The Long Island Ripper

[Abby Normal]

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?

hi curious
bitrolf was a suspect in at least one or two of the other gilgo murders according to the prosecutor. but does anyone know if those are now attributed to huerrman?

bitrolf is in jail for the murder and dismemberment of two prostitutes found in suitcases along side of a nearby highway. alot of things tie him to the gilgo beach killings and they stopped when he was arrested for the his previous murders. id be really surprised if he wasnt respinsible for some of the gilgo beach murders.

[curious]

Briefly, I was wondering if his age might mean Heuermann had been arrested for what they could prove and suspect him for the other bodies. But something I read says they believe there's more than one killer. Also, a taskforce for just these 4 appears to have been formed in 2022. So much hinges on WHEN something became known. For instance It was Amber Lynn Costello's friends who saw "the Ogre" and the vehicle. HOWEVER, she was the one who was never reported missing. Apparently she and her roomies were drug addicts and remember tricking Heuermann out of his money one night and then she went to meet him again the next night. I gotta wonder how much of that will actually hold up if this goes to trial.
While I do find it interesting that more than one person would use the same stretch of highway to dump bodies, still there are areas in many locations that have a notorious reputation for cars being rolled into "insurance hole" and bodies being rolled down a mountain along a desolate stretch of road. Bitrolf may very well turn out to be involved in some of the Long Island bodies. But do you consider it likely that Heuermann started killing in his 40s?

[Abby Normal]

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.

uggg. typical DA. not only a blow hard but taking credit for work he didnt even do. and prosecutors are generally cowards..plea dealing ad nauseum, scared to charge....anything than actually going to trial.

[Abby Normal]

Briefly, I was wondering if his age might mean Heuermann had been arrested for what they could prove and suspect him for the other bodies. But something I read says they believe there's more than one killer. Also, a taskforce for just these 4 appears to have been formed in 2022. So much hinges on WHEN something became known. For instance It was Amber Lynn Costello's friends who saw "the Ogre" and the vehicle. HOWEVER, she was the one who was never reported missing. Apparently she and her roomies were drug addicts and remember tricking Heuermann out of his money one night and then she went to meet him again the next night. I gotta wonder how much of that will actually hold up if this goes to trial.
While I do find it interesting that more than one person would use the same stretch of highway to dump bodies, still there are areas in many locations that have a notorious reputation for cars being rolled into "insurance hole" and bodies being rolled down a mountain along a desolate stretch of road. Bitrolf may very well turn out to be involved in some of the Long Island bodies. But do you consider it likely that Heuermann started killing in his 40s?

he probably started killing earlier, or at least had otjer related serious crimes. i dont know enough about him at this point... need to find out more about him before i can form a conclusion on that.

[curious]

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.

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.

At his age . . . well surely he didn't start in his mid 40s. Maybe Atlantic City murders were when his family was home as the Gilgo Four were when Heuermann's family was gone.

Well, he's a researcher, someone who can walk the paperwork through all the roadblocks. A little at odds perhaps, but not everyone uses their homes to "show out" I think I'm surprised to learn that he's married and the wife was ok with the house and property. Or maybe their priorities simply spent their money in other areas.

Well, he's definitely cruel. So whether or not he's a bigot or simply using hurtful words to inflict pain we can't be sure. What about the "anger over the loss of the money was a motive" ? Did he lose money with Barthelemy too? Wasn't it her sister who received calls? Wasn't it Amber Lynn Costello who is supposed to have cheated him one night then went back to meet him the next? (huge no-no there! She knew how big he was, surely he was mad even if he pretended too dumb to understand what had happened.) He got lucky and Costello was never reported missing. I'm wondering about a lot of that story and how much is hindsight once the focus landed on Heuermann.

This is sure to be interesting. Also, it's reassuring to know how detailed LE is being in this investigation and surely the other victims too.

[Pcdunn]

In Gilgo Beach Killings, an Arrest Bears Out a Decade-Old Prediction https://nyti.ms/3rwFIEV

Article about the 2011 profile of the LISK, noting the current suspect ticked many boxes for traits listed for the unsub.

[Aethelwulf]

In Gilgo Beach Killings, an Arrest Bears Out a Decade-Old Prediction https://nyti.ms/3rwFIEV

Article about the 2011 profile of the LISK, noting the current suspect ticked many boxes for traits listed for the unsub.

