Long Island serial killer
Encyclopedia
The Long Island Serial Killer (also referred to by media sources as the "Gilgo Killer") is an unidentified suspected serial killer
who is believed to have murdered 10 people associated with the sex trade over the last 15 or so years and dumped their bodies along the Ocean Parkway, near the remote beach towns of Gilgo Beach and Oak Beach
in Suffolk County
and the area of Jones Beach State Park
in Nassau County
.
The remains of four victims were found in December 2010, while six more sets of remains were found in March and April 2011. Police believe that the latest sets of remains predate the four bodies found in December 2010.
On May 9, 2011, authorities surmised that two of the newest sets of remains might be the work of a second killer. On November 29, 2011, however, the police announced that they believe that one person is responsible for all 10 deaths and that they do not believe that the case of Shannan Gilbert (see below) is related. According to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, "It is clear that the area in and around Gilgo Beach has been used to discard human remains for some period of time."
who was reported missing in May 2010. She was last seen in the area after meeting a client in nearby Oak Beach.
In December 2010, a police officer and his dog on a routine training exercise discovered the first body - "the skeletal remains of a woman in a nearly disintegrated burlap sack". This discovery led to three more bodies being found two days later in the same area on the north side of the Ocean parkway. Suffolk County Police Commissioner
Richard Dormer said "Four bodies found in the same location pretty much speaks for itself. It's more than a coincidence. We could have a serial killer."
A few months later, in late March and early April 2011, four more bodies were discovered in another area off the parkway. Suffolk Police expanded the search area up to the Nassau County border, looking for more victims. Shannan Gilbert has still not been found.
On April 6, 2011, Detective Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department
said that his office will "further explore and investigate any criminal activity which may be in close proximity to the recently discovered human remains found in Suffolk." Smith also said that Nassau Police will be coordinating with Suffolk County and New York State Police
on the investigation.
On April 11, 2011, the search for more bodies began in Nassau County. Local media reported that an additional set of partial human remains was found, as well as a separate skull, bringing the potential total number of victims found since December to ten. On April 22, 2011, two human teeth were found about a foot from the skull.
On June 16, 2011, Suffolk County police raised the reward from $5,000 to $25,000 (the largest ever offered in the county's history) for information leading to an arrest in the Long Island murders.
On September 20, 2011, police released composite sketches of two of the unidentified victims whose remains were found in March and April 2011 (the Asian male and Jane Doe No. 6), as well as photos of jewelry found on the remains of the female toddler and her mother, found on April 4 and 11, 2011, respectively. The toddler's mother was also revealed as one of the sets of remains found in Nassau County on April 11.
Also on September 20, police revealed that the second set of remains found in Nassau County on April 11, 2011, matched two legs that were found in a garbage bag washed up on Fire Island in 1996.
As of September 22, 2011, the police had received over 1,200 tips via text, email and phone since the beginning of the investigation.
On November 29, 2011, police announced that they believe that one person is reponsible for all 10 murders, and that the person is almost certainly from Long Island.
Some have speculated that serial killer and former Long Island resident Joel Rifkin
may have been responsible for some of the older remains found in March and April 2011, as four of his victims' bodies were never found. In an April 2011 prison interview with Newsday
, Rifkin denied having anything to do with recently-discovered remains. Experts and victims' rights advocates, however, believe that Rifkin's recent statements have no value.
. All are believed to have been killed elsewhere.
. She had worked in Washington, D.C., and Manhattan.
In May 2011, the media reported that the two remaining sets of remains found in Suffolk County appeared to be those of a young Asian male who died a violent death, and a female toddler, between 18 and 24 months, wrapped in a blanket and showing no visible signs of trauma. At that time, it was believed that their deaths did not appear to be linked to any of the others.
On September 20, 2011, police revealed new details about these remains. Police released a composite sketch of the Asian male, who was wearing women's clothes at the time of his death due to blunt force trauma, and was likely working as a prostitute. He was between 17 and 23 years of age, 5' 6" in height, and missing four teeth; he had been dead for between five to 10 years. The female toddler was between 16 and 23 months of age, and was wearing earrings and a necklace. She was also reported to be "non-Caucasian". Her mother was identified as one of the sets of remains found in Nassau County on April 11.
