Law: Stalking The Green River Killer

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.