Held back twice by graduation
Gary Ridgway was held back twice and graduated high school in 1970 at the age of 20, barely able to read or write.
Snapshot · Last Podcast On The Left
Episode 671: Gary Ridgway : Redux Part I - Wrong Way Gary
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Jul 3, 2026
Where this was said
The Little Cowboy: Gary's First Act of Violence Against a Human
At 1:01:39 · chapter starts 53:45
Gary's violence finally found a human target in 1965. He approached a six-year-old boy in a wooded area near his high school, told the child there were people nearby 'who would like to kill little boys like you,' then led him into the woods, pulled a knife, and stabbed him in the torso. [1] — Marcus Parks "In 1965, a 16-year-old Gary Ridgway lured a 6-year-old boy dressed as a cowboy into the woods under the pretense of building a fort, then s…" 55:22 Gary watched blood fill the child's cowboy boots and laughed. The boy survived, found bleeding by a teacher — but Gary wasn't named as the perpetrator until he confessed after his Green River arrest 36 years later. Before that incident, however, Gary may have committed his first actual murder: he recalled drowning a boy in a lake near Seattle, wrapping his legs around the child's neck underwater. Public records show two boys did drown in that lake that same year. The hosts note this aligns with a pattern seen in other serial killers of starting with victims of opportunity before developing their adult signature.
Gary's First Stabbing: The Little Cowboy
In 1965, a 16-year-old Gary Ridgway lured a 6-year-old boy dressed as a cowboy into the woods under the pretense of building a fort, then stabbed him in the torso and watched blood fill the child's cowboy boots. The boy survived, but Ridgway wasn't identified as the perpetrator for 36 years — until he confessed after his Green River Killer arrest.
First act of violence at age 16
In 1965, Gary Ridgway lured a six-year-old boy into the woods and stabbed him in the torso, hitting his liver, laughing as blood filled the child's cowboy boots.
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