"Guilty": Gary Ridgway's Green River Plea, November 5, 2003 (KIRO 7 Archive Clip)
KIRO 7 footage of the day Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 Green River murders, with passages from his written statement read to him in court, followed by an older KIRO report on the task force.
- Subject
- Gary Ridgway
- Recorded
- about November 5, 2003
- Runtime
- 1:57
Content warning: Concerns the murders of women and girls, with Ridgway's written statements about choosing and strangling his victims; no graphic detail.
The Interview
This is not an interview. It is a short KIRO 7 News clip from Seattle built around Gary Ridgway's guilty plea in King County Superior Court on November 5, 2003. Over footage of the hearing, a KIRO reporter summarizes what Ridgway admitted in his written plea statement. In the courtroom, a count and passages from that statement are read to him, and he answers "Guilty" and "Yes". The second half of the clip is an older KIRO report, probably from 1984, on the Green River Task Force. Ridgway's own voice is heard for only a few seconds.
Historical Context
From 1982 the bodies of young women and girls were found along the Green River and in wooded areas south of Seattle. King County formed a task force in 1982 and a much larger one in January 1984 under Captain Frank Adamson, but the killer was not identified for nearly two decades. Ridgway was arrested on November 30, 2001. Under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty, from June 2003 he spent months describing the murders to task-force investigators on videotape and leading them to sites where remains had been left.
Circumstances
On November 5, 2003, Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated first-degree murder. Norm Maleng was King County Prosecuting Attorney, Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Baird spoke for the State, and Anthony Savage led the defense. The clip does not identify the person who reads the count and the statement passages to Ridgway. On December 18, 2003, Judge Richard A. Jones sentenced him to 48 consecutive life terms without parole.
What the Recording Covers
The clip opens with Ridgway saying "Guilty", and the narration explains that he entered his pleas one by one to the names of victims, many of whom he had forgotten or never knew. The count for the death of Carrie Rois is read and he answers "Guilty". The narration then quotes his written statement, according to court documents: he called killing a career and said choking was what he did. In court, two passages of the statement are read to him, one saying he picked prostitutes because he thought he could kill as many as he wanted without getting caught, and one about placing a victim's body in the Green River; to each he answers "Yes". The narration adds that he led task-force detectives to his dumping grounds. The older report that follows describes the task force after it was doubled in size, with 41 detectives in a Burien office, introduces Captain Frank Adamson, and ends with a brief interview on whether the task force was doing enough.
What Makes the Recording Significant
The plea ended a case that had been open for more than 20 years and, at the time, gave Ridgway more confirmed murders than any other U.S. serial killer. Ridgway's answers are short, but they are his own confirmation, in open court, of his written admissions.
Archival Importance
The clip comes from KIRO-TV's own archive and was posted by the station.
Important Caveats
Ridgway is heard only in four one-word answers. The quotations from his statement are read by the narrator or by the person in court, not spoken by him on camera. The second half of the clip is an older report, not 2003 footage: the figures of 41 detectives and 26 victims belong to the 1980s, and its date and reporter are not verified. The YouTube title does not mention that segment. The speaker of the "26 is way far too many" line may be Captain Adamson but is not confirmed, and the interviewee at the end is not identified. The victim's name, Carrie Rois, is written from the count list; the machine captions misheard it and it should be confirmed by listening.
Gary Ridgway: Guilty.
Narrator: He entered his pleas one by one to the names of victims he had forgotten or never even knew.
Reader In Court: For the death of Carrie Rois.
Gary Ridgway: Guilty.
Narrator: What drove Gary Leon Ridgway to kill so many women? According to court documents, Gary Ridgway called killing a career. "Choking is what I did, and I was pretty good at it," he said. "The sight of prostitutes was like a candy dish, kind of like a hunt."
Reader In Court: "I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught." Is that true?
Gary Ridgway: Yes.
Narrator: Ridgway says he hated prostitutes but also chose them because they were easy prey. In 1982, he began murdering them virtually at will. After his arrest years later, Ridgway easily led Green River Task Force detectives to his dumping grounds, to the clusters of bodies he called "a beautiful person that was my property, my possession." In the final analysis, prosecutors say Gary Ridgway killed because he wanted to. He killed because he could.
Reader In Court: "I picked her up planning to kill her. After killing her, I placed her body in the Green River." Is that a true statement?
Gary Ridgway: Yes.
Reporter: In January of this year, the Green River Task Force was doubled in size, making it the largest police investigation in Northwest history. Today, 41 detectives work out of this Burien office, but some are never here, working undercover operations on the streets. Others are experts in outdoor crime scenes, literally combing inch by inch through the killer's dumping grounds. Captain Frank Adamson leads the task force detectives.
Captain Frank Adamson: [unclear: "That one victim" / "One victim"] was too many, and certainly 26 is way far too many. They want to catch him.
Reporter: Is the task force doing enough?
Interviewee: Well, I think the task force is doing an awful lot. I think it's doing everything that it can do. [01:55 to 01:57: no speech in either machine source; clip ends.] ---