Rotten Mango - #293: Serial Killer Watched Podcasts About His Murders - CAUGHT After 13 Years

Episode Date: September 6, 2023

Shannon’s driver had a few roles. He would drive her to the client’s home, wait outside, and make sure she made it out of the house in one piece. He was security if you will and in this line of work (escorting) - security was everything. He wasn’t expecting the client to come rushing out demanding that Michael get Shannon out of his house. Confused, he went inside to see that Shannon was already on the phone with 911. She was accusing both men of being in on it together, of plotting to kill her tonight, and she knew that her life was in danger. The men tried to calm her down, but she ran out of the house, down the residential street, out of the gated neighborhood, and vanished. She would be found dead & the investigation into her disappearance would uncover one of America’s notorious serial killers. Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So much of our lives, okay not just like our lives, but you guys as well. It is focused on creating content, which sounds kind of strange, but even if you're not a content creator, there are websites that need to be made presentations for work or for school or maybe you're like me and you just want to start your social media journey, I have a tip for you. So Campbell was one of those things that I wish I learned about sooner and I was so stubborn about it for no reason. When I was just starting off, I remember being told by all these other creators that were way more experienced than me that Canva was amazing.

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Okay, so for example, I used that help me out my video game. Okay, so for example, I used to spend so much time hunting down audio tracks or stock footage, and none of them just fit the vibe that I was looking for. With Canva, they have a free library of videos and audio tracks that are super easy to find exactly what I'm looking for, and on top of that, if you're just starting off editing, don't let this hinder you! You can remove video backgrounds on Canva, which is one click. So I like that even if I had an idea, but maybe not so much the technical skill, Canva could

help turn that inspiration into design in no time. And you guys know that we've been expanding our Rotten Mango team. There is Canva Teams, which is great if you're working with other creatives on the same project. There's a feature that's called Canva Whiteboards. I live and die on this feature, okay? It's like an infinite space to brainstorm and collaborate with other people and it is perfect since our team is fully remote. So design and collaborate with Canva for teams. And this is just like

one of their many features. I wish I had 20 minutes to talk about Canva. So design and collaborate with Canva for teams. Right now you can get a free 45 day extended trial when you go to Canva.me slash rotten. That's C-A-N-V-A.me slash rotten for a free 45 day extended trial. Canva.me slash rotten. But it being better, boom. Shannon Gilbert was an escort. And the way that her business was set up, she had to split her earnings with Michael Pack. Michael is her driver. So he would keep a third of the profits, she would keep the other two thirds, and at first glance it's kind of an unfair split situation because Shannon is doing most of the work. Michael would just drive her to the client's house, sit outside, parked,

and then drive her back. He never interacted with the clients. But I guess maybe he's there as extra protection to make sure that she's still coming out of that client's home unscathed and alive like the way that she went in. Shannon was an escort. Her family knew they begged her to stop and you know it's not one of those toxic situations where they were like what will the neighbors think? They genuinely were just worried for her safety. She would always reassure them like mom it's no big deal. I'm just I'm always safe. I'm always cautious. I have a good head on my shoulders. I'm doing this so that I can I can pay off some of my debt and maybe try to find a way to get through school. Shannon was working without the protection

of an agency. So usually an agency kind of works as like a protection. They handle all the client intakes outtakes. They make sure that you're not kidnapped on the job. They handle all the client intakes, outtakes, they make sure you're not kidnapped on the job, they do all of that. May 1, 2010. Shannon went for an out call, meaning that she would be going out to a client's home. Now the client's name is Joseph Brewer. They agreed on the amount of $450 and everything else was set in motion. Michael would drive her there at around midnight. He would stay in the car

while Shannon went inside and performed her services. If any out call could be deemed safe, this would be the one. I mean, Joseph Brewer lived in a gated community in Long Island called Oak Beach. I don't think it gets safe in the not long Island, New York. Yeah, Long Island, New York. So Michael Pack was sitting in the car waiting for Shannon to come out. It had been about like three hours at this point. And then the door to Joseph's house swings open. Joseph Brewer starts speed walking to Michael's driver's side. And it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Usually the clients want nothing to do with the drivers, the agencies, or the quote, pimps, because it's just not what they do. They act like they don't exist. And he's like, get her out. Michael was confused. But Joseph is insisting that Michael should go into the house and get Shannon out right now. He gets out of his car, goes into the home,

and he originally thought, okay, maybe Shannon had done drugs and Joseph can't, quote, handle her. So, you know, maybe he just wants her out of the house. But when Michael walks in through that door, Shannon is accusing both men of working together, of being in on it and trying to kill her. What? Both men stated they believed that she had taken drugs

and had fallen into a drug-induced state of paranoia. The 911 call is disturbing. Not in the sense that it's filled with these like high-pitched screams of terror, but it's unsettling when you know that she practically vanishes into thin air right after this call. She called. Yes, and then vanishes.

Shannon was on the phone with police in a rather family-oriented gated neighborhood, and she was able to talk to multiple different neighbors asking them for help before disappearing before the police could even arrive. She kept reiterating to dispatch that someone was after her. She sounded a bit more confused than she did terrified, and most of the important parts of the call are Shannon,

Joseph the client, and Michael the driver, having a conversation that is being recorded by 911, and most of the men's side of conversation that is being recorded by 911, and most of the men's side of the conversation is inaudible. And it seems like Shannon is suspicious that something is going to happen to her tonight. She thinks that these men have planned something sinister. She keeps asking Michael the driver multiple times, are you going to kill me? Are you going to kill me?

To which she tells her, you're freaking me out. Like let's just go home. What are you talking about? But it's clear she does not trust anyone in this situation. She doesn't want to go with Michael. Her gut is telling her that something bad is gonna happen to her. In the beginning of the call, it seems like she doesn't want to leave because she doesn't feel safe. But then later she asks Michael to get her out of here. And then she turns around to accuse him of being a part of this for the whole night. Another interesting thing to note is Shannon is really thrown off because it seems like Michael used her real name

in front of Joseph. And to her. That's a very small detail she noticed then. Yes. To her, it's like setting her red flags or going off. The red alarms are bringing her suspicion is through the roof. Even in the middle. How are you two know each other, right? No, no, he says Shannon's name. Which, Michael uses Shannon's name. In front of clients, you never do because you use a fake name. And so she's like, why are you using my real name right now?

Like, it's just adding this layer of like, I don't feel like I trust anyone right now. Why would you ever do that? And maybe it's like a very firm rule between drivers and escorts. Like you never use the real name. So she's really creeped out by this. And in the middle of that call, you just hear Shannon break out into a sprint. She's running fast past one, two, three, four, four to five houses. She's screaming here and there throughout the 911 call.

And about four to five houses down, she starts trying to get help from one of the neighbors, a homeowner, Gus, Gus Kaledi. He keeps asking her, what's wrong if someone is after her, what's going on? She seems to be talking to him, but it's inaudible through the call. And he tries to tell her to calm down

so that she doesn't hurt herself. But she ends up running out of Gus's house, running down another like few houses, four to five houses, about 0.2 miles down, and starts asking for help from another neighbor. But after Shannon runs out of Gus's house, he too makes a 911 call of his own and reports that there's a very young girl, about 14 years old. Whoa. Shannon is 23, but she's incredibly girl, about 14 years old. Whoa. Shannon is 23, but she's incredibly petite, like four feet 10, less than 100 pounds.

Gus even describes her physical appearance as, quote, very small. About 14 years old, running around screaming, he states that there's some guy trying to follow her in an SUV, which appears to be Michael driving to catch up with Shannon. Shannon then runs to another neighbor's house prompting another 911 call. Barbara, a middle-aged neighbor, was too scared to let her in. She called 911 and stated that there

was a girl banging on her door saying that she was in danger. Barbara states, I don't see any danger though, and we live in a gated community. And then the banging stops. The 911 call stop. Authorities show up at said gated community and Shannon has vanished. She's gone. And she would never be seen alive ever again. John the client and Michael the driver would both be ruled out by the investigators as being involved in Shannon's disappearance. But, but Shannon's disappearance would lead

to a chain of events that would uncover 11 bodies near the neighborhood hidden in this marsh-like area. Many of them were naked, many in burlap sacks, some dismembered, some for more recently, others were skeletonized remains, and it was widely believed that this was all the work of a serial killer. The Long Island Serial Killer. Lisk for short. And for 13 years, everyone in Long Island, they knew about the murders, they talked about the murders, usually huddled in the safety of their homes at night.

