Is The New York Review the same as the New York Review of Books? He picked Sanchez up in broad daylight, driving her to a Manhattan housing project down by where Macys has the fireworks. After strangling Sanchez during sex, he drove her corpse across the Brooklyn Bridge, seeking a drop-off point. Mary Catherine Williams, 31, was linked to Rifkin after some of her credit cards were found among Rifkins belongings, according to a, She had pieces of skin under her fingernails, her sister Margarita Gonzales told, in 1993. He was deployed to South Vietnam in September of 1966 with the 101st Airborne, which he would complete two tours of duty with. This guy couldnt even count to 10. In his down time, idling between jobs and classes, Rifkin dreamed of becoming a famous writer, churning out fragments of bleak poetry. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Rifkin wedged the body underneath a rotting mattress, first relieving Sanchez of her watch and other jewelry. Flexing his ego, he fired Sale and retained two new lawyers: former Nassau County assistant district attorney Michael Soshnick and his partner, John Lawrence. Rifkin had dated Williams twice and enjoyed a great time before the final pickup on October 2, 1992. In the documentary, readers will learn how Rifkin was a meek, mild-mannered child. Real-life romance eluded Rifkin, for the most part. Following a traffic stop that led to a car chase by police, authorities noticed a. . I function better in prison. I was completely numb. We are happy to say that the Serial Killer Trading Cards are back! Theyre never disturbed by the sounds of murdering, just stereo. June 29, 1993. He was arrested in Hempstead, in August 1987, after soliciting sex from an undercover policewoman, but he escaped with a nominal fine. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. She was found hours later by firefighters on a training exercise, but this time Rifkin reported, It didnt even faze me.. He then dismembered Susies body and her remains were scattered throughout New Jersey. At the time, she was pursuing her dreams of becoming a singer and actress. Rifkin initially told investigators that he'd driven to New York City in 1989 to pick up a prostitute named Susie, according to a 2013The Associated Pressarticle. You just wonder about how someone could do what he did and not have any feeling for it, Ahearn said. They opened the truck and found Bresciani. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. They were so decomposed that no signs of violence were visible, and medical examiners had mistakenly concluded that some had died of drug overdoses, he said. O.J.! That may explain his failure to perform as Lee went to work. The severed head was found in 1989 in Hopewell, a town north of Trenton. The drivers license identified him as 34-year-old Joel David Rifkin, residing on Garden Street in East Meadow, Long Island. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. Featuring specials about fearsome and fascinating serial killers, its a cant-miss event for true crime fans. I had sex with her, then things went bad and I strangled her. The experience quickly led toan addiction. His memory was far from perfect. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. There was none of that. Jury selection for Rifkins first trial, before Wexner, began on April 11, 1994. (Photo by Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images). One of the bullies who harassed him later called Rifkin an abuse unit. The victim was prostitute Julie Blackbird, selected for her pseudo-Madonna look. Rifkin drove her home to East Meadow when his mother was again out of town, and they spent the night together. Rifkins father was chronically ill. A heavy smoker, already afflicted with emphysema, Bernard was diagnosed with prostate cancer in fall 1986. ", I wanted to be normal. The site he chose was an illegal dump, 200 feet off Rockaway Boulevard, within sight of JFK International Airport. Rifkin was eventually sentenced to 203 years in prison for his horrific string of murders. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Rifkin picked her up on Allen Street and drove her to the New York Posts parking lot, where he strangled her at 5:30 a.m. From there, he drove back to East Meadow, stopping at stores along the way for rope and tarp, while Bresciani lay sprawled in the backseat of his mothers car. Joel couldnt wait to play the deadly game again. The 21-year-old who was also the mother of a young son had been staying at the time with her grandmother in New York City when she disappeared. Lawrence said preparing for hearings and the trial with Rifkin was bizarre. [2] Early life [ edit] Rifkin's birth parents were both young college students and his biological father was an Army veteran. At this time he became increasingly obsessed with violence, murder, and prostitution. Copyright 2023 Newsday. According to Joel Rifkin, it was a '25-cent mistake' that finally led to his capture. Oh! To learn more about Rifkin's killing spree tune in to Oxygen's "RifkinonRifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer" airing Saturday, April 10 at 7/6conOxygenas part ofSerial Killer Week. