The Green River Serial Murder Case and the Rise of Forensic Archaeology

Figure 1: Victims Linked to the Green River Killer

 

Forensic sciences have been of public interest for several decades in part due to various television series, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Bones.  These shows are based on real work that is conducted by a variety of forensic investigators who dedicate their time and expertise in aiding in criminal investigations and solving crime.  The methods of forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology have been previously discussed on this blog, but today’s blog post will actually discuss one of the cases that led to the inception of forensic archaeology, specifically the Green River Serial Murders case.  This blog post will briefly discuss the case and victims for the purposes of addressing how the unique aspects of this case led to the need for forensic archaeology and the contributions of William Haglund, a medical examiner turned forensic anthropologist, who may be one of the pioneers of this applied anthropological field of study.

 

On July 15, 1982 a couple of boys were walking on a bridge in King County in Washington state when they happened upon a gruesome discovery: the body of a young woman floating in the Green River.  Over the next few weeks four other women’s remains were discovered in or along the Green River.  All were young women who had been brutally murdered.  The press immediately coined the name of the serial murderer: The Green River Killer.  This, however, was a premature nickname as this serial murderer’s remaining victims were not found in or around the Green River, instead being discovered throughout wooded areas in King County, nearby counties, and several in and around Portland, Oregon.  It is believed that Gary Ridgeway, who was tried and convicted as the Green River Killer, killed up to 80 women over the span of 20 years (Figure 1).  His case is characterized by not only the brutality of his actions but also the length of time it took to bring him to justice, making this one of the longest serial murder investigations in American history.

 

The majority of Ridgeway’s victims were adolescent or young adult women who largely worked as prostitutes, were involved in drugs, and/or were transitory in nature.  It was this combination of their occupations, ages, and nomadic behaviors that made it difficult to initially realize that a crime was occurring.  Many people do not pay attention to prostitution because of its unseemly reputation, making prostitutes easy targets of various crimes, and those involved in this illegal activity are reluctant to seek assistance from law enforcement for fear that they will be arrested, tried, and convicted rather than assisted as victims of crime.  Because these women moved around a lot, particularly the adolescents, many of whom were runaways, no one considered their disappearances as anything abnormal-they simply picked up and left as they were expected to do.  This allowed Ridgeway to conduct his crimes for a number of years without notice, interruption, or interference. 

 

It was not his victims were discovered in the Green River that he finally caught the attention of law enforcement, who were already a great deal of time behind on their investigation.  Because the five victims recovered in and around the Green River were not badly decomposed, they were easily identified.  The remaining victims, however, were dumped in secluded wooded areas and often were not discovered for days, weeks, and sometimes even years after they were killed.  The woods were specifically chosen because they were infrequently visited, but these locations also caused various impediments to the investigation that were not immediately clear.  First, these isolated locations allowed a variety of scavenger activity to occur to the bodies, which scattered and destroyed evidence.    Second, the general environment of the Pacific Northwest hastened decomposition-bodies can become completely skeletonized within a month.  This, too, made it difficult to identify victims and recover evidence, particularly related to cause of death.  Lastly, as many of the victims were adolescents and biologically immature their remains were already going to be difficult to identify in the best of circumstances, and the taphonomic processes of the soil eroding the bones, the advanced and hastened decomposition of soft tissues, and the scavenger activity separating the bones made an already difficult situation even more so.  Taken together, the medical examiner’s office and law enforcement agencies, who were already experienced with serial murder investigations (i.e., crimes related to serial murderer Ted Bundy), faced new challenges that they were ill equipped to handle.

 

Medical examiner William Haglund realized that the advanced state of decomposition of the victims’ remains was beyond the scope of his expertise, and rather than bungle the investigation he teamed up with Daris Swindler, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Washington, to help identify the victims.  Through their partnership on the Green River Serial Murder investigation Swindler encouraged Haglund to pursue a Masters degree in Forensic Anthropology, which he did.  The knowledge and skills he gained through his graduate work led him to not only learn how to identify human remains but also recognize further gaps in his and Swindler’s expertise. 

 

These gaps were specific to the recovery, not the identification, of the human remains.  Haglund turned to the forensic science literature and found it lacking in the specific recovery methods required for these cases.  He then turned to the archaeological literature and found that the archaeological methods for surveying, excavating, and documenting sites were optimal for the Green River Serial Murder investigation.  This led him to promote interdisciplinary and interagency cooperation among law enforcement agencies, medical examiner’s offices, forensic anthropologists, and individuals who are specifically trained in archaeological recovery and interpretation techniques.  He identified necessary equipment and tools that should be on hand for these types of investigations, as well as the need for specific site boundary identification and security of those boundaries in order to limit access to the site to avoid contamination and destruction of key evidence.  He also established the requirements for identification, documentation, and collection of human remains and associated evidence.  All of this resulted in Haglund establishing the first procedures and protocols that would eventually be established as those followed by forensic archaeologists and law enforcement agencies who require their expertise and skills. 

 

Haglund’s and various other scholars work pioneered the field of forensic archaeology, as well as other advances in forensic anthropology and other forensic science fields.  The unfortunate circumstances of the Green River Serial Murders provided the foundations for forensic archaeological research that have been important in various other investigations, including mass genocide cases and other murder investigations both domestically and abroad.  While these methods cannot prevent crime they can aid in expediting the investigative process and bring justice to the victims’ families by providing them closure and providing necessary evidence to lead to a successful prosecution.

 

Author’s note: While Gary Ridgeway was tried and convicted for his crimes the process of identifying all of his victims continues.  If you have any information about any of his victims please contact the King County Sheriff’s Office in Washington State.

 

Bibliography

Beary, M. O., & Lyman, R. L. (2012). Taphonomy in Forensic Anthropology: Past Trends and Future Prospects. In D. C. Dirkmaat, A Companion to Forensic Anthropology (pp. 499-527). West Sussex: Blackwell Publishing.

Haglund, W. A., Reichert, D. G., & Reay, D. T. (1990). Recovery of Decomposed and Skeletal Human Remains in the "Green River Murder" Investigation. The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 11(1), 35-43.

Haglund, W. H. (2001). Archaeology and Forensic Death Investigations. Historical Archaeology, 35(1), 26-34.

Rothwell, B. R., Haglund, W., & Morton, J. T. (1989). Dental identification in serial homicides: The Green River murders. Journal of the American Dental Association, 373-379.