Ridgway: The Green River Killer

Crime occurs every day, all over the world. Most crime is unreported or is unknown to the vast majority of the populations. Over time, crime has grown to become a normal part of society and typically people are not surprised to hear that a crime has been committed. Most crimes are dealt with and forgotten, however a few crimes grab the media’s attention and are highly publicized, ultimately giving the criminal their 15 minutes of infamy. Ted Bundy was one of these criminals. Bundy was a law student in Utah and during the 1970’s, he assaulted, raped and murdered at least 30 known women with some criminologists suspecting as high as nearly 100 victims. The tactics he used along with the extent of his killings is how Bundy acquired his long lasting infamy and notoriety as one of America’s top 10 most wanted during his time. Our true focus here is explaining why these murders occurred; truly understanding the motivation behind Bundy’s actions and finding the roots of causation which could lead a person to commit such serious crimes.

Gary Ridgway was a truck painter and he had a special place where he would go and dump his victims; in and around the green river. The first body was discovered in the green river by passing pedestrians in spring of 1982 it was the body of young 16 year old Wendy Lee Coffield and she was strangled to death. (Seattle times 2003) It seems that the green river killer didn’t care what age a girl was he was cynical enough to have sex with her and kill her. Age was defiantly not a factor; he viewed women as objects

This essay aims to examine weather serial killers are born a certain way and their genetics define their psychotic tendencies or whether they're a product of a bad environment that they grew up. This essay looks at recent killings in the late 20th century as there is more information on the killers from this period and it's easier to gain details about their childhoods. Whilst I will look at various different killers to reach more rounded conclusions (see appendix for comparison table), this essay will focus on four in detail to examine the debate; Ted Bundy (1946-89), Jeffery Dahmer (1960-1994), John Wayne Gacy (1942-1994) and Gary Ridgway (1949-present).

“Serial killers are human black holes; they scare us because they mirror us,” spoke Shirley Lynn Scott, known author and psychologist. This stands true throughout history, as most serial killers blend in with society. Serial killing is formally defined by the FBI as “a series of three or more killings, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.” But what exactly drives someone to kill another human being? What plays as a more drastic motivator for their actions, nature or nurture?

They see these people as expandable and as a means to an end. They can be divided in two types of Hedonistic Serial Killers: killing for lust or for the thrill. The lust killer kills purely for sexual fulfillment. Their primary motive is sex, even after their victim is dead. They also get pleasure out of the murder. These murders are usually followed by cannibalism (eating the victim), necrophilia (sexual attraction to the corpse), or dismembering. They have a psychological need to be have absolute control and dominance over their victims, and the torture and ultimate death of their victim is an attempt to fulfill their need. They use weapons that require close contact with the victim (e.g. a knife or their hands) (Holmes & Holmes, 1998). Jeffrey Dahmer was a lust killer, after his victims were dead, he performed cannibalism, necrophilia and dismembering. The thrill killer kills purely for the pleasure he/she gets from killing. They usually take a long time to kill, they torture their victims before killing them. After their victims are dead, they lose interest. They believe that they will never be caught (Holmes & Holmes, 1998). Robert Hansen was a thrill killer, he took his victims to a secluded area where he would let them go and then hunt them

Theodore Bundy was an infamous American serial killer who preyed upon numerous young women during the 1970s and possibly earlier. He was associated with at least 30 counts of homicide and suspected of an estimated one hundred or more. Beyond homicide, he also made it apparent that he was capable of other sinister crimes such as rape, kidnapping, and necrophilia. His most frequent method of killing was an attack with a blunt weapon to the head. However, he did not merely kill his victims; evidence concludes that each were also sexually assaulted and sodomized. It is reported that he even revisited his crime scenes to further engage in sexual acts with the decomposing corpses. Moreover, at least 12 of his victims had been decapitated .

Have you ever wondered why some people love art and music, and some love science and math? These individuals love math or art because they get a sense of relaxation and excitement from these activities. Serial killers are the same way they love to kill people and have lots of different motives for why they kill them. A serial killer is a person who kills repeatedly. The one motive that drove Dennis Rader, to kill his victims was to gain power and control over them.

