All of worst US serial killer's victims may never be known

[brucelee]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1505&ncid=1505&e=2&u=/afp/20031107/ts_alt_afp/us_justice_serial_031107052323

SEATTLE, Washington (AFP) - America's most prolific serial killer, Gary Ridgway, may have murdered far more than the 48 women he has been convicted of strangling, detectives said.


Truck painter Ridgway formally confessed Wednesday to murdering 48 prostitutes, drug addicts and runaways between 1982 and 1998 under a plea deal that spares him the death penalty, but police said they may never know how many people he really killed.


"He told us in interviews that he has killed at least 60 women," said Sergeant John Urquhart of the task force that ended the so-called Green River killer's two-decade rampage around the northeastern city of Seattle.

[Noordam]

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[Noordam]

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[jobycom]

4. Another white guy spared the death penalty, like Henry Lee Lucas

Funny how many non-white people are executed for one or two murders, often while they were high or disoriented, sometimes (as in Gary Graham in Texas) when there is no evidence they committed the crime, but here's another white guy, like Henry Lee Lucas, who confesses to dozens of murders for no good reason, and he'll live as a superstar in prison.

For those who have forgotten Lucas, he was accused of over a hundred murders, but only convicted of one-- two if you can't a previous conviction of murdering his mother. His death sentenced was commuted to life when it was decided that he probably didn't commit the crime he was convicted of (interesting though that he was kept in prison, anyway). Lucas was a star, constantly being interviewed by journalists as well as psychologists and law enforcement. Sort of a natural resource.

Around the same time that Bush commuted his sentence to life, he refused to commute Karla Faye Tucker's sentence. Tucker had taken part in the murders of two people 20 years earlier while she and others were robbing the house they were in. She was wired on crack at the time, and barely remembered the crimes. Her prison term was spent lecturing others to stay off drugs, and her laywers mounted an attempt to spare her life on the grounds of her later activities. Bush killed her anyway, then laughed at her and mocked her in an interview with Tucker Carlson that almost cost him the nomination.

Bush also about that time allowed Gary Graham to be executed, even though he was convicted on the word of one witness who had seen the murderer (one murder) run through her headlights fifty feet away. Witnesses who were closer said the killer was tall, whereas Graham was much shorter than the victim. Graham's alibi of being on the other side of Houston was confirmed by several friends, and supported by a traffic ticket he received shortly before the murder while on the other side of Houston. The only physical evidence linking him to the crime was a gun found in his possession matching the type of the murder weapon. It was proven before the trial to not be the murder weapon. Bush said he was comfortable with the evidence.

Graham was black, Tucker an Hispanic female. Lucas was white.

Anyone want to argue that the death penalty is administered fairly in this country?

[Tansy_Gold]

5. Excellent analysis, jobycom

Until the death penalty can be administered fairly, without any chance whatsoever of the wrong person being executed, it should be abolished.

Since "fairly" is a matter of subjective perspective and there's always a chance that someone lied or the evidence was rigged or something will turn up later. . . . . .

The death penalty needs to be abolished. Period.

[FormerMarine6055]

6. Too true

I'm suprised that Mumia is still breathing, with the way the 'legal system' works