by Michael Hammerschlag
When it turned out one of the snipers was
from the Seattle area, I wasn’t surprised.
About 50% of the world’s serial killers seem
to come from a 200 mile radius around Seattle:
Ted Bundy- 50-80 victims, Gary Ridgway (Green
River Killer)- 55, Robert Pickton (Vancouver
BC)- 54, Robert Yates-18, Willie Mak-13,
Hillside Stranglers-15, Westley Dodd- 3 children,
Randy Roth-3 wives, Kevin Coe-raped 42. Most
cities have had a serial killer or 2- but
Seattle/Washington has had a dozens. When
I moved there 16 years ago, women’s bodies
were being found in the bushes twice a week and it wasn’t considered news- buried on
page C14. (Huge 10 part Seattle PI series on serial killers with chart over 50 years.)
That was incredible- 100 murdered women a
year. I wondered how long it would be before
I was affected by a serial killer- 5 years,
I thought. 2 ½ years later a friend/landlord’s
son’s wife’s mother was chopped to death
by an axe murderer that had terrorized the
genteel historic district of Queen Anne.
My friend had to go over there and clean
up the mess. The killer turned out to be
a pudgy harmless-looking panhandler that
I had probably strolled by in the University
(of WA) district dozens of times. My friend’s
place, where I had stayed briefly after returning
from expeditions, ceased to be a refuge when
his traumatized son and wife moved in. They
wouldn’t open the door when the doorbell
rang and wouldn’t even allow the windows
to be opened in 100 degree summer heat. Madness
had come calling and it could return anytime.
A year later the wife committed suicide.
One night in my camper, I slept by the Green
River where Gary Ridgeway had tossed his
hooker victims in a 20 year reign of terror.
It gave me the creeps- he was only caught
this year, though 2 women reported him attacking
them by ’84, replete with license plate.
This rash of serial killers was dealt with
by scrupulous denial- the only time I saw
the papers really deal with it was when the
Seattle Times published an incredible map of 10 uncaught killers in Washington State, each of whom had murdered over 5 people (1990?).
One theory for the preponderance of monsters
in the Northwest is the depressing rain,
or drizzle, which used to be fairly constant
from Nov. to April (but is less lately).
But it is more likely the result of the massive
homeless and alcoholic problem. Drawn by
the immense beauty, mild weather, lax law
enforcement, and great reputation; huge numbers
of disparate characters are swept west and
north; and wind up on the streets. Per capita
Seattle may have the worst homeless population
in the country: in 5 blocks of the University
district one passes 10-20 panhandling kids;
foul alcoholic derelicts sleep on the benches
and urinate in public in the entertainment
district of Pioneer Square. They are considered
historic monuments and go unmolested- “Skid
Row” came from Skid Road, where they slid the logs down the hill
there into the frigid Puget Sound 110 years
ago. But the casual acceptance of the homeless
ignores their desperation, mental illness
and occasional dangerousness. I was once
assaulted twice in 2 weeks by lunatic street
people.
But there is something else: despite the
surface friendliness and high intelligence,
there is something missing from the character
of many Seattlites- they are often shockingly
treacherous, and amazingly blithe about it,
as if they aren’t even aware they’re doing
anything wrong. It’s no accident that Bill
Gates and Microsoft, having grown up there, act in the ruthless
coercive way they do. This may have something
to do with the fact that huge numbers of
Western Washingtonians are uprooted immigrants
like in LA: in their trek westward they abandoned
many of their moral principles. Coupled with
the high frequency of mental imbalance, this
cold selfishness can have horrifying results-
as the disproportionate number of maniacs
proves. Seattle maybe the most beautiful
major city in the world, sited on a hilly
isthmus between salt and fresh water; surrounded
by massive mountains (on 3 sides), bays,
lakes, islands; but it’s also a breeding
ground for psychopaths.
John Williams Muhammad, who grew up and was
stationed in Tacoma (40 mi south of Seattle),
showed many of the signs: growing mental
imbalance, sometimes great charm and appeal,
growing cumulative rage, periods of homelessness,
Svengali-like manipulative ability, abusive
anger at women; he was a bomb waiting to
go off. What did the people he proudly showed
his sniper rifle to think he was going to
do with it in his random travels? Shoot ducks
at county fairs? Had he not gone critical
so long in DC, he could have killed people
around the country for years with impunity,
especially if he had gotten a silencer for
the rifle. For the shell-shocked citizens
of Va. and Md. trying to make some sense
out of the random terror and death; perhaps
this provides some answers.
Michael Hammerschlag has written commentaries
+ articles for Seattle Times, Providence Journal, Honolulu
Advertiser, Columbia Journalism Review, Media
Channel, & Moscow News, Tribune, and
Guardian; was a TV reporter and produced documentaries.
His website is http://mikehammer.tripod.com e-mail: hammerschlag@bigfoot.com