WEBVTT 00:00:08.546 --> 00:00:11.449 The Green River case is the most unusual case, 00:00:11.483 --> 00:00:13.385 I think, in the history of this country. 00:00:13.451 --> 00:00:15.987 Explorer scouts have found the remains of another human body 00:00:16.021 --> 00:00:18.857 buried on a wooded hillside near Seattle. 00:00:19.591 --> 00:00:23.928 You're talking about 60, 70, possibly 80 victims. 00:00:24.996 --> 00:00:27.899 We spent so much time recovering remains 00:00:27.999 --> 00:00:29.768 that there wasn't that much time 00:00:29.834 --> 00:00:31.369 to actually investigate the murders. 00:00:31.403 --> 00:00:33.371 I can remember saying, 00:00:33.405 --> 00:00:36.374 "If we can get some other forensic evidence, 00:00:36.408 --> 00:00:38.009 we got him." 00:00:38.009 --> 00:00:41.846 Advances in technology helped solve this case. 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:43.281 No doubt about it. 00:00:43.381 --> 00:00:45.850 He was the most prolific serial killer 00:00:45.884 --> 00:00:48.019 in the history of the United States. 00:00:49.754 --> 00:00:52.857 It was like looking into the eyes of pure evil. 00:01:37.469 --> 00:01:40.271 This is the most unusual case, 00:01:40.305 --> 00:01:42.807 I think, in the history of this country. 00:01:42.907 --> 00:01:45.643 Having been a police officer for 33 years, 00:01:45.710 --> 00:01:47.912 being the lead detective on that, 00:01:47.946 --> 00:01:50.115 that's the experience that I speak from. 00:01:51.182 --> 00:01:54.018 This case took 20 years. 00:01:54.085 --> 00:01:56.654 Not one, not five, not ten, not fifteen. 00:01:56.721 --> 00:01:58.323 It took twenty. 00:02:00.191 --> 00:02:02.360 Kent is south of Seattle, 00:02:02.460 --> 00:02:04.729 about 30 miles or so. 00:02:05.830 --> 00:02:07.999 And the Green River is just kind of a slow, 00:02:08.066 --> 00:02:10.101 meandering river 00:02:10.201 --> 00:02:13.404 that goes through the South Seattle Valley. 00:02:14.472 --> 00:02:16.074 In 1982, 00:02:16.107 --> 00:02:17.842 when I started this case, 00:02:17.876 --> 00:02:21.579 it was a pretty peaceful, kinda out of the way place. 00:02:34.859 --> 00:02:37.962 On August 15th, I got a phone call. 00:02:39.030 --> 00:02:41.900 I was called to go to the Green River. 00:02:43.168 --> 00:02:46.337 A rafter had seen what he first thought 00:02:46.404 --> 00:02:49.541 were mannequins pushed up along the river bank. 00:02:52.410 --> 00:02:54.812 We began to interview the rafter... 00:02:55.880 --> 00:02:58.416 and told us that 00:02:58.516 --> 00:03:02.053 he saw a white male, 00:03:02.153 --> 00:03:04.889 who waves at him... 00:03:04.989 --> 00:03:08.726 Then he quickly gets in a pickup truck 00:03:08.760 --> 00:03:10.361 and drives off. 00:03:20.205 --> 00:03:22.640 Then he said, as he got closer... 00:03:25.677 --> 00:03:27.912 he recognized that these weren't mannequins. 00:03:31.382 --> 00:03:34.018 They were... They were dead bodies. 00:03:38.923 --> 00:03:41.226 I remember this victim. 00:03:41.292 --> 00:03:43.561 One of her hands and arms were free... 00:03:45.396 --> 00:03:49.567 And as the water gently flowed down the river, 00:03:49.667 --> 00:03:52.937 her hand was waving in the current... 00:03:54.038 --> 00:03:56.574 Sort of like, y'know, "Here I am... 00:03:56.608 --> 00:03:58.209 Help." 00:04:00.478 --> 00:04:02.680 Next I had to figure out, 00:04:02.714 --> 00:04:06.117 how did the suspect get the bodies to that point? 00:04:07.418 --> 00:04:09.120 Did he carry them? 00:04:09.220 --> 00:04:10.955 Were they still alive when he 00:04:10.989 --> 00:04:12.724 took them down to the river bank? 00:04:14.225 --> 00:04:16.327 Were they already dead? 00:04:20.365 --> 00:04:21.799 And then 00:04:21.833 --> 00:04:24.068 I discovered another body. 00:04:28.806 --> 00:04:32.343 She was a young African-American female 00:04:32.443 --> 00:04:34.012 who was partially nude. 00:04:41.619 --> 00:04:45.256 The next step in trying to solve a case like this 00:04:45.356 --> 00:04:46.924 is through the autopsy. 00:04:49.460 --> 00:04:52.230 There were two victims that contained bodily fluids 00:04:52.297 --> 00:04:55.199 left behind by someone 00:04:55.266 --> 00:04:57.568 who had a *** encounter with them. 00:04:59.037 --> 00:05:01.839 Those samples today would be 00:05:01.906 --> 00:05:05.576 immediately tested for DNA. 00:05:05.643 --> 00:05:07.679 But back in 1982, 00:05:07.745 --> 00:05:11.783 DNA was an unknown technology. 00:05:12.850 --> 00:05:15.386 The samples collected were frozen, 00:05:15.486 --> 00:05:17.689 and the best that we could hope for 00:05:17.755 --> 00:05:18.956 was a blood type. 00:05:19.023 --> 00:05:23.027 But the victims could be identified through 00:05:23.127 --> 00:05:26.030 fingerprints and dental records. 00:05:29.067 --> 00:05:32.170 The one on the bank was Opal Mills, 00:05:32.236 --> 00:05:33.838 and the two in the river 00:05:33.871 --> 00:05:37.241 Cynthia Hinds and Marcia Chapman. 00:05:46.684 --> 00:05:49.320 I was one of the women that was 00:05:49.420 --> 00:05:52.890 assigned to working in *** crimes. 00:05:52.957 --> 00:05:55.526 When we identified Marcia Chapman 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:58.196 as being one of the women in the river... 00:05:59.263 --> 00:06:02.600 that struck me hard, 00:06:02.700 --> 00:06:04.602 because I had probably, 00:06:04.702 --> 00:06:06.838 within the few months prior to her death, 00:06:06.838 --> 00:06:08.973 met her, 00:06:08.973 --> 00:06:11.342 and she had been a victim of an assault. 00:06:12.210 --> 00:06:14.278 someone I had tried to help 00:06:14.345 --> 00:06:17.548 ended up running across somebody that... 00:06:17.582 --> 00:06:19.717 killed her. 00:06:20.752 --> 00:06:24.956 So I had a personal connection with that particular case. 00:06:25.022 --> 00:06:27.959 And so I was asked to join the team 00:06:28.025 --> 00:06:29.761 that was gonna be looking at the initial victims 00:06:29.761 --> 00:06:32.130 who were found on the Green River. 