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When police approached the vehicle, they noticed an absolutely overwhelming odor, according to Newsday. From the motel, he drove upstate to Orange County and left DeLucas body at a rest stop outside Cornwall, near West Point. Still, it would take years for authorities to formally identify her, as "Susie" wasn't her real name. 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. New York: Pocket Books, 2001. Besides a broken neck, Marquez had fractured ribs, though Rifkin claimed he could not remember hitting her. One girl duped him twice, using the same ruse both times to flee with his cash before sex. She was actually a woman named Heidi Balch, who had used various identities throughout the years. 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 case was open-and-shut but it was far from simple. 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. Stephen Urbanski says Balch worked as a prostitute in New York City and used numerous aliases. Joel Rifkin During his trial, Rifkin was represented by Mineola-based attorney John Lawrence. Rambo earned his Airborne Ranger Wings in May of 1966. The break came in 2013 when investigators discovered that Balch, who had been reported missing by her aunt in 2001, had also used the name Susan Spencer. They were able to successfully match her to the remains, according to the AP. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. Oxygen's new documentary on Joel Rifkin is part of their 'Serial Killer Week" line-up. 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. , After the Giant game, he says, I realized that this this problem isn't going away.. Rifkins bedroom reading material included a book on the unidentified Green River Killer and news clippings about the case of New York serial slayer Arthur Shawcross. 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. 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 kept her credit cards and a wicker handbag filled with costume jewelry--so much, in fact, that the amount would briefly cause detectives to inflate his body count. 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. 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. They are continuously looking for dynamic, speed and competition, always being the first in everything - from work to social gatherings. Good works notwithstanding, Rifkin had no luck in his bids to escape solitary confinement. Joel Rifkin, New York's most prolific serial killer, is the subject of a new true-crime documentary on Oxygen. When the troopers used their siren, he appeared oblivious; likewise when Ruane got on the loudspeaker and ordered him to stop. Julie Blackbird: Rifkin killed again about 16 months later, after picking up Julie Blackbird in 1990 and bringing her back to his home. 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. Yun Lee: Authorities believe Lee, 31, was strangled to death on September 23, 1991, Thought Co. reports. A shy, awkward child, he was a target for bullies. They were so decomposed that no signs of violence were visible, and medical examiners had mistakenly concluded that some had died of drug overdoses, he said. Still, Rifkin liked to vary his technique from time to time. Confronting them, she was first told that Joel had been detained after a traffic accident, then that he was jailed for a crime which the officers refused to describe. 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. The site he chose was an illegal dump, 200 feet off Rockaway Boulevard, within sight of JFK International Airport. "You know, I first learned he was accused of being a serial killer while I was on the Long Island Expressway," he recalled. In early 1994, it was reported that Rifkin had engaged in a jailhouse scuffle with mass murderer Colin Ferguson. 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. The special also features interviews with Rifkins childhood friends, investigators on the case, as well as those closest to his victims. "I don't know. Rifkin admitted to the 17 slayings after his May 1994 murder conviction in Nassau County. So if a body was found in The Bronx, detectives in Brooklyn might not hear about that for weeks, days, even months sometimes never. Winded from the battle, Rifkin claimed her bra and panties, earrings, ID cards and drug syringe as trophies for his cache. He spent more than four years in solitary confinement I dont care what someone did. Credit: Newsday/K. Rifkin was arrested for soliciting a prostitute on August 22, 1987 in Hempstead, Long Island. Rifkin said. Check out what's clicking today in entertainment. Weary of the pain by February 1987, he took a massive dose of barbiturates and died after four days in a coma. "When I heard his name on the radio, I pulled over. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. After listless sex, Susie again asked Joel to take her out in search of drugs. 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. Check out our sister site VHS WASTELAND. Joel dismembered her body into the East River. "Three were dismembered. He recalls killing one hooker in 1989 and another in 1990, dismembering their bodies and dropping the pieces into Manhattan canals, but the butcher work repulsed him, and he didnt really hit his stride until 1991. The New York Times Next Up Episode 5: Oak Beach The oil drum was a new kink with Rifkin, used at least four times by his count. Jane Doe #1: Rifkin killed an unidentified woman in December 1991 by strangling her to death during sex. The Associated Press contributed to this report. June 29, 1993. Rambo would go on to receive extensive survival and combat training, later becoming a Green Beret in September of 1969. Mary Ann Holloman: Authorities believe that 39-year-old Holloman was killed on January 2, 1992. I had sex with her, then things went bad and I strangled her. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Rifkin had his only real girlfriend in Brockport, but the relationship went nowhere, his paramour recalling Joel as sweet, but always depressed. Back at home with his parents, Rifkin tried Nassau Community College again, attending erratically, earning only 12 credits by the time he finally quit in 1984. In 1965, the family settled in East Meadow, where Joel would spend most of his remaining years. Thats right. According to Robert Mladinich in From the Mouth of the Monster, Joels fantasies included some bondage and some rape, plus a gladiator type thing with two girls that would fight to the death. In some daydreams he raped and stabbed women, but his fantasy victims were silent, just passive about it. After a 1972 viewing of Alfred Hitchcocks Frenzy, loosely based on Londons Jack the Ripper homicides of 1964-65, he fixated on strangling prostitutes. 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.". 