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Two books review case of nation's deadliest convicted serial killer

Written by DeadGirl
Friday, 09 June 2006
Doug Esser, Canadian PressPublished: Saturday, May 27, 2006 (AP) - The morbid fascination with inexplicable evil brings two new books about the Green River Killer, the nation's deadliest convicted serial killer. One is by a former reporter who covered the case and the other is by a defence lawyer for convicted killer Gary Ridgway. Mark Prothero was one of Ridgway's lawyers in the two years between his arrest and 2003 sentencing for killing 48 women in the Seattle area. Defending Gary: Unraveling the Mind of the Green River Killer is Prothero's first-person chronological account of dealing with his client, other lawyers, prosecutors and investigators. It details the negotiations that led to the plea bargain to spare Ridgway's life in return for his help in accounting for dozens of deaths, mostly in the early 1980s. (The case takes its name from the Green River where the first bodies were found.) Prothero offers his perspective on what remains a troubling case. He knows as much as anyone about the "nasty, tricky little man" - his bedwetting, problems with women, gruesome murder details, his uncanny ability to avoid detection. There were plenty of missed opportunities in the investigation, now apparent in hindsight. Prothero is particularly critical of Dave Reichert, the first King County detective on the case, who became sheriff and is now a congressman. Prothero says Reichert overlooked Ridgway to focus on another suspect, a cab driver who publicly criticized the investigation. Defending Gary was written with Carlton Smith, the former Seattle Times reporter who also was co-author with Tomas Guillen of the 1991 book, The Search for the Green River Killer. Guillen now takes a more academic view from his position as an assistant professor in the Communication Department at Seattle University. Serial Killers: Issues Explored Through the Green River Murders is Guillen's collection of a dozen essays that examine police and media policies and their affect on families of the victims. Guillen offers many pointed observations as he revisits the still-painful killings, reviews the tortuous investigation and touches on the lingering question: How did a stammering, nondescript truck-factory worker nicknamed "Wrongway" manage to kill at least 48 women and elude police for nearly two decades? First, there was a law that prevented parents from forcing runaway teenage girls to return home, Guillen writes. Police couldn't track them or control the prostitution that made them easy victims. The investigation had more than its share of errors, and Ridgway turned out to have cunning street instincts. Guillen has the experience and intelligence to draw out lessons useful to the police, political leaders and the public. One wishes for more analysis, and perhaps a later edition might fulfil the promise of the title and compare Ridgway to other serial killers. Serial Killers is accompanied by a CD-ROM that includes some of the video of Ridgway's interrogation after he agreed to co-operate in exchange for his life. Defending Gary: Unraveling the Mind of the Green River Killer By Mark Prothero (Jossey-Bass) Serial Killers: Issues Explored Through the Green River Murders By Tomas Guillen (Prentice Hall) http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/arts/story.html?id=d6a7ffa1-5189-4cbb-b662-1d2cd4cc6ee3&k=94044

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Taphophilia?

taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)

ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"

DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries