Most Infamous Serial Killers on Long Island

While the Gilgo Beach murders are making national headlines, the gruesome serial killings are just the latest in Long Island’s history of terror.

The community has been haunted by infamous serial killers like Joel Rifkin and Robert Shulman, leaving a trail of dozens of victims in their wake.

Several of these notorious murderers targeted sex workers which is “very common” trend among serial killers, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Sanjay Adhia told Newsweek.

“There’s lots of reasons why,” Adhia said. “Somewhere near 20% of all serial killer victims are sex workers.”

Adhia shared some of the reasons why this particular group is often targeted.

“I believe the reason that sex workers are targeted is a lot of people wouldn’t be alarmed if they’re missing also, they’re thought of as being vulnerable,” Adhia said. “The police don’t have infinite resources so they would not focus on if they found out a sex worker is missing. It’s not going to be the top of their to do list.”

Who is Joel Rifkin?

Rifkin was convicted of murdering nine women between 1989 and 1993, and some believe he could’ve murdered up to 17 people, making him the most prolific serial killer in New York history. He was sentenced to 203 years in prison.

Rifkin committed his first murder in 1989. He killed Heidi Balch in his East Meadow home, then dismembered her body. He scattered her remains, leaving her head in a paint can in the woods of a golf course in New Jersey, her legs farther north and her torso and arms into the East River. The remains were found later that year but were not identified until 2013.

Allegedly, Rifkin’s other known victims are Julie Blackbird, Barbara Jacobs, Mary Ellen DeLuca, Yun Lee, Lorraine Orvieto, Anna Lopez, Violet O’Neill, Jenny Soto, Mary Catherine Williams, Leah Evans, Iris Sanchez, Lauren Marquez, Tiffany Bresciani and two other unnamed victims.

The victims he targeted were often sex workers and drug addicts. He often disposed of the victim’s remains in bodies of water, such as the Hudson River, East River, Harlem River and Coney Island Creek.

Prior to the murders, Rifkin was arrested in a sex worker sting in Hempstead for offering an undercover female police officer money for sex.

Rifkin, now 65 years old, is serving his sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

Robert Shulman

Robert Shulman was found guilty of murdering five women on Long Island between 1991 and 1995.

Shulman’s first victim was 24-year-old Lori Vasquez. Her body was found in 1991 inside a dumpster in Yonkers.

His next victim, 31-year-old Meresa Hammonds, was also found in a dumpster in Yonkers in 1992. She was unidentified until 2021.

Shulman was also connected to the death of a woman who still remains unidentified. Her body was discovered on the shoulder of Long Island Avenue in 1994 near Medford by an employee of the Suffolk County Department of Public Works.

The body of Lisa Ann Warner, 18, was found at a recycling plant in Brooklyn in 1995. Investigators later determined her body ended up on a garbage truck after being placed in a dumpster in Nassau County.

His final victim, 28-year-old Kelly Sue Bunting, was found in Melville wrapped in a sleeping bag in 1995.

Shulman’s victims were all prostitutes. He would beat them and dismember them at his apartment. He cut off hands and buried them underground. to prevent fingerprint identification.

He was sentenced to death in Suffolk County for three of the murders and sentenced to life in prison in Westchester County for the other two murders. The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2004.

He died in 2006 at the age of 52.

Richard Cottingham

Richard Cottingham has been connected to at least 18 victims through convictions and non-prosecution agreements in New York and New Jersey.

In June of 2022, Cottingham was arraigned from prison for the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick in Valley Stream. It is believed to be the oldest criminal case to be solved and prosecuted based on DNA evidence.

Cusick, a 23-year-old dance teacher, was found dead in the back seat of her car outside of the Green Acres Mall. She had been raped, beaten and strangled. She also had adhesive tape on her mouth and neck.

He pleaded guilty to the crime in December of 2022. He also admitted to killing four more women on Long Island during 1972 and 1973. Those four victims are Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman and Emerita Rosado Nieves.

Cottingham was already serving a life sentence for other murder convictions, but 25 years were added to his life sentence as part of the plea deal.

Cottingham, now 77, is being held at South Woods State Prison in Bridgerton, New Jersey.

Richard Angelo

Richard Angelo killed several patients while working as a nurse at a hospital on Long Island in 1987.

Angelo came into the public eye in October of 1987 when he was accused of injecting 73-year-old Gerolamo Kuchich with pancuronium, which is sometimes used for euthanasia or lethal injections, at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Islip.

Angelo was arrested for assault following Kuchich’s death. He then admitted to poisoning other patients with pancuronium and Suxamethonium chloride, a medication causing short-term paralysis used in general anesthesia, during a seven-month period at the hospital.

Attorney Johnnie W. Mask defended Charles Cullen, a serial killer that operated in New Jersey and Pennsylvania who also used his position as a nurse to kill patients. Cullen admitted to giving up to 40 patients fatal doses of medications through IVs.

Mask explained why a killer may be drawn to this method of killing.

“Killers who work in medical facilities, the victims come to them and they’re there already,” Mask said. “And if you have a homicidal intent, all you have to do is just be cautious when you inject a person with whatever substance you’re trying to use. It’s a much more sterile homicide than the crime of violence.”

In Angelo’s case, officials exhumed up to 30 patients who recently died to examine them for traces of these medications.

“In order to prosecute all of those cases, you have to exhume bodies, secure experts and it becomes terribly expensive,” Mask said. “And, sad to say, in prosecuting those cases, the DAs got to be ready to spend a lot of money if they want to do every victim that they possibly suspect was killed in that manner.”

Angelo was ultimately found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, one count of second-degree manslaughter, one count of criminally negligent homicide, two counts of first-degree assault and three counts of second-degree assault. There were some additional suspected victims, but the medical examiner could not fully attribute the deaths to injections.

Mask also spoke about how it can be difficult to uncover murders committed in this manner.

“People, unfortunately, die in hospitals frequently, so it’s not unexpected that a person would die in a hospital and particularly if you choose a victim who’s got seriousl medical issues to begin with,” Mask said.

However, there are some common ways these killers get caught.

“Only in a situation where you might have someone who witnessed it, or if the suspect is careless, or he is bragging about it,” Mask said.

Angelo, now 61 years old, is serving a life sentence at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

Rex Heuermann

Rex Heuermann, accused of murdering six women, is a case that is captivating the nation.

The architect from Massapequa Park is charged with six counts of murder related to killings from the early 1990s to 2011. He is currently awaiting trial, but no date has been set yet.

Heuermann’s first confirmed victim was 28-year-old Sandra Costilla in 1993. Her body was found in a wooded area in Southampton. She had been strangled to death and was partially clothed. She was identified using fingerprints.

The next victim was 20-year-old Jessica Taylor, whose body was found in the wooded area of Manorville. Additional remains were found in 2011 on Gilgo Beach.

Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, was last seen alive in 2007. Her remains were discovered on December 13, 2010.

Heuermann is also accused of murdering 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, who was last seen in 2009. Her body was found near Gilgo Beach on December 11, 2010.

Megan Waterman, 22, was reported missing in June of 2010. Her body was found on the same day that Brainard-Barnes’ body was found, December 13, 2010, near Gilgo Beach.

Also found on that day near Gilgo Beach was the body of 27-year-old Amber Lynn Costello, who was last seen leaving her home in September of 2010.

Brainard-Barnes, Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello are collectively known as the “Gilgo Four.”

Heuermann allegedly targeted sex workers. Officials discovered a document allegedly written by Heuermann that details how the crimes he is accused of were committed, which included torturing and dismembering victims.