Caroline Fraser

That's true.

But Gary Ridgway, you know, again, he grows up two miles from Sea-Tac, from the airport, at a time when they were using lead in jet fuel.

And so he's also right by two major highways.

And what does he do when he grows up?

He goes to work at a truck factory painting trucks.

With a spray gun, and that paint has lead components.

So he's got it coming and going.

I mean, his brother talked about how they used to play on a slag pile from the copper mine in Idaho.

And so I think he's a guy who clearly has to have come into contact with more lead than was good for him.

Now, does that mean that's why you did it?

You know, and he's, you know, his whole story.

History involves so many victims.

I mean, he pled guilty to something like 48 or 49 murders, but they've tied him to probably around 78 or 79, and that's probably an undercount.

So...

I think it's worth thinking about.

That's what I'm saying.

I think it's worth thinking about what lead contributed to crime during that period.

And I wanted to tell the story in a way that was...

kind of subjective and personal and not in an academic way.

I mean, there are some great academic histories of lead exposure and the history of lead industries in this country.