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Deus Ex Machina
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Pathetic, he murdered 48 people and was sentenced to life? Guess who bears the burden of his prison sentences? YOU.
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Ridgway Sentenced to Life for 48 Murders
Thursday, December 18, 2003
SEATTLE — Green River Killer Gary Ridgway (search) was given 48 consecutive life sentences Thursday for each of the 48 women he murdered.
Each sentence also carried a $10,000 fine and the mandate of no contact with any of the victims' relatives.
Judge Richard Jones (search) had strong words for Ridgway before he officially handed down the sentences, reading each one along with each victim's name.
"Today, Mr. Ridgway, is a day of justice for all the young women you murdered," Jones said. "While you couldn't face them as you took their lives, if you have a drop of emotion you will face those young women in your dreams."
Jones held a 48-second moment of silence to remember the slain women, and also had Ridgway turn around to face the family members and friends sitting in the courtroom.
During the hearing, family members confronted the confessed serial killer on Thursday to tell him of the anguish, the pain, the horror and the darkness he brought into their lives when he murdered women in their families.
During his sentencing hearing, relatives of the 48 women killed by Ridgway sobbed, called him "evil" and told him they could never forgive him for what he did.
"Gary Ridgway is an evil creature who I would condemn to many, many long years of anguish and despair," Nancy Gabbert, mother of victim Sandra Gabbert, told the court and Ridgway at his sentencing.
"No matter what you say, I will never, ever, ever forgive you," said Sarah King, daughter of Carol Christensen, whose body was found May 8, 1983.
"I'm glad you didn't get death," she said, crying as she stared at Ridgway. "Death is too good for you. Someday you will die and you'll go to that place and you'll get what you deserve."
Each family was allowed 10 minutes to speak in court. Because of a plea bargain with prosecutors, Ridgway is expected to get life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"All you stole, I now reclaim with force," said Sherry Garrett, whose sister, Cynthia Hinds, was slain by Ridgway. "I am unable to forgive you at this time, but because of my God, I am able to stand before you and say what was needed to say."
Garrett said the hearing's true focus should be the four dozen victims.
"Today is not about Gary Ridgway but about my sister, Cynthia Hinds, and the other women," said Garrett, the first relative to speak.
As the hearing got underway, dozens of victims' relatives crowded the courtroom for their chance to confront Ridgway. As he watched, Ridgway nodded at times even as they decried his evil.
Earlier, entering the courthouse, King County Sheriff Dave Reichert (search) said he wouldn't put much credence in any remorse shown by Ridgway.
"He's a psychopath and a pathological liar," said Reichert, one of the first detectives to investigate the killings in the early 1980s.
Ridgway confessed last month to strangling 48 women over the past two decades, more murders than anyone else in U.S. history.
Tony Savage (search), one of Ridgway's lawyers, said before the proceedings began that he expected his client to apologize during the hearing.
"After tomorrow, I'm through with him," family member Kathy Mills said Wednesday. "I won't think of him anymore. He'll have no hold over me." Her 16-year-old daughter, Opal, was killed in 1982.
The case, among the most baffling and disturbing the nation has ever seen, began with a murderous frenzy that targeted mainly runaways and prostitutes in the Seattle area. Most died in the early 1980s, though Ridgway also confessed to two killings in the 1990s.
Linked by DNA to three early victims, the 54-year-old truck painter was arrested in November 2001 and pleaded guilty last month to 48 counts of aggravated first-degree murder under a plea deal that let him avoid the death penalty.
At that hearing, a prosecutor read Ridgway's confession, which said he killed because he hated prostitutes and didn't want to pay them for sex.
He said he left some bodies in "clusters" and enjoyed driving by the sites afterward, thinking about what he had done and sometimes stopping to have sex with the bodies. He also said he had so many victims he had a hard time keeping them straight.
Investigators were stumped when the first victims turned up in 1982 in the Green River, giving the killer his name. Over the next two years, more bodies were found near ravines, airports and freeways, but then the killing seemed to stop as suddenly as it started.
In many cases, the killer had sex with his victim and then strangled her.
Last spring, defense attorneys offered King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng (search) a deal: If Maleng would not seek the death penalty, Ridgway would help solve those other cases.
Though Maleng had previously said he would not bargain with the death penalty, he changed his mind, saying that a strong principle of justice is to know the truth.
Ridgway cooperated, eventually confessing to 48 murders — the most recent in 1998 — and leading investigators to four previously undiscovered sets of remains.
Reichert said Thursday he doubted Ridgway was capable of remorse, despite his plans to apologize.
"I think that's his attempt at having somebody at least recognize he's a human being and that he'd like to be treated as someone who's a part of the community," Reichert said.
