Script writer Peter Mehlman had clearly read reports about how the serial killer was captured. He was born on January 20, 1959, the son of unwed college students who were not prepared to start a family. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Archive Photos/Getty Images). He said he had demanded an attorney 20 times. Troopers detected an odor from the back of the truck. Legal Statement. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Pig are extremely nice, good-mannered and tasteful. Over the years, he was also bullied at school, which left him angry and isolated as he desperately sought his fathers approval. Violet ONeill: ONeills dismembered body parts were found over three days in July 1992 in multiple waterways including the Harlem River, East River, and a body of water near Governors Island, according to a New York Times article. The neighbor always survives to do the interview afterwards. He then dismembered Susies body and her remains were scattered throughout New Jersey. As the hearing dragged on, Rifkins lawyers alienated Judge Wexner by Soshnick repeatedly arriving late for court and unprepared and Lawrence missing whole days. Rambo earned his Airborne Ranger Wings in May of 1966. Tragedy plus time equals comedy, so its been said. In the documentary, readers will learn how Rifkin was a meek, mild-mannered child. Relieved of his little anxiety attack, Joel moved Bresciani into the cluttered garage, leaving her body in a wheelbarrow. Joel Rifkin had killed 17 women, and now he was driving around with one in the back of his truck. I had sex with her, and then I killed her. In addition to Rifkin, the episode discusses the phenomenon of serial killers in one of Jerry Seinfelds stand-up routines. Joel Rifkin was someone who was used to being invisible. The rest would be revealed to her on television, hours later, when detectives laid the outline of their case before the media. On December 14, 2001, Rifkin lost his latest appeal of his conviction. They could see part of a hand and the head of Rifkins finalvictim. "Back in the late 80s and early 90s, it really was not hard to get away with such crimes," said Mladinich. Brescianis body was found in the back of Rifkins pickup truck after he was stopped by the state police for a traffic violation, The New York Times reported. Rifkin's lawsuit seeks $50,000 for each of his 1,540 days in solitary confinement (totaling $77 million). June 29, 1993. The suppression hearing convened before Judge Ira Wexner on November 8, 1993, Soshnick and Lawrence picking up where Sale left off in the effort to quash Rifkins confession. One high school date was scuttled after fellow track team members trapped him in the gym and pelted him with eggs, forcing Joel to call his father for help. We are now looking for artists, writers and interviewers to take part in the world famous Serial Killer Magazine. He said he told Rifkin, This is someone who is not trying to work with you and help you. It was nearly 8 p.m. when authorities presented Jeanne Rifkin with a search warrant, scouring her two-story house for evidence against the man who appeared to be New Yorks most prolific serial killer. Mary Ellen DeLuca: DeLuca, 22, lost her life on Sept. 1, 1991 after she allegedly complained about having sex with Rifkin after he had bought her cocaine, according to ThoughtCo. His other victims included Tiffany Bresciani, Julie Blackbird, Lauren Marquez, Mary Catherine Williams, Barbara Jacobs, Yun Lee, Maryann Hollomon, Leah Evens, Violet ONeill, Mary Ellen DeLuca, Lorraine Orvieto, Iris Sanchez, Jenny Soto, and Anna Lopez, Newsday reported. Just keep the music down., For more on Rifkin, watch Oxygens upcoming special Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer, airing on Saturday, April 10 at 7/6c on Oxygen. The only thing that makes me feel a little better is to think that perhaps she didnt die in pain.. He is now in Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, near the Canadian border. She had pieces of skin under her fingernails, her sister Margarita Gonzales told The Associated Press in 1993. A chainsaw found in the garage was stained with blood and bits of human flesh. MADHATTERDESIGN@GMAIL.COM, Like old school VHS Covers? These are more like giant, professionally produced graphic novels. His guide enabled police all over the metropolitan area to find bodies they didnt know existed or to explain how and why bodies had been found earlier. He rolled Soto into the Harlem River, near the spot where Yun Lee had been found 14 months earlier. The crowd stops cheering and squirm, while Elaine does damage control. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. That explained Rifkins use of Noxema. It was hell from day one. ", JONBENET RAMSEYS HALF BROTHER STILL WANTS TO FIND HER KILLER: THIS CASE CAN BE SOLVED, New York State Police escort Joel Rifkin, 34, a landscaper from East Meadow, to a holding cell after charging him with second-degree murder in East Farmingdale, L.I. With Joel Rifkin, Julian Attaway, Robert Mladinich, Sean Ruane. He told investigators he dismembered her body, put it into various buckets filled with concrete, and dropped the buckets into the East River and Brooklyn canal. I couldn't function in the real world then. It is also packed with unusual trivia, exclusive interviews and much more. When authorities searched Rifkin's East Meadow home, they found all the evidence they needed:clothing, jewelry, drivers licenses, library cards, and credit cards belonging to approximately 10 women. Her severed head was found in March 1989 on a New Jersey golf course, but for almost 25 years investigators were unable to positively identify the remains because Balch hadused various names and Social Security numbers. It worked. As his mother was out of town, he brought her back home. Briefly distracted by a man who passed the car walking a dog, he almost let Marquez escape. WebJoel Rifkin is now serving 203 years to life in the Clinton, N.Y. correctional facility. On the far right is Gonzales'daughter, also named Margarita Gonzales. Weary of the pain by February 1987, he took a massive dose of barbiturates and died after four days in a coma. We know Blackbirds fate today only from Rifkins confession, and from her diary stashed in his bedroom. Lockdown. And in a moment that really tested the "too soon?" Garden of Graves. Seven years after he was sentenced to life in prison, an old college friend of Rifkin, unable to understand how a decent-seeming person hid such a twisted side,went to visit him at Attica Correctional Facility. His fantasies about strangling women became more frequent. Rifkin drove the body parts across the state line to New Jersey, dropping the head and legs in the woods near Hopewell. He expressed a similar view in an interview with the New York Daily News in 2010: "No family "They can be gone six or eight months, and no one is looking," he said. [Sex workers are]easy because they travel a lot. Called The Masseuse, the episode first aired on November 18, 1993. Rifkins selection process was erratic, sparing most of the hookers he patronized on a near nightly basis, prompting him to kill others on a whim. Hes not evil. Do you think I need a lawyer?. His memory was far from perfect. Not much with that one. He followed the same disposal procedure as with Orvieto: back to Long Island, the oil drum and Coney Island Creek. While psychologists have theorized the emotional distance from his father and the bullying may have contributed to his transformation into bloodthirsty killer, Reiter emphasizes in the special, "In every high school, there's the kid that'sthe last to get picked. Barbara Jacobs was the next to die, a 31-year-old addict with arrests on her record for auto theft and prostitution. He didn't wet the bed or torture animals or start fires. If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) . Long Island psychiatrist Barbara Kirwin deemed Rifkins psychological test results the most pathological she had seen in 20 years of practice. ", GARY HEIDNIKS ATTORNEY TALKS INSANE HOUSE OF HORRORS KILLER IN DOC: THERE WAS A METHOD TO HIS MADNESS', Jenny Soto's family. Eftimiades, Maria. Today, Joel Rifkin is 60 years old and serving his life sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. There, Rifkin testified himself in a pretrial hearing to contest that his confession was voluntary. Back at the landscaping lot, Rifkin stuffed her into an oil drum, drove her body to Brooklyn and dropped it into Coney Island Creek. Joel left his parents several times, renting small apartments, but he was never gone long, always moving home again when his latest job fell through. "He always seemed like he was slower or a step behind," Fred Reiter, who lived next door to Rifkin in East Meadow, New Yorkgrowing up, recalls in the special. And I didnt want to infringe on the investigation. O.J.! He concealed this arrest from his family. "And a lot of them are dangerous people. Hopewell Police Chief George Meyer tells The Times of Trenton that New York authorities have no interest in prosecuting the case because Rifkin is already behind bars. On May 25, 1992, he strangled crack addict Anna Lopez, dumping her corpse in some woods off Interstate 84, in Brewster. An odor in Rifkin's truck led to the discovery of a body. Two floaters in as many days suggested a serial killer at large, but New York police had their hands full with 2,000 murders a year in those days, and junkie prostitutes were never high priority. Michael Ahearn, then the chief of the Suffolk district attorneys Homicide Bureau, recalled how Rifkin continually corrected him during cross-examination. Iris Sanchez: Sanchez, 25, was reportedly killed on Mothers Day weekend in 1992. His landscaping business had folded by then, his landlord clamoring for $700 in overdue rent. The experience quickly led toan addiction. Robert Sale met his new client for the first time at 9 a.m. on June 29, and Rifkin complained that police had taken his glasses and left him with a migraine headache, unable to function. She was identified through DNA testing on August 20, 1993. Following a traffic stop that led to a car chase by police, authorities noticed a rank odor coming from Rifkins car. He held down various odd jobs, spending much of the little money he made on prostitutes. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Dave Insurgent, a member of the 1980s punk band Reagan Youth), and his final victim. Whats in a name? On March 5, 1989, a member of the Hopewell Valley Golf Club sliced his ball into the woods along the seventh green and found the can containing Susies head. Theyre perfectionists who enjoy finer things but are not perceived as snobs. Its like my own little nightmare scenarios, he said. Although never housed in the prisons general population, Rifkin created enough disruption by his mere presence that administrators moved him into IPC--involuntary protective custody--where prisoners spend 23 hours a day confined to their Spartan cells. At some point in the litany, Rifkin asked DeLuca if she wanted to die, and she allegedly said yes. 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Afraid to drag the corpse out in broad daylight, he drew inspiration from Hitchcocks Frenzy and went out to purchase a cheap steamer trunk, squeezing DeLuca inside it. He was confined to his cell at the Attica Correctional Facility for 23 hours per day. Two other victims remain unidentified to this day. Fred Klein, shown in his office at Hofstra Universityon June 13, was the lead Nassau County prosecutor in the Joel Rifkincase. ", "Even when we first spoke at the correctional facility, it was like we had been friends the previous 20 years," he shared. Rifkin had no time to move the corpse, but his mother never knew. Joel David Rifkin: New York's Most Prolific Serial Killer. Oh! Credit: AP/Pool Photo/ Bill Turnbull. Leah Evans: The body of Evans, a 28-year-old mother of two, was discovered in May 1992 by a family hunting for dandelions off County Road 51 in Southampton, according to Newsday. Joel Rifkin is a serial killer who went on a string of murders in New York in the 1990s. Rifkin had his only real girlfriend in Brockport, but the relationship went nowhere, his paramour recalling Joel as sweet, but always depressed. Back at home with his parents, Rifkin tried Nassau Community College again, attending erratically, earning only 12 credits by the time he finally quit in 1984. Featuring specials about fearsome and fascinating serial killers, its a cant-miss event for true crime fans. The only 80s action star that would prove victorious against a 21st-century assassin is not a man but a machine. Rifkin initially told investigators that he'd driven to New York City in 1989 to pick up a prostitute named Susie, according to a 2013The Associated Pressarticle. New York. "There were no cameras on every block. "Water is harder to investigate than land because it washes everything," he said. He said he disposed of the bodies in threes. After listless sex, Susie again asked Joel to take her out in search of drugs. . Sometimes he would take his victims back to East Meadow, to the house where he lived with his sister and elderly mother. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says. Her body was discovered in Cornwall in October 1991, a month after she had been reported missing by her family, The New York Timessaidin 1993. In retrospect, a shockingly prophetic moment happens when Elaine comes up with a suggestion after reading a sports magazine. ", JOHN WAYNE GACY LIKED THE POWER OF DEATH, RETIRED DETECTIVE REVEALS IN DOC: IT MADE HIM FEEL LIKE A GOD, Oxygen's new documentary on Joel Rifkin is part of their 'Serial Killer Week" line-up. Every issue of Serial of Serial Killer Magazine we sell. Theyre intelligent, always seeking more knowledge, and exclusive. I want to show these girls, these prostitutes, have families who care. Rifkin was sentenced to 203 years to life in prison and he is not eligible for parole until 2197. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Thats right. If you smell anything decaying in the trunk of his car . "RifkinonRifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer". After exchanging letters, the former cop, who served the NYPD from 1983 until 2003 when he retired with the rank of Detective Second Grade, decided to visit Rifkin at Attica Correctional Facility. The next time Rifkin made headlines, in April 1998, the news involved sale of his artwork at the New York State legislatures office building in Albany as part of a program to compensate crime victims. There was really no coordination between police precincts. (Oxygen). Afterward, he drove Evens to the far eastern end of Long Island and buried her in the woods, the only one of his victims who rated a shallow grave. Rifkin started his own landscaping business in April 1991, renting space at a local nursery to store his equipment. Bored and restless, he cut classes habitually, completing only one course in the 1977-78 academic year. On the September night he picked up 31-year-old Yun Lee, a Korean native he had been with before, she was his second prostitute in an hour. Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com. It was really unnerving., Marie Alonso, left,mother of Joel Rifkin victim Anna Lopez, shares an emotional moment with Margarita Gonzales,mother of victim Jenny Soto, outside of Nassau County Court in Mineolaon July 7, 1993. He had picked up a sex workernamed Susie, according to a 2013The Associated Pressarticle. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Police finally caught up to Rifkin in June 1993, when state troopers spotted his pickup truck without license plates on the Southern State Parkway. Rifkin told authorities he had taken the lives of another 16 women, revealingexactly where he placed the bodies and how he actually had killed them, Ruane said. Distinctive for its long balletic action sequences, 77 people are killed onscreen in the first John Wick, a massive 128 in John Wick: Chapter 2 and a slightly more sensible 94 in John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum. Theyre never disturbed by the sounds of murdering, just stereo. Rifkin was ultimately sentenced to 203 years in prison, where he remains to this day. What it gave me was that he liked to be in control. This perfect bound Serial Killer Calendar book includes detailed facts and trivia about serial killers for every day of the year. Rifkin was bullied throughout his school years, an experience that left him feeling angry and isolated. Fifty percent of the proceeds from sales were earmarked for New Yorks Crime Victims Board, with inmate artists retaining the rest. Some he hid in oil drums, others in blocks of concrete. Flexing his ego, he fired Sale and retained two new lawyers: former Nassau County assistant district attorney Michael Soshnick and his partner, John Lawrence. Hes not the murderer, she reassures. Three years later they moved to East Meadow, Long Island, and Joel entered first grade at Prospect Avenue Elementary School. He never relishedtalking about these horrible crimes. Rifkin! she says, inspired by the name O.J. Rambo, one of Sylvester Stallones signature characters, now understands Spanish and somehow raised a Mexican-American girl, Gabrielle (Yvette Monreal) whose father abandoned her and mom died of a terminal illness. Joel Rifkin, 34, is transferred to District Court 29 June, 1993 in Farmingdale, NY after police said he confessed to killing as many as 17 women. Rifkins last victim, Tiffany Bresciani, was another southern girl. They initiated a traffic stopand a high-speed chase ensues, said Eugene Corcoran, then the State Policelieutenant who supervised the investigation. The Orvieto family sued him first, on a civil count for Lorraines wrongful death, and Rifkin responded with a snide handwritten brief, branding his victim an AIDS carrier who may be responsible for the eventual deaths of numerous individuals, crediting her relatives for shared responsibility in what might have been. Next, in November 1997, it was Rifkins turn to sue prison officials and the New York Daily News for branding him HIV-positive. The son of unwed teenage parents, born in 1959, Joel was adopted by Ben and Jeanne Rifkin at three weeks of age. It was the smell of death, and it would linger long after the source had been removed. Over the next four years, he killed 16 more prostitutes. The coroner blamed her death on a drug overdose, and Jacobs was buried in Potters Field cemetery, unidentified until Rifkin confessed her murder two years later. Sale waived application for bond, knowing it was hopeless, but won a two-week postponement of formal arraignment. By that time, Ruane and Spaargaren had smelled his reeking cargo, moving toward the rear bed of the truck, where something long and thick was wrapped in plastic, bound with rope. Pittsburgh woman missing for 31 years found alive in Puerto Rico, School shooting survivor has emotional audition on "American Idol", exclusive 2011 interview with CBS-2's Mary Calvi. "Joel was a bit of an eccentric," said Mladinich. Soto also had a past record for prostitution, but her family insisted she had been getting her life together before she was killed. As much as I say I wanted to stop, there probably wouldve been others,Joel Rifkin said of the likelihood he would have continued to kill if he hadnt been caught in 1993. The remains were never found. In June of that year, he murdered Bresciani, a 22-year-old who left Louisiana for Los Angeles before arriving inNew York. Known as Joel the Ripper, he murdered and dismembered at least nine women in New York. Credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz. He will be eligible for parole in 2197. She loved the clubs. Rifkin just didn't excel in academia or sports, and so he struggled with feeling like a