From 1989 to 1993, a serial killer stalked New York City. After graduating from high school, Rifkin, who was particularly interested in horticulture and photojournalism, made several attempts at community college and attended the State University of New York at Brockport, where he worked for a time as a photographer on the school's newspaper The Stylus. Rifkins first two victims have never been found or identified. Joel Rifkin, and I am dating Joel Rifkin, laments Elaine, whose coworkers have gotten wind of the creepy coincidence. She wasnt what they said she was, Gonzales said. Throughout the 1980s, Rifkin worked a series of odd jobs around Long Island, seldom staying long at any. Tune in on Oxygen April 10 to April 18. Back in East Meadow, Jeanne Rifkin found officers circling her house by mid-morning. He had an I.Q. The son of unwed teenage parents, born in 1959, Joel was adopted by Ben and Jeanne Rifkin at three weeks of age. Rifkin was bullied throughout his school years, an experience that left him feeling angry and isolated. Some of the bodies already found had not been classified as homicides, Klein said. He never relishedtalking about these horrible crimes. 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. Thirty minutes later, Sale and Rifkin appeared before Judge John Kingston, entering a preliminary plea of not guilty on the Bresciani murder. WebJoel Rifkin was born on January 20, 1959 and is 64 years old now. 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. He was charged with killing his ex-wife and her friend. "And he kept saying things like, 'I killed that one. "None of them were throwaways.". His trial lawyer, John Lawrence of Mineola, planned an insanity defense, but that allowed Klein to introduce evidence of all of Rifkins murders. Arraigned for the Bresciani homicide on July 15, 1993, Rifkin repeated his plea of not guilty. "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. Rifkin went back to school in spring of 1992, taking uncredited classes at SUNY Farmingdale. Two other victims remain unidentified to this day. Thanks to its ruling planet Mars and the fact it belongs to the element of Fire (just like Leo and Sagittarius), Aries is one of the most active zodiac signs. He was vague on dates, different reports placing the crime 14 months after Susies murder, or late in 1990. Credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz. Jenny Soto's family. Some were left abandoned in fields. Then, as if in a fugue state, he spent the next three days working on his pickup, ignoring the summer heat and pervasive reek of decomposing flesh. We are now looking for artists, writers and interviewers to take part in the world famous Serial Killer Magazine. Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? Prison officials decided in 1996 that Rifkin was so notorious that his presence in the general prison population could be disruptive. Police finally caught up to Rifkin in June 1993, when state troopers spotted his pickup truck without license plates on the Southern State Parkway. While 2008s Rambo had John end his wandering, Last Blood sends him back out into the world. 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. That explained Rifkins use of Noxema. Despite his confessions and the overwhelming evidence against him, Rifkin pled not guilty at his murder trial. That one was easy.' It was hell from day one. Jenny Soto: Jenny Soto'sbody later washed up along the rocks of the Harlem River in November of 1992. Joels poor grades embarrassed his father, a member of the East Meadow School Board. I picked her up on Allen Street in Manhattan. It seemed like the only people who noticed him were his childhood tormenters,he thought. 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. Briefly distracted by a man who passed the car walking a dog, he almost let Marquez escape. Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for April 9, Prince Harry's 'attacks' on 'villain' Camilla led to Frogmore Cottage eviction: expert, Film industry reacts to death of 'Saving Private Ryan' star Tom Sizemore: 'You're a legend', Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves take bumpy second flight after 'CHAOS' on Lufthansa plane: 'Wish me luck', Kelsey Grammer wont apologize for the 'difference' that Jesus has made in his life, Person roaming in 'Scream' Ghostface costume prompts multiple police calls. He kind of leaned back and said, One or 100, whats the difference? Corcoran said. Instead of fighting back, Rifkin invited them to watch TV and drink beer at his house. Dave Insurgent, a member of the 1980s punk band Reagan Youth), and his final victim. She was a prostitute, he told the officers. He held down various odd jobs, spending much of the little money he made on prostitutes. Later, he recalled the act as very automatic. During his trial, Rifkin was represented by Mineola-based attorney John Lawrence. Rifkin just didn't excel in academia or sports, and so he struggled with feeling like a disappointment to his dad. At the police station, Rifkin was asked if he had killed anybody else. Distinctive for its long balletic action sequences, 77 people are killed onscreen in the first John Wick, a massive 128 in John Wick: Chapter 2 and a slightly more sensible 94 in John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum. But he accelerated, speeding down the next off-ramp, into the streets of Wantagh. Rifkin found Orvieto on December 26, 1991, in Bayshore, Long Island. "She did not come home this Christmas, so we knew something was wrong.". 