is joel rifkin still alive
Orvieto, 28, disappeared in Dec. 1991. They initiated a traffic stopand a high-speed chase ensues, said Eugene Corcoran, then the State Policelieutenant who supervised the investigation. A pair of womens panties lay on the floor, near a stockpile of rope and tarp. Joel waited more than a year to claim his second victim. What it gave me was that he liked to be in control. The argument over whose killings were better reportedly ended when Ferguson punched Rifkin in the mouth. Jenny Soto was the fighter, breaking off her fingernails on Rifkins face before he snapped her neck on November 16, 1992. As much as I say I wanted to stop, there probably wouldve been others, he admitted. Credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz. Lawrence said preparing for hearings and the trial with Rifkin was bizarre. Joel Rifkin referred to his propensity to kill as "almost an addiction," something forensic psychologist N.G. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. While Jan and Jeanne stayed mostly silent during the court proceedings, even as reporters staked out their now-infamous home, his sister did speak to New York Post reporter Andrea Peyser. On December 14, 2001, Rifkin lost his latest appeal of his conviction. This massive 8.5 x 11 perfect bound book contains over 150 pages of rare interviews, letters, documents, transcripts, art and articles about serial killer, Richard Ramirez (aka the Nightstalker). Get the best of Fox News' entertainment coverage, right in your inbox. You dont even use a name, its just initials. There was no regret or wanting to bring the victims back. Rifkin was booked at Hempstead, where homicide detectives launched a marathon interrogation. 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. Motorist Joel Rifkin, now in handcuffs, helped identify the corpse as 22-year-old Tiffany Bresciani. He was generally unkempt, and a thick layer of Noxema was smeared across his mustache. Officers staked out the house in East Meadow, where Rifkin lived with his sister and elderly mother. Wiles Stabile. As his mother was out of town, he brought her back home. It came from the dead body of Tiffany Bresciani, 22, the girlfriend of Dave Rubinstein (a.k.a. Actually, he later said, I thought I liked her.. Even before he was sentenced, on May 9, 1994, Rifkin was transferred to Suffolk County, pending trial for the Evens and Marquez slayings. Mary Catherine Williams: Mary Catherine Williams, 31, was linked to Rifkin after some of her credit cards were found among Rifkins belongings, according to a Newsday article from 1993. When she was dead, he considered raping her corpse in conscious emulation of serial killer Ted Bundy, but the prospect repulsed him. He picked her up in the city, strangled her after sex at his mothers house and dismembered her corpse in the bathtub. In interviews this month, investigators and lawyers shared their memories of the case that stunned Long Island 25 years ago, and the effects it had on their lives. "The only difference is that within 20 minutes, we started talking about murder and mayhem. Curiously, though, the driver of the pickup did not stop. He had picked up a sex workernamed Susie, according to a 2013The Associated Pressarticle. "There were mini clusters, little sets of three," Rifkin said. ", Evidence In The Case Of Serial Killer Joel Rifkin, Explored, 'If I Didn't Kill Them, They Would Have Died Anyhow': How Joel Rifkin Evaded Capture For Years. (Photo by Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images), (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Archive Photos/Getty Images). It was a life far removed from her affluent Long Island home where shed been a high school cheerleader. "I don't know. Joel Rifkin is now serving 203 years to life in the Clinton, N.Y. correctional facility. He expressed a similar view in an interview with the New York Daily News in 2010: "No family "They can be gone six or eight months, and no one is looking," he said. "They would suspect a serial killer was on the loose and his car would have easily been spotted by cameras.". 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. Rifkin did not respond to a request sent to him at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate Dannemora for comment for this story. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Klein became chief of Nassaus Major Offense Bureau soon afterward. He then dismembered Susies body and her remains were scattered throughout New Jersey. Prosecutor Fred Klein described Rifkin as a killing machine who acted in deliberate, premediated and methodical ways to carry out his gruesome murders, The New York Times reported in 1994. He paid a fine and managed to conceal the incident from his mother, ranging farther afield to seek hookers in Manhattan when he felt the urge. Bored and restless, he cut classes habitually, completing only one course in the 1977-78 academic year. He was vague on dates, different reports placing the crime 14 months after Susies murder, or late in 1990. Elaines boyfriend had resisted her earlier suggestion to change his name, but now hes ready to make a switch. In the documentary, readers will learn how Rifkin was a meek, mild-mannered child. Whats in a name? As he strangled her, Rifkin recalled, She did nothing, just accepted it. He remembered her murder as one of the weird ones.. 