The Case of the Green River Killer

by Diane Yancey

Serial killer Gary Leon Ridgway, known as the Green River Killer, murdered at least 49 women in Washington state before he was caught in 2001. This book gives students an in-depth account of the Green River killer investigation, and explains how law enforcement agencies worked together to gather the evidence needed to apprehend and convict Ridgway. Sidebars offer step-by-step explanations of the scientific and legal processes involved in the investigation.

Genres: Nonfiction

104 pages, Library Binding

First published April 27, 2007

Reviews

[Hanna Jones]

I really enjoyed this book. I have done some research on this particular case for my forensics class, but this book went into major detail and I learned some things I didn't know. for example, they actually caught him, interviewed him, and let him go because they didn't think he was the killer. I also didn't know that he was a truck painter, and was dyslexic so he often typed in the wrong codes and painted the trucks wrong colors. This book went into detail about the actual case, rather than the murders, which was really cool because I learned alot about how court cases work. This case took 21 years to solve and they spent over $15 mil.

[Rebecca Kohler]

Gary Ridgway was very morbid, feeling he was doing the police a favor. As a child, he was subject to sexual predation from his mother, and multiple violent experiences with his parents fighting. On top of that, his father would repeatedly tell him how lousy prostitution was where they lived. This set Ridgway up for an immediate turn into murder. He had a low IQ making him, not the brightest person. Ridgway felt he was doing a favor and in the end, was convicted of 49 murders. Ridgway confessed to 71 murders in total. Ridgway is currently at Walla Walla, Washington.

[Zach Schiff]

This is how so many books should be - 100 pages, just the facts, throw in some pictures.