On September 20, 2011, police also revealed new information on the two sets of remains discovered in Nassau County on April 11: one set was identified as the mother of the female toddler found in Suffolk County on April 4, and the other set matched a pair of legs found in a garbage bag on Fire Island in 1996. Police also released photos of inexpensive jewelry found on the remains of both mother and daughter.
, about 100 miles east of the area where ten other sets of remains were found near Gilgo Beach. The next day, an autopsy revealed that the remains were those of a young male, 20-30, of slight build. Divers were not able to find the skull. The remains did not display any obvious signs of trauma and appeared to have been in the water for months.
, New Jersey, had been investigating to see if these bodies were linked to four similar unsolved murders there, where the bodies of four murdered prostitutes were found behind a motel in November 2006. However, any connection between the Long Island murders and the Atlantic City murders has now been ruled out.
On May 17, 2011, the New York Post
reported that Long Island police are now revisiting at least two other similar unsolved murders of prostitutes. The only victim named in the article was Tanya Rush, 39, a mother of three from Brooklyn whose dismembered body was found in a small suitcase in June 2008 on the shoulder of the Southern State Parkway
in Bellmore, New York.
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who is believed to have murdered 10 people associated with the sex trade over the last 15 or so years and dumped their bodies along the Ocean Parkway, near the remote beach towns of Gilgo Beach and Oak Beach
Gilgo-Oak Beach-Captree, New York
Gilgo-Oak Beach-Captree is a former census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York and the Town of Babylon. The population was 333 at the 2000 census. It contains several small beach communities on the barrier island along the southern edge of Long Island...
in Suffolk County
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
and the area of Jones Beach State Park
Jones Beach State Park
Jones Beach State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, in the hamlet of Wantagh, on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by the Meadowbrook State Parkway, Wantagh State Parkway and Ocean Parkway .The park is renowned for...
in Nassau County
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
.
The remains of four victims were found in December 2010, while six more sets of remains were found in March and April 2011. Police believe that the latest sets of remains predate the four bodies found in December 2010.
On May 9, 2011, authorities surmised that two of the newest sets of remains might be the work of a second killer. On November 29, 2011, however, the police announced that they believe that one person is responsible for all 10 deaths and that they do not believe that the case of Shannan Gilbert (see below) is related. According to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, "It is clear that the area in and around Gilgo Beach has been used to discard human remains for some period of time."
Police investigation
Police were initially searching for Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old prostitute from New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
who was reported missing in May 2010. She was last seen in the area after meeting a client in nearby Oak Beach.
In December 2010, a police officer and his dog on a routine training exercise discovered the first body - "the skeletal remains of a woman in a nearly disintegrated burlap sack". This discovery led to three more bodies being found two days later in the same area on the north side of the Ocean parkway. Suffolk County Police Commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
Richard Dormer said "Four bodies found in the same location pretty much speaks for itself. It's more than a coincidence. We could have a serial killer."
On April 6, 2011, Detective Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department
Nassau County Police Department
The Nassau County Police Department is the law enforcement agency of Nassau County, New York.-History:In 1925, concerned about rising crime rates, the County Board of Supervisors voted to create the Nassau County Police Department, replacing a scattered system of constables and town and village...
said that his office will "further explore and investigate any criminal activity which may be in close proximity to the recently discovered human remains found in Suffolk." Smith also said that Nassau Police will be coordinating with Suffolk County and New York State Police
New York State Police
The New York State Police is the state police force of over 4,600 sworn Troopers for the state of New York. It was established on April 11, 1917 by the New York Legislature, in response to the 1913 murder of a construction foreman named Sam Howell in Westchester County, which at that time did not...
on the investigation.
