Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “Joel the Ripper” Pt. 2 - Joel Rifkin

Episode Date: June 24, 2019

Just before he strangled a victim, Joel Rifkin could hear laughter ringing in his ears. The sounds of his high school bullies had never really left him and that residual shame stuck with Joel as he cruised Manhattan for over two years, murdering at least 17 women by 1991. Parcasters - This week on The Dark Side Of we dig into the trial of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and the media frenzy that followed. You might think you know the story, but the truth is much darker! Available now on Spotify or wherever you listen to Parcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Joel Rifkin handed his expected mother back her car keys. She had asked him to have the car back by 10 p.m. As the sun rose over Long Island, he knew why she was rightfully furious. She jumped in the car and went out to do errands. Back home, Joel held his breath.

He wasn't usually so anxious when his mother took the car, but today was a special occasion. When she arrived home a few hours later, in a relatively good mood, Joel sighed with relief. He went out to the car and popped the trunk. He exhaled. Everything was fine. The body was still there. Hi, I'm Greg Paulson.

This is serial killers. A PARCAST original. Every Monday, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today we continue our deep dive into the life of Joel Rifkin, whose obsession with the Hitchcock film Frenzy inspired him to murder at least 17 female sex workers in Long Island and Manhattan between 1989 and 1993. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson.

Hi, everyone. At PARCAST, we're grateful for you, our listeners, you allow us to do what we love. Let us know how we're doing. Reach out on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast. And Twitter at Parcast Network. And if you enjoyed today's episode, the best way to help us is to leave a five-star review

wherever you're listening. It really does help. We also now have merchandise. Head to Parcast.com slash merch for more information. Last week, we explored Rifkin's childhood and the relentless bullying that lasted through high school. Joel entered adulthood feeling isolated and lonely, largely keeping to himself and the sex workers he solicited. It was the death of his father in 1988 that finally caused him to snap and kill three sex workers over the course of 1989 and 1990.

This week we'll dive into the 14 frenzied murders, Rifkin committed between 1991 and 1993. We'll also take you through Rivkin's unarmed. trial in which his attorneys claimed he suffered from adopted child syndrome and was legally insane. In July of 1991, 32-year-old Rifkin murdered 31-year-old Barbara Jacobs disposing of her in the Hudson River. As had happened after his previous two kills, Joel was on a high, which ballooned as police struggled to find a killer. But this time, the excitement of the kill wore off after only a couple of months. Joel figured that the thrill of Barbara's murder must not have been quite right. Something about it had failed to satisfy his needs. In actuality, Joel's cooling-off period was

shortening, a telltale sign that a killer's career was about to begin in earnest. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. According to criminology professor and author Scott Bonn, as serial killers become more comfortable with murder, the thrill of the kill starts to dull. Some killers react to this diminished excitement

by increasing the brutality of their crimes. Other killers, like Rifkin, begin killing more frequently. But Rifkin himself cited another factor in his decision to ramp up his killing career. After getting away with Barbara's murder, Joel realized that nobody was putting much effort into solving the murder of sex workers. If he was careful, he would likely never be caught.

It was the birth of two Joel Rifkins, the friendly landscaper by day, the predatory killer by night. Given these new parameters, he quickly began planning his next murder just four months later in September 1991. Joel would have killed again sooner, but he was waiting for his mother to go out of town so he'd have the house to himself. One of the downsides of still living at home at 32.

But much to his frustration, his mother didn't seem to be making any travel plans. He was going to have to get creative. One balmy evening in the first week of September, Rifkin spent a few hours cruising through Manhattan's seedy side streets, until he passed a young female sex worker who captured his interest. At first glance, he knew 22-year-old Mary Ellen DeLuca would be the perfect victim. She looked wounded, the kind of person who might have burned bridges, a person nobody would miss. Rifkin brought Mary Ellen to a rundown motel,

where they spent the night engaging in intercourse in their hotel room. But when he woke up the next morning, Rifkin began strangling Mary Ellen in her sleep. According to Rifkin, Mary Ellen didn't put up a fight, which surprised him. He asked her if she wanted to die, and she told him yes. He later told police that he thought he did her a favor. It's heartbreaking to think that if Rivkin's account was accurate, he truly was a master at spotting victims who would be easy prey.

