Gary Ridgway, AKA the Green River Killer, is now known as one of the most prolific serial killers of the 20th century. Confirmed as having murdered 49 women over the course of the 1980s, and suspected of many more, the investigation of his crimes was a complex, multi-decade affair that did not end with his arrest, on DNA evidence, in 2001. Many murders and missing persons cases were still unresolved, and further questioning and investigation was necessary to get the whole picture.
2011’s “Green River Killer,” written by Jeff Jensen and illustrated by Jonathan Case, focuses primarily on this latter period of time, and on the role of the author’s father, Tom Jensen, in eliciting and elucidating Ridgway’s confessions. With Ridgway in custody, and a massive amount of information and evidence to sort through and confirm, these personal interviews with Ridgway were the main line of inquiry. The goal was closure for the victim’s loved ones, and elimination of other suspects; and if Ridgway cooperated, his sentence could be reduced from the death penalty to a life sentence. Meanwhile, the entire affair was to be kept secret so as not to bias the jury at Ridgway’s upcoming trial. Ridgway lived at the investigator’s offices in a specially designed cell, and accompanied them on “day trips” in which he was to point out where he concealed bodies and evidence.
It’s an extraordinary and claustrophobic and deeply disturbing situation to be in, and Jeff Jensen’s script captures the surreal and the shocking aspects of it all with aplomb. Giving us some background detail on his father before sketching out his early days with the Major Crimes department, and then the interviews themselves, Jeff Jensen paints a portrait of a thoughtful and inquisitive man whose analytical edge led him into that line of work. Ridgway, meanwhile, emerges as a quiet but obviously deeply disturbed human being, both ashamed and proud of his many crimes and reluctant to divulge the worst of the details. A major part of the suspense stems from this reluctance, and Ridgway’s tendency toward vagaries and prevarication. The main question is whether he really did commit these murders, or is merely taking the opportunity to reduce his sentence by taking credit for another man’s doings, and the frustration of the task force as he directs them aimlessly around rural areas is palpable.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Case’s stark black and white artwork is slick and noirish but realistic enough in terms of facial expression to be engaging, and it’s by facial expression in particular that the horror of it all comes through. In particular, Tom Jensen’s changing posture and general air as he ages, and becomes more and more deeply involved with the investigation – staving off his retirement until he can follow the case through to its finish – gives a visceral feeling of what it must have been like to face such horrible details every day. On the other end of the spectrum, Ridgway’s flat affect and bland demeanour keep him at a maddening and indecipherable distance. Case’s layouts, meanwhile, maintain a crawling, creeping mood, sometimes sprawling out into inky double-page spreads that emphasize the crippling immensity of the situation the task force is facing.
The book is well paced, gradually leading the reader to Ridgway’s ultimate confession, and finally to the ripple effect of the investigation on the lives of the people involved, and even in the last chapter the tension is high. There’s also a snowballing sense of pent-up emotion which finds some release, but not all, by the final pages, making this the sort of book that’s hard to look away from, and even more wrenching in retrospect.
In an end note, Jeff Jensen states that the book was not intended as a history or memoir, which is fair enough: “Green River Killer” doesn’t play out like either of these, and it’s apparent that many scenes have been inferred and reconstructed (i.e. Ridgway initially talking to his victims). Rather, with its emphasis on the personal details of those investigating the murders, and on the general process of getting into Ridgway’s head, the book fits much better into the genre of true crime – a genre which permits some characters to be composites (as is the case here) and a good deal of dramatization of the facts. As such, “Green River Killer” isn’t the most educational read in the world, but it is informative after its own fashion.
Continued belowThe biggest revelations here lie within the realm of the personal. More than a glimpse into a serial killer’s mind, what we get here is a portrait of Jensen, the investigator, the father, and the husband, returning from a long day of questioning to gut and elaborately re-tile the bathroom. By that same token, perhaps the most compelling facet of this book is the manner after which it details the contaminating influence a investigation like this can have on one man’s life. Some odd coincidences come up between the two men as Jensen learns about Ridgway’s past; and Jensen, in a memorable concluding sequence, actively corrects one incidental similarity between him and the killer.
Jeff Jensen is also careful to make the point that Ridgway’s tendency toward targeting sex workers may have been one of the initial barriers to his conviction, and to further investigation of the unconfirmed murders. The implication is that Ridgway assumed nobody would miss these women; but the truth is that they were loved and appreciated by friends and family, and were pursuing various and sometimes quite hopeful trajectories in their lives. Tragically, some were still teenagers, and many were victims of human trafficking and exploitation. Jensen makes a note of this, directing the reader to several organizations whose aim it is to help and protect women in similar situations.
“Green River Killer” is a certainly a grisly read, but it’s also a fascinating one and a compelling one. More than anything, the insight that it casts on Tom Jensen’s personality feels like a celebration of a man who was committed to his job and excelled at it, despite near-daily setbacks. And as such, there’s plenty of inspiration to be found within the pages of this book; those hoping to pursue, or already involved in, a career in law enforcement or forensics will find the manner after which Jensen balances his life something close to heartening. There’s little of the police-procedural glamour so often seen in popular culture in this book, and it gains by this tendency immensely.
“Green River Killer” is published by Dark Horse, and is currently available in hardcover.