On April 11, 2011, the search for more bodies began in Nassau County. Local media reported that an additional set of partial human remains was found, as well as a separate skull, bringing the potential total number of victims found since December to ten. On April 22, 2011, two human teeth were found about a foot from the skull.
On June 16, 2011, Suffolk County police raised the reward from $5,000 to $25,000 (the largest ever offered in the county's history) for information leading to an arrest in the Long Island murders.
On September 20, 2011, police released composite sketches of two of the unidentified victims whose remains were found in March and April 2011 (the Asian male and Jane Doe No. 6), as well as photos of jewelry found on the remains of the female toddler and her mother, found on April 4 and 11, 2011, respectively. The toddler's mother was also revealed as one of the sets of remains found in Nassau County on April 11.
Also on September 20, police revealed that the second set of remains found in Nassau County on April 11, 2011, matched two legs that were found in a garbage bag washed up on Fire Island in 1996.
As of September 22, 2011, the police had received over 1,200 tips via text, email and phone since the beginning of the investigation.
On November 29, 2011, police announced that they believe that one person is reponsible for all 10 murders, and that the person is almost certainly from Long Island.
Identity of the Killer(s)
There has been much speculation in the media concerning the identity of the killer or killers, currently known as "Unsub" - Unknown Subject. Some profilers speculate that the killer could have ties to law enforcement due to his sophisticated knowledge of police procedures. Others believe that the murderer is an organized killer, with a detailed knowledge of law enforcement techniques which have thus far helped him avoid detection, and that he is a white male and very familiar with the South Shore of Long Island.Some have speculated that serial killer and former Long Island resident Joel Rifkin
Joel Rifkin
Joel David Rifkin is an American serial killer convicted of the murder of nine women , mostly drug addicted prostitutes, between 1989 and 1993 in New York City...
may have been responsible for some of the older remains found in March and April 2011, as four of his victims' bodies were never found. In an April 2011 prison interview with Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, Rifkin denied having anything to do with recently-discovered remains. Experts and victims' rights advocates, however, believe that Rifkin's recent statements have no value.
Bodies discovered in December 2010
Of the ten bodies or sets of remains found since late 2010, the four discovered in December 2010 have been identified as missing prostitutes who all advertised their services on Craiglist. They had all been strangled and their bodies wrapped in burlap sacksGunny sack
A gunny sack is an inexpensive bag made of burlap, also known as a 'gunny shoe'. Gunny sacks are traditionally used for transporting grains, potatoes, and other agricultural products. Today they are also sometimes used as sandbags for erosion control. They are usually made from jute or other...
. All are believed to have been killed elsewhere.
Identified
- Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, of Norwich, ConnecticutNorwich, ConnecticutRegular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a shipping center through the early part of the 20th century. During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments, and specialty item manufacturing...
, was a prostitute who advertised her services online. She was last seen on July 9, 2007, when she left Norwich for New York City. Her body was found in December 2010.
- Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Erie County, New YorkErie County, New YorkErie County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 919,040. The county seat is Buffalo. The county's name comes from Lake Erie, which in turn comes from the Erie tribe of American Indians who lived south and east of the lake before 1654.Erie...
, went missing on July 10, 2009. She had been living in the Bronx and working as an escort through CraigslistCraigslistCraigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....
. On the night she went missing, she met with a client, deposited $900 in her bank account and attempted to call an old boyfriend, but did not get through. Beginning one week after her disappearance, and lasting for five weeks, her teenage sister, Amanda, received a series of "vulgar, mocking and insulting" calls from someone who may have been the killer, using her sister's cell phone.
- Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine, went missing on June 6, 2010, after placing advertisements on CraigslistCraigslistCraigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....
as an escort; the day before she had told her 20-year-old boyfriend that she was going out and would call him later. At the time of her disappearance, she was staying at a motel in Hauppauge, NY, 15 miles northwest of Gilgo Beach. Her body was also recovered in December 2010.
- Amber Lynn Costello, 27, of North Babylon, New YorkNorth Babylon, New YorkNorth Babylon is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 17,877 at the 2000 census.North Babylon is a community in the Town of Babylon.-Geography:...