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. Joel Rifkin was born in in January 20, 1959. He wasn'tcapable of that. Iris Sanchez: Sanchez, 25, was reportedly killed on Mothers Day weekend in 1992. Weary of the pain by February 1987, he took a massive dose of barbiturates and died after four days in a coma. I dont think I could now. This addictioncrippled him, as he had to to leavecollege before finishing and was unable to ever really hold down a job. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Check out what's clicking today in entertainment. Rifkin believed his victim would never be found, but he had been careless. Rifkin!" The prison van carried him past the high school where he had graduated 16 years before. At the time, there was no more thought than stomping on a bug or a cockroach. He remembered her tattoos, a pickup in Manhattan, and the way she fought for life when he began to strangle her. Rifkin had no time to move the corpse, but his mother never knew. He parked near a schoolyard fence and strangled her while she performed oral sex, discovering her HIV-positive status when he found a bottle of AZT in her purse. They talked about trial strategy and how to present his case. Next, he drove to a recycling plant in Westbury, where he had once worked part-time, and helped himself to a 55-gallon oil drum. Rifkin found her on May 25, 1992, Memorial Day, working Atlantic Avenue in Queens, and retired to a nearby residential street for sex. Eugene Corcoran, shown onJune 18, was one of the lead investigators in the Joel Rifkin case. His upstairs bedroom yielded 75 pieces of womens jewelry, photographs Rifkin had taken of several unidentified women, various items of feminine clothing, makeup cases, a womans curling iron, wallets and pocketbooks, plus a mixed bag of ID cards. This massive perfect bound Ted Bundy collection includes art, articles, rare interviews, documents, letters, transcripts and the serial killers entire FBI file. Long Island psychiatrist Barbara Kirwin deemed Rifkins psychological test results the most pathological she had seen in 20 years of practice. She was found on October 1, nude except for a brassiere, without ID. His lawyer Bob Sale sought to have Rifkins confession thrown out on grounds that police could not prove he was ever advised of his rights. With this information, they were able to identify even more of his victims, the New York Times reported. 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. Joel David Rifkin (born January 20, 1959) is an American serial killer convicted of the murder of 9 women (although it is believed he killed as many as 17), mostly drug addicted prostitutes, between 1989 and 1993 in New York City. Seven months later, Simpsons name became connected to murder. June 29, 1993. Though Rambo didnt kill anyone in 1982s First Blood, he was basically a psychopath by the end of the James Cameron-scripted sequel; Stallone directed 2008s Rambo with an understanding that the formula works best when distilled to its gun-blazing essence. He maintained his interest in photography and horticulture, but failed to make either a paying proposition. Mary Ellen DeLuca, age twenty- two, had been missing for a month when her nude, strangled body was found in a field upstate, at Cornwall, New York. Theyre perfectionists who enjoy finer things but are not perceived as snobs. Sheriff Teasle hated Rambo because he represented a threat to his own power base. Three months later, he killed Leah Evens and left her in rural Northampton, where her skeleton was found on Mothers Day. He bought Williams a fix that night, then tried to choke her when she dozed off in his mothers car. That first murder gave way to many more; he killed 16 more sex workers, often dismembering their bodies and disposing of themin the New York area. He found Iris Sanchez, a 25-year-old crack addict, working First Avenue on Mothers Day weekend. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Rifkin painstakingly covered up his crimes. The oil drum worked so well for Rifkin that he purchased several more for use as makeshift coffins. In November, he pleaded guilty to the Sanchez homicide in Queens and to three more counts in Brooklyn: victims Orvieto, Holloman and the Jane Doe killed in 1992. Hopewell Police Chief George Meyer tells The Times of Trenton that New York authorities have no interest in prosecuting the case because Rifkin is already behind bars. It is in their nature to take action, sometimes before they think about it well. (Photo by Jerry Engel/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images). I wouldn't sleep with my back to him if I were you, cracks a colleague. Real-life romance eluded Rifkin, for the most part. Married to a pro football player in 1986 and divorced the following year, she had come to New York in search of an