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FBI Profiler Reveals Strategy That Made Serial Killer Gary Ridgway Confess To Crimes

FBI Profiler Reveals Strategy That Made Serial Killer Gary Ridgway Confess To Crimes

The FBI profiler used various tactics with some sessions lasting hours and questioning that lasted weeks.

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

An FBI profiler was tasked with interviewing serial killer Gary Ridgway and revealed how she managed to get him to confess.

Dr. Mary Ellen O'Toole sat down with the Green River Killer attempting to get him to own up for 44 unsolved homicides he committed, with no physical evidence.

She used various tactics with some sessions lasting hours and questioning that lasted weeks.

Dr. Mary Ellen O'Toole.
CBS

Dr O'Toole said: "Many of these men kill women.

"They may name them and sexually assault them but they love talking to women.

"They love talking to people who are good interviewers and that will listen.

"My strategy was to get him talking and to have him do most of the talking.

"I would also sit very close to him so that I could maybe touch his elbow and say, Gary, tell me what it feels like.

Little by little the serial killer starts talking.

Gary Ridgway.
PA

She added: "And he loved being able to talk finally after all these years, and in doing so, he kind of walked us down the path of all of his murders.

"At one point, Gary referred to himself as something like the lean, mean killing machine, and he was very efficient, like a machine.

As shown in the footage, Ridgway gave an example on how he would lure women: "Let's say she's already in the car. I'm driving down the road.

"So I whipped out my ID, I'd put my finger over my driver's licence to hide my name.

"Then on the opposite side was pictures, a picture of my son. They would know I was probably a normal person."

The FBI profiler continued to say: "And he would drive up to them, and sometimes he'd even have his son's toys in the front seat, and that would be a very effective ruse to convince these women that, hey, I can't be that serial killer.

"'I've got my little boy's toys in the car'.

"He was a very normal, kind of vanilla-type looking person, and there was nothing that stood out about him, not dangerous.

"He could have been anybody living next door."

In total, the American killer was convicted of 49 separate murders (confessed to 71), making him the second most prolific serial killer in United States history, according to confirmed murders.

The now 72-year-old was spared the death penalty and received a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: US, Serial Killer