The Green River Killer preyed on prostitutes and runaways around Seattle. The final tally of his murders will never be known. And the police couldn’t arrest him for twenty years. Eventually, a forensic lab was able to give the Green River Killer a name. The serial killer Gary Ridgway was certainly a deranged killer. Deranged Killers s1e3: Green River Killer, Discovery 2006
‘He was called in by the task force on several different occasions.’ ibid. Patricia Eakes, prosecutor
Ridgway even passed the polygraph test. ibid.
Seattle, Washington, November 5th 2003: In front of a packed room 54-killer Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated murder. When another body was found a few years later the terrible death toll hit 49. Among the many victims were young girls who had run away from home. Despite police suspicions, it took nearly 28 painstaking years to gather enough evidence to convict Ridgway of the murders. The man who became known as the Green River Killer murdered 49 young women and is suspected of killing many more. World’s Most Evil Killers s3e3: Gary Ridgway, Sky Crime 2021
As a teenager he was obsessed with sex. Ridgway struggled in school and was held back two grades. Aged 16 Ridgway viciously attacked a six-year-old boy. Ridgway was never identified so was not charged with the assault. ibid.
After his first murder, Ridgway went on a frenzied killing spree. ibid.
By dumping the bodies in the river and in the woods hard evidence is hard to come by. ibid.
Seattle, Washington, 1988: An international manhunt for the so-called Green River Killer. Not just America’s most wanted but perhaps the most dangerous single killer in the entire world. Catching Killers s1e1: Body Count: The Green River Killer, television clip, Netflix 2021
The detectives show Rebecca a photo lineup including his mug shot. She looks the six photos over. She picks one photo out of the six. Says, That’s the guy who tried to kill me. She identifies the person from Kenworth Trucking. A man by the name of Gary Ridgway. ibid. rozzer
Gary Ridgway was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 49 women. ibid.
The devil’s in my head. Mind of a Monster: Green River Killer, DiscoveryPlus 2019
I just loved killing women. I didn’t have no morals, conscience didn’t stop me. I want to be the best serial killer out there. ibid.
I just wanted fresh ones. Fresh women to kill. ibid.
RIDULPH, MARIA murder [viz Murder Cases: McCullough, Jack & Miscarriages of Justice: McCullough Jack] Footsteps in the Snow TV - The Coldest Case Ever Solved 2021 - True Crime Recaps 2025 -
This is the tale of a small town changed for ever. A seven-year-old girl abducted off the streets of Sycamore, Illinois, in 1957. Months turned into years then decades, little Maria’s murder left unsolved until a mother’s shocking deathbed confession. Footsteps in the Snow, LMN 2014
On April 26th 1958 a couple hunting for mushrooms near the town of Galena, Illinois, came upon the little girl’s body. ibid.
After her mother’s deathbed confession that her brother was the killer, Jan Tessier became determined to bring him to justice. It took nearly two decades. ibid.
The coldest case in American history ever to be brought to justice. ibid.
In 2016 a post-conviction review of the evidence determined that McCullough could not have been present at the time and place of Maria Ridulph’s likely abduction. McCullough was released from prison and charged against him were dismissed. ibid. captions
People just really love to know how a story ends. The Coldest Case Ever Solved, 2021
1958: The abduction of Maria Ridulph devastated the town of Sycamore and gained national attention. Ibid.
The investigation was intense and bolstered further by nationwide intrigue. ibid.
Janet Tessier made numerous attempts to bring her mothers’ [deathbed] words [John did it] to the attention of someone who might have the power to do something. ibid.
2012: 55 years after Maria’s life was taken, Jack McCullough was convicted of the crime. ibid.
Jack McCullough did not kill Maria Ridulph. ibid.
The search for answers starts with a single clue: a doll. It’s the only thing 7-year-old Maria Ridulph leaves behind in the snow on that cold December night in 1957. True Crime Recaps: A Conviction in Doubt: Was the Nation’s Oldest Cold Case Really Ever Solved? Youtube 2025
Her ravaged body turns up in the woods five months later. ibid.
Jack McCullough, a guy who used to live in town. He’s arrested, convicted … Just a few year later the conviction is thrown out. Jack walks free and the case is back to square one. ibid.
