A panel of seven men and five women was seated nine days later, with opening arguments begun on April 20. Tragedy plus time equals comedy, so its been said. In 1989, Rifkin picked up a sex worker named "Susie." Market data provided by Factset. After the Giant game, he says, I realized that this this problem isn't going away.. 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. He is now the district executive for the federal courts in the Eastern District of New York. There was really no coordination between police precincts. We know Blackbirds fate today only from Rifkins confession, and from her diary stashed in his bedroom. Rifkins first attempt at higher education took him to Nassau Community College, on Long Island. The severed head was found in 1989 in Hopewell, a town north of Trenton. Rifkin specifically chose women who wouldnt immediately draw attention if they went missing. 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. Oholah, Rifkin explained, was both the Hebrew word for sanctuary and the name of a prostitute whose violent death is described in Ezekiel 23:3-10. State and local detectives found Balch's aunt in New York, who identified her picture this month. Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans. At this time he became increasingly obsessed with violence, murder, and prostitution. One girl duped him twice, using the same ruse both times to flee with his cash before sex. He held down various odd jobs, spending much of the little money he made on prostitutes. His mother chose that month to travel out of state, leaving Joel alone in the East Meadow house. Unlike Orvieto, Holloman was identified from dental records and returned to her family for burial. They could see part of a hand and the head of Rifkins finalvictim. Joel Rifkin, New York's most prolific serial killer, is the subject of a new true-crime documentary on Oxygen. 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. Two other victims remain unidentified to this day. 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. They were probably alone on the streets, but not in the world.. Next to him is his attorney, John Lawrence of Mineola. How far is Las Vegas from the California coast? O.J.! Police learned their mistake a year later, when Rifkin confessed to her slaying, but number nine remains anonymous, the last Jane Doe. ", I wanted to be normal. 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.". 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. She was missing one earring, later found in Rifkins bedroom stash. She had been the mother of two children. Family members of his victims either could not be reached or declined to comment. The New York Times Next Up Episode 5: Oak Beach Rifkin was bullied throughout his school years, an experience that left him feeling angry and isolated. During questioning, Rifkin described her death in clinical detail, but his emotional detachment was not the worst part of the confession. Rifkin found her on May 25, 1992, Memorial Day, working Atlantic Avenue in Queens, and retired to a nearby residential street for sex. This is a savings of over $100! Conviction was a foregone conclusion, However, and in the absence of a death penalty statute, he received the maximum sentence of twenty-five years to life. It is in their nature to take action, sometimes before they think about it well. 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. Joel Rafkin is still alive. In custody, Rifkin soon began confessing to other homicides, a total of seventeen, including Bresciani. The couple was so happy with their son that they repeated the procedure, with a daughter, three years later. both were veterans, but Teasle was ruler of his own little fiefdom and wanted to keep it. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a2a73bfae92a8aa The murder, detectives gathered, was not his first. Rifkin was also able to hide in plain sight by switching up his modus operandi: Hedisposed of the bodies all over New York state, from a Brooklyn creek to an Orange County town, the New York Times reported in 1993. Would Joel Rifkin report to the stadium office? Faced with pistols now, the solemn driver gave his license up and stepped out of the car. He then dismembered Susies body and her remains were scattered throughout New Jersey. Legal Statement. Jenny Soto, a victim of serial killer Joel Rifkin. Somewhere along the way, he moved from abstract study of the killers into emulation of their brutal crimes. O.J.! 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. She was found on October 1, nude except for a brassiere, without ID. Some were on land. (Glass Entertainment Group). A pair of womens panties lay on the floor, near a stockpile of rope and tarp. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Before the trial, Lawrence said, Rifkin established a better rapport with the prosecution psychiatrist, serial killer expert Eliot Park Dietz, than he did with his own mental health expert, forensic psychologist Barbara Kirwin of Huntington. Five more patrol cars joined the convoy, sirens wailing, before the Mazdas driver missed a turn in Mineola and crashed his truck into a telephone pole at 3:36 a.m. "Back in the late 80s and early 90s, it really was not hard to get away with such crimes," said Mladinich. Troopers detected an odor from the back of the truck. 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. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! They questioned him for eight hours, but for some reason never recorded the sessions. These are more like giant, professionally produced graphic novels. Soto also had a past record for prostitution, but her family insisted she had been getting her life together before she was killed. Rifkin!" Would. At 39, Mary Ann Holloman was his oldest victim, an addict who sewed personalized G-strings for strippers when she wasnt working the streets. He took really terrific photos and had an attractive artistic side. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. A childless couple from Upstate New York, Bernard and Jeanne Rifkin, adopted him on Valentines Day and named him Joel David. I remember I wrote about a boxing match for one of our assignments as journalism students and he photographed the event. On August 22, 1987, Rifkin was arrested in Hempstead, Long Island, for soliciting a prostitute. "Certain things are very hard to stop," Rifkin said. Rifkin did not respond to a request sent to him at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate Dannemora for comment for this story. Rifkin was dispassionate, referring to the murders as events or incidents, listing his victims by number. 