It was a summer Sunday afternoon in 1982, a partially clothed body discovered floating in the river, becoming a gruesome welcome to a serial killer’s trail (McCarthy & Thornburgh, 2002, p. 1). Next to this woman’s body was a naked 17-year-old girl who was strangled in the same manner as the first (McCarthy & Thornburgh, 2002, p. 1). The horrific discovery of these two women, Marcia Chapman and Cynthia Hinds, will become the beginning of a trail of serial murders. As murders mounted, the killer would be identified as ‘The Green River Killer” because his identity would remain unknown for 19 years. In 2001 detectives were able to use a new technology that tested DNA samples (McCarthy & Thornburgh, 2002, p. 8). The samples provided were that of Gary Ridgway and Cynthia Hinds. On September 4, 2001, the DNA examiner said they have a match and six days later a name, Gary Ridgway (McCarthy & Thornburgh, 2002, p. 8). The Green River Killer …show more content…
History (Montaldo, 2017). Who is this man and what would drive an individual to kill innocent woman and young girls who were for lack of better term prostitutes? Born in Utah and raised in Seattle Washington, he was not considered an intelligent man but someone with a low IQ and a person who tortured animals (Gary Ridgway, n.d.). Gary’s mother, who he was infatuated with was mentally and physically abusive causing him to wet the bed frequently (Gary Ridgway, n.d.). “In 1963, aged 14, Gary attempted to kill a six-year-old boy by stabbing him, but wasn’t caught” (Gary Ridgway, n.d.). Having what some would say a normal childhood, two brothers and a mom and dad, it would be far from that as he