When the Homily is about Immunology

How do they sleep at night?

The so-called Green River Killer has finally been identified. For those of you not from the Northwest you may not know much about this case. During the 1980's dozens upon dozens of women began to disappear from the greater Seattle area, with their bodies turning up sometime later (sometimes never) very often near or in the Green River in south King County. Most (perhaps all) of the women were prostitutes and/or runaways.

With the advancements in DNA forensics, prosecutors believed they had finally caught their man: Gary Ridgway. Just this week, Ridgway’s defense attorney approached the state with a plea bargain. Ridgway would confess to the murders of 48 women (He apparently killed even more, but no charges were filed) in exchange for prosecution guarantees to not seek the death penalty. The deal was done.

Now all the local talk radio shows are furiously debating whether the King County Prosecutor should have taken the deal (after all, Ridgway’s confession gives him the notorious status of being the world’s worse serial killer – at least numerically speaking, who better deserves the death penalty, they ask). But I am thinking about Ridway’s defense attorney…I suppose in truth ALL defense attorneys and the moral dilemma I imagine they are forced to face all too often.

Can you imagine Ridgway telling his attorney to offer the plea? What if the prosecutor said no and the attorney then had to go into court to try and defend this guy knowing that he was in fact truly guilty! I imagine a conversation with the attorney’s spouse just as they are going to bed:

“Well did you have a good day at work, dear?” the spouse asks.

“Oh sure. My client today admitted to abducting, raping, murdering and very often returning to the scene and re-raping the corpses of 48 women,” The attorney says.

“Oh that’s interesting honey,” the spouse says rolling over.

“Well goodnight.”

I couldn’t do it. Don’t know how they manage it.

You can read more about the case here. If your kids ever ask if there are there such things as monsters, you might want to think twice before lying.