Long Island Killer Research Paper

The United States of America has more serial killers living in and on it's territory, than any other place in the world. Almost eighty-five percent of serial killers are housed in America. While most serial killers are men, women account for eight percent of the eighty-five in our country. Serial killers are very sick, distraught human beings when compared to others; the reasoning behind this tends to lean towards the mental stability and psychological makeup of the serial killer. Now there are plenty of serial killers to be talked about, but The Long Island Killer is a perfect example of a horrible, sick person.
The Long Island Killer began his killing streak somewhere around 1996. However, the realization of a serial killer did not come

to mind until 2010. The crimes took place in Long Island, New York. This case is well known to some who are not in the state of New York. The case is somewhat well known to others, depending on if the person watches television or not. The killer has had many victims fall under his spell. The Long Island Killer seemed to take interest in killing women who advertised their prostitution services on Craigslist. The investigation began in May of 2010 when Shannan Gilbert ran out of a clients house screaming “they're going to kill me.” Shannan worked as an escort, who advertised her business on Craigslist. Shannan had a driver who took her to the clients houses, picked her up after she was finished, and drove her home. Her driver watched her run out of the clients house, and remotely did nothing. Shannan was beating and banging on neighbors doors pleading for help. Shannan disappeared just moments later, and was never seen again.
In December of the same year, police were training cadaver dogs and stumbled across skeletal remains inside a burlap sack near Ocean Parkway.

After finding remains police continued to search the area to find more clues leading to who was in the burlap sack. Over the next two days, police found three more remains in burlap sacks, in the same area the first set of remains were found. As the search continued for more missing pieces in this very messed up puzzle, by April 2011, four more bodies were discovered in the area. The four sets of remains found more recent were not in burlap sacks, but police continued thinking the killings were connected somehow. Some details have yet to be released. Body parts that had been washed up as far as 50 miles away from the initial site of the remains were later matched with ones found near Ocean Parkway. In 1996, legs washed up on a shore, and were later matched with remains found in April of 2010. The forearm, skull, and hands of Jessica Taylor were matched from remains found 50 miles away in 2003. Over the course of fourteen years, it is known that the Long Island Killer was active from 1996 to 2010. After 2010, no one knows whether he has died, or is still active. If the killer is active in present times, he has found a new place to dump the bodies and remains. The case still remains a mystery.
The Long Island Serial Killer is described to be a white male, in his mid twenties to late thirties. Someone who knows the areas very well. Someone

who also has the ability to buy burlap sacks in bulk, or has access to them at hand. He also may know details on how law enforcement use techniques for looking for him, thus changing his appearance frequently. Most residents near the murders accused Joel Rifkin of being the killer, considering his past killings and four of his victims were never found.
The victims in order of found remains begin with Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was twenty-five, and went missing in July of 2007.

Melissa Bathelemy came next. She was twenty-four, and went missing in July of 2009. Megan Waterman was a twenty-two year old, who went missing in June of 2010. Amber Lynn Costello, a twenty-seven year old woman who went missing in September 2010. All four of the women were connected, little did they know. All four women were strangled, and advertised their services on Craigslist. No one really knows if all the bodies and remains are from the same killer, but most suspect they are. The next remains that will be mentioned, seem to have been a while before the four women who were strangled. The modus operandi seemed to have changed, beginning with Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Jessica Taylor was killed when she was twenty years old. Some of her remains were found in 2003, while the rest were found with the other victims. The remaining victims have yet to be identified, but were located either with the rest of the bodies, or washed up on shore. Jane Doe 6 was presumed to be killed between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. Her remains were discovered in 2000. A young Asian male victim was presumed to be killed between the ages of seventeen and twenty-three. The body of a young child was found near the remains of the Asian man. The child was estimated between the ages of sixteen to twenty-four months old at the time of death. One of the bodies found in

2011 was discovered to be a close relative of the child, maybe even the mother. A young man between the ages of twenty and thirty was found washed up along the shore, his head is still missing, so the identity of the remains is still a mystery. The remains of Shannan Gilbert were found in 2011, in a swamp. An autopsy report claims she had drowned when she fell into the swamp. Shannan's family still believe she was murdered, and filed a lawsuit against the police department in attempt to force them to find more evidence.
The investigation of these murders has been active since 1996, continuing all the way into 2015. Police say the investigation is not a cold case file, and will remain active until the killer is brought into the light. No new information has been discovered since 2011. In some views, this is a good thing. In others, it is horrifying. There is always hope within the families of the victims and families of the unidentified persons, that someone will come forward with new information on the murders and the killer.