For more on Rifkin, watch Oxygen's special Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer, airing Saturday, April 10 at 9/8c on Oxygen. "Back in the late 80s and early 90s, it really was not hard to get away with such crimes," said Mladinich. They talked about trial strategy and how to present his case. 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. He was born on January 20, 1959, the son of unwed college students who were not prepared to start a family. Violet ONeill, a 21-year-old prostitute, was the first victim Rifkin had taken home to East Meadow in nearly a year. Its part of Serial Killer Week, a nine-day event on Oxygen diving into the most fearsome and fascinating criminals of all time. If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) . Serial killer Joel Rifkin He gave names when he knew them, dates, where he picked them up and, crucially, where he had dumped the bodies. Rifkin wedged Lee into the same trunk hed used for Mary DeLuca and dropped her in the East River. Of course, many of the victims had concerned loved ones who were desperately looking for them after they vanished however, many of the bodies weren't recovered until after his capture, so police weren't making a connection in the cases. 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. It didnt fully come home to me what was happening until later., Things went from bad to worse at East Meadow High School. He kept the pills, along with Orvietos jewelry and ID, as souvenirs of the kill. New York: St. Martins Press, 1993. 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. A chainsaw found in the garage was stained with blood and bits of human flesh. 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. I couldn't function in the real world then. He kind of leaned back and said, One or 100, whats the difference? Eugene Corcoran, the state police lieutenant who supervised the investigation, recalled, according to Newsday. Elaine told her new beau he should change his name. They called him The Turtle, mimicking his slouched posture and slow footsteps, seldom missing a chance to make him the butt of cruel jokes. She wasnt what they said she was, Gonzales said. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Rifkins first two victims have never been found or identified. I had sex with her, then things went bad and I strangled her. Thirty minutes later, Sale and Rifkin appeared before Judge John Kingston, entering a preliminary plea of not guilty on the Bresciani murder. Joel delivered a eulogy at his fathers funeral, moving the mourners to tears, and his depression deepened. When the troopers used their siren, he appeared oblivious; likewise when Ruane got on the loudspeaker and ordered him to stop. By January 1996, Rifkin was scheduled to serve at least 183 years for seven slayings, with 10 counts outstanding. In March 1989, Rifkin, who admitted he had often fantasized about strangling women during sex, turned his disturbing ideas into reality. Officers staked out the house in East Meadow, where Rifkin lived with his sister and elderly mother. According to the special, he killed 16 more sex workers. Success breeds repetition. Rifkin had been bludgeoning or strangling women for five years, dismembering some of them. The Seinfeld team wasted no time trying to churn laughs out of one of New Yorks most horrible mass murderers Rifkin is believed to have killed up to 17 women and is the subject of Oxygens upcoming special Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer, airingSaturday, April 10 at 7/6c on Oxygen. Rifkin had reached the detonation point. I couldnt put two nickels together, Rifkin recalled of those years, and most of what he did earn went to prostitutes. He specifically killed women who were less visible insociety. 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. 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. Hes not evil. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. He placed her body into a 55-gallon oil drum and dumped it into the East River. It's like my own little nightmare scenarios.". 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. He was vague on the details in later confessions, unable to recall the womans name, if he had ever known it. This is someone whos trying to show you to be a sadistic killer., Joel Rifkin listens to the guilty verdict against him in Nassau County Court in Mineola on May 9, 1994,in the killingof Tiffany Bresciani. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Joel Rifkin was born in in January 20, 1959. They also sought to suppress his initial admission of Brescianis murder, made at the time of his arrest, while claiming that police had lacked sufficient probable cause for a legal search of Rifkins truck. He spent more than four years in solitary confinement before being transferred to the Clinton Correctional Facility in Clinton County. Ahearn saidRifkins lack of concern for his victims haunted him for years and still does. She woke up fighting for her life, kicking the gear-shift hard enough to snap it off before Joel smothered her. 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. She hailed from Metairie, Louisiana, and had been drawn to New York by dreams of acting or dancing. Klein became chief of Nassaus Major Offense Bureau soon afterward. A failure in athletics, Rifkin joined the yearbook staff, and promptly had his camera stolen. He is now the district executive for the federal courts in the Eastern District of New York. Joel Before Rifkin left for college, he drove to New York City where he picked up a sex worker for the first time. New York State's most prolific serial killer might not have been discovered on a hot summer night 25 years ago if the license plate on his pickup truck had not fallen off, authorities say. Discovered the following day, Soto was identified from fingerprint records of her last arrest, police initially suspecting her ex-con ex-boyfriend of the murder. Another belonged to Jenny Soto, fished out of the Harlem River in November 1992. Her mother, Victoria ONeill, told the newspaper she had last seen her daughter on July 16, 1992. An odor in Rifkin's truck led to the discovery of a body. Her body was never recovered. Serial killer Joel Rifkin led cops to the skeleton of one victim at the outskirts of New York City's Kennedy International Airport. Bresciani, Julie Blackbird, Lauren Marquez, Mary Catherine Williams, Barbara Jacobs, Yun Lee, Maryann Hollomon, Leah Evens, Violet ONeill, Mary Ellen DeLuca, Lorraine Orvieto, Iris Sanchez, Jenny Soto, and Anna Lopez. Tragedy plus time equals comedy, so its been said. Rifkin painstakingly covered up his crimes. In early 1994, it was reported that Rifkin had engaged in a jailhouse scuffle with mass murderer Colin Ferguson over the use of a public telephone. "The only difference is that within 20 minutes, we started talking about murder and mayhem. The prison van carried him past the high school where he had graduated 16 years before. She followed Mary Holloman, sometime that winter, dismembered remains consigned to the last of Rifkins oil drums. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Rifkin found her on Jamaica Avenue in Queens and drove her around New York until sunrise, shelling out $150 for drugs at various stops. "Some people viewed him as an oddball. Tragedy plus time equals comedy, so its been said. 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. He had an I.Q. Is Joel Rifkin Still Alive Or Dead? It came from the dead body of Tiffany Bresciani, 22, the girlfriend of Dave Rubinstein (a.k.a. He remembered her tattoos, a pickup in Manhattan, and the way she fought for life when he began to strangle her. 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. Relieved of his little anxiety attack, Joel moved Bresciani into the cluttered garage, leaving her body in a wheelbarrow. How far is Las Vegas from the California coast? WebWhen a letter arrives from the army, telling Rory that Dawson is missing in action and presumed dead, her world is shattered. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Pig are extremely nice, good-mannered and tasteful. As much as I say I wanted to stop, there probably wouldve been others, he admitted. Do you think I need a lawyer?. Michael Ahearn, then the chief of the Suffolk district attorneys Homicide Bureau, recalled how Rifkin continually corrected him during cross-examination. Whats in a name? Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! These are more like giant, professionally produced graphic novels. He will be eligible for parole in 2197. ", "If I didnt kill them, they would have died anyhow. He killed mostly prostitutes and drug addicts; he was convicted of nine murders, although he is believed to have killed many more. He never relishedtalking about these horrible crimes. And she had fake nails and those were ripped off when she fought him.. The New York Times Next Up Episode 5: Oak Beach 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. By Becca van Sambeck & Oxygen Staff From 1989 to 1993, a 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. Scattering the remains throughout New York also made it less likely for authorities to notice a pattern. Instead, he picked up a souvenir howitzer shell and beat her furiously. Most killers stick to one method of disposing the bodies, but his mixturemade it easier for him to go undetected, according to the special. (Photo by Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images). Rifkin was AWOL from his part-time job at an East Meadow liquor store, looking for trouble. Julie Blackbird: Rifkin killed again about 16 months later, after picking up Julie Blackbird in 1990 and bringing her back to his home. Rifkin was arrested for soliciting a prostitute on August 22, 1987 in Hempstead, Long Island. Seven months later, Simpsons name became connected to murder. Serial Killer Joel Rifkin But that all change in 1993 after Rifkin said he made a "25 cent mistake. 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. Orvieto, 28, disappeared in Dec. 1991. Many of the victims were never even reported missing, and so police were unaware of the scope of the killing spree. 