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. Joel Rifkins zodiac sign is Aquarius. The 23-year-oldwas wearing only a T-shirt. In the trunk was the decaying body of his last victim. 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. He gave names when he knew them, dates, where he picked them up and, crucially, where he had dumped the bodies. From breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you. After wrestling her body into a plastic trash bag, Rifkin cleaned up the blood and signs of combat in his living room, then lay down and slept for several hours as if nothing had happened. Here is a list of Rifkins victims: Heidi Balch: Authorities believe Heidi Balch was Rifkins first victim but it would take decades before she would ever be properly identified. It did change me personally, he said. You just wonder about how someone could do what he did and not have any feeling for it, Ahearn said. Actually, he later said, I thought I liked her.. She vowed at the time to be present in the courtroom to let Rifkin and others know that the victims had been more than sex workers. 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. The Disturbing Truth Of Serial Killer Joel Rifkin YouTube By Tyler MacDonald / April 1, 2021 10:52 am EST For a span of four years in the early 1990s, serial killer Joel Rifkin left a string of terror across New York City as he satisfied his fixation on strangling sex workers to death. Rifkin was eventually sentenced to 203 years in prison for his horrific string of murders. When the troopers used their siren, he appeared oblivious; likewise when Ruane got on the loudspeaker and ordered him to stop. (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. ", JOHN WAYNE GACY LIKED THE POWER OF DEATH, RETIRED DETECTIVE REVEALS IN DOC: IT MADE HIM FEEL LIKE A GOD, Oxygen's new documentary on Joel Rifkin is part of their 'Serial Killer Week" line-up. These are more like giant, professionally produced graphic novels. Do you think I need a lawyer?. 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. All of our Serial Killer books are massive, 8.5" x 11" perfect bound editions. In 1988 Rifkin enrolled in a two-year horticulture-study program at the State College of Technology in Farmingdale, New York. 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 killed mostly prostitutes and drug addicts; he was convicted of nine murders, although he is believed to have killed many more. It was finally too much. 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). 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. We know Blackbirds fate today only from Rifkins confession, and from her diary stashed in his bedroom. 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. Still, it would take years for authorities to formally identify her, as "Susie" wasn't her real name. Rifkins ninth victim, ironically, surfaced before numbers seven and eight. As much as I say I wanted to stop, there probably wouldve been others,Joel Rifkin said of the likelihood he would have continued to kill if he hadnt been caught in 1993. He will be eligible for parole in 2197. Some he hid in oil drums, others in blocks of concrete. A woman whose severed head was found on a New Jersey golf course more than 20 years ago has been identified, and police say the trail leads to a notorious serial killer. She loved the clubs. Many of the victims were never even reported missing, and so police were unaware of the scope of the killing spree. 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. At this time he became increasingly obsessed with violence, murder, and prostitution. 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. She was missing one earring, later found in Rifkins bedroom stash. But his eventual capture was a total accident as the serial killer wasn't even on police's radar. Flexing his ego, he fired Sale and retained two new lawyers: former Nassau County assistant district attorney Michael Soshnick and his partner, John Lawrence. Joel David Rifkin: New York's Most Prolific Serial Killer. 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. Rifkin was AWOL from his part-time job at an East Meadow liquor store, looking for trouble. This perfect bound Serial Killer Calendar book includes detailed facts and trivia about serial killers for every day of the year. It also left Rifkin with a new problem. According to Joel Rifkin, it was a '25-cent mistake' that finally led to his capture. Rifkin drove the body parts across the state line to New Jersey, dropping the head and legs in the woods near Hopewell. As he strangled her, Rifkin recalled, She did nothing, just accepted it. He remembered her murder as one of the weird ones.. He is now in Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, near the Canadian border. For the first time in his life, he made straight As for two consecutive semesters, rewarded by selection for an internship at the prestigious Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, New York. (Photo by Jerry Engel/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images). 