"But that's all an act. He can't really figure that out. He's obviously very dysfunctional."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Ridgway Sentenced to Life for 48 Murders
Thursday, December 18, 2003
SEATTLE — Green River Killer Gary Ridgway (search) was given 48 consecutive life sentences Thursday for each of the 48 women he murdered.
Each sentence also carried a $10,000 fine and the mandate of no contact with any of the victims' relatives.
Judge Richard Jones (search) had strong words for Ridgway before he officially handed down the sentences, reading each one along with each victim's name.
"Today, Mr. Ridgway, is a day of justice for all the young women you murdered," Jones said. "While you couldn't face them as you took their lives, if you have a drop of emotion you will face those young women in your dreams."
Jones held a 48-second moment of silence to remember the slain women, and also had Ridgway turn around to face the family members and friends sitting in the courtroom.
During the hearing, family members confronted the confessed serial killer on Thursday to tell him of the anguish, the pain, the horror and the darkness he brought into their lives when he murdered women in their families.
During his sentencing hearing, relatives of the 48 women killed by Ridgway sobbed, called him "evil" and told him they could never forgive him for what he did.
"Gary Ridgway is an evil creature who I would condemn to many, many long years of anguish and despair," Nancy Gabbert, mother of victim Sandra Gabbert, told the court and Ridgway at his sentencing.
"No matter what you say, I will never, ever, ever forgive you," said Sarah King, daughter of Carol Christensen, whose body was found May 8, 1983.
"I'm glad you didn't get death," she said, crying as she stared at Ridgway. "Death is too good for you. Someday you will die and you'll go to that place and you'll get what you deserve."
Each family was allowed 10 minutes to speak in court. Because of a plea bargain with prosecutors, Ridgway is expected to get life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"All you stole, I now reclaim with force," said Sherry Garrett, whose sister, Cynthia Hinds, was slain by Ridgway. "I am unable to forgive you at this time, but because of my God, I am able to stand before you and say what was needed to say."
Garrett said the hearing's true focus should be the four dozen victims.
"Today is not about Gary Ridgway but about my sister, Cynthia Hinds, and the other women," said Garrett, the first relative to speak.
As the hearing got underway, dozens of victims' relatives crowded the courtroom for their chance to confront Ridgway. As he watched, Ridgway nodded at times even as they decried his evil.
Earlier, entering the courthouse, King County Sheriff Dave Reichert (search) said he wouldn't put much credence in any remorse shown by Ridgway.
"He's a psychopath and a pathological liar," said Reichert, one of the first detectives to investigate the killings in the early 1980s.
Ridgway confessed last month to strangling 48 women over the past two decades, more murders than anyone else in U.S. history.
Tony Savage (search), one of Ridgway's lawyers, said before the proceedings began that he expected his client to apologize during the hearing.
"After tomorrow, I'm through with him," family member Kathy Mills said Wednesday. "I won't think of him anymore. He'll have no hold over me." Her 16-year-old daughter, Opal, was killed in 1982.
The case, among the most baffling and disturbing the nation has ever seen, began with a murderous frenzy that targeted mainly runaways and prostitutes in the Seattle area. Most died in the early 1980s, though Ridgway also confessed to two killings in the 1990s.
Linked by DNA to three early victims, the 54-year-old truck painter was arrested in November 2001 and pleaded guilty last month to 48 counts of aggravated first-degree murder under a plea deal that let him avoid the death penalty.
At that hearing, a prosecutor read Ridgway's confession, which said he killed because he hated prostitutes and didn't want to pay them for sex.
He said he left some bodies in "clusters" and enjoyed driving by the sites afterward, thinking about what he had done and sometimes stopping to have sex with the bodies. He also said he had so many victims he had a hard time keeping them straight.
Investigators were stumped when the first victims turned up in 1982 in the Green River, giving the killer his name. Over the next two years, more bodies were found near ravines, airports and freeways, but then the killing seemed to stop as suddenly as it started.
In many cases, the killer had sex with his victim and then strangled her.
Last spring, defense attorneys offered King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng (search) a deal: If Maleng would not seek the death penalty, Ridgway would help solve those other cases.
Though Maleng had previously said he would not bargain with the death penalty, he changed his mind, saying that a strong principle of justice is to know the truth.
Ridgway cooperated, eventually confessing to 48 murders — the most recent in 1998 — and leading investigators to four previously undiscovered sets of remains.
Reichert said Thursday he doubted Ridgway was capable of remorse, despite his plans to apologize.
"I think that's his attempt at having somebody at least recognize he's a human being and that he'd like to be treated as someone who's a part of the community," Reichert said.
"But that's all an act. He can't really figure that out. He's obviously very dysfunctional."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