72 hours into the search for her, a tipster calls the Sheriff’s Office to report a boy named Johnny Tessier … a deathbed confession shifted the focus right back to John Tessier … John has changed his named to Jack McCullough. ibid.
RIEBE, MARK: Serial Killer with Piers Morgan TV -
I’ve been granted a rare interview with a serial killer: Mark Riebe confessed to murdering thirteen women; he later retracted those confessions. Detectives believe he is a serial killer even though he’s only been convicted of a single murder. Serial Killers with Piers Morgan s1e1: Mark Riebe, ITV 2017
Mark Riebe is serving life here in Florida Blackwater River correctional facility. ibid.
RIESS, LOIS: A Killer’s Mistake TV - Meet, Marry, Murder TV - I’m Not A Monster: The Lois Riess Murders TV -
Pam Hutchinson found dead in her hotel murdered. Fifteen hundred miles north another homicide scene with distinct similarities. Her grandfather David Riess discovered in his bathroom. Chief suspect – his wife Lois. She is nowhere to be seen. A Killer’s Mistake s3e7: Louis Riess, DiscoveryPlus 2023
Suspected of two murdered. Hunted across ten states. ibid.
‘The cause of death – multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.’ ibid. rozzer
59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson lies dead in a hotel room. Detectives baffled about the motive for homicide. On the run 56-year-old Lois Riess, wife, mother, grandmother. With a 2,000-mile hunt underway, what did Riess know about another killing just days earlier, that of her husband David? Meet, Marry, Murder s1e19, Netflix 2022
Lois Riess was a gambling addict, a liar, and a thief. ibid.
5th April 2018: [rozzer]: A lot of surveillance cameras in and around Marina Village … We see them two together going towards the victim’s room. Eventually, we no longer see our victim; we see Lois Riess … I’m Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders I, Sky 2024
She’s already shown that she has done it twice, and she is willing to travel. ibid. rozzer
I didn’t want to die in a mental institution. ibid. Riess
Pamela Hutchinson was laid to rest on May 26 2018 when her friends and family scattered her ashes in the Atlantic Ocean. David Riess is buried at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery. His grave is often decorated with ‘gone fishing’ mementos. ibid. caption
RIFFE, RICK & GREG: Cold Case Files TV -
December 19th 1985, Chehalis, Washington: A beloved older couple [Ed & Minnie Maurin]. Murdered right before Christmas. A family haunted for decades. Cold Case Files s1e2: Killings on Christmas Eve, caption, A&E 2021
Rick Riffe and his brother Greg they were known drug addicts and criminals in the area. ibid. rozzer
In 2013 Riff Riffe was sentenced to 103 years in prison for kidnapping, robbery and first-degree murder. ibid. caption
RIFKIN, JOEL: Killers: Behind the Myth TV - Chicago Tribune - Inside Evil: Mind of a Killer TV - Rifkin on Rifkin TV - World's Most Evil Killers TV -
New Jersey, March 5th 1989: in the quiet rural town of Hopewell a golfer tees off for an early Sunday-morning round. Whilst looking for his ball in the undergrowth the golfer makes an horrific discovery. The mangled decapitated head of a young woman. Killers: Behind the Myth: Long Island Killer/Joel the Ripper s2e3, CI 2014
All the teeth had been removed. ibid.
He confesses to a total of seventeen murders over a four-year killing spree. ibid.
Susie’s was just the first of many body disposals. ibid.
Rifkin resorts to trawling the streets of New York for prostitutes. ibid.
He dumps her body whole into the Hudson River. ibid.
The head belonged to Heidi Balch, who was murdered and dismembered at age 25 in New York, according to a statement issued on Monday by the Hopewell Township, New Jersey police.
Detectives had long suspected a link between the head and Rifkin after he was arrested in 1993 and questioned but they had been unable to identify the head until now, police said in the statement.
During questioning, Rifkin said he dismembered his first victim, a prostitute, and put her head and legs in streams in New Jersey, police said.
Rifkin was convicted of nine murders and is believed to be responsible for at least 17 deaths, most of them prostitutes.
He is serving a 203-year prison sentence. Chicago Tribune online article 27th March 2013