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! I was breathing heavily. In Rifkins cluttered garage, detectives followed their noses to a reeking wheelbarrow, extracting three ounces of human blood. On February 20, 1989, Joel Rifkin perpetrated his first homicide by killing Heidi Balch in her home in East Meadow. Mary Ellen DeLuca: DeLuca, 22, lost her life on Sept. 1, 1991 after she allegedly complained about having sex with Rifkin after he had bought her cocaine, according to ThoughtCo. By the time Rifkin was done taking guilty pleas throughout the area, he had been sentenced to 203 1/3 years to life in prison. Scattering the remains throughout New York also made it less likely for authorities to notice a pattern. There was no regret or wanting to bring the victims back. According to astrologers, the presence of Aries always marks the beginning of something energetic and turbulent. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. The odor from the truck was immediately overwhelming, Corcoran said, and troopers peeked in the back to see what was under a tarp. After a struggle to get the car started and moving, Rifkin drove Williams to Yorktown, a Westchester suburb, where she was found on December 21, 1992. Not much with that one. He followed the same disposal procedure as with Orvieto: back to Long Island, the oil drum and Coney Island Creek. Corcoran said it played a role in his promotion from lieutenant to captain. He drove to the Hudson River, dropping her into the water near a cement plant. Appearing for the state, Dr. Park Dietz--earlier a prosecution witness against Arthur Shawcross, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Hinckley--found Rifkin sick but not insane. Her family described Soto as a quiet Brooklyn girl who loved to play with her nieces and nephews but said she had a wilder side when she went into the city. You dont even use a name, its just initials. WebWhen a letter arrives from the army, telling Rory that Dawson is missing in action and presumed dead, her world is shattered. We are now looking for artists, writers and interviewers to take part in the world famous Serial Killer Magazine. "Leah was not a throwaway," Evans' friend tearfully says in the special. Barbara Jacobs: Jacobs was killed on July 14, 1991. Why do people try to quit smoking for their entire lives?" Barbara Jacobs was the next to die, a 31-year-old addict with arrests on her record for auto theft and prostitution. This addictioncrippled him, as he had to to leavecollege before finishing and was unable to ever really hold down a job. Growing up, he struggled with confidence and lacked a natural athletic ability, which frustrated his father. Another suppression hearing failed to quash his confession, whereupon Rifkin pleaded guilty on both counts, receiving two more consecutive terms of 25 years to life in prison. Michael Ahearn, then the chief of the Suffolk district attorneys Homicide Bureau, recalled how Rifkin continually corrected him during cross-examination. Simpson. Rifkins last victim, Tiffany Bresciani, was another southern girl. "Last Christmas (1991) she came home and we begged and begged her not to go back to New York," she said. Somewhere along the way, he moved from abstract study of the killers into emulation of their brutal crimes. "He always seemed like he was slower or a step behind," Fred Reiter, who lived next door to Rifkin in East Meadow, New Yorkgrowing up, recalls in the special. He dismembered the corpse as before, placing the head, arms and legs in buckets weighted with concrete; the torso filled a milk crate by itself. One drivers license belonged to Mary DeLuca, found dead in Cornwall, New York, in October 1991. (Photo by Jerry Engel/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images). "I don't know. Please, it would be so great!. Her torso surfaced in the Hudson River, wrapped in black plastic, while her arms and legs were found in a discarded suitcase. Dave Insurgent, a member of the 1980s punk band Reagan Youth), and his final victim. It also includes the best true crime artwork from around the world. New York: Pocket Books, 2001. Get the best of Fox News' entertainment coverage, right in your inbox. Briefly distracted by a man who passed the car walking a dog, he almost let Marquez escape. Even the parents of his victims didnt seem to miss Rifkins prey. It seemed like the only people who noticed him were his childhood tormenters,he thought. Rifkin was booked at Hempstead, where homicide detectives launched a marathon interrogation. Rambo: The Franchises 10 Most Brutal Kills. Their mistake made Rifkin laugh, explaining that the clumsy cops had counted Williams twice. She appeared to have been dead for several days. 2 Cant Beat: The Terminator (Terminator Franchise) This one is pretty simple. Back in East Meadow, Jeanne Rifkin found officers circling her house by mid-morning. The son of unwed teenage parents, born in 1959, Joel was adopted by Ben and Jeanne Rifkin at three weeks of age. Her mother, Florence Orvieto,told The New York Times that she had been saving her Christmas presents for two years until she learned in 1993 that her daughters body had been discovered in a 55-gallon oil drum in Coney Island Creek in Brooklyn. The murder, detectives gathered, was not his first. With