Hello, Lovelies! Welcome to the blog post about the Long Island Serial Killer / Gilgo Beach Serial Killer / Craigslist Ripper! (Phew… that’s a lot of names) This week you’ll not only find information on this week’s drink break and Tiffany’s show notes, but also links to hotlines nationally and internationally to help report human trafficking (which we discussed during the second half of today’s episode).
Click Here to see an interactive map by Nick Spring that shows where the victim’s remains were found. We recommend viewing this while watching this week’s episode to help understand why some victims weren’t initially connected to this case.
This week’s drink break is brought to you by An Hour of our Time Podcast! This podcast chooses a new topic each episode. Topics range from sociopolitical, to scientific, to historical, trying to maintain variety. The hosts (Joe Wallace, Dave Buker, and Mark Cracraft) then each perform an hour of research followed by a marginally focused one hour discussion. An Hour Of Our Time is fun for anyone who enjoys funny but sometimes frustrating tangents of referential conversation. Click Here or on their logo to check them out!
Click Here to check out XSCAPED DEATH by Tamia Ganbrell, the book mentioned during this week’s interview with our guest!
Helpful Organizations!
National Human Trafficking Hotline 1 (888) 373-7888
- SMS: 233733 (Text “HELP” or “INFO”)
- Hours: 24 hours, 7 days a week
- Languages: English, Spanish, and 200 more languages
Websites:
Anti-Trafficking Index (International)
List of programs across the US that help fight human trafficking
Wiki list of organizations that are combating human trafficking
Tiffany’s Show Notes
- Lots of info out there and not enough time to cover it all in detail
- 24-year-old escort, Shannan Gilbert
- Formerly worked for an agency but when it was shut down, she began to work independently to make more money
- May 1, 2010, 2:20am – she calls Michael Pak, her driver/security and asked to be picked up
- He takes her to Joseph Brewer’s house on Oak Beach
- At some point, Joe and Shannan exit the house to run an errand
- 15 minutes later they return and head inside to finish out their evening
- 2 ½ hours later, Joe comes out and tells Michael that Shannan is freaking out and won’t leave
- He enters the home to try and get Shannan
- She FREAKS!
- Calls 911 says, “They are trying to kill me!” repeatedly
- Joe leaves
- Michael tries to get her to leave but eventually gives up and goes back to the car
- When Shannan finally leaves, she runs frantically to a neighbor’s house and starts banging on the door
- Why not get in the car with Michael?
- Gus Coletti, the neighbor whose door Shannan is pounding on, tells Shannan he will call the cops and get help (he does)
- At this point, Gus said she took off running into the middle of the street, saw Michael’s SUV, then darted back and hid under his boat in his driveway
- While Michael is stopped asking Gus if he’s seen Shannan, she jumps out and takes off down the street
- She stops by one of more houses asking for help and they call the cops as well
- Michael said “deuces” by this point and Gus waited for the cops
- Once they show up (for Gus’ phone call not hers), they do a quick search but nothing extensive
- It’s assumed to be a domestic disturbance and they leave
- No one was dispatched for her phone call (she said she was at Jones Beach, not Oak Beach)
- 2 days later – Shannan’s family doesn’t know she is missing
- Mari, Shannan’s mom, receives a call from Dr. Peter Hacket asking if her daughter was with her or still missing
- He says he runs a home for wayward girls, and he took her in
- He claimed to have given her drugs to calm her down and that she left with her driver after that
- Side note: he lives a few house down from the second house she stopped at
- Mari asks how he got her number and he said Shannan listed her as her emergency contact
- According to Mari, this would have never happened
- They had a rough past and were just starting to work things out and have a normal relationship
- May 3, 2010 – Shannan is official reported missing
- Dr. Hacket – when investigated, he denied making that call saying he never met Shannan and he didn’t have a home for wayward girl.
- It was later discovered that he did in fact place the call in question from his wife’s phone while in NJ near Mari
- Wrote 2 letters to 48 Hours – he claimed Shannan’s boyfriend and driver urged him to call Mari.
- “These calls were over a year ago now and exact content is difficult to remember but at no time during my conversations with Shannan’s friends or family did I suggest I had ever met her or rendered medical care of any sort to her.”