In determining, Robert Pickton's mental capacity during his crimes, his defense attorneys argued that he possessed a limited intelligence. This statement would differ from the prosecutions position, as they believed his IQ surpassed that of mental retardation. In all actuality, Pickton had spent many years in special education and only managed to finish parts of high school. Thus, affirming that he was by no means a wise man. However, without any kind of strong formal education, the simple-minded pig farmer was able avoid arrest, for one of Canada’s largest killing sprees to date. This is largely because Pickton's choice of victims, as well as the Vancouver police departments reluctance to investigate, aided in concealing his identity. Contrary to public belief, the behavior illustrated by Robert Pickton was not eccentric or unheard of, as when placed with the profile of a serial killer, he is an identical match. His history of social isolation, drug use, and record of violent offenses, are further commonalities in which serial killers share. Similarly to most serial killers, Pickton choose his victims based on their vulnerability. By deciding to murder easily available prostitutes, Pickton was targeting people that were likely to be the forgotten members of society. This strategical method of crime

Before he would kill in Illinois he would go back to the Palm Springs area and kill again. In spring of 1995 he met Denise Maney a prostitute from the area. He did his usual thing he drove her out to the desert where they had sex, but then he did something he had only done with Jennifer Asbenson, he began to rape her. This time his victim wasn’t able to get away he made her walk into the desert after he restrained her. When they got a good distance into the desert he put the gun into her mouth and shot killing Maney instantly. Urdiales would go back to Illinois and kill someone who was a little closer to him than the previous victims. In April of 1996 Laura Uylaki who had gone on a couple of dates with Urdiales was with Urdiales near Wolf Lake. An argument had broken out between the two and when Urdiales showed his gun to Uylaki, she made an attempt to get out of the truck and get away but Urdiales ran after her fired his weapon and killed Uylaki. Too dispose of the body Urdiales, dumped her into the lake. His next victim would be dumped a little closer to Pontiac. On July 13, 1996, Urdiales met Cassandra Corum, a prostitute from the Hammond Indiana area. They were in Urdiales truck when an argument occurred, he then handcuffed her, taped her feet, taped her mouth shut, and took her clothes off. He began driving south on Interstate 55, after driving for a

Then there was Shirley Vain, she was killed on March 17th, 1977, as her three children were locked in the bathroom with toys. Posing as a private detective, Rader pulled a .357 magnum hand gun and forced his way inside the home. Using as he would call it his “Hit Kit” a mix of bags, rope, tape and cords. He handcuffed Nancy Fox December of that same year tied her on her bed and strangled her with a belt, before preforming a sexual act next to the body. All the while Rader was writing letter to journalists and cops. How many people do I have to kill before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?” he wrote in

Gary Ridgway grew up like any other ordinary suburban kid. He had a problem of wetting the bed which his mother would make fun of him and embarrass him in front of family and friends. As a young teen, he was always getting into trouble such as stabbing a six year-old boy in the ribs when he was a young teen. In high school Gary continued to go down hill and get bad grades. Gary graduated high school and joined the Navy. While he was in Vietnam, he discovered prostitutes and ended up getting sexually transmitted diseases. Soon after being home from Vietnam, Gary was killing and raping prostitutes on the streets of Seattle, Washington. Gary would go on to murder about 71 young women who he targeted because they were either prostitutes or runaways.

A quote from well-known Scottish killer, Dennis Nilson, states exactly what his motives were for viscously killing his innocent victims. “I did it all for me,” he says, “purely selfish. I worshipped the art and act of death, over and over. It is as simple as that. Afterwards, it was all sexual confusion, symbolism, honouring the ‘fallen’. I was honouring myself. I hated the decay

Robert would pick up only hitchhikers and throw them in his van. He would then handcuff them to the cab and bring out his rape kit which held alligator clips, leashes, handcuffs, whips, pins, and dildos. After he was done tormenting them he would take something sharp and piece their genitals. After Robert was done with them he would then shave their private areas and their hair on their head. Police said that Robert would kill an average of three people per week before he was caught.

However, I believe that this offender is a lust killer rather than a power-control killer because the power-control killers main motivation for his crimes is power and control over the victim, the power of deciding when and how the victim is going to die. By reading about the Parkinson and

Described as “THE execution” (Lyons & Trei, 1989, p. Ia) serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy was put to death by the State of Florida at 7.16 A.M. January 24, 1989. During his life he had been convicted of the 1978 rape and murder of a 12 year old, Kimberly Leach in Lack City; and the death of Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman, sorority sisters at Florida State University. Just two days before his execution Bundy also admitted to killing a number of other females of various ages in Washington, Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Florida although he was never tried or convicted for those (Rule, 1989, p. 479-480). In total it is estimated that he killed between 25 and 30 women (Rule, 1989).