acting career, but wound up doing drugs and living on the streets. You just wonder about how someone could do what he did and not have any feeling for it, Ahearn said. And she had fake nails and those were ripped off when she fought him.. Buoyed perhaps by that effort, in August 1999 Rifkin unveiled his plans for Oholah House, a proposed shelter for prostitutes that would include drug treatment, counseling, medical care and job training. He placed her body into a 55-gallon oil drum and dumped it into the East River. My daughter was a very beautiful girl, Victoria ONeill said. But that all change in 1993 after Rifkin said he made a "25 cent mistake. WebPrison officials decided in 1996 that Rifkin was so notorious that his presence in the general prison population could be disruptive. His fantasies about strangling women became more frequent. Now, hes claiming that he once didnt believe he could kill. Her torso surfaced in the Hudson River, wrapped in black plastic, while her arms and legs were found in a discarded suitcase. "Some people viewed him as an oddball. I was just in complete shock that someone like him could be arrested for these crimes. He enjoyed the photography club but turned in his usual lackluster academic performance over the next two years, before dropping out in 1980. On the September night he picked up 31-year-old Yun Lee, a Korean native he had been with before, she was his second prostitute in an hour. He described all 17 murders in the absence of counsel, writing out the names he remembered, sketching maps to help police find those victims still missing. Is The New York Review the same as the New York Review of Books? Rifkin didn't display the typical signs of a budding murderer. According to Joel Rifkin, it was a '25-cent mistake' that finally led to his capture. On July 14 of that year, 31-year-old Barbara Jacobs was found, strangled and rotting, in the Hudson River; her body had been wedged inside a plastic bag, then forced into a cardboard box. Rifkin planned to offer a defense in Suffolk that being adopted made him what he was, but ultimately he ended the case with the first of numerous guilty pleas to his crimes. Rifkin then asked for paper, a pen, a map and a calendar, and wrote out a list of 17 victims, how he killed them and where he left them. 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. These are more like giant, professionally produced graphic novels. They can disappear for months, hetold CBS New Yorkin 2011. (Oxygen). Oxygen's new documentary on Joel Rifkin is part of their 'Serial Killer Week" line-up. After sex, he strangled her to death. Rifkin went back to school in spring of 1992, taking uncredited classes at SUNY Farmingdale. Rifkin later claimed that he asked for a lawyer at least 20 times and was always refused, investigators telling him he couldnt speak with counsel until you give us one more homicide. The written transcript of his interview, presumably reconstructed from memory, suggests that Rifkin was offered a lawyer and declined. Elaines boyfriend had resisted her earlier suggestion to change his name, but now hes ready to make a switch. In this exclusive sneak peek from April 10's new Oxygen special, Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer, Joel Rifkin detailed a murder he committed. Joel waited more than a year to claim his second victim. "Joel was a bit of an eccentric," said Mladinich. Police just noticed him because his vehicle was missing a license plate. Rifkin was transferred at once to the Nassau County Correctional Facility in East Meadow. A high-speed chase ended in Mineola, where he crashed into a utility pole which was located directly in front of the courthouse in which he would eventually stand trial. He specifically killed women who were less visible insociety. 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. A 9 a.m. media report cleared up the mystery, and Jeanne phoned her lawyer, who referred her to criminal attorney Robert Sale. The driver wasnt speeding, but the absence of a tag was in itself a minor violation, and they turned the flashers on, prepared to write a quick citation. During his trial, Rifkin was represented by Mineola-based attorney John Lawrence. Hewent to painstaking efforts to try to conceal the bodies, often dismembering the victims, placing their bodies in oil drums, or throwing them into bodies of water, he would later tell WCBS-TVin 2011. Jenny Soto is one of Joel Rifkin's victims. I thought of him as a loner, she subsequently told reporters. This massive 8.5 x 11 perfect bound book contains over 150 pages of rare interviews, letters, documents, transcripts, art and articles about serial killer, John Wayne Gacy. 