00:06:34.198 --> 00:06:36.401 When I started this case 00:06:36.467 --> 00:06:38.069 on that August 15th, 00:06:38.102 --> 00:06:41.873 I was already working a case in January of 1982. 00:06:43.007 --> 00:06:45.376 A 16-year-old girl, Leann Wilcox, 00:06:45.410 --> 00:06:48.579 who had been working the street, who'd been killed. 00:06:48.646 --> 00:06:51.215 And in July of 1982... 00:06:52.250 --> 00:06:55.386 Wendy Caulfield was found in the Green River. 00:06:56.421 --> 00:06:59.123 And then on August 12th, 00:06:59.157 --> 00:07:01.259 Debbie Bonner had been discovered. 00:07:05.963 --> 00:07:08.633 With the victims found in the Green River, 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:10.635 that was six dead bodies. 00:07:16.407 --> 00:07:19.177 As we look into who the victims are... 00:07:19.777 --> 00:07:23.047 the connection was prostitution. 00:07:23.080 --> 00:07:25.116 Very often we're talking about 00:07:25.216 --> 00:07:28.319 a 15 year old little girl, a 16 year old little girl 00:07:28.419 --> 00:07:31.222 coming from dysfunctional homes. 00:07:31.255 --> 00:07:33.057 There's domestic violence, 00:07:33.090 --> 00:07:35.359 and they end up on the street, 00:07:35.426 --> 00:07:38.429 working on what we called "the Strip" back then. 00:07:39.497 --> 00:07:42.066 There was a lot of prostitution activity, 00:07:42.133 --> 00:07:44.969 a lot of drug activity, and a lotta crime. 00:07:45.069 --> 00:07:46.604 On a Friday night, 00:07:46.637 --> 00:07:48.473 you could count hundreds of young women 00:07:48.539 --> 00:07:50.141 standing on the street corner. 00:07:52.610 --> 00:07:56.247 We also discovered the victims were all strangled. 00:07:57.648 --> 00:07:59.250 The reality that hit us 00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:01.285 was that all of these young girls 00:08:01.352 --> 00:08:03.721 could've have been killed by the same person 00:08:03.754 --> 00:08:05.723 and we need to have a task force. 00:08:05.756 --> 00:08:09.360 So we had started out with about 20 or 25 detectives 00:08:09.393 --> 00:08:11.262 because we were very certain 00:08:11.362 --> 00:08:13.731 that we had a serial murderer on our hands. 00:08:27.144 --> 00:08:29.146 Most serial murder cases 00:08:29.213 --> 00:08:31.649 are stranger homicides. 00:08:32.750 --> 00:08:34.285 There is no connection 00:08:34.318 --> 00:08:36.754 that you can investigate in the victim's background 00:08:36.787 --> 00:08:39.757 that's gonna bring you to the suspect. 00:08:39.790 --> 00:08:42.026 They come together for the first time... 00:08:44.295 --> 00:08:47.665 And that's usually the last time for the victim. 00:08:49.333 --> 00:08:51.135 That makes it difficult 00:08:51.202 --> 00:08:52.803 to solve a serial murder case. 00:08:55.706 --> 00:08:58.242 When you know you're working a serial killer, 00:08:58.309 --> 00:09:00.678 a lot of things start running through your mind. 00:09:00.711 --> 00:09:02.680 The thought was 00:09:02.713 --> 00:09:04.515 anything is possible with this guy. 00:09:06.784 --> 00:09:09.320 We don't know if he's a resident here. 00:09:09.353 --> 00:09:11.422 We don't know if he's a transient... 00:09:12.523 --> 00:09:14.959 And it's always at the forefront of your mind 00:09:15.059 --> 00:09:17.695 that the next day you could find another victim. 00:09:23.534 --> 00:09:25.636 I think history has shown us that, 00:09:25.703 --> 00:09:28.539 unless they're in jail, or in prison, or dead, 00:09:28.606 --> 00:09:30.007 they don't stop. 00:09:30.074 --> 00:09:32.009 Serial killers don't stop. 00:09:32.076 --> 00:09:34.278 They have to keep doing it. 00:09:38.349 --> 00:09:40.284 The news that we were 00:09:40.351 --> 00:09:42.587 investigating a serial murder case 00:09:42.653 --> 00:09:45.723 spread rather rapidly. 00:09:45.823 --> 00:09:47.892 And sometimes that brings 00:09:47.992 --> 00:09:49.994 certain people out of the woodwork 00:09:50.027 --> 00:09:51.662 that want to be involved 00:09:51.729 --> 00:09:53.764 in investigations like this. 00:09:56.233 --> 00:09:59.770 I had already called the FBI Behavioural Science Center 00:09:59.837 --> 00:10:03.007 and they said one of the things that a killer might do 00:10:03.040 --> 00:10:04.642 is to call and say, 00:10:04.742 --> 00:10:06.644 "I wanna help. I wanna be involved." 00:10:06.744 --> 00:10:08.312 And what that does, of course, 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:09.780 is gives them the opportunity 00:10:09.847 --> 00:10:12.717 to know what's going on if they get close enough. 00:10:14.952 --> 00:10:16.854 County Sheriff's office. 00:10:16.887 --> 00:10:18.289 A guy, Melvyn Foster, 00:10:18.389 --> 00:10:20.625 called and offered his help, 00:10:20.691 --> 00:10:22.293 and said, 00:10:22.293 --> 00:10:25.296 "I think I may have known some of these victims." 00:10:25.396 --> 00:10:27.498 Thanks for your call. 00:10:27.531 --> 00:10:28.933 We discovered 00:10:29.033 --> 00:10:30.601 he was a cab driver. 00:10:31.035 --> 00:10:33.971 He was out and about in the areas 00:10:34.038 --> 00:10:36.974 where the young women were engaged in their activities 00:10:37.041 --> 00:10:38.609 and/or missing. 00:10:38.643 --> 00:10:41.445 So that, y'know, certainly set up red flags for us. 00:10:44.515 --> 00:10:46.183 So we brought him in. 00:10:47.451 --> 00:10:49.520 He was one of those characters 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:51.188 that you couldn't ignore. 00:10:52.423 --> 00:10:54.025 We interviewed him. 00:10:54.058 --> 00:10:56.427 We discovered he had warrants out for his arrest. 