It seems as though the biggest threat Mary Ellen posed was postmortem, when Rifkin was deciding how to get her body out of the hotel. hotel room without being seen. Despite his usual careful planning, he hadn't thought about how he'd actually get her out of the hotel room in broad daylight. For a moment, he even started to panic until he remembered a scene from frenzy in which the killer hides a body in a chest before company arrives. Following suit, Rifkin went out and purchased a steamer trunk. He then forced Mary's body into the trunk and loaded it into his car. Rifkin drove until he hit Orange County, where he pulled into a rest stop outside of Cornwall and deposited the trunk.

Of all his kills, this was the sloppiest one so far. He didn't make any attempt to wipe his fingerprints off the trunk or conceal the trunk in any capacity. At this point, it appeared Rifkin simply wasn't worried about law enforcement connecting any of his crimes back to him. And sure enough, Mary's body wasn't found for another month. A coroner was unable to determine how she died, and nobody was able to confirm her identity. Mary Ellen was buried in 1991 as a Jane Doe. But even after killing Mary Ellen, Rifkin's appetite for murder still hadn't been satiated. At first, he tried to stave off his urge by sleeping with sex workers more frequently, but he found himself bored, listless.

One evening, in September of 1991, only a few weeks after killing Mary, Ellen, Rifkin was feeling antsy. He'd had a tough day at work, and it needed something to help him calm down. He made the drive into Manhattan, where he picked up the first sex worker he saw. The two engaged in intercourse in the back of Rifkin's car, and when he finished, Rifkin told the young woman she could leave, but sex hadn't sated him. Rifkin began to cruise around in his car again. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, but he had a feeling he'd know where he'd know what it was when he saw it. Around 3 a.m. that night, he saw it.

She was 31-year-old Yon Lee, a sex worker he had been with on a few previous occasions. Rifkin was happy to see a familiar face. He slowed his car to a stop and asked Yon if she'd like to get in. Rivkin drove them to a nearby parking lot, where the two began to engage in intercourse, as per usual. Except something was wrong this time. Rifkin was having trouble performing. Yon assured him it was fine, happened all the time,

but Rifkin grew agitated. His cheeks reddened in humiliation. He sought out the company of sex workers as a way to feel in control. This wasn't the night he'd imagined. He felt as helpless as he had in high school when he couldn't get through a first date with a woman, let alone go to bed with her. It was like he could hear his high school bullies taunting him,

laughing in his ear. Yon's dismissal of the problem did nothing to help. Rifkin began to sweat until finally he snapped. He hadn't intended to strangle Yon. He barely knew what happened until after it was over. She had struggled, but it barely registered over the sound of laughter ringing in his ears. Laughter that only seemed to go silent as the life drained from Yun. As he stared at her lifeless body, a woman he had almost considered a friend.

he felt something strange, remorse, and even less likely companion. Rifkin later admitted that the feeling was only fleeting, but it was nonetheless distinct. He felt guilty for taking the life of a person he had known intimately. Rifkin later mused, actually, I thought I liked her. Rifkin was somewhat unique as a serial killer, and that he likely didn't have antisocial personality disorder. Instead, he was possibly a hyper compartmentalizer. According to psychiatrist Dr. Mark Goulston, someone who can quickly compartmentalize disturbing thoughts or behaviors have a compartmentalized mind, as opposed to an integrated

one. This kind of hardwiring allowed Rifkin to kill sex workers at night and still get to his day job on time. Probably because he knew Yon Lee and had met her on several occasions, she had bled into two boxes, that of friend and that of victim. The guilt reflected a moment in which Rifkin's identity as a killer merged with his normal life. But Rifkin's guilt over murdering Yun Lee was fleeting, and in the meantime, his cooling off period was rapidly shrinking. It was becoming harder for him to feel like he had gotten his fix. Almost immediately after the murder of Yon, Joel started dreaming