They even pointed the finger at influential members of the community as being the serial killer hidden in plain sight. Even the police chief was accused of being the serial killer. Until finally, July 13th, 2023, 13 years later, this suspected long-e Island serial killer was caught and arrested. Interestingly, his Google searches indicate that he listened to many podcasts and watched many documentaries about the Long Island serial killings before he was caught. Which is quite a chilling thought. As always, full show notes are available at rottonmingopodcast.com.

There are a lot of documentaries on this case as well as books, which we'll all be linked in the show notes. But this is a long, long time coming. I mean, it's been about 13 years since 11 bodies were found along the South Shore of Long Island. For 13 years, a suspected serial killer had not yet been apprehended. And 11 different families had to deal with just grief, anxiety, and just the frustration of not having justice.

And like I said, recently July of 2023, a suspect has been arrested. He has been arrested and charged with three of the deaths. But he has not yet been convicted. He's also pled not guilty. So just keep that in mind. And with that being said, let's get into it. John Mollia was walking along Ocean Parkway. He's with his big German shepherd blue. And Ocean Parkway is kind of a misleading name.

OK, I was imagining a, like, the Pacific Coast Highway, a long stretch of road along the coast where you look out the window. And it's such a scenic drive. coast highway. A long stretch of road along the coast where you look out the window and it's such a scenic drive. You see these blue waters crashing on the shore. It's not that. It's a long stretch of road in Long Island and on both sides it's got like 12 feet tall reads. It's like thin grass but they look dead, they look more yellow and they can grow 12 feet tall. 12 feet tall. 12 feet tall?

12 feet tall, surrounding both sides of this parkway. Wow. You could probably see the ocean from where you're driving, but it feels more like an illusion. Like if you were to park your car on the side of the road, a ocean parkway, get out and try to walk to the ocean, you would have to push through reeds that are taller than you, and would probably be scratching up your arms. If you're not familiar with the area, or you don't have a strong sense of direction like myself, you might find yourself making circles.

It's very easy to get lost in the reads. Even though you think, oh, there's a road on one side and the ocean on one side, I should be fine. You might not be fine. Trying to retrace your steps back to your car could be a very daunting task. So think more like a cornfield, but it's not that lush green vibrant color that you imagine. The area just kind of feels dead, especially on this day. December 11th of 2010, it's cold.

There's a thin layer of sleep on the ground, the weather is overcast. I probably wouldn't mock my dog under those conditions, but John's dog, Blue, the German Shepherd, was a very active dog, and he knew that area well, like the back of his hand, enough so that John trusted him off leash in the reeds. In fact, Blue was almost like John's protector. So whenever they're together, John's like, I feel good, I feel at ease, I feel calm. So he's waiting as blue is sniffing around the bushes of weeds that surround them, and just as blue is about to relieve himself, he frees us up, his ears go up, and John looks up quietly.

He notices the sudden shift of energy in his dog. What is it blue? It's like blue is trying to tell him something. And immediately, John's heart starts racing because he's seen this before and it can only mean one thing. Blue is not just John's beloved pet. Blue is a cadaver dog. An officer, John Malia, was about to find a dead body. And immediately, it was like a police parade, cop cars, one after another, pulling up uniformed officers running into the reads

for forensic teams, coroners, homicide detectives, they would find four bodies. These four bodies would be known as the Gilgho IV. All four bodies were found clearly murdered, strangled, and none of the four bodies belonged to Shannon Gilbert, who had just vanished not too long ago, in this exact area. Oh, they were searching for Shannon. Yeah.

It found for other people. Yeah. Wow. And in the matter of months, the residents of Long Island would realize that there is a serial killer operating amongst them. December 11, 2010, a young woman's body was found by blue, naked, strangled, and in a burlap sack. December 13th, 2010, another three bodies were found.

These would be the Gilgothore. Naked, strangled, all young women, curiously, all under five feet tall and all wrapped in burlap sacks. March 20th, 2011, three months later, another body was found, just a dismembered skull, forearms, and hands, not too far from the gilgo for. So right now it's five now, you're saying?