00:10:58.262 --> 00:11:00.965 We asked him to take a polygraph test. 00:11:03.734 --> 00:11:06.270 The polygraph is a device 00:11:06.303 --> 00:11:08.305 that's designed to measure your heart rate, 00:11:08.372 --> 00:11:10.307 your blood pressure, your skin conductance, 00:11:10.374 --> 00:11:11.909 and your respiration rate. 00:11:11.942 --> 00:11:14.812 And it's based on the idea that by measuring those, 00:11:14.845 --> 00:11:16.647 it can capture when a person's lying. 00:11:19.550 --> 00:11:22.186 He said he knows some of the victims... 00:11:23.721 --> 00:11:26.023 Then he says he doesn't know some of the victims... 00:11:27.692 --> 00:11:29.460 Then he says he does know. 00:11:31.128 --> 00:11:33.330 As his stories changed... 00:11:35.833 --> 00:11:38.202 Melvyn Foster failed the polygraph test. 00:11:40.104 --> 00:11:42.106 So we put him under surveillance. 00:11:44.208 --> 00:11:46.243 We spent a lotta time on him. 00:11:47.311 --> 00:11:50.247 We got a search warrant for his house... 00:11:51.315 --> 00:11:53.484 and we found some 00:11:53.517 --> 00:11:55.586 photographs of * women. 00:11:56.687 --> 00:11:59.223 But we found no physical evidence 00:11:59.323 --> 00:12:00.958 that connected him directly 00:12:00.991 --> 00:12:03.961 to any of the bodies that we found. 00:12:05.029 --> 00:12:07.765 And all we had was a failed polygraph. 00:12:07.865 --> 00:12:09.734 This was not enough to make 00:12:09.800 --> 00:12:12.503 any sort of a case and arrest him. 00:12:22.747 --> 00:12:25.082 After not making any progress 00:12:25.149 --> 00:12:26.984 with Melvyn Foster, 00:12:27.051 --> 00:12:29.920 there was a decision made in late '82 00:12:29.987 --> 00:12:32.656 that the task force would be cut back. 00:12:33.724 --> 00:12:35.893 For the most part in 1983, 00:12:35.926 --> 00:12:37.661 we weren't finding any more victims. 00:12:37.728 --> 00:12:40.264 And I think, at that point, 00:12:40.364 --> 00:12:43.067 it may have been just Reichert and I 00:12:43.167 --> 00:12:46.270 who were left to follow up on this case. 00:12:49.106 --> 00:12:52.376 You had victims' families who were angry, 00:12:52.409 --> 00:12:54.378 they were disappointed in us, 00:12:54.411 --> 00:12:56.013 they were critical of us, 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.182 they felt that we didn't care... 00:12:58.282 --> 00:13:00.017 We're calling attention to the fact 00:13:00.084 --> 00:13:01.685 these women are being killed, 00:13:01.752 --> 00:13:03.554 and anything is better than nothing. 00:13:03.587 --> 00:13:06.023 It hurt, for people to feel that way. 00:13:06.090 --> 00:13:09.126 I mean, we were, from sun up to sun down, 00:13:09.193 --> 00:13:11.295 weekends, driving around, 00:13:11.328 --> 00:13:13.297 y'know, following leads, followin' tips. 00:13:13.330 --> 00:13:15.299 We were committed to solving the case. 00:13:16.801 --> 00:13:18.669 While victims' families 00:13:18.702 --> 00:13:20.404 accused us of not caring. 00:13:20.471 --> 00:13:23.407 I think that, with prostitutes on the street, 00:13:23.474 --> 00:13:26.877 the other part of the community didn't really care. 00:13:34.718 --> 00:13:39.323 Y'know, when I used to work late at night on this case, 00:13:39.356 --> 00:13:41.692 I'd park and watch people 00:13:41.725 --> 00:13:44.461 comin' and going to whatever in their busy lives. 00:13:45.996 --> 00:13:47.698 Didn't see me... 00:13:48.732 --> 00:13:50.701 But they also, sadly, 00:13:50.734 --> 00:13:52.636 didn't see the young girls who were standing 00:13:52.703 --> 00:13:55.906 right there on the street corner, right in front of 'em. 00:13:58.709 --> 00:14:01.979 I left home when I was in high school 00:14:02.079 --> 00:14:04.081 because of domestic violence... 00:14:05.349 --> 00:14:07.985 And I think that 00:14:08.085 --> 00:14:10.821 helped me understand 00:14:10.855 --> 00:14:13.624 why these young kids would leave their homes. 00:14:17.161 --> 00:14:18.762 And then... 00:14:19.630 --> 00:14:21.732 other bodies started to be found. 00:14:21.765 --> 00:14:23.100 In Seattle, 00:14:23.133 --> 00:14:24.768 another grim discovery today 00:14:24.835 --> 00:14:27.271 that could be connected to the string of Green River murders, 00:14:27.271 --> 00:14:29.139 which have shaken that west coast city. 00:14:29.206 --> 00:14:31.408 Late into 1983, 00:14:31.475 --> 00:14:33.077 we had 13 victims. 00:14:46.023 --> 00:14:48.559 This investigation ebbed and flowed. 00:14:48.659 --> 00:14:50.394 In '84, 00:14:50.427 --> 00:14:53.030 all of a sudden, it ramped up again. 00:14:53.130 --> 00:14:54.231 In Seattle this morning, 00:14:54.298 --> 00:14:55.766 police are hunting a mass murderer 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:57.935 believed to have killed as many as 21 prostitutes 00:14:58.035 --> 00:14:59.503 in the last 22 months. 00:14:59.570 --> 00:15:00.971 David Burrington reports. 00:15:01.038 --> 00:15:02.973 Been called the Green River Killer 00:15:02.973 --> 00:15:04.441 ever since the first bodies, 00:15:04.508 --> 00:15:07.144 five of them, were pulled from this river. 00:15:07.177 --> 00:15:10.047 Since then, seven more bodies have been discovered nearby, 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:11.982 all those of young prostitutes, 00:15:12.049 --> 00:15:13.450 according to police. 00:15:13.517 --> 00:15:15.786 And the number of missing increases steadily. 00:15:15.886 --> 00:15:18.188 Two were added to the list this week. 00:15:18.255 --> 00:15:21.225 Every month we were finding two or three more bodies. 00:15:21.325 --> 00:15:24.428 We spent so much time recovering remains 00:15:24.461 --> 00:15:25.896 that there wasn't that much time 00:15:25.963 --> 00:15:27.698 to actually investigate the murders. 