SEATTLE Serial killer gets life sentence

Gary Ridgway apologized but previously referred to the 48 women as garbage.
SEATTLE TIMES
SEATTLE -- In a Seattle courtroom crowded with hundreds of people, a judge asked for 48 seconds of silence, one for each of Gary Ridgway's victims, then sentenced the Green River killer to life in prison and a fine of $480,000 -- $10,000 for each girl and young woman he killed in a two-decade murder spree.
King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones listened to four-hours of testimony from family members of Ridgway's victims before handing down the sentence.
In tones of sadness, anger, and sometimes forgiveness, families told of girls and young women, sometimes troubled, whose lives were ended cruelly before they had a chance to live.
"He destroyed my life, he destroyed my daughter's life," said Carol Estes, mother of 17-year-old Debra Estes, who was among Ridgway's earliest victims in 1982. "He's going to go to hell and that's where he belongs, and that's all I have to say."
Waiting for mommy
"I was only five when my mother died and my dad told me I would never see her again," said Sara King, daughter of Carol Christensen, whose body was found in 1983 in Maple Valley. "The one thing I want you to know is that there was a daughter at home, I was that daughter at home, waiting for my mommy to come home.
"I'm glad you didn't get [the death penalty]," King added, as tears streamed down her cheeks, "because death is too good for you. You'll die someday, and you'll go to that place, and you'll get what you deserve."
Some family members wished upon Ridgway a torturous death at the hands of his fellow inmates in prison.
More than two dozen families attended Ridgway's sentencing hearing and about 20 families spoke, each allowed 10 minutes.
The prosecutors also received 19 letters, which they forwarded to the judge. The judge said he had received many more directly.
The testimony was capped by a short statement from Ridgway himself.
Killer's statement
"I'm sorry for killing all those young ladies," said Ridgway, 54, said in his first public statement since pleading to the murders last month. "I'm sorry for the scare I put into the community."
Sniffling and wiping away tears, the former truck painter said he has tried to remember as "much as I could to help detectives find and recover the ladies."
Of the victims they couldn't find, he said: "May they rest in peace. They deserve a better place than where I gave them. These ladies, they had their whole life ahead of them. I'm sorry for causing so much pain too so many families."
Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against Ridgway in exchange for his guilty pleas and cooperation in finding the bodies of his victims.
Ridgway was arrested Nov. 30, 2001, after DNA evidence linked him to some of the victims. In June of this year, prosecutors and Ridgway entered an agreement that spared him the death penalty in exchange for his guilty pleas and for help in solving additional cases.
Over the next several months, Ridgway led investigators to the remains of four victims whose bodies had not been found and claimed over 60 murders in King County.
Ridgway told investigators that he killed mostly prostitutes because he hated them, didn't want to pay them for sex, and because he knew he could kill as many as he wanted without getting caught. He called the young women "garbage."
Forgiveness
Surrounded by his defense team, Ridgway looked attentively at the faces of his victims' family members as they spoke, nodding in the occasional instances when families offered forgiveness.
"Gary Leon Ridgway, I forgive you, I forgive you," said Kathy Mills, mother of Opal Mills, whose body was found on the banks of the Green River in 1982. "You can't hold me anymore, I'm through with you. If this event today does not break your evil spirit, I don't know what would."
One of Ridgway's attorneys, Michele Shaw, read a letter crafted by Ridgway's family, including his two brothers, his son in San Diego, a niece in California and one of his former wives. They did not attend the sentencing.
"We grieve the losses and are profoundly sorry that so many have suffered for so many years," the letter said. "Be assured that we were shocked that Gary could do the things that he has admitted to doing. Clearly there were two Gary Ridgways. The Gary we saw was a reliable, dependable, conscientious guy. Had we ever seen anything improper, we would have brought it to the attention of law enforcement."