Childhood & Early Life
Gary Ridgway was born to Mary and Thomas Ridgway in Salt Lake City, Utah, the second of three sons. Gary had a somewhat troubled childhood growing up in Seattle, as he was often involving in violent arguments with his parents and specifically his mother. Ridgway had a habit of bedwetting into his early teens, which earned him further belittlement and embarrassment from his mother. To further complicate matters, Gary always had conflicting feelings of sexual attraction and anger towards her. His father, a bus driver and part-time mortuary worker, often told stories of coworkers engaging in acts of necrophilia to his son.
To compound these problems at home, Ridgway struggled academically and was tested with an I.Q. of 82, signifying low intelligence, and had to repeat a year twice. Despite these academic limitations, classmates described him as congenial and well liked among the student body. As a 16 year-old high school student, Gary performed his first attempted murder. He had led a 6 year-old boy into the woods and stabbed him through his ribs. According to both the victim and Ridgway, Ridgway walked away laughing and saying, “I always wondered what it would be like to kill someone.”
To compound these problems at home, Ridgway struggled academically and was tested with an I.Q. of 82, signifying low intelligence, and had to repeat a year twice. Despite these academic limitations, classmates described him as congenial and well liked among the student body. As a 16 year-old high school student, Gary performed his first attempted murder. He had led a 6 year-old boy into the woods and stabbed him through his ribs. According to both the victim and Ridgway, Ridgway walked away laughing and saying, “I always wondered what it would be like to kill someone.”
"I always wondered what it would be like to kill someone"