we now return to chasing the devil. while the green river task force was being cut back, losing manpower and looking at all the wrong people, the man who would, in the end, become the chief suspect continued to solicit prostitutes on the sea-tac strip. a man who would later admit to investigators that he was addicted to prostitutes in the same way that alcohol can be an addiction. it wasn t for sex. i don t think that he enjoyed sex really personally. if he did, he sure didn t show it. rebecca guarde is one of only a couple of prostitutes assaulted by the green river killer who lived to tell about it. he says you want to make $20? the first thing she noticed about the guy in the pickup truck who pulled up to the bus stop where she was standing is he was wearing only gym shorts
enough? what if after years of pursuit just when he finally got his man, he could not make the charges stick? ridgway s defense lawyer was already attacking the core of the case. it proves he was a customer, not a killer. assuming that they can show it was mr. ridgway s dna, and we re not conceding that for a minute, they re not going to show he was the last customer. reichert was determined to do whatever he could to put gary ridgway away for good. he launched a full-bore investigation. would they be able to prove their case against gary ridgway beyond a reasonable doubt? was the dna evidence found on the murdered prostitutes conclusive? it proves he was a customer, not a killer. when chasing the devil continues.
we return to chasing the devil with stone phillips. that s one of mine. to look back in the history of any serial killer, as sick as it sounds, to be proud of the work they did and they want to be known as the best serial killer. gary ridgway is no exception. i rate myself as number one. if that were true, and investigators suspected it was, they wanted to know why they had failed to capture him while he was in the midst of his murderous spree. in finding out what they did wrong, ridgway told them how close they had often been. one of the missing women detectives were especially curious about was marie malvar. you may remember in april of 83, her boyfriend saw her getting into ridgway s truck at a bus stop and then seemed to argue with him. the boyfriend tried to follow
chasing the devil continues. you re a loser, you re a coward. you re a nobody. you re an animal. mr. ridgway, i want you to look me in the face. families of gary ridgway s victims would get to confront him, but they would have to wait. while police conducted a videotaped interrogation that laid bare the mind of a monster. i killed her because i wanted to. came here in the first place? the hate, wanting to get even with them. why? because she s a prostitute. not worth anything. nobody would look for her. why did you hate them so much? why did i hate them? because women had control of me and i don t like being controlled. i had control when i killed the women. i got my rage out for the time. could we walk down near that tree? it looks familiar. a team of detectives and
i am passionate about it and i do have a personal relationship with the victims. families and friends of the dead women were looking forward to the trial of gary ridgway. hoping for answers to questions that had haunted them for 20 years. i want to know a reason why. i want a reason why do you take somebody else s life? right? i mean, a mother, somebody s sister, daughter. you don t go out and just pick them up off the street just to kill them. but as investigators and prosecutors prepared for trial, there was an unexpected development, a twist in the case. it would change everything. and it would allow detectives to finally get gary ridgway right where they wanted him. but could they get this killer to crack? the investigators are very creative thinkers and it was a plan that i immediately approved of. when chasing the devil continues.