Paredes 1

Danielle Paredes
Mrs.Gregory
Advanced Honors English I, 4th period
21 April 2016
The Gruesome Horror of Gary Ridgway
Spanking children in America does not cause trouble, but in Sweden it is banned to spank
children and results in a response from the Swedish social services. However, murder is a
universal crime. Gary Ridgway, the green river killer, began murdering numerous girls after
being involved with prostitutes in Vietnam. With over forty murders, Ridgeway is labeled as a
sinner.
Gary Ridgway lived a deprived life. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth but
born near SeaTac airport in a destitute neighborhood. Ridgway was not given the opportunity to
experience college, but was sent away soon after high school.. An article indicated, Ridgway
was a poor student and was sent to Vietnam after high school (Gary web). He had joined the
army and was deported to Vietnam. Ridgway, moreover, did not stop wetting the bed till age
fourteen. When Ridgways mother caught him wetting the bed she would walk him to the
bathroom naked, humiliating him in front of his family. This caused him to have sexual and
brutal fantasies of his mother (Ridgway web). His family were not as loving as others, which
caused Ridgway violent thoughts at a young age. Ridgway matured in a defective environment.
Gary Leon Ridgway is considered the biggest mass murderer labeled The Green River
Killer. He was pleaded guilty with over forty murders but now professes to have murdered

women over two decades. Stated by Diane Yancey, because the killings had many aspects in
common - the victims
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were all young women from the fringes of society who had been strangled and dumped in the
river (Yancey 8). Ridgways murders consisted entirely of young women whom he had never
met. He murdered the women with no knowledge of their identity. Ridgway clearly stated,
most of the time, I killed them for the first time I met them and I do not have a hard time
keeping them straight (Yancey 11). He had no connections with the deceased women whom he
killed. Ridgway murdered the girls skillfully then tossed their bodies into a river near his area
earning him the name The Green River Killer.
Ridgeway was slightly psychotic since his early age. His mind was not filled with thoughts of
a typical teenage boy. When he was sixteen, he had led a six-year-old boy into the woods and
stabbed him through the ribs and walked away laughing, I always wondered what it would be
like to kill someone (Gary web). At a young age, he had already been filled with violent
thoughts making it possible that his future would consist of troubles and crime. Ridgways
inadequate environment while growing up may have caused these gruesome thoughts. His
mother would humiliate him among his family which gave him sexual fantasies of his mom. This
may make clear as to why he only directed his murder towards women. However, most serial
killers have a mental illness that confuse people of their true motives towards their killings. An
article stipulated, the work of a serial killer is so far removed from normal behaviour that most
people have little understanding of his motives (Serial web). There seems to be no true reason
as to why Ridgway killed numerous girls. As stated, the confessed murderer, Gary Leon
Ridgway, claimed that strangling young women was his career (Serial web). Ridgway views

that life amounts to nothing. His destitute environment at a young age and unstable mind may
have been the reason to the mass murder.
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Ridgway and Montresor from The Cask of Amontillado are contrary to one another due to
their motives. Montresor had a reason for his homicide while Ridgway stood groundless to his
numerous murders. According to the short story, the thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne
as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge (Poe web). Montresor was
driven to murder Fortunato after he had been insulted. His murder was excused with revenge.
However, there was no true motive to Ridgeways mass murder. Stated in the article, the
confessed murderer, Gary Leon Ridgway, claimed that strangling young women was his
career (Serial web). Ridgeway unjustly murdered girls without reason. Montresor and
Ridgway stand on different grounds with their motives for murder.
Gary Ridgway is a serial killer with no motives to his murders. Numerous women died in his
hands without reason. Taking ones life is the biggest sin ever to be committed, making Gary
Ridgway, the Green River killer, a sinner.

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Work Cited
Ridgway Gary Ridgway: The Green River Killer. Criminal and Investigation. N.p., 18
February 2014. Web. 13 April 2016.
Gary Gary Leon Ridgway. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d.Web. 13 April 2016.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Cask of Amontillado. Holt McDougal Literature. Evanston, IL: Holt
McDougal, a Division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. 380-79. Print.
Serial Killers. World of Forensic Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol.
2. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 607-609. Gale Virtual Reference library. Web. 14 April 2016.
Yancey, Diane. The Case of The Green River Killer. Detroit, MI: Lucent, 2007. Print.