How much longer could he keep getting away with murder?
The first body that was found belonged to Melissa Barthelemy. The date was December 11, 2010, and from the decomposition of her body, it was evident that she had been in the ground for a long time.
She had been reported missing in July the year before and was only found by accident by an officer who was searching for a different missing person. If Officer John Mallia hadn’t taken note of the FBI database about bodies being disposed of along roadways, she may never have been found, the thick vegetation covering her unmarked grave.
Along the Ocean Parkway in Oak Beach, where Officer John Mallia was conducting his search with his cadaver dog, a German Shepherd named Blue, more bodies were soon discovered.
The Suffolk County police department realized immediately that they had discovered the dumping ground of an unknown serial killer.
Three additional bodies were sniffed out by Blue, each spaced about 500 feet apart. Maureen Brainard, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello were each wrapped in the same type of burlap bag as Melissa Barthelemy, and each of them had been murdered in the same fashion — strangulation.
The initial 24-year-old missing person, Shannan Gilbert, who Officer Mallia had been searching for, was not found at this site. She would, however, be found on Oak Beach a year later, her cause of death recorded as accidental drowning by Suffolk County police, yet strangulation couldn’t be ruled out when an independent autopsy was requested by her bereaved family.
Over the following few months, more missing persons were found in similar conditions of advanced decomposition, and worse, dismemberment. Jessica Taylor’s torso was found in 2003 minus its head and hands while Valerie Mack’s partial remains, discovered in different areas in 2000, weren’t identified until 2020 even though she had been reported missing 20 years previously.
Both women were found in the Manorville area in New York, not that far from the four bodies found by Blue, the cadaver dog.
Perhaps the killer had dismembered his victims in an effort to hide their identities or to waste the authority’s time and resources in trying to match limbs to torsos.
It worked, at least 4 of the 6 bodies were classed as Jane Doe, John Doe, or Baby Doe.
The connection that tied 9 of the bodies found to date was that they were all sex workers. But perhaps the most disturbing revelation was that the remains appeared to have been buried before the original 4 bodies, known as the Gilgo Four.
A file was opened on The Long Island Serial Killer who it appeared had been operating at least since 1996, but apart from the 10 victims, there was not a single clue as to who the perpetrator might be.
Suffolk County police presumed that he was a resident of Long Island and in June 2011, in an effort to flush him out, put up a $25,000 reward if it led to the arrest of the killer hiding amongst them.
Nothing. Whoever he was, he was a ghost that left behind no clues, didn’t stand out in a crowd, and unless he made a mistake was never going to be caught.
It wasn’t until December 10, 2015, that the FBI became officially involved in the case following the announcement from Suffolk Country Police Commissioner Tim Sini. This was made possible by the resignation of Police Chief James Burke who for years had blocked their involvement but now had to step down from his job, himself indicted under conspiracy charges, assault, and civil rights violations.
It took the FBI nearly two years before they even had a suspect.
His name was John Bittrolff, a carpenter, a family man from Long Island, and they could conclusively tie him to at least two of the six new Long Island victims who were unearthed over the years.
DNA evidence convicted him of the murders of Rita Tangredi and Collen McNamee and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. But to the other fourteen victims, there was not one shred of evidence connecting them to the murderous carpenter.
John Bittrolff was not the Long Island Serial Killer. The FBI had not got their man.
So who was he? Who was the killer who was getting away with the murder of at least 16 people over a 20-year period? And how were they going to catch him?
The FBI profile of the serial killer only went as far as the victims, their jobs, where they lived, and any footprints they may have left behind that could turn into breadcrumbs, clues, or hard evidence.
Anyone who had spoken to any of the victims over the previous years were looked at, interviewed, alibis checked, and phone records scrutinized. Some names stood out more than others.
One was James Bissett and the other was ex-police surgeon, Dr. Peter Hackett, both Oak Beach residents, both living in the Manorville area where previous bodies or body parts had been discovered.
For Dr. Hackett, the connection came from phone call records that showed he had made contact with Shannan Gilbert’s mother days after her disappearance. In the call, details of which he strangely recanted three days later, he told Mari Gilbert that he was looking after her daughter and had prescribed her medication to calm her down as she was severely distressed.
The following police investigations could prove nothing apart from the fact that the phone calls had taken place, not what had actually been said. A lawsuit brought by the family also failed in a court of law to prove that he had given Shannan any drugs, despite what Mari Gilbert had recalled about their phone conversation.
Even the fact that clothing, personal items, and even Shannan Gilbert’s body was found just behind his property, wasn’t enough for the police to charge him.
Not long after the investigations had concluded, Dr. Peter Hacket moved to Florida with his family.
Another firm suspect was James Bissett. He became a person of interest because he was the main supplier of burlap that was used to wrap many of the bodies. Before he could be questioned further, he committed suicide.
Were either of these two men The Long Island Serial Killer, or could it be someone from law enforcement who knew how to cover their tracks, like the disgraced ex-Police Chief James Burke?
There can be no doubt that he hindered the original investigations, denying the full involvement of the FBI for years. Did he know more than he ever revealed? Was he covering up evidence of his own wrongdoings, or protecting someone else?
The Long Island Serial Killer has never been identified. He may be in prison, he may be dead, or he may still be free somewhere and literally getting away with murder, the dismembered remains of his new victims waiting to be discovered.