Now it's five. April 4th, 2011, just six days later, another three bodies are found. Now it's eight. One was just another set of hands, forearms, and a decapitated skull. One was a toddler dead and wrapped in a blanket and another was the body of an Asian American individual. April 11th, 2011, a week later, another two dismembered bodies were found. A total of 10 bodies were discovered on Gilgo Beach in the span of five months. And Shannon Gilbert was still missing. I don't even know how would people feel in that time. Like, you know, back in 2010,

when this news was breaking, can you imagine how terrifying that is? I would just feel like utter terror. I'm curious to know if anyone was from that time or from that area and what was going on because, whoa, that's terrifying. Yeah, like if you were growing up there, did you notice a shift and maybe the way

that your parents reacted to you going out where you allowed, did you have a new curfew? Like, did you notice any of these small shifts, even if you didn't know exactly what was going on? Yeah, wow. The commissioner of the South folk County Police Department held a press conference where he confirmed that it appeared that this was the work

of a serial killer. And then the phone calls happened. A lot of these phone calls actually happened before the police found the bodies in Gilgobie, which I think just makes the situation much more heartbreaking. A lot of the victims, their families had been losing sleep. They had put their lives on pause looking through their vanished loved ones. Like, where are they? Did they run away? That's what the police are saying. With their foul play, I have no clues. This is before the bodies are found.

One of the victims, Melissa Barthelemy, which I'm gonna get into the victims in a little bit. Melissa's sister, Amanda, had dedicated so much of her life to finding her missing sister. For years, that's all she focused on was finding her sister. She just vanished one day in New York City. Amanda would stop at nothing until her sister was found, okay?

She knew that her sister would never run away. They were basically best friends. They told each other everything. She needed to find her sister Melissa. A few months after Melissa went missing, Amanda got a phone call from Melissa's phone. Her stomach dropped. She rushes to pick it up hoping to hear her sister's voice on the other line, apologizing for not being in touch and having this big old grand excuse

of why she went off the grid. And she's like Melissa. Instead of hearing Melissa's soft voice on the other end, it was a man who said, this isn't Melissa. Amanda started panicking. She wants to drop her phone hang up, but she knew that this phone call could be the only time to get any information on the whereabouts of her beloved sister, so she has to engage. She has to talk to this man. But it was clear, he was just here to play games, okay?

The man on the other end sounded so cold, calculating, devoid of all emotions, he sounded like pure evil, and it sent shivers down Amanda's spine. He would calmly say the most heinous things to Amanda, are you going to be a whore like your sister? Wow. And then he would hang up, leaving Amanda to feel anger, fear, grief, but also like pure determination to find her sister to spite this evil man. And that's just the start of the calls.

The man continued to call for the next year. The family continued to pay Melissa's phone bill because it was clear that the man had her phone and this was his way of reaching out. And there's nothing could be done to track? Oh, let me tell you. Okay, so before we get there, sometimes Amanda's mom would pick up the call. and this was his way of reaching out. And there's nothing could be done to track? Oh, let me tell you. Okay, so before we get there, sometimes Amanda's mom would pick up the call, just to spare Amanda

from the pain, you know? Like imagine your sister's gone missing and you're the one picking up these phone calls, but the man on the other end would just hang up. It's almost like he wanted to taunt Amanda specifically. The person that Melissa was the closest to, they're closer in age, and it's like he wanted to gloat to her.

In one call, the man told Amanda that her sister Melissa was dead. He said he killed her and he was watching her body rot. He also said that one day, I will show you Melissa's rotting body. The phone calls themselves were very unsettling, but they were also very revealing. So yeah, this happened in like 2009, 2010. Authorities could still trace calls back in the day. So why would the killer risk calling the sister of the victim so many times? Because he got off on it. He's a sadist. He's a cold calculated sadistic killer. This was a man that enjoyed the hunt. The taunting, the inciting, the riling up people is like a big part of that.

He just wants people to know I did this and I got away with it. He just can't stand not getting some credit for his crimes. Will the police would trace his calls and it would lead them right to the middle of New York City, Midtown in Manhattan to be exact. So the calls they can be traced to a very small area, but New York City is a densely populated city. The calls all took place during rush hour between 5.30 to 6.30 pm. The authorities would pull up CCTV footage around the couple of blocks that the calls could be zoned in on.

And literally so many people in and out of offices, trying to catch a cab, trying to get on the train, trying to get into their cars, and almost all of them are on the phone. And it's 5.30 to 6.30? Yeah, peak rush hour. That's like someone getting out of the work time, right? It's like a killer just finished his day job.

