Why was the Green River Killer transferred to a King County jail?

could Gary Ridgeway the Green River Killer have been brought back to King County to face a new charge investigators have always maintained they believe there are more women than the 49 victims Ridgeway confessed to this is all about the victims it's not about me back in 2013 in a phone interview from prison with KO radio Ridgeway alleged there could be up to 30 more murdered women the total number is 75 to 80 all of all my victims except for one or two killed within two hour two miles of I5 the King County Sheriff's Office told us quote it continues to actively investigate potentially related cases but offered no other details four former Green River task force members either said no comment or didn't respond to my request I don't know why they're so closed lipped about it clud stiger has no connection to the Ridgeway case or investigation he was working for SPD at the time 36 years 20 as a homicide detective he now Works cold cases in the private sector I thought there's two two reasons they would bring him back to Ken County number one they're going to charge him with a case he hasn't been charged with already or number two there's some sort of an issue with his sentencing they're going to go back and correct it in court if it turns out to be a new charge tiger says he's confident the victim's family has already been contacted it's a mixed bag it it it dredges up old feelings but maybe there's some satisfaction knowing somebody's going to be held accountable Donna Hurley's 15-year-old daughter laurianne was one of ridgeway's victims and she was shocked to hear he was back in King County but hopes it leads to answers for other families you never know I mean I know they're still actively looking for cases Michelle estaban Como news well tonight there is still no word on why the Green River Killer Gary Ridgeway was transferred here to the King County jail he's serving 49 consecutive life sentences for the murders of 49 women and girls but back in 2013 you might remember he admitted to even more murders take a list the total number is 75 to 80 all of all my VI except for one or two were killed within two hour two miles of I5 it's a mixed bag it it it dredges up old feelings but maybe there's some satisfaction knowing somebody's going to be held accountable so tonight I talked with Michelle leabon who's continuing to press County officials for answers on why Ridgeway was moved in the first place well Michelle thanks for being with us here in Arc Seattle tonight so I know a lot of people are so curious as to why uh Gary Ridgeway is there at the King County Jail what have you been able to learn today well i' I've been able to learn that prosecutors as well as police are remaining tight lipped on this and I don't know why um I've gone to Superior Court to see if there's a court date set up there isn't I've gone to the court records they're sealed which means I can't open them to see what is happening I've called the sheriff's department to find out look you know you guys are the ones that investigated this case um what can you tell me and all they are saying is what they told us yesterday and that's when we learned that Ridgeway had been transferred from the penitentiary in Walla wallala to the King County jail and they're saying that they are or they continue to actively you know investigate um cases related to this um but offered no specifics I thought the other thing that was interesting Preston is I thought you know I'm going to go back to the task force members it was a big task force that worked on this case and I was able to find numbers for four people there's two others that I wanted to talk to that have passed away since this case but the four that I did reach out to two of them never got back to me and two of the others said they just can't comment so they're really tight lipped about it so the answer to your question is we don't know but we're going to keep asking it's interesting they'd have to bring him all the way to King County to deal with a matter when they couldn't just do it from wala wala where he is now it is interesting to see uh you know with his age and and you wonder is he healthy they bring him here for maybe a reason to be sick but then again you think well he could maybe be treated there uh so I know there are so many questions but a lot of people are really upset at just the fact that he's here in Seattle at all and say he should never be here yeah you know I caught up with a guy named um Cloyd stiger and we've talked to him before he's a longtime SPD um staffer he was a patrol officer when these when these victims first started surfacing um he's worked 36 years for SPD 20 as a homicide detective he was the chief investigator for the Attorney General's office for a while and he's still um solving cold cases he does it in the private sector so he's got a lot of experience and he's close to a lot of people who worked for the task force and um you know everybody from Defenders to prosecutors and so I caught up with him to say hey what do you think you know I I think that you know probably better than I do you might um be able to give us some insight here and he said he thought one of two things he thought that one he's brought back here uh potentially to face a new charge and if he's going to face a new charge and it's in King County he needs to be here to hear what the charges which would indicate that there might be new evidence in the case the other thing he said is that it's possible maybe on some sort of technicality he's back here to be resentenced and has to be in court in order to do that um so you know those are the two things I did it's interesting that you brought up you know his health and medically what's up um with him there and I asked as well I'm like could this be medical treatment and he said flat out no he said I really do not believe that he would be brought here because he said he could absolutely you know get what he needs there um but just to your other point just about families um as you know we reached out to uh Donna Hurley's family or to Donna Hurley last night um her daughter was one of the victims and she was just shocked she had no idea he was back and it you know it's unsettling for folks because it dredges up some of those old feelings so she was shocked that he was back hadn't heard anything um but you know if he's here she's hopeful it might lead to new evidence and that would be very interesting because you know lot people are G to be interested to see him in court and uh see what that new evidence is I mean what he's serving 49 uh life terms right now for for the murders he's committed and who knows it could be 50 LIF terms I the the the whole thing I guess it doesn't matter I mean he's gon you'll never get out of prison uh but potentially he could end up serving 80 life sentences based on the number of people we think might be out there yeah so here's what's interesting it it matters because if you're the family right who has a loved one that's you know that they're they've never been able to solve the case and it's never been linked to this but now you find out I mean you need your day in court you need that opportunity to be in court and to know that the case um you know has gone before a judge and been prosecuted right so there's that but you know you're alluding to perhaps 80 victims and that comes from a um a prison interview that ridway did himself back in 2013 with Charlie harer with Kom radio and there was a you know federal or a private investigator who was talking to Ridgeway and so Charlie also became a part of those phone conversations and got Ru to agree to go on the record and he said that you know there are between 75 to 80 victims who'd like to help police um find them and um and as you know we all know that uh investigators believe that there are likely are more victims out there and that's why there's that caveat in the plea agreement so when they reached that plea agreement in 2003 and he pled guilty to those 49 cases part of that also just check my notes here so I get this right for you um allows them to um let's see let me just read it for you so part of the the the guilty plea agreement uh prosecutors agreed right not to seek the death penalty in exchange for his confession and details about the murders so that was back then as well as pleading guilty to this is the important part to any and all future cases in King County where his confession could be corroborated by reliable evidence so leave the door open so that if there are other um victims and you know and that goes to what we've heard all along that they do believe that there could be others but you got to have the evidence um and so and sometimes in these cases with serial killers I you know this uh former uh law enforcement officer that I spoke to today said sometimes you know they'll they'll tell you things for various reasons and it's not true so there's always that potential that the that the person is is lying but um you know he's here for a reason we'll keep asking the questions um I checked the Superior Court doc there's nothing on the docket for him so couldn't get a clue there either so this is to be continued Preston okay Michelle thanks for the update I know a lot of people uh want to know what's going on so please keep us posted as this continues to develop I know a lot more is out there and uh I'm sure in the coming days we we'll learn a lot about this but keep us posted please and as always thanks for being with us here in AR Seattle tonight we appreciate it you got it of course thanks Preston