Throughout American history, there have been individuals well known for committing what are classified as deviant or criminal acts. Most of those who are well known to the public for their actions have committed acts considered extremely controversial, such as being cult leaders, gang or mafia members, terrorists, rapists or killers. The membership lists for each topic are numerous, however, there are a few that are more important than others. One criminal that stands out when talking about killers in particular is Gary Ridgway, or as he is better known, the Green River Killer. Gary Ridgway is the most prevalent serial killer in the United States, with the highest murder rate in U.S. history (Gibson). To better understand the case of Gary Ridgway, it is important to understand a little more about serial killers in general. Serial murders are extremely heinous crimes that attract public attention. Serial murder is “the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period” (Knight). Many studies have been done by researchers trying to determine what exactly motivates a serial killer to cause them to commit such things. They hypothesized that this could be linked to biological, neurological or sociological aspects; however, none of them can be identified as the actual cause (Knight). What theorists have concluded is that it is probably not just one of these aspects, but a combination of all of them, as well as physiological, psychological and environmental elements (Knight). A well-known serial killer is Gary Ridgway. Ridgway was born in February 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His childhood can be seen as an indicator of his late...... middle of paper ......y. "Serial murders and media circuses. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2006. . Print.Knight, Zelda G "Sexually motivated serial killers and the psychology of aggression and "evil" from a contemporary psychoanalytic perspective. "Journal of Sexual Assault 13.1 (2007): 21-35. Loiiaconi Web Collection. "When Serial Killers Strike: The Green River Killer." Vronsky, Peter. "A "Typical" Serial Killer: Gary Leon Ridgway, “The Green River Killer.” “Serial Killers: The Method and the Madness of the Monsters New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2004. ..