00:15:30.801 --> 00:15:33.170 You can't be a robot in this job. 00:15:33.203 --> 00:15:35.973 There's no way in the world 00:15:36.073 --> 00:15:38.275 that you can't get emotionally involved 00:15:38.342 --> 00:15:41.478 when you collect bodies day after day, 00:15:41.545 --> 00:15:43.180 week after week. 00:15:43.213 --> 00:15:45.549 The visions of those bodies stay. 00:15:45.582 --> 00:15:48.352 They stay in your memory forever. 00:15:51.956 --> 00:15:54.291 But about 1985, 00:15:54.358 --> 00:15:56.360 we got a computer... 00:15:57.728 --> 00:15:59.330 And the computer allowed us 00:15:59.363 --> 00:16:02.299 to organize the evidence that we had gathered. 00:16:03.567 --> 00:16:06.236 And a recurring thing that we found 00:16:06.303 --> 00:16:08.639 was a greenish-colored pickup 00:16:08.739 --> 00:16:11.241 that was seen in the area, 00:16:11.308 --> 00:16:13.744 or possibly with the victim. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:20.651 One of them was the woman identified as Kim Nelson. 00:16:22.319 --> 00:16:24.488 We learned that Kim Nelson 00:16:24.521 --> 00:16:26.490 and this other gal, Paige Miley, 00:16:26.523 --> 00:16:28.592 were standing by the side of the road... 00:16:31.228 --> 00:16:33.063 And Paige got picked up... 00:16:35.132 --> 00:16:37.301 leaving Kim Nelson there by herself. 00:16:39.970 --> 00:16:42.139 And then when Paige came back, 00:16:42.239 --> 00:16:44.141 Kim was gone. 00:16:45.309 --> 00:16:46.610 from a group of six photographs. 00:16:49.713 --> 00:16:52.216 He was called Gary Ridgway. 00:16:58.489 --> 00:17:00.491 We discovered that Ridgway 00:17:00.557 --> 00:17:03.360 lived in the neighborhood just off the Strip. 00:17:04.461 --> 00:17:07.564 He came across as this very meek, 00:17:07.598 --> 00:17:09.833 mild-mannered person 00:17:09.867 --> 00:17:13.037 who gave people the impression that he couldn't hurt a fly. 00:17:14.104 --> 00:17:16.840 But he had a prior arrest 00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:19.309 for patronizing a prostitute. 00:17:22.379 --> 00:17:24.481 He worked at Kenworth Trucking 00:17:24.581 --> 00:17:26.950 as a painter in Renton, 00:17:27.017 --> 00:17:30.320 which was maybe 40 minutes from his home. 00:17:37.961 --> 00:17:39.897 We found that there was 00:17:39.963 --> 00:17:42.132 a definite spike in the number of cases 00:17:42.166 --> 00:17:43.867 when there was a strike at Kenworth, 00:17:43.901 --> 00:17:46.503 and Gary was off work for a lot of that time. 00:17:48.138 --> 00:17:51.508 So he was available 24 hours a day, 00:17:51.542 --> 00:17:53.143 seven days a week. 00:17:54.011 --> 00:17:55.979 As we looked at Ridgway, 00:17:56.013 --> 00:17:58.182 he just got more and more interesting, 00:17:58.248 --> 00:18:00.984 and we eventually got to a place where 00:18:01.018 --> 00:18:03.720 we had probable cause to search his home. 00:18:08.792 --> 00:18:10.894 In forensic science, 00:18:10.994 --> 00:18:13.530 we're trying to place people at a scene, 00:18:13.564 --> 00:18:15.699 or we're trying to place people together. 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:19.036 So we work off the Principle of Exchange. 00:18:19.103 --> 00:18:20.704 And that means that when people 00:18:20.804 --> 00:18:22.372 come into contact with each other, 00:18:22.439 --> 00:18:23.907 there's very likely 00:18:23.941 --> 00:18:26.543 some exchange of some fiber, 00:18:26.643 --> 00:18:29.079 a hair, or body fluid. 00:18:29.179 --> 00:18:31.915 And our job as forensic scientists 00:18:31.949 --> 00:18:36.053 is to make sure we collect any of those fibers, or hairs, 00:18:36.120 --> 00:18:38.388 or fluids that have been exchanged. 00:18:41.191 --> 00:18:44.094 We're looking for anything that is 00:18:44.194 --> 00:18:46.029 connecting any of the victims 00:18:46.096 --> 00:18:48.432 together with Ridgway. 00:18:48.499 --> 00:18:50.567 Any stray hairs, 00:18:50.601 --> 00:18:53.303 any fibers on the carpet, 00:18:53.403 --> 00:18:55.472 paint samples from his coveralls... 00:18:55.572 --> 00:18:57.674 anything that could match 00:18:57.741 --> 00:19:00.677 the clothing items that we found on our early victims 00:19:00.744 --> 00:19:04.148 to build a case and arrest him. 00:19:13.090 --> 00:19:14.525 In '87, '88, '89, 00:19:14.591 --> 00:19:16.326 we kept finding bodies. 00:19:16.360 --> 00:19:17.794 Police in Washington State 00:19:17.861 --> 00:19:19.363 believe they've found the remains 00:19:19.429 --> 00:19:21.565 of another victim of the so-called Green River Killer. 00:19:21.598 --> 00:19:24.001 Seventeen year old Cindy Ann Smith 00:19:24.067 --> 00:19:26.870 was last seen in March of 1984. 00:19:26.970 --> 00:19:28.172 Police believe that Smith 00:19:28.238 --> 00:19:30.374 is the killer's 37th known victim, 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.342 all of them women ranging from 00:19:32.442 --> 00:19:35.078 16 to 36 years of age... 00:19:35.145 --> 00:19:38.148 There were so many missing young girls now 00:19:38.248 --> 00:19:40.817 who had been known to work on the street. 00:19:40.884 --> 00:19:43.654 You're talking about 60, 70, 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:46.356 possibly 80 victims on a list. 00:19:46.390 --> 00:19:49.159 The missing person count is going up, 00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:51.828 and the number of victims had gone up... 00:19:53.764 --> 00:19:56.900 And our main focus was Gary Ridgway. 00:19:59.703 --> 00:20:01.104 he would stop and pick up a prostitute. 