, a town ten miles north of Gilgo Beach. She was a prostitute and a heroin user, and went missing on September 2, 2010. On the night she disappeared, she went to meet a stranger who had called her several times and offered her $1,500 for her services.
Remains discovered in March & April 2011
The four sets of remains discovered on March 29 and April 4 were all within two miles and to the east of those found in December. They included two women, a man, and a toddler. A skull and a partial set of remains were found on April 11 after the search expanded into Nassau County. They were found about one mile apart, approximately five miles west of those found in December.Identified
On May 9, 2011, it was reported that the remains of a skull, a pair of hands and a forearm found on March 29 belonged to a prostitute named Jessica Taylor, 20, whose dismembered body was found in 2003, 45 miles away in Manorville, New YorkManorville, New York
Manorville is a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 11,131 at the 2000 census.Manorville is served by the Eastport-South Manor Central School District...
. She had worked in Washington, D.C., and Manhattan.
Unidentified
A head, right foot and hands found on April 4 belonged to an unidentified victim known as "Jane Doe No. 6," the rest of whose body was found on November 19, 2000, in the same part of Manorville where Jessica Taylor's remains were discovered. The dismembered remains of Jessica Taylor and Jane Doe No. 6 were both disposed of in a similar manner and in the same town, suggesting a link. Their deaths are dissimilar to those of the four women found in December 2010. In September 2011, police released a composite sketch of Jane Doe No. 6: she was about 5' 2" and was between 18 and 35 years old. It is likely that she worked as a prostitute.In May 2011, the media reported that the two remaining sets of remains found in Suffolk County appeared to be those of a young Asian male who died a violent death, and a female toddler, between 18 and 24 months, wrapped in a blanket and showing no visible signs of trauma. At that time, it was believed that their deaths did not appear to be linked to any of the others.
On September 20, 2011, police revealed new details about these remains. Police released a composite sketch of the Asian male, who was wearing women's clothes at the time of his death due to blunt force trauma, and was likely working as a prostitute. He was between 17 and 23 years of age, 5' 6" in height, and missing four teeth; he had been dead for between five to 10 years. The female toddler was between 16 and 23 months of age, and was wearing earrings and a necklace. She was also reported to be "non-Caucasian". Her mother was identified as one of the sets of remains found in Nassau County on April 11.
On September 20, 2011, police also revealed new information on the two sets of remains discovered in Nassau County on April 11: one set was identified as the mother of the female toddler found in Suffolk County on April 4, and the other set matched a pair of legs found in a garbage bag on Fire Island in 1996. Police also released photos of inexpensive jewelry found on the remains of both mother and daughter.
Remains discovered on May 22, 2011
On May 22, 2011, a headless, decomposed body of undetermined gender was discovered washed up on Amagansett BeachAmagansett, New York
Amagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 1,067. Amagansett hamlet was founded in 1680.The...
, about 100 miles east of the area where ten other sets of remains were found near Gilgo Beach. The next day, an autopsy revealed that the remains were those of a young male, 20-30, of slight build. Divers were not able to find the skull. The remains did not display any obvious signs of trauma and appeared to have been in the water for months.
Possible links to similar murders
Authorities in Atlantic CityAtlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
, New Jersey, had been investigating to see if these bodies were linked to four similar unsolved murders there, where the bodies of four murdered prostitutes were found behind a motel in November 2006. However, any connection between the Long Island murders and the Atlantic City murders has now been ruled out.
On May 17, 2011, the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
reported that Long Island police are now revisiting at least two other similar unsolved murders of prostitutes. The only victim named in the article was Tanya Rush, 39, a mother of three from Brooklyn whose dismembered body was found in a small suitcase in June 2008 on the shoulder of the Southern State Parkway
Southern State Parkway
The Southern State Parkway is a long limited-access highway on Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York...
in Bellmore, New York.
External links
- Unofficial website devoted to catching the killer(s)
- Kolker, Robert. A Serial Killer in Common. Nymag.com. 2011-05-29.