Reichert, David 1950–

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Reichert, David 1950–

(David George Reichert)

PERSONAL: Born August 29, 1950, in Detroit Lakes, MN; married, 1970; wife's name Julie; children: Angela, Tabitha, Daniel. Education: Concordia Lutheran College, A.A., 1972. Politics: Republican. Religion: Lutheran.

ADDRESSES: Home—Auburn, WA. Office—2737 78th Ave. S.E., Ste. 202, Mercer Island, WA 98040.

CAREER: King County Sheriff's Office, King County, WA, patrol deputy, SWAT commander, and detective, 1972–97, sheriff, 1997–2004; elected to U.S. Congress for Washington State's Eighth District, 2004–. Former member of advisory boards, including King County Criminal Justice Council and King County Domestic Violence Council. Former co-chair, Washington State Partners in Crisis; president, Washington Sheriffs' Association. Military service: U.S. Air Force; awarded State Attorney General's Award for Courageous Action above and beyond the Call of Duty.

AWARDS, HONORS: Sheriff of the Year Award, National Sheriffs' Foundation, 2004; Champion of Freedom award, Washington Policy Center.

WRITINGS:

Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: David Reichert joined the King County sheriff's office in Washington State in 1972 and worked for that office, primarily as a homicide detective, until being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004. As part of his duties in the sheriff's office, Reichert was assigned as lead investigator in the notorious—and grisly—"Green River Killer" case. Beginning in the early 1980s, a serial killer preyed upon prostitutes in King County and its surrounding jurisdictions, leaving their bodies in remote areas as if taunting law-enforcement officers. Reichert details his efforts to stop the carnage in Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer.

As Reichert makes plain in his narrative, many officers worked diligently to crack the Green River case. He was particularly obsessed with it, however, and never gave up the hope that the murderer would be found. Finally, DNA evidence helped to crack the case, and Gary Ridgway was arrested as the main suspect. Ridgway later confessed to murdering forty-eight women. In his book, Reichert reminds readers that the killings began before the era of computers or sophisticated DNA testing—and that he and his team were sometimes belittled for their inability to find the perpetrator. A reviewer on the My Shelf Web site, wrote that Reichert "attempts to be fair with everyone involved, including those who were quick to judge." The book, noted a Kirkus Reviews critic, is not for the faint of heart, adding that it is "as gruesome as guilty pleasures get for rabid crime readers."