Carlton Smith - The Search for the Green River Killer: The True Story of Americas Most Prolific Serial Killer

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The Search for the Green River Killer

The True Story of Americas Most Prolific Serial Killer

Carlton Smith & Tomas Guillen

CONTENTS

AUTHORS NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Probably any attempt to describe events taking place over a seven-year period would be fraught with possibilities for inadvertent omission and misunderstanding. That is all the more true with the Green River murders because of the sheer complexity of the events and the great number of people who played roles as the events unfolded. As time passes, human memories alter the recollection of events, or people forget matters entirely. The fact that the police had not identified the killer at this writing was an additional obstacle; understandably, the police wished to keep much of the information about the crimes confidential to assist them with their investigation. We were likewise handicapped by the reluctance of two of the primary investigators, Detectives David Reichert and Fabienne Brooks, to share their recollections.

Nonetheless, we were able to reconstruct many of the events. We were assisted greatly in this regard by numerous members of the King County Police Department, including, principally, Sheriff James Montgomery and his command staff, who graciously consented to provide copies of numerous important documents. Other members of the department willingly shared their experiences and recollections in interviews, as did many victims family members. Several political figures provided candid interviews, as did former King County Sheriff Vernon Thomas. We owe special gratitude to John Douglas, special agent of the FBI, King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Alfred Mathews, King County Police Major Robert Evans, King County Police Chief Frank Adamson, as well as Lieutenant Daniel Nolan and Major Richard Kraske, both now retired, for their assistance in numerous interviews over a number of years.

Most importantly, we owe an enormous debt to publisher Frank Blethen and the management of The Seattle Times. In addition to employing us nearly full time on coverage of the murders from 1984 through the end of 1988, The Times provided us with complete access to the texts of hundreds of news stories written as the murders were being investigated, thus providing us with a solid structure for this narrative. We are particularly grateful to former Special Projects Editor Tom Brown, and the staff of The Timess library, who unstintingly gave of their time in the search for relevant articles and support information.

We would especially like to thank our editor, Michaela Hamilton of New American Library, for her belief in this project, and for her steadfast support throughout. Without her many hours of work with the manuscript and her suggestions for cuts and revisions, the project would never have been completed.

Most of all, we would like to thank our wives, Helga Kahr and Susan Guillen, for their support throughout this project, which often seemed interminable. Both read and critiqued these pages from their own unique perspectives, Susan as a former police officer and Helga as an attorney who formerly specialized in criminal defense. In addition, Susan and Helga both accepted more than their share of the many burdens of daily living that our preoccupation blinded us to; we appreciate their efforts and love them very much.

A word on style. We have tried to reconstruct many conversations as they occurred, basing these on the recollections of those involved. To the best of our knowledge, remarks that appear in quotation marks reflect what was actually said at the time, either as reflected in news coverage or in the words of the participants as they recalled them. In cases where the actual words could not be reconstructed but the essence of the conversation was available, we chose to leave out the quote marks but indicate through the phrasing that these were words substantially similar to what was actually said. Italicized phrases reflect participants recollections of their internal dialogue.

Carlton Smith

and

Tomas Guillen

Seattle, Washington, June 8, 1990

PEOPLE

Abernathy, Debbie; victim, last seen September 1983

Adamson, Frank; captain, King County Police, Green River Task Force, 198486

Agisheff, Amina; once thought to be a victim, last seen July 1982

Antosh, Yvonne; victim, last seen May 1983

Authorlee, Martina; victim, last seen May 1983

Avent, Pamela; victim, last seen October 1983

Barczak, Patricia; victim, last seen October 11, 1986

Bello, Mary; victim, last seen October 1983

Bonner, Deborah; victim, last seen July 1982

Brockman, Colleen; victim, last seen December 1982

Brooks, Pierce; serial murder expert, Green River Task Force Consultant, 1985

Brooks, Fabienne; detective, King County Police, Green River Task Force

Bryant, Hilda; television reporter, KIRO

Bundy, Ted; serial murderer, 197175

Bush, Denise; victim, last seen October 1982

Buttram, April; victim, last seen August 1983

Chapman, Marcia; victim, last seen August 1982

Childers, Andrea; victim, last seen April 1983

Christensen, Carol; victim, last seen May 1983

Coffield, Wendy; victim, last seen July 1982

Douglas, John; Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent, Behavioral Sciences Unit

Estes, Debra; victim, last seen September 1982

Evans, Bob; captain, King County Police, Green River Task Force, 198889

Fatland, Rollin; deputy King County executive, 1985present

Feeney, Maureen; victim, last seen September 1983

Foster, Melvyn; suspect 198284, cleared

Gabbert, Sandra; victim, last seen April 1983

Gies, Rick; detective, King County Police vice squad, 197984

Haglund, Bill; chief investigator, King County Medical Examiners

Harrington, Penny; former Portland, Oregon, police chief, 1985

Hays, Roberta; victim, last seen February 1987

Hill, Tim; King County executive, 1985present

Hinds, Cynthia; victim, last seen August 1982

Horton, Richard Terry; suspect 1985, cleared

Hunt, Cookie; spokeswoman, Womens Coalition to Stop the Green River Murders, 1984present

Johnson, George; criminalist, Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, 1981present

Kellams, R.D.; policeman, city of Kent, 1982present

Keppel, Bob; special investigator, Washington Attorney Generals Office, 1980present

Kraske, Richard; major, King County Police, Criminal Investigations Division, 198284