Joels confession in hand, police descended on Jeanne Rifkins home, scouring the premises for evidence. They cite physical evidence and Rifkin's statements in linking Balch's killing to him. A failure in athletics, Rifkin joined the yearbook staff, and promptly had his camera stolen. When she fell asleep, he clubbed her with the same table leg he had used on Julie Blackbird, then finished the job by manual strangulation. Poor hygiene, chronic absenteeism and general ineptitude blocked the road to advancement. On the far right is Gonzales'daughter, also named Margarita Gonzales. Rifkin had apparently forgotten the date of his fathers death and told police he murdered Barbara Jacobs in August 1991, although her body had been found in July. , After the Giant game, he says, I realized that this this problem isn't going away.. Ten minutes later, with a call for reinforcements on the air, their quarry missed a turn and crashed into a lamp post at a Mineola intersection. Rifkin committed his first murder in 1989, killing a prostitute, dismembering her body and tossing it into the East River. Called The Masseuse, the episode first aired on November 18, 1993. Today, Joel Rifkin is 60 years old and serving his life sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. If you smell anything decaying in the trunk of his car . The confession and the evidence collected from Rifkins bedroom left him boxed in as his first trial approached in Nassau. Judge Robert Hanophy, passing sentence in the Sanchez case, told spectators: It is not in my power to give Mr. Rifkin the sentence he deserves. "In an effort to show there was some grain of decency in him, he wrote this manifesto, a proposal really, to establish a facility where wayward women that had been living on the streets could go be safe. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Susie was still alive, however, and she fought back when he tried to move her, biting one of Rifkins fingers deeply before he strangled her to death. By unanimous decision, a New York appellate court refused to lift the lockdown in June 2000. "Certain things are very hard to stop," Rifkin said. Curiously, though, the driver of the pickup did not stop. While his mother was out of town, Rifkin and Balch returned to his childhood home, where they stayed for the night but Rifkin soon took out his rage on Balch, bashing her in the head with a Howtizer artillery shell and strangling her to death, as recounted on "Rifkin on Rifkin.". Corcoran had troopers take Rifkin to Troop L, located then on the grounds of Republic Airport in East Farmingdale where Rifkin was headed that night to bury that body. This is a savings of over $100! clothing, jewelry, drivers licenses, library cards, and credit cards belonging to approximately 10 women. Long Island psychiatrist Barbara Kirwin deemed Rifkins psychological test results the most pathological she had seen in 20 years of practice. He dismembered their bodies and disposed theirremains in the New York area. Rambo earned his Airborne Ranger Wings in May of 1966. Excluded from team sports and neighborhood games, Joel was the butt of every prank and sadistic joke: bullies assaulted him in school and pulled his pants down, stole his lunch and books, and harassed him constantly. Despite his history of morbid fantasy, Rifkin would later claim he had to plan the murder of his first victim, in March 1989. The other parts went into garbage bags and then into his mothers car. Following a traffic stop that led to a car chase by police, authorities noticed a rank odor coming from Rifkins car. But his eventual capture was a total accident as the serial killer wasn't even on police's radar. Joel Rifkin was an unemployed New York landscaper living a darkdouble life as a prolific serial killer claiming the lives of 17 women, a staggering total. He had forgotten names of several victims and knew others only by their street names. He directed police to the remains of Lauren Marquez and Iris Sanchez, found five hours apart on June 29, but Julie Blackbird was gone forever. What I found the most interesting was when he said they could also learn how to protect themselves from people like me. He described himself as a wolf in sheeps clothing. It was finally too much. Despite a tested IQ of 128, Joel did poorly in school, at least part of his problem traceable to the merciless teasing of class-mates. Eftimiades, Maria. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Your IP: Neighbors recalled strange odors emanating from Rifkins garage, but they had assumed he stored insecticides there, for use in his garden and landscaping business. Five months after Rifkin was caught, "Seinfeld" released an episode titled "The Masseuse" in which Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is dating a man named Joel Rifkin (Anthony Cistaro) at the same time the murderer was drawing headlines. It is in their nature to take action, sometimes before they think about it well. Jenny Soto's family. With 25-year-old Iris Sanchez, strangled in April 1992, he simply drove to JFK Airport and left her body in a vacant lot, beneath a mattress. Hes not evil. (Robert Mladinich), "I wanted to reach out to him right away after the arrest," Mladinich told Fox