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. He was very interested in horticulture and interned at the Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park. Crack addict Mary Ellen DeLuca, a 22-year-old Long Island native, was last seen alive at 11:00 p.m. on September 1, 1991, when she left a group of friends to earn the price of her next fix. Williams would fill another nameless paupers grave until Rifkin confessed to her murder, six months after she was found. If you are interested in joining our team, contact us at June 29, 1993. The neighbor always survives to do the interview afterwards. 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. (Robert Mladinich). Next to him is his attorney, John Lawrence of Mineola. Throughout the 1980s, Rifkin worked a series of odd jobs around Long Island, seldom staying long at any. It seemed like the only people who noticed him were his childhood tormenters,he thought. Attorney John Lawrence, shown in his office June 14,was Joel Rifkin's triallawyer. "There were mini clusters, little sets of three," Rifkin said. His memory was far from perfect. After Rifkin was convicted in Nassau, he was sent to Suffolk where he faced two murder charges. Rifkin found her on May 25, 1992, Memorial Day, working Atlantic Avenue in Queens, and retired to a nearby residential street for sex. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Joel Rifkin is a member of Criminal Does Joel Rifkin Dead or Alive? The murder, detectives gathered, was not his first. 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. State and local detectives found Balch's aunt in New York, who identified her picture this month. She wasnt what they said she was, Gonzales said. It was the smell of death, and it would linger long after the source had been removed. They questioned him for eight hours, but for some reason never recorded the sessions. "As much as I say I wanted to stop, there probably would've been others. "None of them were throwaways.". The rest would be revealed to her on television, hours later, when detectives laid the outline of their case before the media. 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). 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. 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. We have to be more aware when we see people who have been exposed to so much meanness, so much emotional brutality, physical brutality. Simpson. After the Giant game, he says, I realized that this this problem isn't going away.. He was deployed to South Vietnam in September of 1966 with the 101st Airborne, which he would complete two tours of duty with. Lawrence said he paid an enormous toll, starting with the day of the conviction. A childless couple from Upstate New York, Bernard and Jeanne Rifkin, adopted him on Valentines Day and named him Joel David. As before, Joel cut most of his classes, focused for the most part on repairing his truck, renting video porn and trolling for prey. Evens had been the daughter of a civil court judge and had once attended Sarah Lawrence College. 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. Featuring specials about fearsome and fascinating serial killers, its a cant-miss event for true crime fans. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Joel David Rifkin: New York's Most Prolific Serial Killer. Sheriff Teasle hated Rambo because he represented a threat to his own power base. Copyright 2023 Newsday. Compatible with Rabbit or Goat. "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. Joel waited more than a year to claim his second victim. The special revealed that while his mother was out of town, he brought her back home. Jenny Soto is one of Joel Rifkin's victims. Instead, he was a rather meek, unassuming child. At the time, she was pursuing her dreams of becoming a singer and actress. Scattering the remains throughout New York also made it less likely for authorities to notice a pattern. They wound up at a cheap motel, DeLuca first balking at sex and demanding more dope, then rushing through the act, complaining all the while. Success breeds repetition. His landscaping business had folded by then, his landlord clamoring for $700 in overdue rent. In 2013, DNA evidence confirmed that "Susie," his first known victim, was Heidi Balch, a 25-year-old New York City woman who was working as aprostitute. ", "There was always a fascination with strangulations. 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 Rifkin was an unemployed New York landscaper living a dark double life as a prolific serial killer claiming the lives of 17 women, a staggering total. 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. Her body was thrown into the East River. O.J.! Rifkin was ultimately sentenced to 203 years in prison, where he remains to this day. "RifkinonRifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer". 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. Is The New York Review the same as the New York Review of Books? (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Archive Photos/Getty Images). The Rifkins also adopted a daughter, Jan, in 1962. "We kept asking him, 'What about this one?'" Called The Masseuse, the episode first aired on November 18, 1993. MADHATTERDESIGN@GMAIL.COM, Like old school VHS Covers? assessed at 128, but struggled academically in school due to severe dyslexia. Rifkin could not recall the name of number six, murdered a few days shy of Christmas 1991. But Susie has never been identified. "And a lot of them are dangerous people. 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. But other times, Lawrence said his client made him uncomfortable. Joel Rifkin Infamous New York mass murderer Joel Rifkin was caught in June 1993. On December 14, 2001, Rifkin lost his latest appeal of his conviction. Rambo hasnt died and he hasnt found some sort of peace in his life that means hes going to stop fighting. Rifkin had no time to move the corpse, but his mother never knew. Joel Rifkin Death Fact Check Joel is alive and kicking and is currently 64 years old. It was a half-hearted effort at best. 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. March 27, 2013 / 3:17 PM In case there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want you to spend your second life in prison.. 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. Jenny Soto: Jenny Soto'sbody later washed up along the rocks of the Harlem River in November of 1992. I was completely numb. One of the bullies who harassed him later called Rifkin an abuse unit. 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. As much as I say I wanted to stop, there probably wouldve been others, he admitted. Oh please, please, please change your name to O.J.! In 2010, Rifkin was interviewed by ABC's Martin Bashir as part of the Nightline Prime mini-series, Secrets of Your Mind. 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. Credit: Randee Daddona. 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. These are more like giant, professionally produced graphic novels. Rifkin was booked at Hempstead, where homicide detectives launched a marathon interrogation. These are not the kind of flimsy magazines or tiny paperback novels that you are accustomed to. 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.