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. He was on his way to dump the body near Republic Airport, he explained, when he was spotted by Ruane and Spaargaren. "Everybody has some kind of fantasy life, whether it's negative or positive. Simpson wouldnt be associated with murder that truly makes it one of the worst aged jokes in sitcom history. The Seinfeld team wasted no time trying to churn laughs out of one of New Yorks most horrible mass murderers Rifkin is believed to have killed up to 17 women and is the subject of Oxygens upcoming special, Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer,, The whole city is talking about this monster. I function better in prison. Another colleague chimes in, adding Hey, Elaine, listen. Joel Rifkin Rifkin told Dietz in detail how he planned his killings, how he avoided detection, how he got sexual gratification from both the killings and the victims personal effects much to Lawrences dismay. Joel Rifkin She appeared to have been dead for several days. There, Rifkin testified himself in a pretrial hearing to contest that his confession was voluntary. The oil drum worked so well for Rifkin that he purchased several more for use as makeshift coffins. Aside from books and magazines (no more than 10 per isolation cell), Rifkin had lawsuits to amuse himself. In February 1987, Rifkin's adoptive father committed suicide to end the pain of cancer, thereby increasing Rifkins depression. "She did not come home this Christmas, so we knew something was wrong.". Joel Rifkin . Sale waived application for bond, knowing it was hopeless, but won a two-week postponement of formal arraignment. 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. Rifkin was sentenced to 203 years to life in prison and he is not eligible for parole until 2197. Rifkin acknowledged that his violent mental images were a little more intense than regular at that time. He raged at Joel, Why cant you do anything to please me? Jeanne Rifkin shared her love of gardening and photography with Joel oblivious to his torment by peers. 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. 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. He said he disposed of the bodies in threes. Years of pent-up anger and humiliation craved release. After sex, he reportedly bludgeoned her with a Howtizer artillery shell and strangled her to death. Before Rifkin left for college, hedrove to New York City and picked up a sex workerfor the first time. That may explain his failure to perform as Lee went to work. He was also an academic failure, suffering from undiagnosed dyslexia despite a tested IQ of 128. I saw him as artistically inclined. 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. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Tune in on Oxygen April 10 to April 18. Rifkins father was chronically ill. A heavy smoker, already afflicted with emphysema, Bernard was diagnosed with prostate cancer in fall 1986. He was later acquitted. Evens started to undress, then balked, demanding greater privacy. At this time he became increasingly obsessed with violence, murder, and prostitution. After listless sex, Susie again asked Joel to take her out in search of drugs. ", GARY HEIDNIKS ATTORNEY TALKS INSANE HOUSE OF HORRORS KILLER IN DOC: THERE WAS A METHOD TO HIS MADNESS', Jenny Soto's family. Exclusive: Inside The Mind Of A Serial Killer - CBS New York 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. Joel found himself strongly attracted to one of the other interns, a pretty blond, but while he shadowed her at every opportunity, he never found the nerve to ask her out. "Joel never expressed any remorse whatsoever to me," said Mladinich. 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. He has been married to Iva Rifkin since August 28, 1966. ", 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. Rifkin said. Back at the landscaping lot, Rifkin stuffed her into an oil drum, drove her body to Brooklyn and dropped it into Coney Island Creek. So altogether that makes 299 kills by one man so far, and theres still two more films to come. There was none of that. 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). 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. And she had fake nails and those were ripped off when she fought him.. Pulitzer, Lisa, and Joan Swirsky. Instead, he was a rather meek, unassuming child. 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. At the police station, Rifkin was asked if he had killed anybody else. He was generally unkempt, and a thick layer of Noxema was smeared across his mustache. "There are a lot of damaged people out there," he said. 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. [2] Early life [ edit] Rifkin's birth parents were both young college students and his biological father was an Army veteran. 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. 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 was eventually acquitted. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Rifkin wedged the body underneath a rotting mattress, first relieving Sanchez of her watch and other jewelry. 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. It is chock full of artwork, rare documents, FBI files and in depth articles regarding serial murder. 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. With this information, they were able to identify even more of his victims, the New York Times reported. Prison is where he belongs, Rifkin says in the special. 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. Credit: Randee Daddona. 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. The whole focus of my life, he later said, was on the streets. Even there he proved inept, robbed by hookers or their pimps at least a dozen times.