SEATTLE – He’s been convicted of no crime and investigators have never said he’s the Green River Killer, but Gary Ridgway appears on the cover of a newly reprinted book implying as much.
The book, “The Riverman,” by investigator Robert Keppel of Bellevue, was originally published in 1995. It’s based in part on Keppel’s interviews with serial killer Ted Bundy, who had offered to help create a criminal profile of the Green River Killer – that is, describe the type of person the murderer might be.
In the new edition, Ridgway’s face – from eyes to lower lip – peers from between the title and the subtitle.
The inside of the back cover refers to Ridgway as a suspect. The book’s text makes no reference to him by name.
The new cover angered investigators, Ridgway’s lawyer and even the author himself, who says the publisher, New York-based Pocket Books, a division of Simon &Schuster Inc., never consulted him about it. The new edition is already in stores.
Florida
Seattle man gets probation in scam: A Seattle man who took part in mailing bogus income tax rebate notices to taxpayers was given two years’ probation. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley decided not to fine or jail Leonard Fellez on Friday in exchange for his testimony against the convicted mastermind of the scam, Borden Barrows. Fellez, 40, was accused of conspiracy to commit mail fraud for opening bank accounts and mailboxes used by Barrows in the scheme. Barrows, 40, of Boca Raton, was found guilty late last year of mail fraud. He is jailed without bail until his sentencing in March. Barrows mailed 25,000 official-looking postcards to taxpayers nationwide in June and July, asking them to send a fee to receive information about the amount of their $300 to $600 federal tax rebate and “to ensure its proper delivery.”
Oregon
Search continues for snowboarder: Hundreds of volunteers and professional searchers have combed Mount Bachelor for seven days without finding a trace of Kate Svitek, but search leaders have refused to stop looking for the missing snowboarder. Unseasonably mild weather and the fact that the 22-year-old Svitek is strong, healthy and skilled in outdoor survival are the main reasons searchers hold out hope.
Blind man injured in fall wins $1.32 million: A blind Portland man who suffered permanent brain damage after falling into an open manhole in downtown Portland was awarded more than $1 million by a Multnomah County jury. Robert Darby, 53, of Portland was using a cane to guide himself across a street in October 2000 when walked through a gap in barricades and stepped into an 8-foot-deep manhole, said his attorney, Greg Kafoury. The jury found that PacifiCorp and Pacific Power, were negligent for not adequately barricading the manhole. PacifiCorp owns Pacific Power. The jury awarded Darby $32,000 for medical costs and wages lost and $1 million for noneconomic damages, Kafoury said. He sought $1.75 million.
From Herald news services
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