And it's like, I've been waiting for this moment. Yeah. It would be impossible to pick out the killer. I mean, it's like finding a needle in a haystack. And then for decades, nothing, the investigation stalls. I mean, they knew a few things. They were looking for most likely a middle-aged white man that knew the area well. The dismemberment of some of the bodies hinted to someone who took pure pleasure in hunting others and of inflicting pain.

The call signified that this is someone who wanted to really relive that feeling of power over and over again and craved the hunt. And also, the killer would be the type to believe that he's too smart to be caught. And that almost kind of bothers him in some way. He wants to play games. He wants people to know that there is someone out there doing these terrifying things. And he almost wants credit for it. It's like he's dying to brag about it. Because of the burlap sacks for while authorities and the public believes that maybe the killer was like a blue collar worker of sorts

that worked in construction, possibly plumbing or something with their hands, they would kind of narrow down their pool of suspects but not by much. So throughout the years, many people have been accused of being the Long island serial killer. It's like, um, it's like a guess who type of game, right? Can you spot the killer in the crowd? This went on for about 13 years before someone was finally arrested. Joseph Brewer was

suspected by netizens of being the long island serial killer. He was the man slash client that met up with Shannon the night that she vanished. He claimed that Shannon came to his home and after a while started behaving erratically and he just wanted her out. She was convinced though that everyone was out to kill her. So I mean I can see why he's a suspicious person in the grand scheme of things. Also the bodies are found really close to the gated neighborhood that Shannon went missing. The reason that the bodies were uncovered was because of the investigation into Shannon Gilbert's disappearance.

But he passed a polygraph and he was cooperative with the investigation. He was ultimately cleared by the police as a suspect in Shannon's death as well as a suspect in the Long Island Serial killings. Joe Foddy was suspected by netizens of being the Long Island Serial Killer. Now, this one is interesting, okay?

So at one point, if you went on the Wikipedia page for the Long Island Serial Killer, Joe Foti was listed as being the perpetrator. But he had never been arrested. I don't know if he's ever really been investigated. He's definitely never been convicted of the crimes. So who the hell is Joe Foti? That's what people are wondering. Joe Foti was a retired corrections officer from Suffolk County jail.

This is the jurisdiction of where the killings happened. He was under investigation after being sued by five female inmates who insisted that he had essayed them while they were in jail. Obviously, if these accusations are true, Joe Foti needs to be put behind bars for a very long time. But what does that have to do with the long island serial killings? Well, people connected the dots, okay? If he is heinous enough to essay people in prison, he probably had some other crimes outside of his job. Maybe he killed escorts.

Internet sluice also found another interesting link. I believe you can see who edits information on Wikipedia, and somehow these internet slu solutions were able to track whoever edited and add Joe Foti's name as the killer on the wiki page. They tracked the IP address to whoever edited it. And it was pinpointed to none other than the Suffolk County police station. So does that mean that someone that works within the very same

police station felt like, oh, I can't come out with this information because I'll lose my job, I might get killed. So all I'm going to do is put it up on Wikipedia and let the netizens handle it. Wow. What is the very chilling behind the scene like activities? Wow. Like what did they know that we didn't know about Joe Foddy? Joe Foddy though was eventually cleared by the police, but I believe there are a lot of

netizens who just never let this connection go for the past 13 years. Peter Hackett was suspected by netizens of being the Long Island serial killer, so he's the former head of the Suffolk County Medical Services. A lot of big people involved, okay? He actually lived very close to where Shannon went missing. It's like practically his backyard. Apparently, he knew Shannon and would help her get medical services, but allegedly, he would do that inside of his own home. He was also trying to or already did open

up a home for individuals trying to get back on their feet. And he claimed that he wanted to help Shannon. Apparently, he also mentioned providing care to Shannon the same day that she went missing, and it made Shannon's mom and family very uncomfortable. So the theory was that Shannon was terrified after making those 911 calls, but she ran to Dr. Hackett's home for help

because Barbara wasn't opening the door. Maybe Peter Hackett had done something after that. It said that Peter Hackett was not a well-liked man like at all. A lot of his neighbors hated him, stated that he was dramatic, temperamental, and when investigated by authorities, he refused to take a polygraph. It just felt like this man had a lot of things to hide. Shannon's family would even file a wrongful death suit against him, and in the end, authorities said,

this is not the killer. He's just a drama queen that loves attention. Like he wanted to be a part of the conversation of a big, big case, but he didn't even realize what he was getting himself into. At times, Dr. Hackett would allegedly pretend to have a heart attack when he did not want to answer a question about the case.

