Victims' families react to guilty pleas in Green River killings

By Melanthia Mitchell
The Associated Press

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SEATTLE — As Gary Leon Ridgway methodically worked his way through 48 guilty pleas and acknowledged being the Green River serial killer, relatives of the women he slaughtered quietly wept in the courtroom.

The decorum shown by the family members at Wednesday's court hearing for the 54-year-old former truck painter belied the agony of two decades of waiting for the eight minutes that Ridgway needed to formally enter the four dozen pleas.

"It was horrible. I broke down," Joan Mackie, mother of victim Cindy Smith, said in an interview with KIRO-TV. "I'm going to go home and pray."

"We know how each other feels. That's all I can say about it," Kathy Mills told the television station. Her daughter, Opal, just 16 when she vanished in August 1982, was one of seven women Ridgway was charged with killing when he was arrested two years ago.

Asked about the decision to spare Ridgway's life in exchange for his pleas and assistance in recovering some of the bodies, Mills said, "It's OK."

She said she sympathized with families who had gone years without knowing what happened to their loved ones. Her daughter's body was found in the Green River just three days after she disappeared.

Some families still want revenge.

"He's an animal," said Jose Malvar, who drew authorities' attention to Ridgway after he saw his 18-year-old sister, Marie, get into Ridgway's truck in 1984. She vanished until earlier this month, when authorities identified remains found in late September with Ridgway's assistance.

During Wednesday's hearing, Malvar told KIRO-TV, "My body started shaking. ... I wanted to get to him, but I couldn't because he was so protected by all the deputies and all the task force out there."

"He doesn't care," he said. "His expression is always the same. He didn't look at the audience once. ... He didn't face none of us."

"Hopefully, there are other victims out there in different counties where they will charge him with the death penalty," Malvar added.

"I feel he should get the death penalty. He don't deserve to live another day," said Debra York of Seattle, whose niece, 17-year-old Cynthia Jean Hinds, also disappeared in the frenzy of killings that began the grisly series late summer of 1982.

King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng and Sheriff Dave Reichert met with relatives of the victims this week to apprise them of Wednesday's hearing.

"It's more accurately described as a chapter in this long tragedy, but the book's not closed yet. There will never be total closure. They have to live with this the rest of their lives," Reichert said.

As Reichert left the courtroom following Ridgway's pleas, a number of spectators broke into applause. As a young detective, Reichert was an investigator on the first Green River deaths.

Ridgway's admissions give him the most convictions of any serial killer in the nation's history,

Under the deal, Ridgway would escape the death penalty in King County and instead be sentenced to life in prison without parole, the only other possible penalty in Washington state for aggravated first-degree murder.

County Prosecutor Maleng initially said he would not bargain over the death penalty. But in the past year, Ridgway cooperated with detectives to help them find remains of his victims.

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