Gary Leon Ridgway was a serial killer known as the Green River killer that killed many victims in the Seattle, Washington area he was born February 18, 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was convicted of killing 48 separate murders. Gary grew up in a poor environment with parents that were very harsh. Gary married 3 times and during his third marriage starting his killings. He was abusive to his wives. He was not good in school and would wet his bed until the age of 14. At the age of 16 he stabbed a 6 year old in the wood and laughed while the boy was injured. The boy survived. His parents were strict and violent towards each other. His father hated prostitutes and made it known when he was growing up. This cause many different …show more content…
He didn’t feel any pain when he committed the murders. His mother ran the household and was very strict. “One of Ridgway's girlfriends said he was close to his mother but could never please her. Mary Ridgway "wore the pants in the family," according to a statement in court documents from Marcia Winslow, Ridgway's second wife”(Robinson 2001). The abusive parents were part of the equation that made him not emotional when he killed. Being used to seeing violence in the home made it normal. The signs of a serial killer were there about Gary since he abused his wives and was also abused as a child. He was not very good in school meaning there were mental issues going on. The mental issues added from the abusive parents and fantasy thoughts about his mom. Problems in school and abused animals were signs of a killer. “In one of the tapes Ridgway says, “To me, women are something to have sex with — kill and take the money back” as well as “Because they were prostitutes and I killed them because I wanted to kill them.” These statements are very honest; he almost seems to be proud of himself for it. This may come from Ridgway’s childhood; relatives described his mother as controlling and have said that as a young boy he witnessed more than one violent argument between his parents. She would belittle him and embarrass him in front of his family”(Greene