He was said to have dramatically clutched his chest and said, my defibrillator before dropping to the ground. Like he's pretending? Yeah. There was no evidence linking the doctor to the case and he was dismissed as a suspect. And then Joel Riffkin was the next netizen appointed suspect. Is it Joel? Joel. J.O.E.L. If you guys don't know Joel, he's a serial killer. He operated in the late 80s, early 90s in New York. And it's assumed that he killed anywhere between nine and 17 victims while he was

active. Let me know if you guys want a deep drive on this case, but he was a brutal killer. He would remove teeth and fingerprints from victims. His very first murder, he put his victims head in a paint can before leaving her in the woods of a golf course in Jersey. The majority of his victims were sex workers, so there is that eerie connection as most of the victims found dead on the Gilgobeeach were sex workers at the time of their deaths. But Joel Rifkin was already in prison and he stated that he wasn't involved in these

killings, which like, okay fine, would we really take his word for it? But when asked about the case, Joel said that he thinks the person responsible would have had a job that allowed him to be in the the reads, the brushes of Ocean Parkway without being suspicious. Maybe a landscaper, some sort of construction contractor, even a fisherman. So for the longest time, most media publications were like, it's got to be like a clam fisherman. So Joel was accused, but the timelines just didn't add up for when he was incarcerated and then when some of the other murders had happened.

James Bissett was accused by netizens of being the long island serial killer. So there are a few reasons. James was wealthy and financially independent, which was what a lot of experts guessed about the killer. He owned a local aquarium and a plant nursery. His company was also a major supplier of burlap in the area, which was the material used to wrap a lot of the victim's bodies. Now, he passed away by his own doing in 2011, and everyone thought,

okay, well, maybe the serial killer hasn't been caught because they're already dead. And that's why the police can't catch them. Because if they're still alive, they're probably still committing crimes, right? Or people speculated he only knew that it was a matter of time before authorities came knocking on his door after the bodies were discovered, so he took his own life. Interestingly enough, he actually passed away the day after another set of bodies were found.

So yeah, the circumstances, they paint a very suspicious picture, but they're all just coincidences. The police have stated that James was a completely innocent man that happened to take his life at a time that people were frantically trying to draw any sort of connections to any man living in the area. So this one was just very unfortunate timing they said. Then John Bill Trough was another internet suspect for the Long Island killings. Why does every single person's name start with Jay? Yeah. That's okay.

He was a carpenter that had already been convicted of strangling two women who were both escorts and was even a suspect in the death of another woman also an escort. He committed his crimes in Long Island. He was active during the 90s and like God knows who, how long long because it wasn't until 2014 that he was arrested He's currently serving in prison for his crimes and side note apparently one of the calls that the victim's sisters Received was traced to a place called Manerville and that's where John was living with his wife at the time But he was rolled out by investigators, at least for the Gilgho

4 killings. I believe he's still suspected of other killings, but not the Gilgho 4. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Do you guys feel overwhelmed? Like everybody is pulling you in different directions lately, or do you feel like your schedule has been just so much more jam-packed and you can't even find time for yourself? I feel like every single person that I've been talking to recently has felt this way in one shape or another and one thing that's really helped me stop over scheduling myself.

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Once again, it starts with James. Oh, yeah. Okay. Now, James Burke was born in prison. And he's quite, well, before this, he was a very well-respected police chief and influential figure in town. Everyone knew him, most citizens liked him, or at least he was respected to a degree.

But everything fell apart when a dildo was stolen from his patrol car. December 2012, so a few years after the bodies had been found, a duffle bag was stolen from police chief Berks patrol car. So this is his work vehicle. This duffle bag was filled to the brim of explicit pornography and sex toys. Is that his? It's his.

Yeah, we know it's his. He just have a full duffle back full of it. Yeah, it's not like confiscated by a criminal. And he's like, oh, I gotta bring this evidence. To evidence? No, it's not. It's not a situation where he's like, I just don't be lying. Yes evidence? No, it's not. It's not a situation where he's like, I just arrest him.