about his next victim. And now that he... had successfully killed two women outside of his mother's home, he felt less tied to her travel schedule. He held off as long as he could, but three months later, in December 1991, he claimed a sixth victim. In later interviews with police, Rifkin couldn't recall the name of this victim or where he dumped her body. But he remembered that he picked her up on West 46th Street in Manhattan, took her back to her

car and strangled her while she was performing oral sex. In hindsight, it seems odd that Rifkin didn't recall much of this murder because it actually marked a somewhat momentous occasion. It was the first time Rifkin used a 55-gallon oil drum to hide his victim's remains. In a move that has since been immortalized by the TV show Dexter, Rifkin severed this victim's body and stuffed her remains in the oil drum he stole from a recycling plant where he used to work. It was a stroke of sickening genius. To this day, the sixth victim has never been found. Rifkin liked the oil drum method. It was a contained, clean way to dispose of bodies. Following his December murder, he went out and quickly bought several oil drums, anxiously awaiting the chance to fill them.

He got that chance, only a few weeks later. On December, 26, 1991. 28-year-old Lorraine Orvieto grew up in Long Island, where she enjoyed a happy childhood. She was a cheerleader in high school, popular and well-liked. But Lorraine began to suffer from mood swings in her early 20s, and she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. From there, Lorraine started to spiral. She turned to cocaine in an effort to control her depressive episodes, but her cocaine habit was expensive, and so she took to the strength.

streets at night, selling her body in an effort to pay for drugs. Rifkin picked up Lorraine on December 26th in Bayshore Long Island. It's possible that peppy, attractive Lorraine reminded Rifkin of the cheerleaders who had bullied him so mercilessly in high school. That something about her made his ears ring with that distant, taunting laughter. Rifkin pulled over to the side of the road, asked her to perform oral sex, then strangled He stuffed her corpse into an oil drum and dropped it into Coney Island Creek. As the barrel sank to the bottom like lead, Rifkin smiled to himself, the sound of laughter

fading as the barrel disappeared beneath the surface. In a moment, Joel's killings get too close to home. Now back to the story. By December 1991, 32-year-old Joel Rifkin, had killed seven women, seemingly as a way of getting back at his high school bullies. Of course, none of the women he killed had known him in high school, but Joel didn't seem to mind the incoherent logic. In reality, any logic he tried to apply to his killing career

was nothing more than cowardly justification. Joel Rifkin liked killing and began praying on sex workers more often, so much so that each kill began to bleed together. In a later confession, Rifkin recalled little about his eighth victim, other than the fact that her name was Mary Holloman. He recalled almost nothing about the ninth woman he killed. He did remember that both women, like most of his victims, suffered from addiction issues and were sex workers who he picked up in a seedier part of Manhattan sometime during the winter or early spring of 1992. He also recalled that his ninth victim had tattoos and put up a good fight. But as Rifkin had learned in high school, the stronger bully always wins out.

Meanwhile, police still had no interest in investigating these disappearances. So needless to say, Rifkin was off the radar, which only made him grow bolder in his kills. Late one morning in April 1992, Rifkin drove his well-worn path into Manhattan and began searching for a victim. It was the first time he had ever gone hunting during the daytime, a flagrant display of his confidence that he would never be caught. He met Iris Sanchez in the same place he met all his first dates, a seedy back alley littered with trash and cardboard housing. Iris suffered from addiction and needed money for a fix. To her, Rifkin's timing was Kismet. He offered to take her to a nearby housing project, where he promised she would have a nice view of the Manhattan Skyline.

The thought of it almost made Iris laugh. It wasn't every day a John worried about paying for sex in a romantic atmosphere. It was almost charming, in a way. She agreed to go with him. Of course, the view of the skyline was the last thing she'd ever see, as the world went black around her. Ripkin strangled her during intercourse, then took her body to an illegal dump site near JFK Airport.