News. Rifkin's lawsuit seeks $50,000 for each of his 1,540 days in solitary confinement (totaling $77 million). And if he hadn't been caught, he likely wouldn't have stopped, he admits in Oxygen's new special, "Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer," airing Saturday, April 10 at 7/6c on Oxygen. There was ample room for Jane Doe in the barrel, safely hidden for their ride to the South Bronx, where Rifkin found a district rife with junkyards and rolled her into the East River. Sale called the state police at 3:30 p.m. and ordered them to cease interrogation of his client, but the questioning continued in Sales absence for at least another hour, until Rifkin completed his grim recital of death. Lauren Marquez: Marquez, 28, was found dead in Westhampton. The couple adopted another child, a daughter, three years later. When its Joel Rifkin, the name of a notorious New York serial killer whose brutal four-year murder spree ended when he was caught in June 1993, it was grim grist for an episode of the hit NBC sitcom Seinfeld that premiered just five months after his arrest. The wild chase was on. Tune in on Oxygen April 10 to April 18. WebSusie was still alive, however, and she fought back when he tried to move her, biting one of Rifkins fingers deeply before he strangled her to death. I just lost control, he said later. 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Motorist Joel Rifkin, now in handcuffs, helped identify the corpse as 22-year-old Tiffany Bresciani. The case was open-and-shut but it was far from simple. Theyre perfectionists who enjoy finer things but are not perceived as snobs. Relieved of his little anxiety attack, Joel moved Bresciani into the cluttered garage, leaving her body in a wheelbarrow. "You think of people as things.". Despite his confessions and the overwhelming evidence against him, Rifkin pled not guilty at his murder trial. State Troopers who chased down his pickup truck for a routine traffic violation said they found a woman's decomposing body in the back and a driver who confessed to killing 17 women. He took really terrific photos and had an attractive artistic side. The oil drum worked so well for Rifkin that he purchased several more for use as makeshift coffins. Rifkins first victim of 1993 was Leah Evens, a 28-year-old who lived with her mother in Brooklyn. He was confined to his cell at the Attica Correctional Facility for 23 hours per day. Klein became chief of Nassaus Major Offense Bureau soon afterward. Instead of keeping him away from prostitutes, the incident made him more devious. When police approached the vehicle, they noticed an absolutely overwhelming odor, according to Newsday. (It was still there, waiting for detectives, at the time of Joels arrest.) Through newly revealed interviews from Attica Correctional Facility, New York's most prolific serial killer, Joel Rifkin, reveals exclusive insights into the mind of a monster. Its like my own little nightmare scenarios, he said. Tragedy plus time equals comedy, so its been said. The argument over whose killings were better reportedly ended when Ferguson punched Rifkin in the mouth. They wound up at a cheap motel, DeLuca first balking at sex and demanding more dope, then rushing through the act, complaining all the while. Hes not the murderer, she reassures. His reign of terror came to an end on June 28, 1993 after he was pulled overfor a routine traffic stop by New York State Police, who discovered the decomposingbody of 22-year-old Tiffany Bresciani in the back of his pickup truck. Revenge, jealousy usually theres some human connection [in a murder]. (Photo by Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images), "If these crimes were happening today, I think the police would have made the connection quickly," he shared. Cruising Manhattans East Village for hookers one night, at about 10 p.m., he selected a young woman remembered only as Susie. She was a hard-core drug addict, demanding several stops to purchase crack before they drove back to Long Island. Rifkin drove the body parts across the state line to New Jersey, dropping the head and legs in the woods near Hopewell. Orval was killed by John Rambo after he went into the mountains with his bloodhounds, which he went to use to hunt Rambo down. Tune in on Oxygen April 10 to April 18. He admitted dumping two womens bodies in Suffolk County, but troopers continued to question him, Corcoran said. They were probably alone on the streets, but not in the world.. Rifkin responded to the news by firing Soshnick on the spot, leaving Lawrence, a lawyer with no criminal experience, to wage the battle alone. The next to die, Lauren Marquez, was a 28-year-old addict and prostitute, hooked on drugs before she left her native Tennessee for New York City. Things seemed to go downhill from there. The crowd stops cheering and squirm, while Elaine does damage control. The 23-year-oldwas wearing only a T-shirt. Unlike Orvieto, Holloman was identified from dental records and returned to her family for burial. In 2002, New Yorks Supreme Court rejected Rifkins appeal of his convictions for the murder of nine women. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. After the Giant game, he says, I realized that this this problem isn't going away.. He recalls killing one hooker in 1989 and another in 1990, dismembering their bodies and dropping the pieces into Manhattan canals, but the butcher work repulsed him, and he didnt really hit his stride until 1991. Joel delivered a eulogy at his fathers funeral, moving the mourners to tears, and his depression deepened. He also pleaded guilty to two murders in neighboring Suffolk County. This guy seems like the real deal.". He managed to completely slip by unnoticed while committing the most vicious rampage New York had ever seen,capitalizing on his own non-threatening anonymity and pursuingvictims who tended to fall through the cracks of society. Rifkin initially claimed he had blacked out, but soon admitted that Bresciani had not been his only victim. There was no emotion whatsoever. Classmates dubbed him The Turtle, after his slouching posture and slow gait. How far is Las Vegas from the California coast? alaw enforcement source told The New York Daily News at the time. Throughout the 1980s, Rifkin worked a series of odd jobs around Long Island, seldom staying long at any. Rifkin, who is the focus of Oxygen's upcoming special,"RifkinonRifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer" airing Saturday, April 10 at 7/6conOxygenas part ofSerial Killer Week,often targeted sex workers,who he was able to kill without calling much too much attention to their disappearances. The son of unknown parents, he was adopted by Bernard and Jeanne Rifkin when he was three weeks old. Rifkin graduated from high school in 1977, but he could never quite cut in college, despite sporadic attempts over the next twelve years. She wasnt what they said she was, Gonzales said. He didn't wet the bed or torture animals or start fires. The special also features interviews with Rifkins childhood friends, investigators on the case, as well as those closest to his victims. Rambos escape made him look bad and so he had to eliminate that insult to his own overblown ego. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Rifkin had reached the detonation point. Thirty minutes later, Sale and Rifkin appeared before Judge John Kingston, entering a preliminary plea of not guilty on the Bresciani murder. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. "She did not come home this Christmas, so we knew something was wrong.". On the side, he began collecting books and press clippings on serial killers of whores, including the unidentified Green River Killer and New Yorks own Arthur Shawcross. Lorraine Orvieto, age twenty-eight, was strangled by Rifkin a few days before Christmas, jammed in a 55-gallon oil drum and dropped into Coney Island Creek, where her body would remain undiscovered for over six months. Her mother told the newspaper in 1993 that her daughter had been a happy and outspoken child, who later struggled with drug abuse and began to work as a prostitute. Joel Rifkin was one of the worst serial killers in New York's history, suspected of killing as many as 17 women between 1989 and 1993. Joel Rifkin is now serving 203 years to life in the Clinton, N.Y. correctional facility. He researched past crimes for details. He drifted in and out of jobs, mostly living at home, enjoying one brief relationship with a girl who recalls him as sweet, but always depressed. Prison officials decided in 1996 that Rifkin was so notorious that his presence in the general prison population could be disruptive. All rights reserved. At some point in the litany, Rifkin asked DeLuca if she wanted to die, and she allegedly said yes. Is there more than one? He struggled with confidence and lacked natural athletic ability, a trait that frustrated his father endlessly, according to "Rifkin on Rifkin.". According to Rifkins complaint, the reports prompted a series of inmate assaults that he suffered in January and February 1996, leading to his confinement in a solitary cell for personal safety. Below we countdown to Joel Rifkin upcoming birthday. He was subtly obnoxious, like his presence annoyed you. Rifkin joined the track team, in an effort to fit in, and was rewarded with the nickname lard ass. Teammates hid his clothes and shoved his head into a toilet bowl. Rifkin started his own landscaping business in April 1991, renting space at a local nursery to store his equipment. At least 10 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, The Saturday Six: Dental device controversy, scientist's bug find and more, Indonesia fuel depot fire kills 18; more than a dozen missing, Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed last month, doctor says, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Defense lawyers in Idaho killings case want gag order kept, Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife and son. "There were no cameras on every block. In the trunk was the decaying body of his last victim. Rifkin believed his victim would never be found, but he had been careless. A peek inside the tarp revealed a womans decomposing body. WebRon Rifkin was born on October 31, 1939 in New York City, New York, USA. In 1965, the family settled in East Meadow, New York, where Rifkin would spend most of his remaining years.

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