disappointment to his dad. It was, as Joel Rifkinsaid later, a 25-cent part that brought him down, but it caught the eye of two troopers patrolling the Southern State Parkway. she suggested, inspired by O.J. "Oh! New Yorks worst serial murder case of this century began--or ended--with a routine traffic stop in the predawn hours of June 28, 1993. (Photo by Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images). The site he chose was an illegal dump, 200 feet off Rockaway Boulevard, within sight of JFK International Airport. Joel dismembered her body into the East River. Instead, he picked up a souvenir howitzer shell and beat her furiously. Pulitzer, Lisa, and Joan Swirsky. On July 14 of that year, 31-year-old Barbara Jacobs was found, strangled and rotting, in the Hudson River; her body had been wedged inside a plastic bag, then forced into a cardboard box. (Photo by Neil Schneider/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images). Rifkin graduated from high school in 1977, but he could never quite cut in college, despite sporadic attempts over the next twelve years. Lawrence said he paid an enormous toll, starting with the day of the conviction. This guy seems like the real deal.". DNA tests confirmed her identity. Married to a pro football player in 1986 and divorced the following year, she had come to New York in search of an acting career, but wound up doing drugs and living on the streets. Rifkin refused, strangling her when she started to cry. She followed Mary Holloman, sometime that winter, dismembered remains consigned to the last of Rifkins oil drums. Driving into Manhattan, he consigned Blackbirds head and torso to the East River, then dropped her weighted arms and legs into a Brooklyn barge canal. Doubling back from there, he returned to Manhattan, pitching the arms and torso into the East River. And Rifkin told WCBS-TV in 2011 that his victim count would have likely been much higher if he hadnt been arrested in 1993. They were so decomposed that no signs of violence were visible, and medical examiners had mistakenly concluded that some had died of drug overdoses, he said. He managed to completely slip by unnoticed while committing the most vicious rampage New York had ever seen,capitalizing on his own non-threatening anonymity and pursuingvictims who tended to fall through the cracks of society. Wiles Stabile. Rifkin initially told investigators that he'd driven to New York City in 1989 to pick up a prostitute named Susie, according to a 2013, While his mother was out of town, Rifkin and Balch returned to his childhood home, where they stayed for the night but Rifkin soon took out his rage on Balch, bashing her in the head with a Howtizer artillery shell and strangling her to death, as recounted on "Rifkin on Rifkin.". He was vague on the details in later confessions, unable to recall the womans name, if he had ever known it. Violet ONeill, a 21-year-old prostitute, was the first victim Rifkin had taken home to East Meadow in nearly a year. Several months later, the football star was charged with murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. He was charged with killing his ex-wife and her friend. Throughout the 1980s, Rifkin worked a series of odd jobs around Long Island, seldom staying long at any. He spent more than four years in solitary confinement I dont care what someone did. trends.embed.renderExploreWidget("TIMESERIES", {"comparisonItem":[{"keyword":" Joel Rifkin ","geo":"","time":"today 12-m"}],"category":0,"property":""}, {"exploreQuery":"q=Joel Rifkin&date=today 12-m","guestPath":"https://trends.google.com:443/trends/embed/"}); Joel Rifkin net worth and salary: Joel Rifkin is a Criminal who has a net worth of $100 Million. The other parts went into garbage bags and then into his mothers car. Next to him is his attorney, John Lawrence of Mineola. According to the documentary, Rifkin picked up hundreds of sex workersand he eventually left college before finishing. She hailed from Metairie, Louisiana, and had been drawn to New York by dreams of acting or dancing. So altogether that makes 299 kills by one man so far, and theres still two more films to come. One week after he killed Lorraine Orvieto, on January 2, 1992, Rifkin went hunting again. To learn more about Rifkin's killing spree tune in to Oxygen's "RifkinonRifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer" airing Saturday, April 10 at 7/6conOxygenas part ofSerial Killer Week. He also pleaded guilty to two murders in neighboring Suffolk County. She was found on October 1, nude except for a brassiere, without ID. They trade suggestions for a possible new name, and of course, they cant come close to agreeing. In an exclusive 2011 interview with CBS-2's Mary Calvi, Rifkin talked about his killing spree. Barbara Jacobs: Jacobs was killed on July 14, 1991. "We were trying to catch up from the previous 20 years. They opened the truck and found Bresciani. ", JOHN WALSHS SON CALLAHAN EXPLAINS HOW HIS