November, police once again spoke with Ridgway about the murders, but he denied any knowledge of the victims, and authorities lacked evidence to connect him to any of the crimes. Four days later, police questioned Ridgway at his home about his knowledge of Malvar, whom he denied knowing. In the spring of 1983, prostitute Marie Malvar, 18, was last seen by her boyfriend getting into a paint-patched pickup with a dark-haired man about 30 to 40 years old. April 30, 1983: Ridgway first becomes a suspect вЂњEvery time you found a body, it was like being hit on the head with a baseball bat,вЂќ Reichert told Time magazine. Over the next two years, the Green River Killer sexually assaulted and murdered more than 40 other women. August 16, 1982: A police task force is set upДЄfter the King County SheriffвЂ™s Office set upВ the Green River Task ForceВ to investigate the killings, the body count rose, as more victims were discovered along the river and in the area around the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.