TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/073189/07318900.055

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 5.6 KB | 107 lines

                                                                                LAW, Page 57

Stalking the Green River Killer


Police name a suspect in the serial murders of 48 women


    For seven frustrating years, law-enforcement officials in
the Pacific Northwest have combed the region for the mysterious
Green River killer, so named because many of his victims were
found near the Green River in King County, Wash. Between 1982
and 1984, when the murder spree appears to have ended, the
shadowy killer may have snuffed out the lives of 48 women, most
of them drifters or prostitutes, who were stabbed or strangled.
After committing more than $15 million and as many as 55
officers to one of the biggest manhunts in U.S. history, police
have finally identified a "viable suspect": William Jay Stevens
II, 38, a former law student who is in the King County Jail on
charges that include burglary and assault.

    At first glance, Stevens seemed an unlikely candidate for
a killer. Police were tipped off that he might be the slayer
when a December 1988 episode of the syndicated television
program Manhunt prompted calls from people who suspected he was
the murderer. At the time, Stevens was in his last year at
Gonzaga University Law School in Spokane and president of the
student body. But his identity as an unassuming law student
began to unravel quickly as investigators discovered that
Stevens had been convicted in 1979 of stealing police equipment
and had disappeared from a work-release program in 1981. Stevens
was arrested on the old charges and sent back to jail.

    After he was returned to custody, even more damaging
evidence began to emerge. Investigators had long believed that
the killer was either a policeman or a person posing as a police
officer who lured his victims to their deaths with offers of
assistance or by intimidating them. A search of Stevens'
parents' property produced a police car, 100 police badges, 29
firearms and 26 license plates. This month the police obtained
a search warrant in response to a 40-page affidavit prepared by
the Green River Task Force, the group of King County officers
assigned to the case. Recovered from Stevens' residence and his
parents' home in Spokane were 55 boxes and bags of additional
evidence, including 1,800 videotapes.

    The affidavit sets out Stevens' life as a fugitive in
chilling detail. A paper trail of credit-card slips places
Stevens in proximity to 17 of the Green River crime scenes. In
addition to the 48 Green River murders, the affidavit suggests,
Stevens may also be responsible for at least a dozen other
killings in Seattle, Portland and Tacoma. Informants alleged
that he carried photographs of mutilated women and frequented
prostitutes. One source quoted him as saying that he worked with
Seattle vice detectives and in the line of duty "often was
involved in the torture of prostitutes." Stevens also reportedly
said he would like to have a videotape of "cutting up
prostitutes." Informants added that he led them to believe that
he worked for a secret government agency and went on secret
"missions."

    Stevens promptly issued a statement from jail categorically
denying police claims. "I am not the Green River killer. They
have made me out to be a very bad person, and I am not," he
declared. His lawyer Craig Beles says his client "is a colorful
character, but he's no murderer." Students and faculty at
Gonzaga, who describe Stevens as quiet and studious, were
stunned by the allegations that he may have lived a secret life.
Chris Bales, a former Gonzaga law professor who taught Stevens
criminal law, characterized him as a "gentle fugitive" who posed
no threat to society when he was arrested last winter. Stevens
had worked in Gonzaga's law clinic, helping low-income clients.

    Sirena Caruso, a tenant who lived in Stevens' house between
1981 and 1985, paints a different picture. "He was very
bizarre," says Caruso. She moved out of the house soon after
discovering bullet holes in Stevens' room. According to Caruso,
Stevens had a collection of mannequins, X-rated videos,
videotaping equipment and a secret room hidden behind a moving
bookcase. Caruso and her boyfriend, she recalls, used to joke
that Stevens was the Green River killer. One day she even asked
Stevens about it. "Don't start that rumor," he reportedly
answered. "People around here think I'm weird enough."

    The facts that have surfaced about Stevens are eerily
similar to those surrounding Theodore Bundy, the serial killer
who was executed in Florida in January. Bundy and Stevens were
both enrolled as students at the University of Washington; Bundy
was a senior while Stevens was a freshman. Bundy was also a
former law student in the Northwest who had a fixation on police
badges. And both men were avid consumers of pornography.

    Until this month's announcement, the Green River Task Force
had been criticized for taking so long to solve the killings.
Despite their suspicions, however, authorities are still not
ready to charge Stevens with the crimes. "There's no way to know
how long it will take to determine if Stevens is a bizarre
victim of circumstance or the person responsible for some
unsolved crimes," concedes Captain Robert Evans, head of the
task force.

    By making the affidavit public, the police clearly hope to
bring in more evidence. Stevens has repeatedly refused to talk
with them. At week's end authorities had begun the laborious
task of sifting through the material gathered from Stevens'
residences, searching for the clues that would solve the
stubborn mystery at last.