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. Days later, Rifkin was transferred from Attica to the Clinton Correctional Facility at Dannemora--long known as the Siberia of New York prisons, isolated in the Adirondack Mountains, 350 miles north of Manhattan. Fred Klein described Rifkin as a sexual sadist who relished his victims suffering: He got caught red-handed, and now hes using and abusing the concept of mental illness. Lawrence called his client a paranoid schizophrenic who lived in the twilight zone, overwhelmed by violent, irresistible compulsions that took control of his life. Rifkin, for his part, snored through much of the prosecutions case, a performance Lawrence blamed on allergies to the bologna sandwiches he ate in jail. Two floaters in as many days suggested a serial killer at large, but New York police had their hands full with 2,000 murders a year in those days, and junkie prostitutes were never high priority. Despite his confessions and the overwhelming evidence against him, Rifkin pled not guilty at his murder trial. 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. He killed mostly prostitutes and drug addicts; he was convicted of nine murders, although he is believed to have killed many more. His rage and self-loathing only grew, according to the special. "We were trying to catch up from the previous 20 years. Upon waking, he dragged Susie down to the basement, draped her body across the washer and dryer, then used that makeshift operating table to dismember her corpse with an X-acto knife. State Police Sgt. A childless couple from Upstate New York, Bernard and Jeanne Rifkin, adopted him on Valentines Day and named him Joel David. With no money, Rifkin attempted to hold down a job, but that also became another unsuccessful moment in his life. They didn't realizeone man was targeting sex workers in New York City. In 1989, Rifkin picked up a sex worker named "Susie." What is the current air quality in Salem Oregon? Mary Catherine Williams, 10 years older than ONeill, had been a high school homecoming queen and college cheerleader in her native North Carolina. WebJoel Rifkin murdered 17 women, making him New York's deadliest serial killer. "Water is harder to investigate than land because it washes everything," he said. In the trunk was the decaying body of his last victim. Its like my own little nightmare scenarios, he said. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a2a73bfae92a8aa Welcome to November, the month when, according to some studies, serial killers and mass murderers are most likely to be born. Rifkin specifically chose women who wouldnt immediately draw attention if they went missing. Following a traffic stop that led to a car chase by police, authorities noticed a. . Some he hid in oil drums, others in blocks of concrete. 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. Called The Masseuse, the episode first aired on November 18, 1993. WebJoel David Rifkin (born January 20, 1959) is an American serial killer who was sentenced to 203 years in prison for the murders of nine women between 1989 and 1993, though he is believed to have killed up to 17 victims in all. Performance & security by Cloudflare. He also pleaded guilty to two murders in neighboring Suffolk County. Evens started to undress, then balked, demanding greater privacy. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The couple was so happy with their son that they repeated the procedure, with a daughter, three years later. When the troopers used their siren, he appeared oblivious; likewise when Ruane got on the loudspeaker and ordered him to stop. His landscaping business had folded by then, his landlord clamoring for $700 in overdue rent. He was on his way to dump the body near Republic Airport, he explained, when he was spotted by Ruane and Spaargaren. Rifkin consigned her remains to the waters surrounding Manhattan. By Becca van Sambeck & Oxygen Staff From 1989 to 1993, a Is Joel Rifkin Still Alive Or Dead? Please ignore rumors and hoaxes. In 2002, New Yorks Supreme Court rejected Rifkins appeal of his convictions for the murder of nine women. It is chock full of artwork, rare documents, FBI files and in depth articles regarding serial murder. We are happy to say that the Serial Killer Trading Cards are back! Failing that, he sought to have the various murder charges consolidated in one Nassau County trial, hoping a hometown jury would be more inclined to find Rifkin not guilty by reason of insanity. The special also features interviews with Rifkins childhood friends, investigators on the case, as well as those closest to his victims. About to leave, he was confronted by patrolmen who accused him of illegal dumping, but Joel persuaded them he was collecting junk instead. ", JONBENET RAMSEYS HALF BROTHER STILL WANTS TO FIND HER KILLER: THIS CASE CAN BE SOLVED, New York State Police escort Joel Rifkin, 34, a landscaper from East Meadow, to a holding cell after charging him with second-degree murder in East Farmingdale, L.I. And Rifkin told WCBS-TV in 2011 that his victim count would have likely been much higher if he hadnt been arrested in 1993. Rifkin just didn't excel in academia or sports, and so he struggled with feeling like a disappointment to his dad. Her mother, Victoria ONeill, told the newspaper she had last seen her daughter on July 16, 1992. Jane Doe #1: Rifkin killed an unidentified woman in December 1991 by strangling her to death during sex. Fending off pleas from her sister and husband to move on with her life, not