00:20:01.104 --> 00:20:03.073 let's give Ridgway a polygraph test. 00:20:07.344 --> 00:20:09.079 Although the polygraph is 00:20:09.112 --> 00:20:11.448 very popular with law enforcement agencies, 00:20:11.548 --> 00:20:13.817 it is not foolproof at all. 00:20:13.850 --> 00:20:16.920 On the polygraph, if a person is very nervous, 00:20:16.987 --> 00:20:18.589 they will look like a liar. 00:20:19.489 --> 00:20:21.925 For people who are maybe comfortable lying, 00:20:21.959 --> 00:20:26.196 the polygraph will not detect any anxiety, 00:20:26.296 --> 00:20:27.965 as measured by changes in heart rate, 00:20:28.031 --> 00:20:29.633 skin conductance, and blood pressure. 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:33.670 And they will look calm, and relaxed, 00:20:33.704 --> 00:20:35.305 and truthful. 00:20:38.709 --> 00:20:41.111 Well, Ridgway passed the polygraph test. 00:20:43.347 --> 00:20:45.515 We're going, okay, uh... 00:20:47.217 --> 00:20:50.120 One of the things that we did in '87 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:53.624 was ask him to chew on a gauze... 00:20:56.260 --> 00:20:59.062 And that gauze collected saliva. 00:21:03.500 --> 00:21:05.235 And that gauze was 00:21:05.335 --> 00:21:07.738 put in a test tube and frozen. 00:21:15.012 --> 00:21:18.615 If we were to take a swab from someone today, 00:21:19.716 --> 00:21:21.385 we'd be able to determine, 00:21:21.451 --> 00:21:23.253 without a doubt, their DNA. 00:21:24.721 --> 00:21:26.657 But, in the '80s, 00:21:26.723 --> 00:21:29.559 what you could learn from a saliva test 00:21:29.626 --> 00:21:31.628 was the person's blood type. 00:21:32.663 --> 00:21:35.098 That's all we could determine. 00:21:40.637 --> 00:21:42.339 There was a lot of evidence 00:21:42.372 --> 00:21:44.041 gathered from Gary Ridgway's house. 00:21:45.542 --> 00:21:47.811 It took years for the crime lab 00:21:47.911 --> 00:21:50.280 to thoroughly analyze all of it. 00:21:51.315 --> 00:21:52.382 But in the end, 00:21:52.449 --> 00:21:54.017 nothing matched up well enough 00:21:54.051 --> 00:21:55.752 with anything that we had forensically 00:21:55.786 --> 00:21:57.387 to give us what we needed 00:21:57.387 --> 00:21:59.556 to put us over the top and charge him. 00:22:07.664 --> 00:22:10.934 With the investigation not making any progress... 00:22:11.968 --> 00:22:15.672 There was a decision finally made in the late '80s... 00:22:17.107 --> 00:22:20.877 to begin to downsize the task force. 00:22:24.948 --> 00:22:26.883 I took a sergeant's desk, I got promoted... 00:22:28.785 --> 00:22:31.688 But the Green River case was not far away. 00:22:31.788 --> 00:22:35.592 I was working in an area that was right on the Strip. 00:22:36.693 --> 00:22:40.464 It never left my heart, it never left my mind... 00:22:41.531 --> 00:22:43.133 So... 00:22:45.502 --> 00:22:48.972 Yeah, that was a tough... 1990 was a tough time. 00:22:56.380 --> 00:23:00.350 A lot of the women who get involved in prostitution 00:23:00.384 --> 00:23:02.285 have had some sort of... 00:23:02.452 --> 00:23:03.854 It could've been me. 00:23:05.455 --> 00:23:08.625 And I say that because I was also abused 00:23:08.692 --> 00:23:10.293 when I was a child growing up. 00:23:11.428 --> 00:23:12.896 For me, 00:23:12.929 --> 00:23:14.898 it gave me a special passion 00:23:14.931 --> 00:23:16.533 to work on this case. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:19.936 But around January 1989, 00:23:20.003 --> 00:23:22.372 I moved on from the investigation. 00:23:23.407 --> 00:23:26.009 It was pulling on my heart too much. 00:23:26.076 --> 00:23:28.378 I just... Y'know, I just... 00:23:28.412 --> 00:23:30.013 I just needed to go. 00:23:35.685 --> 00:23:37.287 Time marched on, 00:23:37.287 --> 00:23:39.089 and the voters of King County 00:23:39.189 --> 00:23:41.825 decided to go back to an elected Sheriff. 00:23:42.926 --> 00:23:44.828 That was in March of '97. 00:23:44.928 --> 00:23:47.597 And I ran for election that year and won, 00:23:47.664 --> 00:23:49.666 and I'm sworn in as the Sheriff. 00:23:50.734 --> 00:23:52.836 I was thinking all this time, 00:23:52.869 --> 00:23:54.838 after I left in 1990, 00:23:54.871 --> 00:23:56.840 maybe the case could be reopened. 00:23:58.108 --> 00:24:00.076 Well, now I'm the Sheriff, 00:24:00.143 --> 00:24:02.245 so that's what I did. 00:24:02.312 --> 00:24:05.215 In 1997, I reopened the case. 00:24:07.250 --> 00:24:10.954 I said, "Look, I want all the evidence in this case 00:24:10.987 --> 00:24:12.589 thoroughly reviewed." 00:24:12.589 --> 00:24:16.059 We learned of two labs on the east coast 00:24:16.092 --> 00:24:18.061 that were involved and engaged in 00:24:18.094 --> 00:24:19.696 a new science called "DNA." 00:24:21.465 --> 00:24:23.867 The job of a forensic scientist 00:24:23.967 --> 00:24:26.169 is to provide support to investigators 00:24:26.236 --> 00:24:29.973 that are trying to solve these very difficult crimes. 00:24:30.073 --> 00:24:32.175 And that's why the evolution of DNA 00:24:32.242 --> 00:24:33.977 has been so amazing. 00:24:35.445 --> 00:24:38.181 We knew we had the saliva samples, 00:24:38.248 --> 00:24:41.718 and we knew we had the spermatozoa samples. 00:24:41.751 --> 00:24:45.188 And we sent them to one of the labs. 00:24:47.257 --> 00:24:51.528 They took a look at them and tried a comparison. 00:24:51.628 --> 00:24:55.665 But they couldn't come up with any definitive answers for us. 00:24:55.732 --> 00:24:57.567 They said, "Look", 00:24:57.634 --> 00:24:59.769 "the science is progressing. 00:24:59.836 --> 00:25:01.738 "Wait a little longer, 00:25:01.771 --> 00:25:03.540 "because your samples are 00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:06.176 "so fragile and so minute 00:25:06.276 --> 00:25:09.913 that we could destroy them if we did anything further." 00:25:23.193 --> 00:25:24.928 In 2001, 00:25:24.961 --> 00:25:27.697 the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab 00:25:27.764 --> 00:25:31.434 came on board with the STR, PCR technologies 00:25:31.501 --> 00:25:35.805 that can analyze really minimal samples. 