- He is a serial liar and likes to pretend he’s more involved than he actually is
- Dr. Hacket once worked as Police Surgeon for Suffolk County
- In 1996, he claimed to be an investigator for the crash of TWA flight 800 to the local press to the embarrassment of his coworkers
- He was fired years later for misusing his work cell phone
- Police searched his home, boat, and car
- Wife, son, and daughter were home at the time that it’s claimed he rendered medical care to Shannan – They say this never happened
- No evidence that he had drugged or even seen her
- Super suspicious but cleared as a suspect
- Joseph Brewer and Michael Pak are also cleared as suspects fairly quickly
- So as time goes on, Mari, Shannan’s mom, begins heavily criticizing the police saying they weren’t working hard enough to find her daughter
- Remember, no one was dispatched for her phone call
- They didn’t connect her call with the multiple calls from Oak Beach residence for months
- Some believe it was because of Shannan’s profession and others believe it was because of confusion over jurisdiction
- The disappearance happened on Long Island but she was from NJ (NJ had jurisdiction over the case)
- She went missing May 1, 2010 and by Fall, there were no new leads
- Enter Officer John Malia and his 7-year-old German Shepard
- John had a reputation for finding escaped criminals and murder victims and was convinced he could find Shannan
- John remembered the statistic that victims are usually disposed of within 30 ft. of the road, so he and Blue began searching along Ocean Parkway where Shannon disappeared
- It took a while but on December 11, while searching the marsh along Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, three miles from Oak Beach, a burlap sack is discovered with decomposing skeletal remains inside
- Everyone believes they’ve found Shannan
- In all actuality, the police had discovered Melissa Barthelemy, another young escort who was last seen in July of 2009
- Two days later, on December 13, police discover the skeletal remains of three more women, all wrapped in burlap sacks, all neatly placed in rows side by side
- Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and Amber Lynn Costello
- All four women were escorts who advertised on Craigslist and Backpage (just like Shannan)
- With the discovery of the “Gilgo Four”, as the women were dubbed, on Jan. 25, 2011, the police announce they are looking for a serial killer
- Let’s learn a bit about these victims before we continue
- Melissa Barthelemy:
- 24-year-old woman last seen July 10, 2009 outside of her Bronx apartment (5 cats)
- From Buffalo, NY
- Attended the Continental Beauty School in Buffalo, NY
- Supercuts briefly
- 2006 – her and her bf moved to the Bronx
- Johnny Terry “Blaze” offered her a job as a hairdresser in NYC and secured her a place to live
- She split from her bf and began seeing Blaze in an on-again-off-again relationship
- She began advertising on Craiglist and through an escort service called James Bond Entertainment in 2009
- July 10, 2009 – sex working gig in NY then deposited $900 into her bank account
- Disappeared
- Terry attempted to report her missing a few days later but claims he was turned away
- Megan Waterman:
- 22-year-old woman last seen June 5, 2010 on hotel surveillance footage
- From Maine
- Strained relationship with mother
- 2005 – Megan stopped going to school at 17
- Several run-ins with the law: possession, stalking, public intoxication, shoplifting
- Sept 2006 – she gave birth to a daughter from a one-night stand
- To be able to support her and her daughter, she began sex work again
- Disappeared after leaving to see a client at 1:30am
- Maureen Brainard-Barnes
- 25-year-old woman last seen July 9, 2007
- 1 child, Caitlyn, at 16
- Married the father but divorced in 2001
- Moved in with sister
- Card dealer, pizza delivery driver, supermarket cashier
- 2003 – tried to become a rapper
- Noticed ads for modeling and uploaded tasteful, clothed pictures
- Escort services and nude photographers began reaching out
- The money associated with these programs was appealing
- She began using Craigslist because she could make bank without having to give a cut to the organizations reaching out to her
- 2006 – had another child, son
- 2006 – telemarketer job
- 2007 – let go from seasonal job
- Checked into a super 8 motel then vanished
- A few days later, her driver – received suspicious call from a blocked number
- Caller said Maureen was “at a whore house in Queens”
- Her friend said she was too independent to go for that
- The caller said, “well that’s where I saw her” and described her to a T
- Amber Lynn Castello
- 27-year-old woman last seen September 2, 2010
- From NC