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. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Sotos grim fight for life gave Rifkin pause. In retrospect, a shockingly prophetic moment happens when Elaine comes up with a suggestion after reading a sports magazine. The appointment was an honor, and it had an unexpected bonus. I had sex with her, and then I killed her. "We kept asking him, 'What about this one?'" Serial killer Joel Rifkin led cops to the skeleton of one victim at the outskirts of New York City's Kennedy International Airport. "When I heard his name on the radio, I pulled over. From breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Despite finding that Wexner should have excluded Rifkins confession to the Bresciani murder--an argument pursued in vain for five years--the appellate court found overwhelming evidence establishing his guilt and refused to overturn any part of his sentence. March 27, 2013 / 3:17 PM Rifkin was transferred at once to the Nassau County Correctional Facility in East Meadow. According to astrologers, the presence of Aries always marks the beginning of something energetic and turbulent. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson. The son of unwed teenage parents, born in 1959, Joel was adopted by Ben and Jeanne Rifkin at three weeks of age. They also found a blood-stained wheelbarrow and chainsaw at the residence. One of the bullies who harassed him later called Rifkin an abuse unit. Simpson wouldnt be associated with murder that truly makes it one of the worst aged jokes in sitcom history. Mary Catherine Williams, 10 years older than ONeill, had been a high school homecoming queen and college cheerleader in her native North Carolina. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. According to wikipedia latest update, he is still alive. WebPrison officials decided in 1996 that Rifkin was so notorious that his presence in the general prison population could be disruptive. And Rifkin told WCBS-TV in 2011 that his victim count would have likely been much higher if he hadnt been arrested in 1993. 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. He placed her body into a 55-gallon oil drum and dumped it into the East River. He struck her on impulse, strangling her while she mouthed something about making a big mistake. It was Rifkins first murder of someone he knew beforehand, and he experienced fleeting remorse. 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. He was vague on the details in later confessions, unable to recall the womans name, if he had ever known it. Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com. As much as I say I wanted to stop, there probably wouldve been others, he admitted. 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. Credit: Randee Daddona. 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 never really displayed that. JODI ARIAS APPEARED FRIENDLY AFTER TRAVIS ALEXANDERS BRUTAL MURDER, EXPRESSED REMORSE FOR HIS DEATH: DOC, Serial killer Joel Rifkin led cops to the skeleton of one victim at the outskirts of New York City's Kennedy International Airport. Afterward, he drove Evens to the far eastern end of Long Island and buried her in the woods, the only one of his victims who rated a shallow grave. Performance & security by Cloudflare. There was no regret or wanting to bring the victims back. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. Jenny Soto's family. 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. Her body was later found in an oil drum in Coney Island Creek, according to ThoughtCo. 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. Joel Rifkin was someone who was used to being invisible. He was confined to his cell at the Attica Correctional Facility for 23 hours a day. This addictioncrippled him, as he had to to leavecollege before finishing and was unable to ever really hold down a job. Joel Rifkin, meanwhile, killed 17 people a staggering amount of victims that makes him New Yorks most prolific serial killer. Rifkin admitted to the 17 slayings after his May 1994 murder conviction in Nassau County. Prison was an exaggerated replay of high school, with constant threats and taunts from other convicts. Joel Rifkin was born in the Year of the Pig. "The only difference is that within 20 minutes, we started talking about murder and mayhem. Before Rifkin left for college, he drove to New York City where he picked up a sex worker for the first time. 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. She was a prostitute, he told the officers. O.J. . Her torso surfaced in the Hudson River, wrapped in black plastic, while her arms and legs were found in a discarded suitcase. Despite his confessions and the overwhelming evidence against him, Rifkin pled not guilty at his murder trial. The pickup truck Joel Rifkin was driving when he was caught sits at New York State Police Headquarters in Farmingdale on June 28, 1993. Credit: Newsday/Jim Peppler. Joel Rifkin was born in in January 20, 1959. 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. Theyre intelligent, always seeking more knowledge, and exclusive. What it gave me was that he liked to be in control. Check out our sister site VHS WASTELAND. Success breeds repetition. He was still so tense when he got out of his car that he said he sprained his back. Stephen Urbanski says Balch worked as a prostitute in New York City and used numerous aliases. Family (1) Spouse Iva Rifkin ( 28 August 1966 - present) Trivia (10) He was only caught because of a small mistake, and he would have kept killing, he admits. That may explain his failure to perform as Lee went to work. Tragedy plus time equals comedy, so its been said. Its part of Serial Killer Week, a nine-day event on Oxygen diving into the most fearsome and fascinating criminals of all time. The cocaine in her system prompted detectives to brand her a drug mule, killed accidentally by the rupture of drug-filled condoms in her stomach. Rifkin! she says, inspired by the name O.J. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! This is truly a one of a kind collectors item for anyone interested in the macabre world of true crime, prison art or the strange world of murderabelia. In 2000, a state appellate court determined that prison officials had not violated Rifkin's constitutional rights by housing him in isolation. The chase covered about 20 miles through Nassau before Rifkin, a landscaper living with his mother and sister in East Meadow,hit a utility pole on Old Country Road in Mineola. That left him absolutely devastated, in his mothers words, but there were other compensations. Violet ONeill: ONeills dismembered body parts were found over three days in July 1992 in multiple waterways including the Harlem River, East River, and a body of water near Governors Island, according to a New York Times article. Rifkin suffered a major anxiety attack after learning that Susie was HIV positive, following the case as police prepared artists renderings of the victim in life and checked them against a list of 700 missing women. Birthday: January 20, 1959 How Old - Age: 64 Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. 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. Eugene Corcoran, shown onJune 18, was one of the lead investigators in the Joel Rifkin case. Rifkin drove the body parts across the state line to New Jersey, dropping the head and legs in the woods near Hopewell. 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. Rifkin picked her up on April 2, 1993, while she was working Second Avenue. New York state troopers Sean Ruane and Deborah Spaargaren were patroling Long Islands Southern State Parkway at 3:15 a.m. on June 28, 1993, when they spotted a Mazda pickup truck with no rear license plate. 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. They opened the truck and found Bresciani. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. While 2008s Rambo had John end his wandering, Last Blood sends him back out into the world. or redistributed. Rifkin dumped her body in the Suffolk County pine barrens, where she lay undiscovered until his arrest. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! In addition to Rifkin, the episode discusses the phenomenon of serial killers in one of Jerry Seinfelds stand-up routines. The special also features interviews with Rifkins childhood friends, investigators on the case, as well as those closest to his victims. 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. His lawyer argued that his statements to the police at the time of his arrest should be suppressed because he had not been informed of his rights. 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. Rifkin was eventually sentenced to 203 years in prison for his horrific string of murders. Out in the garage, they found a wheelbarrow and a chainsaw stained with human gore. If you are interested in joining our team, contact us at Instead, she wound up hooked on heroin, performing for strangers in strip clubs and cars. Authorities say 25-year-old Heidi Balch likely was the first victim of Joel Rifkin, who is in prison in New York after admitting he killed 17 women in the early 1990s. Called The Masseuse, the episode first aired on November 18, 1993. Eftimiades, Maria. Actually, he later said, I thought I liked her.. 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. Her body was never recovered. I function better in prison. It is chock full of artwork, rare documents, FBI files and in depth articles regarding serial murder. It was, as Joel Rifkinsaid later, a 25-cent part that brought him down, but it caught the eye of two troopers patrolling the Southern State Parkway. He picked her up on West 46th Street in Manhattan and strangled her in his car during oral sex, describing the event as very quick. Afterward, he drove back to Long Island with the body slumped beside him, concealing her under a tarp at his rented workplace. (Photo by Jerry Engel/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images). Rifkin was ultimately sentenced to 203 years in prison, where he remains to this day. Arraigned for the Bresciani homicide on July 15, 1993, Rifkin repeated his plea of not guilty. A failure in athletics, Rifkin joined the yearbook staff, and promptly had his camera stolen. Oxygens Serial Killer Week brings viewers inside the minds of the most notorious criminals of all time. The murderous rampage of notorious Long Island serial killer Rifkin came to an end. So if a body was found in The Bronx, detectives in Brooklyn might not hear about that for weeks, days, even months sometimes never. In his mind, the grim task was reduced to biology class. To foil identification, Rifkin severed Susies fingertips and pulled her teeth with pliers, then jammed her severed head into an old paint can. I was completely numb. He specifically killed women who were less visible insociety. 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. 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. 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Infamous New York mass murderer Joel Rifkin was caught in June 1993. Ahearn saidRifkins lack of concern for his victims haunted him for years and still does. "She did not come home this Christmas, so we knew something was wrong.". I just struggled to come to grips that this same person was a serial killer capable of such barbarism. It is also packed with unusual trivia, exclusive interviews and much more. Jenny Soto is one of Joel Rifkin's victims. The Rifkins also adopted a daughter, Jan, in 1962. In 2010, Rifkin was interviewed by ABC's Martin Bashir as part of the Nightline Prime mini-series, Secrets of Your Mind. WebJoel Rifkin murdered 17 women, making him New York's deadliest serial killer. Rifkin graduated from high school in 1977, but he could never quite cut in college, despite sporadic attempts over the next twelve years. clothing, jewelry, drivers licenses, library cards, and credit cards belonging to approximately 10 women. 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. A motorist stopping to relieve himself found Lopez the next day. I couldn't function in the real world then. Before Rifkin left for college, hedrove to New York City and picked up a sex workerfor the first time. The oil drum worked so well for Rifkin that he purchased several more for use as makeshift coffins. 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. Williams would fill another nameless paupers grave until Rifkin confessed to her murder, six months after she was found. In 1988 Rifkin enrolled in a two-year horticulture-study program at the State College of Technology in Farmingdale, New York. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. The 23-year-oldwas wearing only a T-shirt. He complained to his landlord, I keep losing all my customers, and by summer he was falling behind on his rent.
Bowel Cleanse Before Hysterectomy Surgery,
Articles I