to mention a marriage proposal from a determined suitor, Rory holds fast to what she knows in her heartDawson is still alive. Winded from the battle, Rifkin claimed her bra and panties, earrings, ID cards and drug syringe as trophies for his cache. Sale waived application for bond, knowing it was hopeless, but won a two-week postponement of formal arraignment. Instead, she wound up hooked on heroin, performing for strangers in strip clubs and cars. Hes not evil. . A formal suppression hearing was scheduled for November, but Rifkin had other plans. He was on his way to dump the corpse near Melvilles Republic Airport, some 15 miles north of his house, when Troopers Ruane and Spaargaren noted his lack of a rear license plate. Joel Rifkin will celebrate 65rd birthday on a Saturday 20th of January 2024. Leah Evans: The body of Evans, a 28-year-old mother of two, was discovered in May 1992 by a family hunting for dandelions off County Road 51 in Southampton, according to Newsday. Put off by the thought of another dismemberment, Rifkin wrapped Jacobs in plastic, folded her into a cardboard box, and placed her in the back of his mothers Toyota pickup. [2] Early life [ edit] Rifkin's birth parents were both young college students and his biological father was an Army veteran. The crowd stops cheering and squirm, while Elaine does damage control. One week after he killed Lorraine Orvieto, on January 2, 1992, Rifkin went hunting again. ", First published on March 27, 2013 / 3:17 PM. All of our Serial Killer Magazines and books are massive, perfect bound editions. Rifkin found her on Jamaica Avenue in Queens and drove her around New York until sunrise, shelling out $150 for drugs at various stops. The whole city is talking about this monster Joel Rifkin, and I am dating Joel Rifkin, laments Elaine, whose coworkers have gotten wind of the creepy coincidence. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Instead of keeping him away from prostitutes, the incident made him more devious. Another belonged to Jenny Soto, fished out of the Harlem River in November 1992. She followed Mary Holloman, sometime that winter, dismembered remains consigned to the last of Rifkins oil drums. One high school date was scuttled after fellow track team members trapped him in the gym and pelted him with eggs, forcing Joel to call his father for help. Rifkin, a former landscaper, was stopped by police on a routine traffic stop when a Long Island officer noticed his front license plate was missing, CBS New York reports. Relieved of his little anxiety attack, Joel moved Bresciani into the cluttered garage, leaving her body in a wheelbarrow. Joel Rifkin, 34, is transferred to District Court 29 June, 1993 in Farmingdale, NY after police said he confessed to killing as many as 17 women. Joel delivered a eulogy at his fathers funeral, moving the mourners to tears, and his depression deepened. Joel Rafkin is still alive. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. These are more like giant, professionally produced graphic novels. He was still so tense when he got out of his car that he said he sprained his back. Lorraine Orvieto: Orvieto, 28, disappeared in Dec. 1991. Poor hygiene, chronic absenteeism and general ineptitude blocked the road to advancement. "But I was still an active police officer at the time. But his eventual capture was a total accident as the serial killer wasn't even on police's radar. Some were dismembered, others were not. We were out every night, her 16-year-old sister Jessy Olmedo said at the time. We used him, to be blunt about it, one of them recalled, years later. By March 1994 Wexner had heard enough to reject the various defense motions outright and hold Rifkin for trial, scheduled for mid-April. Rifkins first victim of 1993 was Leah Evens, a 28-year-old who lived with her mother in Brooklyn. And police weren't aware that one man was specifically targeting sex workers in the area. Rifkin! she says, inspired by the name O.J. Neighbors recalled strange odors emanating from Rifkins garage, but they had assumed he stored insecticides there, for use in his garden and landscaping business. Except for his grades, Joel was the stereotypical nerd, in glasses and high-water pants with white socks. She appeared to have been dead for several days. Why do people try to quit smoking for their entire lives?" New Yorks worst serial murder case of this century began--or ended--with a routine traffic stop in the predawn hours of June 28, 1993. "And a lot of them are dangerous people. Script writer Peter Mehlman had clearly read reports about how the serial killer was captured. That left him absolutely devastated, in his mothers words, but there were other compensations. Determined not to bungle the disposal this time, Rifkin went out to purchase cement and a large mortar pan. Table ranking Historys Most Deadly Events: Influenza pandemic (1918-19) 20-40 million deaths; black death/plague (1348-50), 20-25 million deaths, AIDS pandemic (through 2000) 21.8 million deaths, World War II (1937-45), 15.9 million deaths, and World War I (1914-18) 9.2 million deaths.