Ridgway, Gary - "Green River Killer"

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The "Green River Killer" Gary Leon Ridgway: in Walla Walla


Gary Leon Ridgway, an American serial killer known as the Green River Killer, was initially convicted of 48 separate murders and later confessed to nearly twice that number.

Gary Leon Ridgway, considered America's most prolific serial killer for confessing to the murders of 48 Seattle-area prostitutes in the early 1980s, is serving a life sentence in Walla Walla, Washington State, without chance of parole (9 May 2005 Associated Press Newswires). The nickname Green River Killer reflected Ridgway's choice of disposing the bodies in the Green River, a winding waterway located in southeast Kings County, just east of Tacoma. He strangled and methodically placed his victims in "clusters" near landmarks so that he could keep a running tally of them, but because there were so many, he eventually lost track of them.

Walla Walla, the largest of Washington state's three maximum security facilities, has 15 armed guard towers, and is the residence of all death row inmates in the state, where most lifers begin, and end, their sentences. It is home to 2,240 inmates.

At Walla Walla, serious offenders may be housed in one of two units; either "Unit 5," the "Special Housing Unit" section of the prison that imprisons inmates on death row, those with psychiatric problems, and those requiring the services of the protective custody unit, or the Intensive Management Unit (IMU), a maximum custody facility located outside the main institution.

Ridgway is serving time here, at the IMU, a unit that houses 87 of the most dangerous and notorious offenders, including those who pose a threat to themselves, others, or the operation of the prison, and many of those serving their time on Death Row. The IMU does not allow its denizens to come in contact with the rest of the institution, and separates them from the rest of the inmates by 150 yards, two fences, and razor wire coils. Inmates in the IMU mostly spend their time in idleness, reading or writing alone. Cells have only a concrete slab with a thin foam mattress, a steel sink, and a light that cannot turn off. Inmates here, unlike those elsewhere in the prison, are required to wear orange prison fatigues.

Concordant with standard "incentive levels" practice, good behavior and clean cells may mean longer visits and more privileges, including televisions and radios for purchase. If inmates at the IMU and on death row have proven good behavior, they may eventually be relocated to Unit 5, which is less stringent in its restrictions, and provides allowances like tobacco products, greater possessions, more family visits, and the possibility of having a cellmate.

According to the News Tribune's research done on the inside of the facility, Walla Walla is "hard time," suffering the most seriously-sentenced inmates to a life of noise, monotony, isolation, and the constant threat of violence. According to one middle-aged killer of two serving time at the prison, if the inmate accepts the fact that he is here indefinitely and that it is the choice of the inmate how he would like to spend it, it perhaps makes the few enjoyable elements of prison life, such as "biscuits and gravy on Saturday mornings," endurable (News Tribune 20 Dec 2003).

For those that wish to make the most of life at "Wally World" by behaving properly, many opportunities exist, such as jobs in welding, baking, cleaning, stamping license plates, making lockers and office furniture out of sheet metal, or simple hobbies, such as painting models, constructing belts and wallets, or designing artwork. Inmates at the prison, including the IMU, may receive up to 35 cents an hour or up to $55 per month in paid employment. Some jobs, such as those working in the license plate factory, can earn up to $1.10 an hour. According to the News Tribune, popular items purchased with labor earnings include Top Ramen noodles and Little Debbie Cupcakes, cassette players, televisions, but no Playboy or  Hustler magazines. Although victim awareness and anger management courses are still available and widely used at the prison, college education is not.

For the Green River Killer, however, many such opportunities are forbidden. According to some inmates within the prison, Ridgway would very possibly be a murder target, especially since many inmates at the prison who have killed far fewer victims than Ridgway received the death penalty while Ridgway did not. With his plea bargain sentence that saved him from execution, inmates may believe the state did not serve the justice required. Indeed, there was an unsuccessful attempt within the prison to slit Ridgway's throat.

It is believed that Ridgway is spending the first years of his sentence confined to an 81-square-foot cell, 23 hours a day, eating alone and exercising alone. He cannot communicate with other inmates face-to-face, and he is restricted to using a speaker on his cell door. Allowed visits with immediate family will be similarly restricted by a wall of plate glass, only one or two hours a week. Besides family, other visitors might include religious leaders or social workers. Like most serial killers housed in protective custody units, Ridgway has to earn his privileges through good behavior, although it is doubtful that many of the opportunities open to other inmates will apply to him.