Everett father’s words draw tears

SEATTLE — With an eloquence honed by years of grief, relatives of the Green River Killer’s victims on Thursday finally spoke to the man who snuffed out the lives of their sisters, daughters and wives, then watched as a judge sentenced him to 48 consecutive life terms.

Gary Ridgway, who once bragged to police about his skill at strangulation, wrinkled his brow as he listened to their horror, nodded occasionally, then tearfully apologized for killing "all those young ladies."

But King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones blistered Ridgway for his "Teflon-coated emotions and complete absence of compassion," and ordered a 48-second moment of silence for the victims before passing sentence.

"The time has come for the final chapter of your reign of terror in our community," Jones told the 54-year-old truck painter from suburban Auburn. "It is now time for our community to have peace from the Green River murders."

Prosecutors agreed to spare Ridgway the death penalty in exchange for his confession and helping investigators, who during the summer found four additional sets of remains. He pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated first-degree murder Nov. 5.

"I have tried to remember as much as I could to help the detectives find and recover the ladies," Ridgway said, bowing his head and sniffling as he read a statement before Jones. "I’m sorry for the scare I put into the community."

Ridgway broke down only once at the hearing, when Robert Rule of Everett said he forgave him for the 1982 slaying of his 16-year-old daughter Linda Jane Rule — Janey to her family.

"There are people here that hate you. I’m not one of them," Rule told Ridgway. "I pity you, sir. You won’t have a Christmas. You won’t have the love around you that everyone needs at Christmas time."

Rule, a large man with a white beard who is Santa Claus at the Everett Mall, later said he was just following his heart when he spoke.

"I showed him love and he cried," Rule said. "To me, I think I did the right thing. It is because of the way I believe, I guess that you have to leave it up to God to take care of stuff like that.

"God said forgive all men, not just a few. If they do evil to you, don’t do evil to them," he added.

Janey Rule’s death was a mystery for 21 years. Robert Rule learned that Ridgway was her killer just before this Halloween.

Although there were early suspicions that the teen’s death could be connected to the Green River series, there were enough differences that investigators at the time publicly expressed doubt. No links were made until after Ridgway earlier this year admitted killing Janey and dumping her body near a north Seattle hospital.

The case takes it name from the Green River in south King County where the first bodies were found in 1982. By the end of 1984, the death toll rose to 42, and more were still to come — the most recent in 1998.

In his confession, Ridgway said he killed because he hated prostitutes and didn’t want to pay them for sex, and that he killed so many women he had a hard time keeping them straight.

Given their chance to confront Ridgway, relatives of the victims poured forth decades of pain, anger and loss.

"Jesus knows you have broken my heart," a sobbing Joan Mackie, mother of victim Cindy Smith, told Ridgway as he faced her and listened silently.

Most wept, some shook as they tried to describe the inexpressible grief of having a mother, daughter or sister disappear.

"It was not your right to decide who lived and who died," said Tim Meehan, the brother of Mary Meehan, whose body was found Nov. 13, 1983. "Mary was no less a human being than your mother or your son, or as trash as you have classified all the victims."

"I can only hope that someday, someone gets the opportunity to choke you unconscious 48 times, so you can live through the horror that you put our mothers and our daughters through. … To me you are already dead."

Ridgway, who was also ordered to pay $480,000 in fines, maintained a blank stare as each family member spoke of their sadness and rage. He sometimes nodded at their comments and a few times, dabbed away tears that slipped out beneath his dark-rimmed glasses.

Kathy Mills, the mother of victim Opal Mills, 16, whose body was found Aug. 15, 1982, also offered Ridgway her forgiveness.

"We wanted to see you die, but it’s all going to be over now," she said. "Gary Leon Ridgway, I forgive you. I forgive you. You can’t hold me anymore. I’m through with you. I have a peace that is beyond human understanding."

Some relatives of the victims lashed out at prosecutors and investigators.

"I believe we’ve been sold by the prosecutor for not giving us the justice that we could expect," said Helen Dexter, whose daughter, Constance Elizabeth Naon, was killed in 1983.

"I believe we still are victimized by some very politically ambitious careers," she said. "The self-proclaimed heroes have put the victims and their families on a shelf."

J. Norman, the mother of Shawnda Summers, whose body was found Aug. 11, 1983, said prosecutors should not have bargained with the death penalty to get Ridgway’s guilty plea.

"The politicians, if they cared about this heinous crime, it would have been solved 20 years ago," Norman said. "There shouldn’t have been no plea bargain. … Shame on Seattle."

Ridgway was arrested Nov. 30, 2001, after detectives linked his DNA to sperm found in three of the earliest victims. By spring 2002, prosecutors had charged him with seven murders, but they had all but given up hope of linking him to the dozens of other women, most of whom disappeared during a terrifying stretch from 1982-84.

Last spring, defense attorneys offered King County prosecutor Norm Maleng 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.

Herald reporter Scott North contributed to this story.