He hid her under a filthy mattress, where her corpse would decompose for all. over a month. Rifkin was developing a pattern of preying on addicts. This was a calculated decision. First of all, individuals who deal with substance abuse are marginalized by society, doubly so as his victims also engaged in sex work. They were less likely to be missed by family and friends, and law enforcement was less likely

to devote resources to investigating their disappearances. If a member of one of these marginalized groups was found dead, coroners tended to to rule their deaths and overdose, if they had even trace amounts of illegal drugs in their systems. It allowed Rifkin a great deal of earned confidence that nobody would ever come looking for him. Which allowed him to go hunting just a month after Iris's murder. While her body still lay under a mold-soaked mattress somewhere near the airport, Rifkin pulled up next to 33-year-old Anna Lopez. Anna was a mother of three and engaged in sex work to support.

her children, and a cocaine habit she was struggling to kick. Rifkin killed her and stuffed her into an oil drum, dumping her body somewhere off I-84 in Putnam County. It was found the next day by a motorist who had stopped to relieve himself on the side of the road. Police knew Anna had been murdered. This was clearly no drug overdose. But Rifkin never popped up as a suspect, likely because his DNA wasn't in the system. Her case went cold. By the fall of 1992, Rifkin had successfully killed 11 women, the only real accomplishment in his eyes that he could claim in his 33 years of life. Around the same time, his mother announced that she'd be going out of town on a business trip. It was the first time in over a year,

Rifkin had been able to enjoy a weekend at home to himself, and he was certain to make the most of it. Only a few hours after his mother left the house, Rifkin jumped in his car and headed to Manhattan, where he picked up a 21-year-old sex worker named Violet O'Neill. Rifkin took Violet home, where the two engaged in intercourse. Once they were through, Rifkin strangled Violet while she was still in his childhood bed. Rifkin then took Violet's corpse into his bathtub, where he dismembered her, before stuffing her various body parts into a tarpaulin. It had been a while since he disposed of a victim like this.

He spent the evening driving around, dumping Violet's dismembered remains into various bodies of water surrounding Manhattan. Her torso later surfaced in the Hudson River, and her arms and legs were eventually found in a discarded suitcase in an abandoned parking lot. Per usual, nobody thought to tie Rifkin to Violet's murder. And when his mother returned from her trip, she appeared blissfully unaware that her bathtub had been used for dismembering human remains. If anything, she was just glad that Rifkin had washed his own bedsheets for once.

Rifkin had enjoyed having the house to himself for the weekend, but not enough to get a place of his own. So while he was waiting for his mother to get another business trip on the books, he once again got creative with where he could kill his next victims. If it seems like Rifkin had nothing in his life but killing, it's because that was largely true. Having spent the majority of his childhood and adolescence bullied, Rifkin's only friends were the ones that money had paid for. It's a common cliche that those who were bullied become bullies, and considering how

Rifkin treated the women he killed, it seems in his case it was true. But his issues run much deeper than that. According to social worker and author Katie Hurley, the long-term effects of childhood bullying include risks of antisocial behavior, lack of education, and unemployment. These hallmarks are generally compounded issues stemming from a myriad of insecurities caused by bullying. But in a roundabout way, Rifkin seemed obsessed with the idea of revenge, whether he fully understood that or not.

He was never able to fully let go of the bullying that plagued him. his adolescence. He never recognized the fact that despite the cruelty of his classmates, he could still develop into a well-functioning adult person. According to Vanessa Van Edwards, author and behavioral investigator for the science of people, while revenge is often seen as a way of getting closure, it, in fact, has the opposite effect. She writes, even though the first few moments feel rewarding in the brain, psychological scientists have found that instead of quenching hostility, revenge prolongs the unpleasantness of the original offense. Instead of delivering justice, revenge often creates only a cycle of retaliation. She closes out

her section with an apt quote from Francis Bacon. A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal. This is rarely so relevant as in the case of Joel Rifkin, whose cooling off period seemed to mirror the size of of retaliation. He would get a rush in the wake of a kill, only to be left feeling empty and listless once the adrenaline had subsided. But Rifkin didn't understand any of this. He believed his urge to kill was akin to hunger. It could be sated, but it would always come back. Only a couple of weeks later, on October 2nd of 1992, Rifkin drove to Manhattan where he picked up 31-year-old Mary Catherine William.

