Joel Rifkin

Joel Rifkin was a Long Island landscaper who became one of New York State's most prolific serial killers, murdering 17 women between 1989 and 1993. All of his known victims were women involved in prostitution, whom he would pick up in New York City before strangling them. He operated entirely in the shadows, with no one suspecting the quiet, unassuming man who still lived with his adoptive mother. Rifkin was caught almost accidentally on June 28, 1993, when New York State troopers pulled him over because his pickup truck had no license plate. In the bed of the truck was the decomposing body of his final victim, Tiffany Bresciani. He initially tried to flee, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended when his truck crashed into a utility pole. After his arrest, Rifkin confessed to all 17 murders and led investigators to the disposal sites for victims he had dismembered and dumped throughout the New York metropolitan area. Some victims were never identified for years, and the full scope of his crimes required extensive investigation to piece together. He was tried for nine of the murders and received multiple life sentences totaling 203 years to life. His case drew attention to the vulnerability of sex workers to violence and the systemic failures that allowed a killer to operate undetected for four years in a densely populated region. Criminologists have studied Rifkin extensively as an example of an organized killer who carefully managed risk. He remains incarcerated and has never expressed genuine remorse for his crimes.