BROTHER ADAM'S MURDER MADE HIM DETERMINED TO CATCH BAD GUYS, Jenny Soto, a victim of serial killer Joel Rifkin. After Rifkin was convicted in Nassau, he was sent to Suffolk where he faced two murder charges. She would not be found until June 1993, when Rifkin drew detectives a map. In this exclusive sneak peek from April 10's new Oxygen special, Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer, Joel Rifkin detailed a murder he committed. (Photo by Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images). Buoyed perhaps by that effort, in August 1999 Rifkin unveiled his plans for Oholah House, a proposed shelter for prostitutes that would include drug treatment, counseling, medical care and job training. They are continuously looking for dynamic, speed and competition, always being the first in everything - from work to social gatherings. O.J. or redistributed. I thought of him as a loner, she subsequently told reporters. A formal suppression hearing was scheduled for November, but Rifkin had other plans. Another belonged to Jenny Soto, fished out of the Harlem River in November 1992. Rifkin admitted to the 17 slayings after his May 1994 murder conviction in Nassau County. Although Rifkin often hired prostitutes in Brooklyn and Manhattan, he lived in East Meadow, a suburban town on Long Island. Klein became chief of Nassaus Major Offense Bureau soon afterward. He will be eligible for parole in 2197. EXCLUSIVE: In late 1998, Robert Mladinich wrote to his "old college pal" Joel Rifkin New Yorks most prolific serial killer. She was missing one earring, later found in Rifkins bedroom stash. My daughter was a very beautiful girl, Victoria ONeill said. He was also an academic failure, suffering from undiagnosed dyslexia despite a tested IQ of 128. Rifkin acknowledged that his violent mental images were a little more intense than regular at that time. It was a half-hearted effort at best. alaw enforcement source told The New York Daily News at the time. It also includes the best true crime artwork from around the world. After graduating from high school, Rifkin, who was particularly interested in horticulture and photojournalism, made several attempts at community college and attended the State University of New York at Brockport, where he worked for a time as a photographer on the school's newspaper The Stylus. If Ahearn got the location wrong of where he picked up a victim, he said Rifkin became indignant . Maryann Holloman, age 39, was retrieved from Coney Island Creek in her oil drum on July 9, two days before passers-by found the skeletal remains of Lorraine Orvieto nearby. He said he sat in his car outside his home for an hour and a half, listening to Frank Sinatra. "But I was still an active police officer at the time. He maintained his interest in photography and horticulture, but failed to make either a paying proposition. Sotos grim fight for life gave Rifkin pause. That one was easy.' clothing, jewelry, drivers licenses, library cards, and credit cards belonging to approximately 10 women. In Rifkins cluttered garage, detectives followed their noses to a reeking wheelbarrow, extracting three ounces of human blood. WebPrison officials decided in 1996 that Rifkin was so notorious that his presence in the general prison population could be disruptive. Somewhere along the way, he moved from abstract study of the killers into emulation of their brutal crimes. She was found on September 23--eight days before DeLuca--floating past Randalls Island, at the Harlem Rivers mouth. Joel Rifkin is currently serving a life sentence. He drove to the Hudson River, dropping her into the water near a cement plant. When police approached the vehicle, they noticed an absolutely overwhelming odor, according to Newsday. New York State Police escort Joel Rifkin, 34, a landscaper from East Meadow, to a holding cell after charging him with second-degree murder in East Farmingdale, L.I. Her family described Soto as a quiet Brooklyn girl who loved to play with her nieces and nephews but said she had a wilder side when she went into the city. Rifkin was booked at Hempstead, where homicide detectives launched a marathon interrogation. ", Joel Rifkin is currently serving a life sentence. For more on Rifkin, watch Oxygen's special Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer, airing Saturday, April 10 at 9/8c on Oxygen. It seemed like the only people who noticed him were his childhood tormenters,he thought. Besides a broken neck, Marquez had fractured ribs, though Rifkin claimed he could not remember hitting her. Police found Evens drivers license at his home. The murder, detectives gathered, was not his first. At about nine the next morning, Rifkin recalled completely bugging out, beating Blackbird with a heavy table leg before he strangled her. Through newly revealed interviews from Attica Correctional Facility, New York's most prolific serial killer, Joel Rifkin, reveals exclusive insights into the mind of a monster.