Mary Catherine was a special case, as she and Rifkin had seemingly been dating. It's unclear whether this relationship had been mutual or for hire, but he seemed to know her even better than Young Lee. Mary Catherine was beautiful. In fact, she had been her high school's homecoming queen and a cheerleader in college before moving to New York to pursue a career in acting. But when her career stalled, she fell into a familiar pattern. She became addicted to cocaine and began

sex work to pay for her habit. It was on the streets of Manhattan that Rifkin initially met Mary Catherine several months before he murdered her. Rifkin later told law enforcement that he and Mary Catherine had enjoyed a great time in the past. But October 2nd wasn't going as well as their previous dates. Mary Catherine seemed distracted, even disinterested. When Rifkin caught her dozing off in the passenger seat of his car, it brought to mind

the numerous times the cheerleaders at Rifkin's high school had spurned him. Rifkin attacked her in her sleep, strangling the life out of her. But this time, he didn't feel remorse. He just felt release. On November 16th of 1992, a little over a month after murdering Mary Catherine, Rifkin struck again, this time attacking 23-year-old Jenny Sourn. Soto. Jenny fought back, breaking all ten of her fingernails as she clawed at Rifkin's face and neck. Rivkin later described Soto as the toughest one to kill. Her claw marks were so noticeable that he did not strike again for another 15 weeks. But eventually, Rifkin's wounds

healed, the physical ones anyway, and that sent him back into Manhattan in the winter of 1993, just after his 34th birthday. In February and April of 1993, Rifkin murdered 28-year-old Leah Evans, and then 30-year-old Lauren Marquez, both of whom were addicts and sex workers. Six weeks later, on June 24th, Rifkin picked up 22-year-old Tiffany Brashiani.

Tiffany was a southern beauty from Metairie, Louisiana, who had come to New York to pursue her dreams, of singing and dancing, but she quickly became addicted to heroin and began working the streets to fund her habit. Unfortunately for Tiffany, Rifkin had been having a difficult week. He'd been working long hours, and his pickup truck had broken down, which meant that he had to borrow his mother's car whenever he wanted to go anywhere. Rifkin was putting a lot of miles on his mother's car, as he had been making trips to

Manhattan almost every night that week to blow off steam with sex workers. Tiffany was the fourth sex worker he had solicited over a two-day span. And while the first three sex workers had lived, Tiffany wasn't so lucky. Rivkin claims that sex with her had felt unsatisfying, so he decided to escalate things to a place he knew would give him that sense of release. He took her to the secluded parking lot of the New York Post and strangled her. Rifkin hadn't initially planned to kill Tiffany, but at this point he was well prepared to handle the aftermath.

After Tiffany was dead, Rifkin threw her body into the backseat of his mother's car, stopped off for some rope and a tarpaulin, and then returned home with Tiffany's bound and tied body in the trunk of the car. Rifkin presumably intended to dismember Tiffany as soon as he got home, as he had done with his previous victims. But when Rifkin arrived at his house, he was presented with yet another problem. It was now well into the morning,

and his mother, Jean, was already awake. Worse yet, Jean was irritated with Rifkin for borrowing her car and leaving her stranded. She was frustrated that he'd been using her car so frequently, and she demanded the keys to her car immediately so that she could go grocery shopping. If Rifkin was rattled by his mother's request, he didn't show it.

He managed to maintain his composition. It's possible that Rifkin simply wasn't concerned. After all, he'd been killing in his mother's home for the better part of two years with her, none the wiser. Or considering the circumstances, he just didn't see any way of keeping the car without arousing his mother's suspicions. Whatever the case, Jean got into her car and went about her errands, oblivious to the fact that she was driving around town with a body in her trunk. When Jean returned home, Rifkin quickly moved Tiffany out of the trunk and into his garage. At this point, a few hours after killing, Rifkin would usually take his victims into his basement, dismember them, and then dispose of their bodies. But that was the old Joel, the one that was scared of getting caught.

