Virginia Ridley

Virginia Gail Ridley (née Hickey) (7 April 18, 1948 – October 4, 1997) was a woman from Ringgold, Georgia, whose death made headlines when her husband, Alvin, was arrested and charged with imprisoning her for almost 3 decades, then killing her.

Alvin and Virginia lived on the outskirts of Ringgold in a dilapidated, cockroach-infested house, although according to Ridley's lawyer they made an effort to keep the house clean.

Virginia's family claimed Alvin prevented all attempts by them to contact her.

Alvin claimed after Virginia's death the reason why no one in Ringgold knew of her condition, was because of her family's opposition to their marriage, as well as Virginia not wanting anyone to witness her having a seizure, led to her decision to live as a recluse.

Georgia criminal defense lawyer McCracken Poston represented Ridley at trial. Ridley maintained he and Virginia were happy and he never harmed her. He shared with Poston Virginia's journal, an evidentiary treasure trove consisting of 10,000 pages written over three decades.[1][2] Her writing reflected a happy marriage, with details of meals and TV programs the couple enjoyed. She wrote prayers and observations from her Bible study,[1] along with a never-submitted script for Unsolved Mysteries.[2] Attorney Poston theorized that Virginia—who suffered from agoraphobia and epilepsy—died of an epileptic seizure as had Florence Griffith-Joyner whose autopsy he submitted as evidence. He argued that her hypergraphia could be part of her epileptic condition. The prosecution maintained that Ridley suffocated her, citing his strange, seemingly unemotional behavior upon reporting Virginia's death and speaking about her to others.

After the jury deliberated for 2 hours and 14 minutes, Alvin Ridley was acquitted.

The case was featured on the A&E program American Justice[1] and Forensic Files. The radio storytelling program Snap Judgment had Poston explaining how he defended Alvin and discovered Virginia's documents in the Nov 27, 2015, episode "Dirty Work."[2]

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 IMDB: "American Justice" Death in a Small Town (2001)
  2. 1 2 3 Dirty Work podcast at snapjudgment.org.


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