Jeff Baird, the retired King County senior deputy prosecutor who led the prosecution of Ridgway and ultimately brought Palenik into the case, said in a recent interview hed never heard about Paleniks visit to the crime lab in the 1980s or knew the paint spheres couldve been found then. The police looked farther into Ridgway's past and . Gary Ridgway is an American serial killer convicted of more than 48 murder counts of teenage girls. Jensen, who dedicated most of his career to the case, was stunned to learn recently from an NBC News reporter that the capability to detect the paint spheres that linked Ridgway to some of the victims had existed years earlier. From 1982 to 1998, Gary Ridgway terrorized Washington State as the Green River Killer. Jensen, who dedicated most of his career to the case, was stunned to learn recently from an NBC News reporter that the capability to detect the paint spheres that linked Ridgway to some of the victims had existed years earlier. In July 1982, Ridgway picked up a woman with his. They matched. Leadership Spotlight: Doing the Right Thing for the Wrong Reasons: Abuse of Police Discretion, Leadership Spotlight: Impacting Job Satisfaction Through Leadership, Leadership Spotlight: Values-Driven Leadership in Law Enforcement Organizations, Leadership Spotlight: Leadership Lessons from Home, Leadership Spotlight: Strategic Leadership During Crisis. Interviewers should be prepared for a psychopathic suspect to hijack the interview by bringing up topics that have nothing to do with the crime. He was finally caught and convicted based largely on DNA evidence. Its just common sense.. A psychopath is someone with specific personality traits and characteristics. Gary Ridgway's Story and Victim List | by Tatiana Santana - Medium Ridgway had a lot to lose by talking to investigators. Investigators compiled a list of hundreds of potential suspects and amassed a mountain of evidence from the dumpsites, turning much of the material over to state forensic scientists for analysis. Soon after the additional charges were filed, defense lawyers approached prosecutors with a proposal. Because Ridgway wass the last person allegedly seen with two of the victims, police eventually searched his home and vehicles in 1987 in connection with the murders. A psychopathic individual is not necessarily evil nor a monster. There were three armed correctional officers present to monitor Mansons behavior. Along with the jeans used to strangle Coffield, the paint spheres were trapped in the weaves of fabric eventually found with seven other bodies and bones, records show. Over the next five months, Ridgway detailed his slayings and led detectives to the remains of four victims, including Malvar, the teenager whose disappearance in 1983 first alerted police to him.