The new, infallible, Joel Rifkin left Tiffany's body in his garage for the next three days while he worked on fixing his cell. pickup truck. It's unclear why Rifkin decided to leave Tiffany's body in his garage for so long, especially since it was summertime, and the body would have begun to decompose in New York's sweltering heat. It's possible that his mother's presence threw a wrench in the mix, since Rifkin was accustomed to dismembering his victims when his mother was out of town. Perhaps once he took Tiffany's body to his house, he found himself trapped. But another explanation could also apply. According to the FBI, criminal profiling division, many serial killers eventually start to believe that they are above the law.

We know from Rifkin's own testimony that he had felt as if law enforcement never would catch on to him, so it's possible that he just didn't feel any rush to dispose of the body, particularly since he didn't enjoy dismemberment. Whatever the explanation, Rifkin finally got his act together on the night of June 28, 1993, when he loaded Tiffany's dismembered corpse into the back of his truck and prepared to dispose of her remains. He pulled out of the driveway on a high. He had literally sat on a body for three days and still hadn't been caught. He could go on like this forever. But as they say, to everything there is a season, and the winds of change were in the air.

Next, Joel's luck finally runs out. Now, back to the story. On the evening of June 28, 1993, 34-year-old Joel Rifkin was making his way to the outskirts of town to dump the body of Tiffany Brushiani. But Rifkin had done something incredibly stupid. While repairing his truck over the past week, he had taken off the license plates,

and he hadn't yet put them back on. A couple of state troopers saw Rifkin's vehicle, and immediately noted it as the license. They threw on their lights in an attempt to pull Rifkin over, and Rifkin panicked. After all, he had a dead body in the backseat of his car. What if they wanted to search his vehicle? He decided his best bet was to try to lose the cops, resulting in a strange kind of police chase. When we envision police chases, they're usually high-speed pursuits that capture news headlines. This was slightly less exciting. Rifkin had little experience on the wrong.

of the law, and he certainly wasn't equipped with the skills to make a fast getaway. The entire chase took place at about 35 miles per hour. Despite this grandmotherly pace, Rivkin lost control of his vehicle after 20 minutes and crashed into a utility pole outside the courthouse in Mineola, New York. As the state troopers handcuffed Rifkin against his truck, they suddenly caught a whiff of something awful coming from the vehicle. They realized with horror that they might know why he was trying so hard to get away from them. One of the officers shown his flashlight into the back seat and saw the blue tarpaulin.

The officer's dread continued to grow as he made his way to the back of the truck, peeled back the tarp, and found himself staring at Tiffany's decomposing and dismembered corpse. At this point, Rifkin had no choice but to give himself up. He admitted to the officers that Tiffany was a sex worker who he had picked up several days ago and murdered, and the officers quickly hauled him into the station for questioning. Of course, at this point, police believed that Rifkin had murdered one female sex worker. They had no idea the brutality that his confession was about to unearth. At the police precinct, Rifkin readily shared all the details of Tiffany's murder,

And then, to the officer's great surprise, Rifkin launched into a detailed eight-hour confession of the 16 other murders he had committed. It's unclear why Rifkin confessed to all of these crimes. Perhaps he figured he'd been caught anyway. Or perhaps it was just that once the damn broke, Rifkin couldn't help but keep going. According to the officer's later accounts, Rifkin delivered these gruesome confessions with gusto. as of sharing a compelling story with friends. For the first time in his life, he had the spotlight. At first, the officers weren't sure whether or not to believe Rifkin.

He had described his crimes so casually that they thought he might have been toying with them. They decided to pay a visit to Rifkin's house to investigate further. Rifkin's mother was shocked when police officers showed up at her doorstep with a warrant. They told her that her son had been detained following a little. low-speed car chase and that he was currently in jail for another crime, but they refused to divulge any further details. Jean couldn't imagine what Joel could have done to get himself into so much trouble. She was stunned when she later saw a news report about her son and learned of the

heinous crimes he had confessed to. In the meantime, police made their way into Rifkin's bedroom, where they found an array of items belonging to women, including underwear and other clothing, purses, wallets, state IDs, jewelry, makeup, even a few prescription medications. It was, to say the least, an avalanche of evidence. Police believed that Rifkin held on to these trophies as a way of feeling powerful, a way to relive the thrill of each murder. Rifkin enjoyed a rabid fantasy life. These trophies likely enabled him to secretly bask in the glory of his kills

so that he could continue living a more subdued life in public. In addition to his collection of trophies, police also found a large stash of pornographic videos and a vast collection of books about various serial killers. Law enforcement officials would come to believe that Rifkin was using the books as study materials, reading up on successful killers to help him more skillfully execute his own crimes.