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. It is in their nature to take action, sometimes before they think about it well. And she had fake nails and those were ripped off when she fought him.. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Pig are extremely nice, good-mannered and tasteful. With this information, they were able to identify even more of his victims, the New York Times reported. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. With this information, they were able to identify even more of his victims, the New York Times reported. The next time Rifkin made headlines, in April 1998, the news involved sale of his artwork at the New York State legislatures office building in Albany as part of a program to compensate crime victims. By that time, Ruane and Spaargaren had smelled his reeking cargo, moving toward the rear bed of the truck, where something long and thick was wrapped in plastic, bound with rope. He used the next one on Lorraine Orvieto, a 28-year-old manic-depressive who tried to control her mood swings with cocaine. Joel Rifkin, also known as Joel the Ripper, was a serial rapist and killer who operated in the New Y ork City area and surrounding boroughs, from 1989 until his capture in June 1993. 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. she suggested, inspired by O.J. O.J.! Her severed head was found on a golf course and her legs were found in Jefferson Township, the Times of Trenton reported. They called him The Turtle, mimicking his slouched posture and slow footsteps, seldom missing a chance to make him the butt of cruel jokes. Following a traffic stop that led to a car chase by police, authorities noticed a rank odor coming from Rifkins car. Rifkin had been bludgeoning or strangling women for five years, dismembering some of them. Rifkins selection process was erratic, sparing most of the hookers he patronized on a near nightly basis, prompting him to kill others on a whim. A panel of seven men and five women was seated nine days later, with opening arguments begun on April 20. We have to be more aware when we see people who have been exposed to so much meanness, so much emotional brutality, physical brutality. She was actually a woman named Heidi Balch, who had used various identities throughout the years. I had sex with her, and then I killed her. Sale waived application for bond, knowing it was hopeless, but won a two-week postponement of formal arraignment. And Rifkin told WCBS-TV in 2011 that his victim count would have likely been much higher if he hadnt been arrested in 1993. In the trunk was the decaying body of his last victim. Joels parents gave him a car that year, and he used it to troll for prostitutes, first in nearby Hempstead, later in Manhattan. Credit: Randee Daddona. 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. Rifkin believed his victim would never be found, but he had been careless. He told investigators he dismembered her body, put it into various buckets filled with concrete, and dropped the buckets into the East River and Brooklyn canal. 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. The murder, detectives gathered, was not his first. 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. 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. By the time he got home, she was swaddled in tarp and concealed in the trunk. Yun Lee: Authorities believe Lee, 31, was strangled to death on September 23, 1991, Thought Co. reports. Hes not evil. This guy seems like the real deal.". It was a trick for handling corpses, to avoid their stench, portrayed by Hollywood two years earlier in the Oscar-winning Silence of the Lambs. Midway through the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Fred Klein offered Rifkin a sweetheart deal--46 years to life on all 17 murders, in return for a blanket guilty plea--but Rifkin refused the bargain, apparently convinced that he would be acquitted on grounds of insanity. "You know, I first learned he was accused of being a serial killer while I was on the Long Island Expressway," he recalled. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says. They can disappear for months, hetold CBS New Yorkin 2011. And Rifkin told WCBS-TV in 2011 that his victim count would have likely been much higher if he hadnt been arrested in 1993. 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. Julie Blackbird: Rifkin killed again about 16 months later, after picking up Julie Blackbird in 1990 and bringing her back to his home. Is The New York Review the same as the New York Review of Books? Classmates dubbed him The Turtle, after his slouching posture and slow gait. The discovery of a serial killer on Long Island came in the midst of a year dominated by bizarre and disturbing stories here it began with 10-year-old Katie Beers still captive in an underground dungeon and ended with Colin Ferguson shooting dozens of commuters going home on an evening train, killing six of them. Is there more than one? Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! The oil drum was a new kink with Rifkin, used at least four times by his count. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Joel Rifkin will celebrate 65rd birthday on a Saturday 20th of January 2024. He took really terrific photos and had an attractive artistic side. WebRon Rifkin was born on October 31, 1939 in New York City, New York, USA. "RifkinonRifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer". "And a lot of them are dangerous people. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Strangled in Joels pickup after sex, she proved the toughest one to kill, he said, breaking all 10 fingernails as she clawed Rifkins face and neck. Maryann Holloman, age 39, was retrieved from Coney Island Creek in her oil drum on July 9, two days before passers-by found the skeletal remains of Lorraine Orvieto nearby. Well, 17 girls thought that, and now theyre dead.. Her severed head was found in March 1989 on a New Jersey golf course, but for almost 25 years investigators were unable to positively identify the remains because Balch hadused various names and Social Security numbers. "There are a lot of damaged people out there," he said. Pittsburgh woman missing for 31 years found alive in Puerto Rico, School shooting survivor has emotional audition on "American Idol", exclusive 2011 interview with CBS-2's Mary Calvi. As his mother was out of town, he brought her back home. Rifkin was never on authorities' radar. Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer Premieres Saturday, April 10th, At first he was telling us like he didnt know anything about the body in the back of the car and then he was basically saying that he knew she was there but he doesnt know what happened, former New York State Police Trooper Sean Ruane told, When police later searched his mothers home, they found a treasure trove of mementos that Rifkin had saved from his victims,including drivers licenses, their underwear, jewelry, and other trophies, according to a 2018. The appointment was an honor, and it had an unexpected bonus. His mother chose that month to travel out of state, leaving Joel alone in the East Meadow house. Michael Ahearn, then the chief of the Suffolk district attorneys Homicide Bureau, recalled how Rifkin continually corrected him during cross-examination. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. "Oh! 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. 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. Iris Sanchez: Sanchez, 25, was reportedly killed on Mothers Day weekend in 1992. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Sometimes he would take his victims back to East Meadow, to the house where he lived with his sister and elderly mother. So if a body was found in The Bronx, detectives in Brooklyn might not hear about that for weeks, days, even months sometimes never. Another 31-year-old victim, Korean hooker Yun Lee, was fished out of the East River on September 23, her body folded inside a steamer trunk. Rifkin painstakingly covered up his crimes. She followed Mary Holloman, sometime that winter, dismembered remains consigned to the last of Rifkins oil drums. disposed of the bodies all over New York state, from a Brooklyn creek to an Orange County town. Corcoran said it played a role in his promotion from lieutenant to captain. He was born on January 20, 1959, the son of unwed college students who were not prepared to start a family. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Joel Rifkin - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday Rifkin was transferred at once to the Nassau County Correctional Facility in East Meadow. WebLearn about Joel Rifkin Net Worth, Biography, Age, Birthday, Height, Early Life, Family, Dating, Partner, Wiki and Facts. He wasn't driving erratically or doing anything odd. Over the years, he was also bullied at school, which left him angry and isolated as he desperately sought his fathers approval. State troopers Deborah Spaargaren and Sean Ruane were working the graveyard shift in East Meadow, Long Island, when they spotted a pickup truck with no license plate ahead of them, at 3:15 A.M. Mladinich hopes the documentary will show people to be wary of who they choose to associate with. He placed her body into a 55-gallon oil drum and dumped it into the East River. There was none of that. But that all change in 1993 after Rifkin said he made a "25 cent mistake. 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 it is believed he had up to 17 victims. The special revealed that while his mother was out of town, he brought her back home. O.J. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. They could see part of a hand and the head of Rifkins finalvictim. 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 then dismembered Susies body and her remains were scattered throughout New Jersey. MURDER OF MICHAEL JORDAN'S FATHER EXAMINED IN NEW DOC, RAISING QUESTIONS ABOUT SHOCKING INVESTIGATION, Joel Rifkin, New York's most prolific serial killer, is the subject of a new true-crime documentary on Oxygen. O.J.! As before, Joel cut most of his classes, focused for the most part on repairing his truck, renting video porn and trolling for prey. I dont think I could now. So who were the women who lost their lives to this disturbingkiller? Rifkin did not respond to a request sent to him at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate Dannemora for comment for this story. Out in the garage, they found a wheelbarrow and a chainsaw stained with human gore. "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.