00:25:35.872 --> 00:25:39.409 It was really a breakthrough in forensic DNA analysis. 00:25:41.511 --> 00:25:44.414 Before we started using PCR, 00:25:44.514 --> 00:25:47.050 we had to have a stain that was relatively large. 00:25:47.083 --> 00:25:51.321 PCR allows us to take small amounts of DNA 00:25:51.354 --> 00:25:52.956 and copy regions of it, 00:25:52.956 --> 00:25:54.691 over and over and over again, 00:25:54.791 --> 00:25:58.328 until we have more copies of that particular area 00:25:58.361 --> 00:26:00.430 of the DNA that we're interested in. 00:26:06.703 --> 00:26:08.204 In early 2001, 00:26:08.271 --> 00:26:10.440 I sent the samples to the lab 00:26:10.473 --> 00:26:13.109 and I asked them to analyze the material. 00:26:13.176 --> 00:26:14.444 We felt this could be 00:26:14.544 --> 00:26:16.212 the last chance we got with this evidence. 00:26:17.247 --> 00:26:20.450 We started with the girls found in the Green River. 00:26:21.484 --> 00:26:23.353 On some of the autopsy evidence, 00:26:23.453 --> 00:26:25.188 the swabs, 00:26:25.221 --> 00:26:27.891 they were completely taken off of the sticks 00:26:27.991 --> 00:26:29.626 and used in past technologies. 00:26:30.994 --> 00:26:33.096 We had limited sperm 00:26:33.129 --> 00:26:34.764 come off those sticks, 00:26:34.831 --> 00:26:38.201 but enough to generate a male profile 00:26:38.234 --> 00:26:40.770 from two of the victims. 00:26:40.837 --> 00:26:42.606 We had the same male profile 00:26:42.672 --> 00:26:46.109 from another victim in a separate crime scene... 00:26:47.644 --> 00:26:49.245 But we didn't know who it was. 00:26:51.214 --> 00:26:52.782 We had reference samples 00:26:52.849 --> 00:26:55.418 collected from potential suspects in the past... 00:26:58.121 --> 00:26:59.689 Those reference samples were run... 00:27:05.528 --> 00:27:07.964 One of them matched that of the evidence 00:27:08.031 --> 00:27:09.966 from the Green River victims. 00:27:15.238 --> 00:27:17.674 I got a call from the State Crime lab. 00:27:17.774 --> 00:27:19.142 They asked me to come down. 00:27:19.242 --> 00:27:21.177 They had something they needed to tell me. 00:27:23.046 --> 00:27:26.182 I was away for four or five days 00:27:26.249 --> 00:27:29.419 and Tom waited until I came back... 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:31.254 All I knew is that 00:27:31.287 --> 00:27:33.423 he wanted to sit down and talk to me. 00:27:39.729 --> 00:27:41.631 So he had three sheets of paper... 00:27:44.534 --> 00:27:47.203 And he flipped over the first sheet. 00:27:47.270 --> 00:27:49.539 And Tom had drawn the charts out 00:27:49.572 --> 00:27:51.174 so they were easy to understand. 00:27:52.275 --> 00:27:55.745 And I explained to him that this is the DNA profile 00:27:55.812 --> 00:27:57.547 that was found with Opal Mills. 00:27:58.648 --> 00:28:00.817 Then he flipped over a second piece of paper. 00:28:01.851 --> 00:28:03.453 "This is the DNA profile 00:28:03.453 --> 00:28:05.455 that was lifted from Marcia Chapman." 00:28:05.488 --> 00:28:06.923 And then I said, 00:28:06.956 --> 00:28:10.360 "And then this is the DNA profile of the Green River killer." 00:28:11.695 --> 00:28:13.663 And he said, "Look, 00:28:13.697 --> 00:28:16.666 you'll notice that the DNA chart is the same." 00:28:17.734 --> 00:28:22.305 I said, "Tom, are you trying to tell me that we... 00:28:22.338 --> 00:28:24.307 we know who this guy is?" 00:28:25.775 --> 00:28:27.377 And he goes, "Yeah." 00:28:28.845 --> 00:28:31.114 And he pulls out an envelope... 00:28:39.689 --> 00:28:41.624 It's Gary Ridgway. 00:28:46.329 --> 00:28:48.631 A pretty emotional moment, 00:28:48.631 --> 00:28:50.934 as you might guess, for all of us. 00:28:52.969 --> 00:28:54.904 I remember that. 00:28:54.971 --> 00:28:57.607 Man, what a sense of relief, almost to tears. 00:28:57.707 --> 00:29:00.710 Y'know, it's like, finally... 00:29:00.777 --> 00:29:03.146 Finally... 00:29:03.179 --> 00:29:05.415 We know who it is, finally. 00:29:06.716 --> 00:29:09.052 So we called the team together, 00:29:09.152 --> 00:29:12.455 and we started to decide, okay, now what's our next... 00:29:12.522 --> 00:29:14.457 What's our next move? 00:29:18.728 --> 00:29:23.633 Gary Ridgway had been our prime suspect since 1987. 00:29:23.733 --> 00:29:25.635 We just didn't have the evidence. 00:29:27.570 --> 00:29:29.906 So we put him under surveillance. 00:29:30.006 --> 00:29:32.742 And as we do that, we learn that, yes, 00:29:32.776 --> 00:29:34.277 he's still contacting 00:29:34.310 --> 00:29:36.112 young women, prostitutes on the street. 00:29:36.179 --> 00:29:38.114 And at the same time, 00:29:38.181 --> 00:29:41.384 we're working with the Prosecutor's Office 00:29:41.417 --> 00:29:44.821 in building that case to arrest him. 00:29:48.792 --> 00:29:52.562 When we finally arrested Ridgway in 2001... 00:29:52.662 --> 00:29:55.064 it was like the world's weight 00:29:55.131 --> 00:29:57.300 has been lifted from my shoulders. 00:30:01.971 --> 00:30:04.507 They brought him to the Regional Justice Center 00:30:04.574 --> 00:30:07.143 where the command post had been set up. 00:30:07.210 --> 00:30:09.946 And then I looked at him, and I said, 00:30:09.979 --> 00:30:12.248 "Gotcha, *** 00:30:13.349 --> 00:30:16.252 Today at approximately 3 PM, 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:18.855 detectives from the King County Sheriff's Office 00:30:18.955 --> 00:30:21.224 arrested a 52 year old man 00:30:21.324 --> 00:30:23.693 for investigation of homicide. 00:30:23.726 --> 00:30:25.461 The man arrested 00:30:25.528 --> 00:30:28.064 is Gary Leon Ridgway. 00:30:32.969 --> 00:30:34.871 Once he's taken to jail 00:30:34.971 --> 00:30:36.906 and he's got attorneys, 00:30:36.973 --> 00:30:38.875 they can start to build their defense... 