Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, Who Murdered 49 People, Transfers To High-Security Colorado Prison To Be Brought Out Of Isolation After 11 Years

Gary Ridgway, 66, who is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, is known as the Green River Killer who murdered 49 teen girls and young women, who were runaways, prostitutes, and drug addicts, according to Oregon Live. After his conviction in 2004, he has spent his prison sentence in isolation. It has now been reported that he was transferred to a high-security prison in Florence, Colorado, to be put back into population, but Dave Reichert isn’t too fond of the idea.

“It is unbelievable and absolutely intolerable that the Washington State Department of Corrections determined that because Gary Ridgway, this country’s most notorious serial killer who confessed to 49 murders, was such a model inmate, he was relocated to a Colorado prison at a cost of [$20,000] for a private jet to transport him, so he can now socially interact with others and get a job,” according to a statement made by Reichert.

“I am incensed and outraged on behalf of the victim’s families, the task force detectives, patrol officers, scientists, hundreds of volunteers who dedicated their lives to bring this monster to justice and all law abiding citizens.”

“These hardworking dedicated servants spent 20 years of their lives devoted to stopping Gary Ridgway from committing more crimes and solving those he did.”

The Green River Killer was initially arrested in 2001 after DNA evidence pointed to him in the murders of Shirley Shirell, 18, Denise Bush, 23, and 16-year-old Angela Marie Girdner, who were all discovered by a passerby, according to KOMO News. After his arrest, he entered an unprecedented plea where he wouldn’t receive the death penalty if he confessed to the murders. However, police officials got a surprise when he confessed to 49 murders, all executed over the course of 20 years.

Ridgway was convicted of the murders and received life in prison in 2004, and has been placed in isolation ever since. And although Reichert wants answers after Ridgway was transferred to another prison and put back into population, the “Governor’s office says an interstate compact allows prisoners to be transferred, and for security reasons they are not publicized.”

Reichert says the Green River Killer’s transfer to another prison was an insult to the victims’ families. “If there should be anyone who is left in his cell for the rest of his life – because he did escape the death penalty – it should be Ridgway,” he said.

After spending 11 years in isolation at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, the Green River Killer is currently back in population at a prison in Florence, Colorado.

[Image via YouTube screen capture]