 Robert Keppel had been a University of Washington Criminology  Professor when he was approached by Detective Dave Reichert to help  solve the Green River Serial Murders case. Keppel was a profiler,  who had helped track down Ted Bundy. While on death row in Florida,  Bundy contacted Keppel offering to find the killer he had dubbed  "the Riverman" in hopes that he would get a stay of execution.  Keppel then began a series of psychologically grueling and often  combative interviews with Bundy. Keppel became obsessed with the  case and with Bundy, eventually coercing him to confess for the  murders of eight women still listed as missing from his reign of  terror. The real life relationship between Keppel and Bundy served  as the inspiration for the movie, Silence of the Lambs (1991)  staring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. The Green River Serial  Killer was finally brought to justice on November 30, 2001 when  advances in forensic DNA proved that suspect Gary Ridgway was in  fact the killer. On November 5th, 2003 Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty  to 48 counts of aggravated first degree murder in a King County,  Washington (Seattle) courtroom. Due to a plea bargain centered  around Ridgways assistance in helping authorities find missing  victims, Ridgway avoided the Death Penalty.