Publisher's Synopsis
Warning: Once You Pick Up This Book, You Won′t Be Able to Put It Down
"This can′t be the Green River Killer! He′s too ordinary! He′s too small. He′s too calm. He′s too polite! He can′t possibly have murdered forty–nine women. They can′t be serious! They must have screwed up! I didn′t realize then, but I was right. Gary Ridgway hadn′t killed forty–nine women. He′d killed even more than that."
Praise for Defending Gary
"An extraordinary account of the most infamous serial killer in American history, ′The Green River Killer.′ This is definitely not your average true crime book. The book is a first–person account, well written, and with authors who provide interesting details of defending Gary Ridgway. The interrogation of Ridgway should be fascinating to law enforcement and anyone interested in serial killers. It certainly was to me. I highly recommend it."
—Steve Egger, author, Killers Among Us: An Examination of Serial Murder and Its Investigation
"Mark Prothero did more than defend Gary Ridgway. This book is an extraordinary contribution to a unique and successful collaboration between prosecutors, investigators, and defense attorneys. Their agreed–upon task was to try to extract decades–old memories of a serial killer who had methodically hidden dozens of bodies for a common purpose: to bring peace and resolution to the victims′ families. This book illustrates the energy, personal sacrifice, and impact that a death penalty case demands from a defense team. Prothero carefully takes us through the decisions involved in convening a defense team, the techniques used in developing a relationship with a serial killer in order to distinguish truth from his life of deception, the stress and uncertainty in working a death penalty case, negotiating and writing the extensive documentation for a plea bargain, and dealing with the media. There are critical lessons for us in this book: the importance of crime scene evidence, profiling a serial killer, the search for bodies, and insights from interviews with investigators, experts, and family members.
Defending Gary belongs on every bookshelf of every person interested in serial murder and death penalty cases from the defense perspective."
—Ann Burgess, R.N., D.N.Sc., professor of psychiatric mental health nursing, Boston College, Connell School of Nursing, and coauthor, Sexual Homicides: Patterns and Motives
