Last week, I told the stories of eight, young Black women trafficked into sex work. All had been murdered in and around North Portland. These cases were presented to the Green River Task Force when no suspects emerged during initial investigations. It was found that none of the murders were connected to Gary Ridgway. Years later, the state would claim five of the women were connected to the same culprit. Today, I’ll detail how police eventually tracked down and arrested a man for four of the murders, employed flimsy-at-best DNA evidence, and how the law presented a generous and underhanded plea deal, which left some wondering if the closure of 4 unsolved cold cases was motivated by a district attorney’s election rather than justice. Episode Host: Alisha Holland For photos and sources for today’s episode, check out the Murder in the Rain Episode Blog. If you’d like more episodes of Murder in the Rain, Patreon members at the $5/mo+ level, gain access to exclusive episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus content, and more. Join us this year at the True Crime and Paranormal Podcast Festival July 12th-14th in Denver, Colorado! Don’t forget to use our code RAIN15 to get 15% off of your tickets. It’s a great time to connect with podcasts as well as families impacted by the cases we discuss. We had a blast last year and we think you will too. Join us this year at True Crime Fest Northwest in Portland, Oregon from August 30th through Sept 1st. You can get your tickets at TrueCrimeFestNorthwest.com! Use promo code RAIN10 for 10% off your tickets. Follow us on: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/murderintherain/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mintherain/ Twitter https://twitter.com/murderintherain TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@em_murderintherain Website https://www.murderintherain.com/ Email [email protected] Our Sponsors: * Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code RAIN for a great deal: happymammoth.com * Visit myeq.com and use code RAIN at checkout for 15% off! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/murder-in-the-rain/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands