The Long Island Ripper

[Abby Normal]

New Story dated Jan. 17, 2020 by Minyvonne Burke for NBC News.

Evidence revealed in serial killer case nearly decade after 11 bodies found https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...cid=spartandhp

thanks curious. but the the lisk is in jail.

[curious]

Thanks, Abby. That's wonderful news. Of course, the release of evidence might just be the Suffolk Police's way of building a stronger case for court OR they may still be looking . . .

[Abby Normal]

yup. but probably the former. john Bittrolff is in jail for the murder of two prositutes who were also dismembered and found alongside a road in LI. they eventually traced back to him through dna. these were probably his first kills and then the lisk started to make more of an attempt to hide the remains after rhese were discovered.

bittrolff lived in manorville LI where two definite lisk victims were found, the prosecuter said he is an official suspect in at least one lisk murder, there is a personal connection between one of bittrolfs victims and a lisk victim, which included phone calls to manorville (police all along said there is a strong connection to manorville and always said the lisk may live there), he was an avid and cruel hunter who had a chop shop shed in back of his house.
the final nail is that the last possible lisk victim was killed around 2012/13 and bittrolff was finally arrested for the previous two 1993 murders in 2014. and surprise surprise. nothing since. bittrolff is the lisk.

[curious]

I've not really followed this lately, but did read a bit about Bittrolff here after running across this story. So, if a prosecutor has named him as a suspect, there you are. But they still need to be sure all "their Ts are crossed and I's dotted," "all their ducks are in a row" and however many other cliches I can find to say "tie up all the loose ends". Since the killings have ceased, it does seem they likely have him.

[jason_c]

An arrest has been made. Let's hope this is the actual perp.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/14/gilgo-beach-lisk-serial-killings-suspect-in-police-custody-report/

[Pcdunn]

Suspect Arrested in Serial Killings of Women Near Gilgo Beach https://nyti.ms/3OeW1PC

More details on the arrest of an architect who lived on Long Island. The possible conclusion to a long unsolved string of murders.

[Abby Normal]

Suspect Arrested in Serial Killings of Women Near Gilgo Beach https://nyti.ms/3OeW1PC

More details on the arrest of an architect who lived on Long Island. The possible conclusion to a long unsolved string of murders.

wow!!!

[Ally]

I watched the press conference and holy **** was the DA a self-congratulatory blowhard. If he's actually the one trying the case it's going to be a miserable slog to watch.

[Indian Harry]

Seems like a white collar Gary Ridgeway if we discount his large physical stature. All the neighbors say he was quiet and agreeable, in short a good neighbor and family man. He is a contradiction though in more ways than the obvious. Professionally he is an architect and it is reported that he took up his late father's hobby of cabinet making. Then you look at his house and it's the smallest and roughest looking home in the whole neighborhood. He has his own architectural firm in Manhattan with 4 other employees including his daughter. His niche seems to be patiently plowing through the red tape involved in the New York building code rather than amassing a portfolio of prestige projects. The other notable thing reported is that at one point he was behind in income tax to the tune of $400,000. So he has measurable signs of success but also enough turmoil and troubles that could have acted as stressors. Of course by now I know that serial killers kind of blend into the background and come from all walks of life, but I certainly wasn't expecting the culprit to be a Manhatten architect.

[Pcdunn]

There are certain details in the investigation that are unusual, to say the least.

DNA recovered from a discarded pizza crust was matched to evidence recovered from three of the nine victims. They're hoping to link a fourth to the suspect.

Apparently, he used victims' phones to call new prospects. At least one phone was used to call a dead woman's family and taunt them.

The astonishing thing to me upon seeing this man in handcuffs was not only his towering size, but the ugliness of his visage. Not a Ted Bundy type, here.

[curious]

There are certain details in the investigation that are unusual, to say the least.

Finding hairs from the suspect's wife with 3 of the 4 they believe tie to the suspect tops my list for unusual details. And, after rereading part of the thread, it appears to me the cases have been separated into groups that have different killers. It was easy to see from the ages of the cases and the differences in the victims-- but just how weird that multiple killers chose the same location to hide bodies.

[Indian Harry]

Finding hairs from the suspect's wife with 3 of the 4 they believe tie to the suspect tops my list for unusual details. And, after rereading part of the thread, it appears to me the cases have been separated into groups that have different killers. It was easy to see from the ages of the cases and the differences in the victims-- but just how weird that multiple killers chose the same location to hide bodies.

My apologies for jumping into speculation territory here but when you combine the hairs from his wife with reports that his family was away during the murders it really makes me think that he brought the victims home. And that, I believe, is how the wife's long hair got transferred to the victims. Whether or not the other murders are linked to him later on remains to be seen. Wouldn't that be something though if multiple killers used the same general area to dispose of the bodies.

[curious]

I had not yet arrived at "he took the victims into his home" explanation. It does make sense. Is he still married? I'm trying to imagine how a wife would react to this . . . On another tact: I was talking about the discussion about john Bittrolff, who was, I was told, "in jail for the murder of two prositutes who were also dismembered and found alongside a road in LI. they eventually traced back to him through dna" Is he still a suspect for some the Long Island murders as Heuermann appears to be being charged with only 4? Also, since Heuermann is 59, he would have been in his 40s (sorry math eoesn't always work for me) isn't that unusually older than normal for serial killers? Does he have a long, as-yet undiscovered, list of victims? OR, perhaps, because of available evidence of cell phones and Internet usage which isn't as plentiful for the earlier murders, they're proving what they can and hoping the aftermath will clear up the others?

[Pcdunn]

It's interesting that we might have multiple killers. I read through this thread last night, and noted there was a discussion as to whether the Long Island murders and the Atlantic City ones were linked or by separate killers.

The suspect's home seems at odds with the man's job as an architectural rules expert. Neighbors said it was old and overgrown. The suspect sometimes returned casual greetings with scowls while chopping wood in the yard.

Parents warned children to avoid going there on Halloween. One father who did take his kids to the door, was surprised when the strange neighbor handed out plastic pumpkins overflowing with candy. (When the wife of the neighbor found out where it came from, she threw it out as suspicious.)

People who knew him from his workplace generally praised his subject knowledge and attention to details. Some considered him "goofy", but appreciated his hard work. He was described as friendly and cracking jokes only a day before his arrest. (They discovered later that he had searched for and viewed a story about The Long Island serial killer case.)

They do seem to have evidence linking this suspect to the taunting phone calls to a victim's 16 year old sister (the'"halfbreed" slur and an eventual admission to killing the victim). Not sure if anger over the loss of the money was a motive or he's just a bigot.

We'll likely hear more developments in this case as time goes by. The suspect, of course, denies he is the serial killer.

[Indian Harry]

Also, since Heuermann is 59, he would have been in his 40s (sorry math eoesn't always work for me) isn't that unusually older than normal for serial killers? Does he have a long, as-yet undiscovered, list of victims? OR, perhaps, because of available evidence of cell phones and Internet usage which isn't as plentiful for the earlier murders, they're proving what they can and hoping the aftermath will clear up the others?

I too found it notable that he would have been in his mid 40s during these murders. Usually waning libido and the natural tendency to become more adverse to risks as you age usually means that serial killers hang it up by then. Dennis Rader, for instance, in his middle age was content to bask in the psychological aspects of his crimes by writing letters and keeping the story alive. He was not committing the rapes and murders anymore. So, yeah an overweight 45 year old wouldn't have been my first guess. I have since heard that none of the Gilgo Beach victims were deposited any further than 25 feet from the road. I guess that part lines up with an out of shape middle aged man.