Death penalty sought in 4 Green River killings

Published 9:00 pm Monday, April 15, 2002

Associated Press

SEATTLE — Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Gary Leon Ridgway, charged in four of the Green River killings, King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng said Monday.

Ridgway, 53, a truck painter from suburban Auburn, is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of Marcia Chapman, Cynthia Hinds, Opal Mills and Carol Christensen.

They are four of the 49 women — most of them prostitutes or runaways — listed as victims of the Green River killer in the past 20 years.

The first five victims were found in or near the Green River in Kent, south of Seattle, in 1982. Over the next two years, 44 more women dropped out of sight. The remains of most victims were not found for months or years after their disappearances.

Maleng said there are not sufficient mitigating circumstances to remove the option of the death penalty from the jury, should Ridgway be convicted. The only other punishment for aggravated murder is life in prison without parole.

"It’s hardly a surprise," Ridgway’s lead defense attorney Tony Savage said of Maleng’s announcement. "All of this has just been a bunch of public posturing whether he was really going to do it."

Savage said he did not have any updates on the defense’s strategy.

"Just get to work, prepare for trial," he said.

Ridgway was arrested Nov. 30 as he left the truck-painting job he had held since 1969. He first came to the attention of authorities in the 1980s when he was reported to have been the last person seen with several victims.

Originally, Maleng had planned to make his decision by Jan. 18 — 30 days after Ridgway pleaded innocent in the deaths of the four women.

Then a judge postponed the decision after Ridgway’s lawyers asked for more time to gather information they hope will dissuade Maleng from seeking the death penalty.

"I don’t think it’s a public spectacle but I think that since his initial press statement, press conference, we all knew he was going to seek the death penalty," Savage said. "The delay … has been a wasted effort. We all knew it was coming."

Ridgway is being held without bail in King County Jail.

It’s unclear when his trial might begin. King County Superior Court Judge Richard A. Jones has set a speedy trial hearing for June 3.

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