- 6 – molested by neighbor
- 1996 – 19-year-old sister began working at a sex service
- 3 years later, 16-year-old Amber started her own sex work career
- Charged guys in the neighborhood for sex
- Later that year, Amber joined her sister at Co-ed Confidential
- They began doing drugs at parties thrown by their pimp, Theresa
- 2007 – Amber married in FL and joined her husband’s church
- She worked in the nursery and tried to start a family together – miscarriage
- 2008 – Castelo’s took in a baby from a family at church who couldn’t care for it
- Castelo’s tried to adopt the baby but were unable to and their marriage suffered
- Don claimed to last see her in Dec. 2008
- Later that month, she was arrested for shoplifting toothpaste
- March 2009 – officially divorced
- Feb. 2010 – court date for shoplifting
- Decided to move back to NY to get clean
- Sister paid for her plane ticket and checked her into a rehab facility
- After that, she moved to Long Island and began sex work and heroin again
- Set up appointments on her roommates’ phone as a safety precaution
- Client offered $1,500
- Her normal rate was $250
- 10:30am – left to meet client
- Sept. 3, 2010 – roommate noticed she hadn’t returned
- Jan. 2011 – swab from sister helped confirm her identity as one of the Gilgo Four
- Bodies discovered in December in NY
- The ground is as hard as a rock and they must pause their search
- While waiting for spring, they start looking back into the Shannan’s initial suspects for any kind of link and can’t find one
- They are unable to find a link between the Gilgo Four’s contacts either
- The only thing to work with is Craigslist and Backpage
- Craigslist uses an encryption that hides real email addresses – dead end
- IP address? The client was able to hide his IP address somehow
- A common theme before disappearing was a job that was too good to be true – hella money
- They did have one clue:
- One week after her disappearance, Melissa Barthelemy’s sister, Amanda, received a call from her sister’s phone
- The caller called Melissa and Amanda vulgar names in a brief phone call
- Once a week for about a month, the calls continued
- Would ask Amanda if she was a whore like her sister and reveal information about Melissa and Amanda that wasn’t common knowledge
- Calls always less than 90 seconds and between 5:30-6:30pm
- The calls always traced back to crowded locations: Time Square, Central Park, etc.
- August 26, 2009 – final call
- Caller said, “I finally killed your sister and I’m watching her body rot.”
- Terry also received 30 calls over 8 months – threatening to kill him
- He knew things about Terry like a back tattoo
- The case has now stalled until spring
- March 29, 2011 – police find a skull, hands, and a forearm about ¾ mile from the others on Ocean Parkway
- Appears to fit the profile but the body parts are not wrapped in burlap and were not in the neat row the others were found in. This body was also dismembered while the others weren’t.
- This victim was Jessica Taylor, a 20-year-old escort whose torso had been found back in July of 2003 in Manorville, NY (an hour inland from the other bodies)
- She was last seen July 18-21, 2003
- She had previously been arrested for sex work in Washington, DC, NYC, and Atlantic City
- She differed from the Gilgo Four because she did not use Craigslist and she charged significantly less than the Gilgo Four
- 6 days later, April 4, 2011 – the head, hands, and right foot of another body are discovered.
- These belonged to Jane Doe #6 whose torso was also found in Manorville, NY in 2000.
- Not much is known about Jane Doe #6
- Approximately 5’2” – 18-35-years-old
- Believed to be a sex worker based on the profile of Jessica Taylor
- That same day, two more bodies were found further down the beach
- John Doe – 5’6” Asian man between 17-23-years-old
- Wearing women’s clothing
- Possibly a sex worker
- Baby Doe – female, 18-32 months
- She was linked by DNA to Jane Doe #3
- Who is she?
- Well, she is the previous owner of the skeletal remains and jewelry found 7 days later (April 11, 2011) 10 miles away (Jones Beach)
- No head or torso
- DNA found on the jewelry matched Baby Doe
- Some believe Jane Doe #3 is “Peaches” (a Jane Doe whose torso was found in 1997)
- She was an African American sex worker with a peach tattoo and a scar from a c-section
- She was found by a hiker in a green, Rubbermaid container wrapped in a black bag and floral pillowcase
- The same day she was discovered on Jones Beach, Jane Doe #7 was discovered on Toby Beach
- All that was found were a skull and a few teeth
- These remains have been linked to a garbage bag full of severed legs discovered on Fire Island in 1996
- So, what do we know so far?