Most people on here seem to chuck a hissy fit whenever the ripper FBI profile is mentioned. Seems that not all FBI profiles are rubbish...

[Fiver]

In Gilgo Beach Killings, an Arrest Bears Out a Decade-Old Prediction https://nyti.ms/3rwFIEV

Article about the 2011 profile of the LISK, noting the current suspect ticked many boxes for traits listed for the unsub.

Checks many boxes? How many boxes didn't it check? If he checked three boxes out of five, that's a somewhat useful profile. If he checked three boxes out of fifteen, that's a worse than useless profile.

[Pcdunn]

In Gilgo Beach Case, a Wife Nearby but Apparently Unknowing https://nyti.ms/43BkcvL

This article focuses on the suspect's wife. She was away whenever the crimes took place, and apparently unaware of them. She has not been charged, though police say finding some of her hairs on some victims helped narrow the search to her husband. The family had two daughters. The wife and kids did errands together, but the suspect never accompanied them in public.

I have also read or heard that:
-- Suspect seemed to take trophies from his victims, kept away from the house in a rented storage unit (not uncommon in some modern serial killer cases.)
-- Las Vegas police are looking for cold cases that have a similar m.o., as the suspect's company had a time-share apartment for use of employees. They apparently want to see if his business trips or vacation time matched any disappearances or unsolved killings with a similar victim type.
-- 7 burner phones allowed the suspect to conceal his calls to potential victims, taunts to their relatives, and his searches for "cruel pornography."

[Pcdunn]

Checks many boxes? How many boxes didn't it check? If he checked three boxes out of five, that's a somewhat useful profile. If he checked three boxes out of fifteen, that's a worse than useless profile.

Bright, Careful and Sadistic: Profiling Long Island’s Mystery Serial Killer https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/n...y-profile.html

These traits from the profile match current suspect:
White male.
Aged 20s to 40s.
Intelligent, educated.
Married or has a girlfriend.
Employed, regular job, well- paid.
Has an expensive car or truck.

An additional one was about the unsub's access to burlap sacks due to "his job or interests", but I'm not sure it fits this guy. They would be around building or landscaping sites, so perhaps?

[Indian Harry]

An additional one was about the unsub's access to burlap sacks due to "his job or interests", but I'm not sure it fits this guy. They would be around building or landscaping sites, so perhaps?

During the initial press conference on Friday the DA indicated that the burlap was not the kind most people envision but was instead a special camouflage type used by duck hunters. Seeing how he owned 200 guns maybe he did do some hunting. In this case possessing this specialized burlap could line up with his hobbies or interests. In the end though the camouflaged burlap was used to keep the bodies hidden from view.

On another note I have a theory on why so much of his wife's hair was found on the victims. I believe that he cleaned the bodies in a bathtub used primary by his wife in order to clean away his DNA. Ironically while doing so he transferred his wife's hairs onto the bodies. Again, this is just a theory.

[Pcdunn]

^Interesting information about the camo burlao, thanks.
.Also intriguing idea about the hairs and bathtub.

[Fiver]

Most people on here seem to chuck a hissy fit whenever the ripper FBI profile is mentioned. Seems that not all FBI profiles are rubbish...

To the best of my knowledge, no criminal has been caught by profiling.

[Aethelwulf]

To the best of my knowledge, no criminal has been caught by profiling.

I didn't say they had just an interesting resource to evaluate

[Indian Harry]

To the best of my knowledge, no criminal has been caught by profiling.

Maybe so, but profiling can play an important role going forward to 'inform' the interrogation strategy. For instance assuming that his veneer of outer confidence isn't as well formed as that of a Ted Bundy or Dennis Rader the media portrayals of him as a monster and ogre can open up some old wounds. This can be exploited. The interrogators can approach him with the angle of, "Listen we don't think you are a monster. But you did some monstrous things as a result of suffering experienced during your formative years.... none of that can be undone, but going forward you can make some amends. You can help bring closure." Additionally appeal to his intellect and let him figure out that there is no realistic way to beat the charges and provide him the opportunity to cooperate and avoid a trial with a quick guilty plea. And then of course continue to keep him on suicide watch, as they have been, because like Epstein and McAfee his pragmatism and intelligence could really cause him to weigh the situation and decide to 'punch out.'