/ Green River Killer

04:03 PM PST on Saturday, December 20, 2003

Associated Press

SEATTLE - The King County judge who sentenced Gary Ridgway to 48 life terms also ordered him to pay $480,000 in fines.

And prosecutors soon will start tallying restitution costs for the 54-year-old truck painter - money his victims' families have spent on funerals and headstones.

Defense attorneys say the families will never see the money.

"I don't think he'll be able to pay 1 cent," said Tony Savage, who led Ridgway's eight-lawyer defense team. "The guy's broke. ...

The imposition of fines of $480,000 is largely symbolic." But chief criminal deputy prosecutor Mark Larson says it's more than that.

"People can earn money, people can inherit money. Frankly, it's a hedge against that," Larson said. If Ridgway comes into money, the fines and restitution tally are intended to ensure victims' families get some of it.

If Ridgway gets work in prison, the Department of Corrections takes 5 percent of inmates' wages to cover victims' compensation.

It takes another 20 percent from prison-industry wages to cover legal costs.

Washington also has a "Son of Sam" law that prevents convicted killers from profiting from the description of their crimes, though it hasn't been tested in court, Larson said.

Authorities won't be able to take money from Ridgway's wife, Judith, because she and her husband are legally separated.

"That was our intent, to try and protect her from being thrown out on the street," Savage said.