After thoroughly combing Rifkin's bedroom, police made their way to his garage, where they made their most horrifying discoveries. Police found a wheelbarrow with three ounces of human blood. They also found several tools that were covered in blood, including a chainsaw that was covered in both blood and human flesh. Surprisingly, his mother hadn't noticed any of this mess in the garage. Police had no doubt. At least some of Rifkin's story was true. And while investigators were searching Rifkin's home for physical evidence, Rifkin was dutifully writing down a list of all of his kills, complete with every date, name, and dumping location that he could recall. It was unclear to law enforcement why Rifkin offered these details so readily. Police theorized that perhaps he simply thought the jig was up.

Rifkin's list was incomplete, but it still seemed like this would be an open and shut case. Although while Rifkin had been cooperative and forthcoming during his confession, he began to act out when his trial proceedings began and made a series of odd decisions that nearly turned the courtroom into a circus. For one thing, he hired attorneys John Lawrence and Michael Soshnick, who would prove to be some of the worst lawyers to ever argue a murder case. The suppression hearing began in November of 1993, and a couple of weeks into the hearing, the prosecution offered Rifkin a plea deal.

If he pled guilty to the 17 murders, he would be offered 46 years to life. But Rifkin had already decided that he would get out of serving any time at all by pleading insanity. So he declined the offer, and his hearing continued. Rifkin's legal battle lasted for four months, during which his attorney, Soshnik, continually upset the presiding judge by arriving late to court. Sometimes Sashnik didn't bother to make an appearance at all. When he did show up, he often was unprepared.

It's unclear whether Sashnik's antics were a ploy to get Rifkin off, or if he was excruciatingly unprofessional. By March, the presiding judge Ira Wexner, grew so frustrated with Sashnik's shenanigans that he ended the hearing and declared that there was enough evidence for him to reject the motions put forward by the defense. A trial date was set for the following month, April. Rifkin was furious when their motion was rejected and fired Soshnik. However, he did keep Lawrence on as his lawyer.

Rifkin and Lawrence decided that their best bet was still for Rifkin to plead not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. At trial, prosecuting attorney Fred Klein argued that Rifkin was a sexual sadist. Klein said, he got caught red-handed, and now he's using and abusing the concept of mental illness. But Lawrence painted a different picture of Rifkin. He argued that his client was a paranoid schizophrenic who lived in the twilight zone. The following news report details Lawrence's defense. The question isn't whether Joe Rivkin strangled Tiffany Bresciani and 16 other young women,

but as defense attorney John Lawrence puts it, Joe Rivkin's state of mind is on trial. Lawrence contends Rivkin's a schizophrenic, legally insane. He was unable to appreciate the consequences of his actions, whether his conduct was wrong. But prosecutor Fred Klein maintains Rivkin intentionally killed to satisfy his sexual appetite. This isn't someone walking in a daze and just happens to strangle somebody thinking they're a banana. Then Klein read aloud the names of the 17 victims and told the jury not to let Rivkin get away with the killings. Carol Cohn, Mineola, New York. Of course, this was largely psychobabble.

The DSM-5 clearly outlines the characteristics of a schizophrenic. Schizophrenia patients all suffer two or more of the following symptoms for at least one month. Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or cancer. catatonic behavior and negative symptoms such as diminished emotional expression. Rifkin definitively did not suffer from hallucinations, disorganized speech, or disorganized or catatonic behavior. It could be argued that he did suffer from diminished emotional expression following his many years of childhood bullying,

but schizophrenia patients must suffer from two of the five outlined criteria. It's not clear that Joel Rifkin met these criteria. But Lawrence contested that Rifkin's compulsions represented severe delusions that had taken over his life and impaired his ability to function, which would give Rifkin two out of the five outlined criteria and give credibility to his insanity plea. However, the prosecution brought in psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz, who had previously served as a state witness against serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Arthur Shawcross. Dietz argued that Rifkin was sick, but not insane. Deets believed Rifkin had known exactly what he was doing at the time of the murders. On May 9, 1993, the jury declared Rifkin guilty of the murder of Tiffany Bresciani. Judge Wexler sentenced Rifkin to 25 years to life.

