July 26, 2019 ▸ True Crime

Episode 406: Green River Killer: Preying for Prostitutes

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On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we close the case on Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. Active through the 1980s and 1990s, this monster of a man was said by many to be the most prolific American serial killer of all time. He allegedly killed 71 women, though he himself has admitted he lost count. If true crime is your thing, read on. If not, go take a nice walk and don’t think about what this horrible creature did for twenty years.

Gary Ridgway ticked all the boxes of serial killer youth. His dad worked in a morgue and came home to tell the very young Ridway about how his co-workers would have sex with the dead bodies. Then, when he would wet the bed, his mom—barely dressed—would give him cold showers and linger on genital area after shaming him in front of his family. Oh, and she’d come home from work and talk about how taking measurements for men’s suits made them get erections and gave details about how their crotches smelled.

Needless to say, by his teen years, he had stabbed a six year old boy because he wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone, and he also had fantasies about having sex with his mom and slitting her throat to leave a horrible scar. Like you do.

He was a poor student with a low IQ, and he went off to serve in Vietnam. While there he caught STDs having sex with hookers, and his first wife left him. He married again, and this time, he’d have sex with his wife near where he buried the bodies. He’d choke her and stalk her in the woods. Like you do.

Ridgway was an overly religious man, and he’d weep after reading the bible. Then? He’d go out, trick a hooker into coming into his truck, and strangle them. He’d bury their bodies in clusters, and he drive by and visit their graves to feel better about himself. Annnnnnnd…he’d have sex with their maggot covered bodies and pose them nudes, sometimes with strange meats on their bodies. He slowed down his killing supposedly because his third wife kept him more balanced, but the toll was already taken.

So, how many times did the cops come close to catching him? How did Gary Ridgway keep getting away when they did come close? What finally brought the cops to his door, and how long after the murders was it? What was the awful tale of the fisherman who found the first bodies in the river? What prop did he use to lure hookers into the woods? What were the details of the plea bargain that kept him from getting the death penalty, and how did Ted Bundy help to profile him? Listen, laugh, learn.