THE GREEN RIVER KILLER… IN COLORADO?

Gary Leon Ridgway is one of the most notorious serial killers since Michael Myers, except he’s real. Now Ridgway (aka the Green River killer), calls Colorado home.

Best known for killing women in Washington from the late 80s to the early 90s, Ridgway had a penchant for prostitutes and runaways. Though it’s alleged that he murdered 71 women, in his court statements, he said he’s “killed so many, [he] lost count.”

As of May 2015, Ridgway was moved to a high-security penitentiary near Florence, CO. The Green River Killer will now have more social contacts and freedom at a maximum-security federal penitentiary here, where he has been sent by Washington’s Department of Corrections officials. To release him to general population in his homestate would mean certain death for the well-known serial killer. Since his 2004 conviction, Ridgway, now 66, has lived in isolation at the Washington State Penitentiary. Now, he can mingle with other inmates and have access to work and other general population privileges in a CO prison.

Ridgway got the nickname ‘Green River Killer’ because, much like a horror movie boogeyman, he would slaughter his victims and dump their remains into a secluded spot in nature. In this case, he would rape, choke, and abandon their corpses in the woods near the Green River in Washington. Gary Ridgway is to the Green River what Jason Voorhees was to Crystal Lake — a real American Horror Story, indeed.

Investigations reveal that Ridgway would go back and admire his handiwork so much, that he’d continue to defile the bodies sexually. Some of the victims were not found until well after they were dumped, the remains often comprised of merely skeletons. Ridgway was methodical in his work, sometimes altering the crime scene and moving the bodies over state lines in order to confuse police. Often, after his murders, he would hold yard sales to sell his victims’ clothing and jewelry to be rid of evidence that could put him away.

On April 7, 1987, police took samples of Ridgway’s hair and saliva and matched him to evidence obtained from his victims. In November of 2003, he was up for the death penalty. He made a deal with investigators, however, and revealed where he hid many of the bodies of young women who were still missing, agreeing to plead guilty to any future cases where his confession could be validated by evidence. In December of 2003, Ridgway was sentenced to 48 life sentences without parole, to run consecutively, making him the most prolific serial killer in American history.

In a 2013 interview, the seemingly-unremorseful Ridgway confessed to murdering 75–80 women — nearly twice what he was convicted for. Between police, the media, and others related to the Green River Killer investigation, no one knows if he’s telling the truth or is simply seeking attention.

In an interesting twist, Colorado Corrections Secretary Bernie Warner told the Federal Bureau of Prisons last month that the state is transporting Ridgway back to Washington.

After hearing concerns from law enforcement in Washington who need quick access to Ridgway in case they need to interview him concerning open murder investigations, Colorado prison officials have agreed a transport is in order.