Who was Gary Ridgway’s mother, Mary Rita?

GARY Ridgway is a convicted serial killer who claimed to have killed nearly 80 women in Washington state.

Now Americans want to know more about his family and upbringing.

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Who was Gary Ridgway’s mother, Mary Rita?

Gary Ridgway was born on February 18, 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Thomas Newton Ridgway and Mary Rita Ridgway.

His father was known for his career as a bus driver and Rita worked as a sales clerk at JCPenny.

While the Ridgeways seemed like a normal family to most, he revealed things about his controversial upbringing during his trial.

He told prosecutors at the time that he was sexually attracted to his mother, and it was later revealed that he was also molested by her, according to A&E.

While Ridgway admitted to often dreaming of killing his mother, he reportedly never believed he was abused, although he admitted to an inappropriate incident in which his mother washed his genitals in his early teens.

Rita finally died on August 15, 2001, just months before her son was arrested.

What did Gary Ridgway do?

In the 1980s and 1990s, Ridgway committed 48 murders in Washington state.

During his attacks, he often strangled his victims and dumped their bodies in Washington’s Green River, earning him the nickname Green River Killer.

His last victim was killed in 1998, but authorities were only able to arrest him on November 30, 2001.

He was arrested at the time for the murders of Marcia Chapman, Opal Mills, Cynthia Hinds and Carol Ann Christensen, but later confessed to other murders and claimed there were others, Britannica said.

Where is Gary Ridgway now?

To avoid the death penalty, Ridgway entered a plea bargain and was later sentenced on December 18, 2003 to 48 life sentences without the possibility of parole.

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The pleading has the following condition: Ridgway admits to all of his crimes, not just the seven in the indictment, and is spared the death penalty or the other option – convicted of all seven murders and possibly the death penalty.

Ridgway, now 73, is serving his sentence at Washington State Penitentiary.