00:30:38.975 --> 00:30:42.645 Mr. Ridgway, his plea is "not guilty" to all charges. 00:30:42.712 --> 00:30:44.547 And their defense was, 00:30:44.614 --> 00:30:47.283 "We recognize, after talking to our client, 00:30:47.350 --> 00:30:49.485 that he frequented prostitutes..." 00:30:50.553 --> 00:30:52.722 "And if his DNA happened to be 00:30:52.755 --> 00:30:55.391 "in the bodies of three of the victims, 00:30:55.458 --> 00:30:57.994 that doesn't mean that he killed those victims." 00:30:59.095 --> 00:31:02.031 "It means he was a customer some time before their death." 00:31:05.501 --> 00:31:07.403 There's always a chance that 00:31:07.470 --> 00:31:10.406 a defense like that presented could stand up in Court, 00:31:10.473 --> 00:31:12.175 if that's all the evidence we had. 00:31:12.275 --> 00:31:14.177 I can remember saying, "Look", 00:31:14.277 --> 00:31:16.779 "if we can get three or four more victims 00:31:16.846 --> 00:31:18.848 "with some other forensic evidence 00:31:18.882 --> 00:31:20.483 tied to Gary Ridgway..." 00:31:22.151 --> 00:31:23.753 "We've got him." 00:31:27.657 --> 00:31:29.592 Some of the investigators 00:31:29.659 --> 00:31:31.594 and the prosecutors working on the case 00:31:31.661 --> 00:31:33.429 learned of this new process 00:31:33.496 --> 00:31:37.033 that was being used by a microscopic analysis lab. 00:31:39.135 --> 00:31:41.037 We were asked if we would 00:31:41.070 --> 00:31:42.872 get involved in looking at the evidence 00:31:42.939 --> 00:31:45.341 and sort of acting as general consultants in trace evidence. 00:31:46.809 --> 00:31:49.145 For six months of pretty intensive work... 00:31:49.212 --> 00:31:51.814 Picking through tiny particles, 00:31:51.881 --> 00:31:54.517 preparing them for analysis, analyzing them... 00:31:54.550 --> 00:31:56.819 we had no associations that we could draw. 00:31:58.688 --> 00:32:00.790 However, as microscopists, 00:32:00.890 --> 00:32:02.592 we couldn't help looking at 00:32:02.692 --> 00:32:05.895 the fine dust in the victim's clothing. 00:32:05.962 --> 00:32:08.064 So we vacuumed some of the clothing, 00:32:08.164 --> 00:32:09.832 which was in pretty bad shape... 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:13.002 and then we started picking through the dust. 00:32:13.069 --> 00:32:16.005 And that's often one of these eureka moments you have 00:32:16.072 --> 00:32:18.174 when you're looking at trace evidence. 00:32:18.207 --> 00:32:21.077 You find sort of the particle, or something odd. 00:32:23.913 --> 00:32:27.850 And we started seeing these colored spheres of spray paint. 00:32:29.018 --> 00:32:32.555 But why is it that half a dozen prostitutes 00:32:32.588 --> 00:32:34.991 have spray paint on their clothing? 00:32:36.092 --> 00:32:38.861 We had at this time the ability to do 00:32:38.928 --> 00:32:41.564 high-quality infrared micro spectrophotometry. 00:32:42.832 --> 00:32:44.567 It's a way of obtaining 00:32:44.634 --> 00:32:47.303 a chemical signature of a compound. 00:32:48.371 --> 00:32:51.741 We're able to identify this as Imron paint. 00:32:53.209 --> 00:32:55.111 This is a very unusual paint, 00:32:55.211 --> 00:32:56.946 based on its infrared spectrum, 00:32:56.980 --> 00:33:00.116 which was being used at the Kenworth Truck factory, 00:33:00.149 --> 00:33:01.951 while Ridgway was working there. 00:33:12.595 --> 00:33:14.130 In the Green River murders, 00:33:14.163 --> 00:33:16.265 one of the reasons we were brought in 00:33:16.332 --> 00:33:18.768 is because Ridgway said, "I frequented prostitutes. 00:33:18.868 --> 00:33:21.337 Of course my DNA is in a lot of prostitutes." 00:33:22.171 --> 00:33:26.876 But now we have something completely independent of that... 00:33:26.909 --> 00:33:29.245 Spray paint. 00:33:32.248 --> 00:33:34.150 With this evidence, 00:33:34.183 --> 00:33:36.619 in the Spring of 2003, 00:33:36.652 --> 00:33:39.622 Gary Ridgway was charged with four new counts of murder, 00:33:39.689 --> 00:33:42.425 making it seven at that point. 00:33:43.526 --> 00:33:45.094 Within about a month, 00:33:45.161 --> 00:33:48.197 we started hearing rumours that the defense was considering 00:33:48.264 --> 00:33:50.666 the possibility of having Gary Ridgway confess... 00:33:51.734 --> 00:33:54.670 in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table. 00:33:58.941 --> 00:34:02.912 Discussions began on Ridgway coming forward, 00:34:02.945 --> 00:34:04.447 admitting guilt, 00:34:04.547 --> 00:34:09.185 and telling us about 65 murders 00:34:09.285 --> 00:34:11.187 and showing us where other bodies were. 00:34:12.288 --> 00:34:15.024 I thought that was a good thing, 00:34:15.058 --> 00:34:18.061 because there were many victims who were still missing. 00:34:19.729 --> 00:34:23.399 And the families needed to have some resolution to that. 00:34:24.434 --> 00:34:27.403 We took him to our task force headquarters 00:34:27.437 --> 00:34:30.773 and discussions began about where the bodies were, 00:34:30.840 --> 00:34:33.576 what he did to the bodies, why he killed them, 00:34:33.609 --> 00:34:35.311 all those questions that everybody 00:34:35.411 --> 00:34:37.713 wanted to have answered. 00:34:42.585 --> 00:34:44.854 We used to take 00:34:44.854 --> 00:34:47.123 what we called "road trips" with Ridgway, 00:34:47.156 --> 00:34:49.125 showing us where other bodies were. 00:34:50.993 --> 00:34:54.864 And we were focusing on the Mary West case. 00:34:54.897 --> 00:34:56.332 In the '80s, 00:34:56.432 --> 00:34:59.435 Mary West was found in Seward Park in Seattle, 00:34:59.469 --> 00:35:01.070 just off of Rainier Avenue. 00:35:01.971 --> 00:35:03.706 Take a right on Henderson. 00:35:03.739 --> 00:35:05.708 He directed the driver 00:35:05.775 --> 00:35:08.111 exactly down the right roads... 