The Capture of the Green River Killer (Movie)

I just watched a made for TV movie called "The Capture of the Green River Killer."

Unless you live under a rock, like I do, you'll know it's based on a true story of a serial killer who killed 71 women who worked as prostitutes. 48 of these women were eventually found and most of the 48 identified. 23 remain missing to this day.

If you haven't seen the movie, you really need to. Apparently the movie brings in some fictional characters. Usually I don't like when they do that, but in this case it was what made the movie. The main female character is fictional, but I believe her purpose is to bring a face and a sense of worth to the victims, who might othewise be considered "trash" or "garbage" because of what they do to earn a living. It really is a very worthy movie

I inadvertently taped only part 1 without realizing that it was a 2 part movie. I found the whole movie on YouTube (18 parts).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxErj...eature=related

A word of warning. Have your Kleenex ready.

Thanks for posting about it. I followed the story long before they captured him, and have read a couple of books about the hunt for him. I guess I'll be watching the movie this weekend!

I'm in Canada and I don't recall hearing about this serial killer. That is not to say that it wasn't in the news, but there were long periods of years where I didn't have a television and didn't follow the news. I swear, entire wars could have started and ended and I wouldn't have known about it.

After I watched the movie I did some internet searching and noticed that they found yet another body in December 2010. That's 49 found. And according to some articles he killed upwards of 90 women and not the 71 that was stated in the movie.

He considered killing his "career." The only remorse he showed was for the fact that he got caught and couldn't kill anymore.

The killings got a fair amount of publicity in this part of Germany in the '80s because there were some similar killings near a local U.S. air force base, and the authorities thought at first that there might be a connection. It turned out there wasn't one.

The first book I read about them was The Search for the Green River Killer
Ann Rule's Green River, Running Red was written after Ridgway's capture.
One of the most bizarre accounts was of how Ted Bundy tried to help find the culprit:
The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer
The cop who never gave up on capturing him has also written a book, but I haven't read it yet, because I've been waiting for it to come out for the Kindle: Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer

I haven't watched the film on YouTube yet - it's been too noisy around here this evening because of the women's soccer World Cup.

Originally Posted by jcat

One of the most bizarre accounts was of how Ted Bundy tried to help find the culprit:
The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer

Click to expand...

Well, apparently he was very smart and charasmatic, and an all around nice guy when he wasn't killing people!

I can't help but wonder if he was genuinely trying to help (and to a degree he did. Who knows how to capture a serial killer, better than one?) or if he had an ulterior motive of perhaps having the death sentence squashed in lieu of life in prison should his help lead to the arrest and conviction of Ridgway. After all, until he was strapped into the electric chair, he never admitted responsibility for their deaths. And if I remember correctly, when he was strapped in the electric chair, he tried to use the victims as bargaining chips to stay alive.

I'm such a fool and believe that there is good in everyone, even if it's only a little bit. I'd like to think that his helping to find Ridgway, was the bit of good inside him.

Bundy tried right up to the end to escape death by trading info for more time. He also probably didn't want the Green River Killer to "beat his record", it's sad to say.