TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/073189/07318900.055

Text File | 1990-09-17 | 6KB | 99 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.