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05:50 PM PST on Thursday, December 18, 2003
TACOMA, Wash. - When Thursday’s sentencing of Gary Ridgway ended, it
marked the beginning of efforts to connect him to other murders outside
King County. Could he face the death penalty if convicted of those?
Lewis County, Wash., prosecutor Jeremy Randolf said now that King County
is done with him, he wants a crack at Ridgway.
He said three women found dead in Lewis County over the last 20 years
apparently died Ridgway-style. The first under a bridge west of
Centralia was 32-year-old Monica Anderson of Tacoma, whose body was
apparently dropped off under Galvin Road Bridge in August of 1984.
Prosecutors started worrying when a second body showed up less than a
year later in May 1985. Susan Krueger was found on Drews Prairie Road
near Toledo.
There was a lull until August of 1991 when the body of 21-year-old Mignon Hensley was found just east of I-5 on US Highway 12.
Could Ridgway face the death penalty if convicted of these murders?
“We're confident that he did not commit any other crimes in any county other than King County,” said defense attorney Mark Prothero.
But the more Lewis County detectives looked into their unsolved murders, the more they thought of Ridgway.
"They fit the time frame, they fit the occupations of the young ladies, similar to the occupations of his other victims," said prosecuting attorney of Lewis County, Jeremy Randolf.
The woman found under the bridge and the other two women were suspected prostitutes.
But the death penalty wouldn’t loom for Ridgway in Lewis County. No, said Randolf.
“If I know from the get-go that I’m going to be costing the Lewis County taxpayers and awful lot of money to go for the death penalty, knowing that it’s likely it will be overturned by the Supreme Court, that would be an improper act by me,” said Randolf.
Meanwhile, police in the Tacoma area, Snohomish and Thurston counties are all looking to clear unsolved murders by pinning them on Ridgway. But the deal he struck with King County prosecutors will definitely make it harder to get any death penalty.
Pierce County prosecutors told King 5 News they will not rule out seeking the death penalty but at this point they have no case against Ridgway.