Rifkin then was transferred to Suffolk County on May 9th to stand trial for the murders of Lauren Marquez and Leah Evans. Following his conviction for Bresciani's murder, the defense believed that this would be an open and shut case. But Rifkin still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He hired yet another attorney, Martin Elfman, and together they landed on a ludicrous defense. Rifkin and Elfman invented a new disorder, a condition that they called Adopted Child Syndrome. This condition is neither recognized by the American Psychological Association nor is a it listed in the DSM, but common sense had never stopped Rifkin, no reason to start now.

The notion of adopted child syndrome was developed by psychologist Dr. David Kirchner, who agreed to be a witness for Rifkin's defense. Kershner had treated adopted children for over 25 years, and he had discovered a pattern of destructive behaviors prevalent within adoptive children, including sexual promiscuity, stealing, and pathological lying, in addition to a most emotional disturbances, including anxiety, anti-social behavior, and an absence of guilt. Kershner said that he had worked on over a dozen cases where adopted children had grown up to commit murders. He argued that he had seen these behaviors in at least 10% of adopted children, leading him to label it a symptom. Elfman took over from there, arguing that Rifkin's separation from his birth mother at an early age had been so traumatic that it led him to last.

out and kill women who reminded Rifkin of his biological mother. Many were offended by the notion of adopted child syndrome. The prosecution argued that in addition to being medically inaccurate, the invented syndrome stigmatized the thousands of children adopted every year across the U.S. Perhaps Rifkin also realized the absurdity of his defense because he surprised everyone, including his own lawyers, by suddenly changing his plea to guilty just before the jury selection took place. The presiding judge accepted the plea and sentenced Rifkin to 25 years to life for each murder.

Rifkin's final trial regarded the murder of Iris Sanchez. The public was prepared for Rifkin to concoct another far-fetched defense, but to their shock, Rifkin pled guilty and even apologized for the atrocities he had committed. He said, quote, I want you to know that I am sorry for what I have done to you and your daughters. I will go to my grave carrying the deaths of these innocent women with me. Some of them were my friends and were kind to me. What I have done can never be forgiven. But I ask you to believe me when I tell you I will never understand the part of me

that caused me to do those terrible things. Joel Rifkin was ultimately convicted of nine murders out of the 17 he claimed. to have committed and received a total of 203 years in prison. Rifkin is currently serving out a sentence and will presumably spend the remainder of his life behind bars. Since his original apology, Rifkin has continued to speak openly with law enforcement officials about his crimes. It seems as though in the wake of the trial, he is accepted responsibility for his unspeakable actions. Unfortunately, that does little to comfort the families of his victims,

especially for the eight women whose remains were so well hidden they never received justice. Their bodies still lie in shallow graves, or in forgotten oil drums, slowly rusting at the bottom of the Hudson. Thanks again for tuning it to serial killers. We'll be back Monday with a new episode. You can find more episodes of serial killers,

as well as all of Parcass's other shows on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Several of you have asked how to help the show. And if you enjoy the show, the best way to help is to leave a five-star review. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast and Twitter at Parcast Network. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler, is a production of Cutler Media and is part of the Parcast Network. It is produced by Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Michael Langsner, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro and Paul Liebeskind.

Additional production assistance by Maggie Admire and Carly Madden. Serial Killers is written by Zoe Broad and stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Do you want to hear something? Spooky. Some monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot. Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves.

Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors. Where the terrain is unforgiving, the evidence is scarce, and the truth gets buried under brush. and silence.

I've seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping bed and there was a full of blood. Somebody somewhere knows something. I'm Jordan Sillers. Season two is out now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the IHart Radio app,

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