Als 1982 im Green River bei Seattle drei herumtreibende Frauenleichen entdeckt wurden, ahnte niemand, dass dies der Auftakt einer der außergewöhnlichsten Mordserien aller Zeiten war. Der „Green River Killer“ entwickelte sich zum berüchtigtsten Serienmörder der US-Geschichte, der mehr als vier Dutzend Menschen umbrachte, bis 2001 ein DNA-Test seine Identität enthüllte. Der Autolackierer Gary Ridgway galt im Freundes- und Familienkreis lange als ausgeglichene, warmherzige Person. Heimlich begab er sich jedoch regelmäßig in Seattles Rotlichtviertel, um junge Frauen in seinen Wagen zu locken. Nicht nur, dass Ridgway diese während des Geschlechtsverkehrs erwürgte, häufig kehrte er auch zum Ablageort der Leichen zurück, um seine nekrophilen Neigungen auszuleben. Die Dokumentation nutzt, neben Videoaufnahmen des geständigen Täters, auch geäußerte Erinnerungen und Ansichten ehemaliger Schulfreunde Ridgways und seiner Ehegattin, die ihn über 15 Jahre lang für ihren Traumpartner hielt. Die Kriminalpsychologen versuchen so, der Frage auf den Grund zu gehen, was den „Green River Killer“ zu seinen schrecklichen Taten bewog. Löste die ungesunde Beziehung zu seiner Mutter das Morden aus? Oder war der „Green River Killer“ einfach geboren um zu töten?
In 1982, when the bodies of 3 women were discovered beneath the surface of Seattle's Green River, no-one realised that it was the beginning of an extraordinary killing spree that would baffle police for 19 years. The 'Green River Killer' would become the most prolific serial killer in US history, claiming the lives of more than four dozen victims, but it would take until 2001 before DNA testing solved the mystery of his identity. To his friends and family, Gary Ridgway was a mild mannered truck painter and a loving husband, but for 19 years he had prowled Seattle's red light areas, picking up young women, strangling them during intercourse, dumping their bodies in the woods, and sometimes returning to have sex with the corpses. Featuring video of his startling confessions - the cops that pursued him, the attorneys who prosecuted and defended him, leading experts, school-friends, and the wife who spent 16 loving years with her dream man, attempt to unravel what had created this monster. Had he been warped by his unusual relationship with mother? Or was the Green River Killer a product of nature - born to kill?
Nel 1982, quando i corpi di 3 donne furono scoperti sotto la superficie del Green River di Seattle, nessuno si rese conto che era l'inizio di una follia omicida che avrebbe sconcertato la polizia per 19 anni. Il "Green River Killer" sarebbe diventato il serial killer più prolifico nella storia degli Stati Uniti, causando la morte di oltre quattro dozzine di vittime. Per 19 anni ha vagato per le zone a luci rosse di Seattle, raccogliendo giovani donne, strangolandole durante il rapporto, scaricando i loro corpi nei boschi e, talvolta, tornando a fare sesso con i cadaveri. Era stato deformato dalla sua insolita relazione con la madre? O il Green River Killer era un prodotto della natura, nato per uccidere?
