Mark Prothero
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Mark W. Prothero is an American attorney in Washington State. He gained widespread attention after serving as the lead defense counsel for confessed serial killer Gary Ridgway, who is better known as the Green River Killer. In 2006, Prothero and Carlton Smith published a book entitled Defending Gary, which details Prothero's experience serving as Ridgway's lawyer.
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[edit] Biography
Mark Prothero was born in Seattle, Washington. He grew up in the Seattle area, where his family operated a renowned boat building business. In high school, Prothero distinguished himself as a champion swimmer. He attended the University of Washington on an athletic scholarship, and earned a bachelor's degree in History in 1978. After completing his undergraduate studies, Prothero attended law school at the University of San Diego.
Upon completion of his Juris Doctor, Prothero returned to Washington State to work in private practice. In 1983, he joined the Associate Counsel for the Accused (ACA), which provides legal representation for indigent defendants in King County, Washington. Prothero moved into the felony unit of ACA in 1987, and ultimately became an expert in the areas of forensic DNA evidence, offender sentencing, and the death penalty.
[edit] The Green River Case
From 1982 through 1985, dozens of young women, most of whom were known prostitutes, turned up dead or missing in King County, Washington. These deaths and disappearances were attributed to the so-called "Green River Killer," because the first five victims were found in or around the Green River. For almost twenty years, law enforcement officials were unable to identify the person who was responsible for the Green River murders.
In the fall of 2001, however, science was able to do the job that law enforcement never could. DNA evidence which was found in or on four of the Green River victims was matched to a long-standing suspect in the case, Gary Leon Ridgway. Ridgway, a truck painter from Auburn, Washington with a measured I.Q. of 85, was charged with multiple counts of murder. Prothero first met Ridgway at the Regional Justice Center in Kent, Washington on November 30, 2001. At first, Prothero was incredulous that the mild-mannered, self-effacing Ridgway could be the elusive Green River Killer. Nevertheless, Prothero was appointed to serve as Ridgway's lead defense attorney. Prothero and his colleagues ended up negotiating a plea bargain, whereby Ridgway would give authorities information about his crimes and lead them to the bodies of his victims which had never been found. In exchange, Ridgway would be spared the death penalty.
On November 5, 2003, Prothero stood at Ridgway's side as the former truck painter pleaded guilty to forty-eight counts of aggravated murder. A month later, King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones sentenced Ridgway to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Legal experts agree that without the plea bargain Prothero and his colleagues brokered, Ridgway would almost certainly have been sentenced to die for his crimes.
After the Green River case, Prothero joined the Kent, Washington law firm of Hanis, Greaney PLLC. He currently lives in King County, Washington with his wife Kelly. They have two children.
[edit] References
- Prothero, Mark and Carlton Smith. Defending Gary: Unraveling the Mind of the Green River Killer . Jossey-Bass (May 19, 2006). ISBN 0-7879-8106-0.