00:35:08.177 --> 00:35:10.980 At this light, take a right. 00:35:11.013 --> 00:35:14.083 There was no wrong turns anywhere. 00:35:14.117 --> 00:35:16.252 The park is straight ahead. 00:35:16.352 --> 00:35:18.387 We get into the park, 00:35:18.454 --> 00:35:21.991 he goes right to a spot that I was at years earlier. 00:35:26.262 --> 00:35:27.864 And he said... 00:35:28.998 --> 00:35:31.300 Right in here's where I killed her. 00:35:39.175 --> 00:35:41.210 After you killed her, then what did you do? 00:35:41.277 --> 00:35:44.380 I drug her in further on a trail that was back there. 00:35:49.418 --> 00:35:53.556 Y'know, to be there, years later, 00:35:53.656 --> 00:35:55.224 and with him... 00:35:58.294 --> 00:36:01.030 It's... It's a feeling you can't describe. 00:36:02.198 --> 00:36:05.668 We're trying to take you back to that first one and figure out... 00:36:05.768 --> 00:36:07.970 Every day, for hours on end, 00:36:08.037 --> 00:36:09.939 he was interviewed by 00:36:09.972 --> 00:36:11.607 a team of four detectives. 00:36:12.875 --> 00:36:15.411 Why did you like killing people? 00:36:15.511 --> 00:36:17.046 I just hated women, 00:36:17.079 --> 00:36:19.715 and they're the vulnerable people to do it. 00:36:19.782 --> 00:36:22.518 I mean, it's just so hard to describe. 00:36:22.552 --> 00:36:23.519 Surreal. 00:36:23.586 --> 00:36:26.522 It felt good to kill a woman. 00:36:26.589 --> 00:36:29.192 It felt good to take their life, and... 00:36:29.258 --> 00:36:33.062 It was like looking into the eyes of pure evil. 00:36:33.162 --> 00:36:35.431 What got Gary Ridgway to the point 00:36:35.464 --> 00:36:37.433 where he put his hands on somebody 00:36:37.466 --> 00:36:39.435 and he took their life that day? 00:36:39.468 --> 00:36:41.070 What was different that day? 00:36:41.103 --> 00:36:43.706 That was the day of, uh, 00:36:43.806 --> 00:36:46.909 creating a new me... 00:36:46.976 --> 00:36:49.912 A new, uh... 00:36:49.979 --> 00:36:51.914 a new killer. 00:36:51.981 --> 00:36:54.483 He had an empty feeling. 00:36:54.550 --> 00:36:57.987 No soul kind of a look to him. 00:37:03.826 --> 00:37:06.195 We corroborated his statement with 00:37:06.262 --> 00:37:08.130 his description of the sites... 00:37:08.197 --> 00:37:11.500 Okay, right about in here... 00:37:11.567 --> 00:37:15.738 I just drove in with my pickup and camper, 00:37:15.771 --> 00:37:17.740 and parked it, brought her body over, 00:37:17.773 --> 00:37:20.109 and put it a little bit over the hill. 00:37:20.209 --> 00:37:21.744 Enough to the point 00:37:21.777 --> 00:37:23.913 where we felt comfortable 00:37:24.013 --> 00:37:26.916 that we could charge him with 48 murders. 00:37:29.785 --> 00:37:32.421 And so he's scheduled to go to court, 00:37:32.488 --> 00:37:33.789 face the judge, 00:37:33.856 --> 00:37:35.891 and the judge asks him the question... 00:37:35.958 --> 00:37:37.560 So this hearing, Mr. Ridgway, 00:37:37.593 --> 00:37:40.029 is your last chance to say 00:37:40.062 --> 00:37:43.766 that you did not commit these 48 counts of aggravated murder. 00:37:43.799 --> 00:37:45.701 Do you understand that? 00:37:45.768 --> 00:37:47.436 Mr. Ridgway, 00:37:47.503 --> 00:37:50.973 the state has charged you with 48 counts of aggravated murder in the first degree. 00:37:51.040 --> 00:37:52.942 How do you plead? 00:37:57.246 --> 00:37:58.814 Guilty. 00:38:08.724 --> 00:38:12.762 They freely would give their bodies 00:38:12.862 --> 00:38:15.765 without thinking about how valuable they are. 00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:20.970 And it was the most heart-wrenching, 00:38:21.003 --> 00:38:23.406 the most challenging case 00:38:23.506 --> 00:38:25.074 I'd ever worked on. 00:38:30.146 --> 00:38:32.682 I was sitting in the front row 00:38:32.782 --> 00:38:34.917 of a jam-packed courthouse. 00:38:36.185 --> 00:38:38.154 I mean, it was really emotional, 00:38:38.187 --> 00:38:41.457 because the families can get up and say their peace. 00:38:41.524 --> 00:38:45.161 She was just an immature teenager 00:38:45.194 --> 00:38:47.897 trying to find her way in life 00:38:47.997 --> 00:38:50.900 before it was snuffed out by Gary Ridgway. 00:38:50.933 --> 00:38:53.536 Some that had the courage to say "I forgive you..." 00:38:53.636 --> 00:38:56.038 Mr. Ridgway... 00:38:56.105 --> 00:38:57.707 my daughter, 00:38:57.707 --> 00:38:59.842 she was 16 00:38:59.909 --> 00:39:02.445 at the time you killed her. 00:39:02.545 --> 00:39:06.282 You've made it difficult 00:39:06.315 --> 00:39:09.285 to live up to... 00:39:09.318 --> 00:39:11.854 what I believe... 00:39:11.921 --> 00:39:15.858 And that is what God says to do, 00:39:15.925 --> 00:39:17.727 and that's to forgive. 00:39:17.827 --> 00:39:21.464 And he doesn't say to forgive just certain people. 00:39:21.497 --> 00:39:23.966 He says to forgive all. 00:39:24.033 --> 00:39:26.469 So you are forgiven, sir. 00:39:26.502 --> 00:39:28.371 "I forgive you." 00:39:28.471 --> 00:39:30.973 Forgive you for killing my daughter? 00:39:32.041 --> 00:39:33.976 I mean, boy... 00:39:34.043 --> 00:39:36.479 That's quite a faith to have. 00:39:57.099 --> 00:40:00.069 I felt a sense of relief 00:40:00.102 --> 00:40:01.704 when he was sentenced. 00:40:03.105 --> 00:40:07.009 A sense of satisfaction that he was gonna be 00:40:07.076 --> 00:40:10.079 held accountable for doing what he did. 00:40:11.113 --> 00:40:13.716 The most important thing to remember, though, 00:40:13.749 --> 00:40:15.518 is the families. 00:40:15.618 --> 00:40:17.353 Because their loved one 00:40:17.386 --> 00:40:21.090 was taken in such a tragic, violent way, 00:40:21.123 --> 00:40:25.928 remembering that they will never, ever forget. 00:40:25.995 --> 00:40:28.631 The pain will never go away.