- 10 bodies have been found and none of them belong to Shannan Gilbert.
- 7 of the 10 were believed to be sex workers
- All disposed of in the marshy beaches along Ocean Parkway
- Layout of bodies from Left to Right: Jane Doe #3 (mom to Baby Doe), Jane Doe #7, Gilgo Four [Amanda, Melissa, Maureen, Megan], Asian male, Jessica Taylor, Jane Doe #6, Baby Doe
- What about Shannan?
- I’ll let you know what happened next after a quick drink break.
- Shannon went missing May 1, 2010
- The last discovery was April 11, 2011 when Jane Doe #3 and Jane Doe #7 were discovered.
- Let’s fast forward to December 13, 2011
- Police get permission to drain the marsh near Dr. Hacket’s house
- Shannan’s remains are finally found on Oak Island, face up, not wrapped in burlap and not dismembered
- Her belongings were found ¼ mile away a week before (jeans appear to have been removed by Shannan)
- For a visual, she is closest to Baby Doe and the furthest body discovered to the right.
- There is a picture on the blog of where all the bodies were found.
- Before an official cause of death is ruled, the then Police Commissioner, Richard Dormer, told the press that the cause of death was an accident.
- The theory goes that being bipolar, in combination with drug and alcohol use, caused her to have an episode. She then ran off into the marsh, got hypothermia, fell and drown in the few inches of standing water
- The official cause of death from the coroner was inconclusive
- Shannan’s family hired an independent autopsy which showed evidence of foul play but ultimately was determined to be inconclusive.
- Her hyoid bone was detached which could potential mean strangulation. However, being in the elements for the length of time that she was, it is possible for that to be the work of a scavenger bird or other animal.
- In 2012, Mari sued Dr. Hacket for the wrongful death of her daughter, but he was never charged with a crime.
- Fast forward to 2015
- An escort by the name of “Leanne” brought forth new information that shed a new light on this case.
- James Burke, the former Chief of Police in Suffolk County, was not as sweet and innocent as he seemed.
- According to Leanne, at a party a year after Shannan’s disappearance, Officer Burke assaulted her and forced himself onto her.
- This information came to light after he resigned from his position and was served with 46 months in federal prison for beating a man attempting to steal a duffel bag full of sex toys and pornography from his car.
- He had also used corruption within the department to cover up these and other misdoings.
- Additionally, when the FBI tried to step in and help with the LISK case, he refused to let them…. Suspicious?
- Some people believe the killer is either a member of the police force or has great knowledge about the force considering how he has been able to allude capture for so long.
- Another suspect in all of this is John Bittrolff.
- A carpenter and avid hunter from Manorville, NY
- He is a convicted murderer of two sex workers and suspected of murdering another
- Does Manorville sound familiar to you? It should. Torsos (Jessica Taylor’s torso was 3 miles from his house)
- He was captured because his brother had a DNA sample taken as he was being booked and it came up as a partial match to the two previously mentioned victims.
- Not only that, but one of his victims, Rita Tangredi, had a daughter who was best friends with Melissa Barthelemy (one of the Gilgo Four)
- Is it one killer?
- Some people believe this is the work of one killer whose MO and signature evolved over time.
- Others believe this to be the work of two or more killers who used this isolated location as a dumping ground (that worked for quite a while)
- Most believe that although Shannan fit the profile of the killer to a T, her death is considered a coincidence that led to the discovery of the other 10+ victims.
- There are similarities to additional victims as far back as 1983 but we have to keep this brief(ish)
- There are multiple books, tv shows, interviews, and movies on this topic
- Too much information for one episode
- 2004 study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology; active sex workers are 18x more likely to be murdered than other women
- According to Scientific American, the FBI estimates between 25-50 serial killers active at any time.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_serial_killer
https://www.nhpr.org/post/lost-girls-abbreviated-timeline#stream/0
https://truecrimearticles.com/2018/03/08/the-unsolved-case-of-the-long-island-serial-killer/
