The Long Island serial killer also referred to as LISK , the Gilgo Beach Killer or the Craigslist Ripper is an unidentified suspected serial killer who is believed to have murdered 10 to 16 people over a period of nearly 20 years, mostly women associated with prostitution , and left their bodies in areas on the South Shore of Long Island , New York. The remains of four victims were found in December , while six more sets of remains were found in March and April On May 9, , authorities surmised that two of the newest sets of remains might be the work of a second killer.
They also had concluded that the case of Shannan Gilbert, an escort who went missing before the first set of bodies were found, was not related. In May Suffolk County Police were searching for Shannan Gilbert, a year-old woman from New Jersey , who was working as an escort and was reported missing on May 1 of that year.
In December , a police officer and his dog, on a routine training exercise, discovered the first body: "the skeletal remains of a woman in a nearly disintegrated burlap sack. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said, "Four bodies found in the same location pretty much speaks for itself. It's more than a coincidence. We could have a serial killer. A few months later, in late March and early April , four more bodies were discovered in another area off the parkway, near Oak Beach and Gilgo Beach.
Suffolk Police expanded the search area up to the Nassau County border, looking for more victims. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department said that his office will "further explore and investigate any criminal activity which may be in close proximity to the recently discovered human remains found in Suffolk.
Five days later, the search for more bodies began in Nassau County. An additional set of partial human remains was found, as well as a separate skull, bringing the potential total number of victims found since December to ten. On September 20, police released composite sketches of two of the unidentified victims whose remains were found in March and April an Asian male and Jane Doe No. On November 29, police announced that they believed one person is responsible for all 10 murders, and that the person is almost certainly from Long Island.
The single killer theory was related to common characteristics among the condition and forensic evidence related to the bodies. On December 13, , police announced that the remains of Shannan Gilbert were found in a marsh about half a mile from where she had disappeared. A week earlier, they had found some of her clothes and belongings in the same vicinity. Police believe that Gilbert accidentally drowned after stumbling into the marsh. Her mother disagrees.
Gilbert was last seen banging on a resident's door and screaming for help before running off into the night. Gilbert made a call that night, saying she feared for her life. The day before, former Police Commissioner James Burke, who resigned in October, had been indicted for alleged police brutality and other issues. The FBI had previously assisted in the search for victims, but was never officially part of the investigation. On September 12, , Suffolk County prosecutor Robert Biancavilla, from the county DA's office, announced that John Bittrolff , a carpenter from Manorville , Long Island, who was convicted in May and sentenced in September in the homicides of two prostitutes in and , was a suspect in at least one of the LISK murders.
Bittrolff had been linked to the s murders by DNA. The police made no comment, as the LISK homicide investigation is active. On January 16, , Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart released images of a belt found at the crime scene with the letters "HM" or "WH" depending on which way the belt was looked at embossed in the black leather. The belt was found during the initial investigation near Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach.
Police believe the belt was handled by the perpetrator and did not belong to any of the victims. The police revealed few details regarding this piece of evidence, and would not comment on exactly where the belt was found. It was also announced that new scientific evidence was being used in the investigation, and that they had launched gilgonews. However, as of February the site is not operational. The media has speculated about a profile of the killer, referred to by police as "Joe C" unknown subject.
According to the New York Times, it is most likely a white male in his mids to mids who is very familiar with the South Shore of Long Island and has access to burlap sacks , which he uses to hold the bodies for disposal. Newsday reporters speculated that serial killer Joel Rifkin , a former resident on LI, may have been responsible for some of the older remains found in March and April Four of the victims' complete bodies were never found. On December 15, , the attorney for Gilbert's family said that an escort who had conducted business with former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke claimed he was connected to the Long Island murders.
Burke had pleaded guilty in February to charges of a civil rights violation and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Biancavilla stated that Bittrolff was likely responsible for the deaths of other women, and that there were similarities between the Gilgo Beach crime scenes and Bittrolff's known murders, for which he was convicted in May and sentenced in September.
Bittrolff was arrested in , linked by DNA found on two prostitute homicide victims, Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee, whose bodies were found in and , respectively. The match had been made through DNA submitted by his brother, who was convicted in in an unrelated case.
Bittrolff's attorney rejected the prosecutor's assertion. Biancavilla said that Bittrolff was a hunter who was said to enjoy the killing of animals. The grown daughter of Rita Tangredi, one of Bittrolff's known victims, was reported to be "best friends" with Melissa Barthelemy, one of the Gilgo Beach victims. Joseph Brewer, an Oak Beach resident, was one of the last people known to have seen Shannan Gilbert alive. He hired her as an escort from Craigslist on the night of her disappearance.
Brewer said that shortly after Gilbert arrived at his residence, she began acting erratically and fled into the night. Gilbert was reportedly seen running through Oak Beach, pounding on the doors of homes in Brewer's neighborhood. Around this time, Gilbert called , saying that "they were trying to kill her". However, police did not find any evidence of wrongdoing, and Brewer was quickly cleared as a suspect.
Two days after Gilbert's disappearance, Dr. She later recounted that he said he was taking care of Gilbert, and that he "ran a home for wayward girls. Investigators later confirmed through phone records that Hackett called Mari twice following the disappearance. The marshy area where Gilbert's remains were found was also noted as near Hackett's backyard.
Gilbert's family filed a wrongful death suit against Hackett in November , claiming that he took Gilbert into his home that morning and administered drugs to her, facilitating her death. Later police revealed that Hackett had a history of inserting himself into, or exaggerating his role in, certain major events. Police also noted that Hackett's wife and two children were home on the night of Gilbert's disappearance. Of the ten bodies or sets of remains found since late , the four discovered in December have been identified as missing sex workers who all advertised their services on Craigslist.
Each had been strangled and her body wrapped in a burlap sack before being dumped along Gilgo Beach. The four sets of remains discovered on March 29 and April 4 were all within two miles and to the east of those found in December. They included two women, a man, and a toddler. These additional cases have not been officially linked to the other 10 bodies, but are being reviewed by police:.
Numerous films and television programs have covered the case, [74] e. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see Internet homicide. Unidentified American serial killer. Archived from the original on April 7, Retrieved April 4, Fox News. April 4, Retrieved April 9, New York. April 11, April 13, The New York Times. New York Daily News. Retrieved November 30, Associated Press. May 14, Retrieved June 18, ABC News. Retrieved April 12, April 5, Archived from the original on April 9, April 6, New York Post.
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