Yes, in his patrol car. Not normal. Yeah, why would a police chief have a bag of these items in his patrol car, like his work vehicle? Chief Burke knew that that's what everyone's going to be asking him. So in an attempt to shut this situation down, he catches the thief that broke into his patrol car

and stole that duffel bag. I don't know if the thief thought it would be drugs in there or money in there, but it was not what he was expecting. He throws the thief into the police station where he was chained to the ground, and Burke is thinking, okay, maybe the thief doesn't know what's in the bag because he seems like he's on drugs, so maybe that's clouding his memory. But no, the thief knew any called Chief Burke a pervert straight to his face, which kind of valid Chief Burke blew up, screaming, slapping, punching, kicking the thief till the other officers

his subordinates had to step in and stop him. Chief Burke was sentenced to a few years in prison for the assault and a lot of the community still supported him at the time. But the question is, what the hell does this have to do with the long island serial killings? There was an allegation that Chief Burke was a client of sex work. This is an allegation, but one sex worker approached the families of the victims and allegedly stated that Chief Burke forced her to perform sexual acts on him after being busted for, I guess, legal term prostitution, but for sex work, you get it. The incident allegedly took place near where Shannon went missing.

But again, none of this has been stated in court. Side note, he did beat the thief. Okay, that part has been legally proven, but I'm talking the sex work stuff. She claimed that Chief Burke would go to these drug-fueled parties with escorts at Long Beach and ended up having really rough sexual encounters with a lot of these escorts who felt too afraid to report him because technically they're engaging in illegal activity, he's the ended up having really rough sexual encounters with a lot of these escorts who felt too afraid to report him because technically they're engaging in illegal activity, he's the police chief.

But more than that, the attorney that was representing Shannon's family said that allegedly, Chief Burke was in charge of the Gilgobeeje investigations and a photo had been put out by the police department of a ton of cadaver dogs being utilized to search the Gilgo Beach area. But allegedly only one of them was the cadaver dog. The attorney stated that the rest of the dogs were props. What does that make netizens feel like? That makes netizens feel like this man wants to shut down the investigation. He doesn't want to do a thorough investigation, but why? Why?

He doesn't want to do a thorough investigation, but why? Why? What a weird way of covering a case then. Like, what a bizarre story. Yeah, there's also rumors that the Suffolk Police Department wasn't that cooperative with receiving help from the FBI in the early stages of this case, which again, people were like, I don't understand. In a lot of cases, there are power struggles of jurisdictions. And you know, you watch those TV dramas and the FBI and the police are like, I don't understand. In a lot of cases there are power struggles of jurisdictions and you know you watch those TV dramas and the FBI and the police are like no this is my jurisdiction

but typically when it comes to serial killings the FBI is involved and they're welcomed you know. A lot of Nezans just felt like he's stalling the investigation and making sure nothing ties him to the crimes so that was a very very strong theory By the way, James Burke is gonna keep popping up if you're doing your own independent googling on this case, but he's not the one that was arrested as the suspected Long Island serial killer. It's crazy because as I just went down this list with the exception of James Bissett

who owned the nursery in aquarium, all of the other men, I'm like, okay, yeah, I mean, I can see why people think they're shady. Yeah, I can see that, I can see that. And a lot of netizens believed if the killer was ever caught, it would likely be someone on this list or someone that people had heard of

being connected to this case before. But July 13th, 2023, a man was arrested for his connections to the serial killings and it was not anyone on the list. It was a dad, a husband, an Architects in Midtown Manhattan. He founded and owned his own firm, R.H. Consultants and Associates, not anything to do with R.H. The furniture shop. He had an office on Fifth Avenue, an architect that

worked with massive companies like American Airlines, New York City's sewage treatments, and even Catholic charities. He founded this? Yeah. So he's very, very successful. Yeah. Well, there's debate about it because technically he works with a lot of high-profile clients. I don't know if his success, ebbed and flowed. I don't know if he was in and out of financial despair, but I believe that at one point his family was on welfare. So that's a huge debate too. I believe he worked on the project for the new target store in Soho, as well as the Burlington Coat Factory store

in Brooklyn. Yeah, and his double life came crashing down because of a pizza. And I think a general tidbit in Drew Crime is don't commit his double life came crashing down because of a pizza. And I think a general tidbit in Drew Crime is don't commit crimes and eat pizza. And if you do eat pizza, eat the whole crust. Barry was in his early 70s. This is not the killer, okay?

Barry. And if you wanted to know what was going on in this little neighborhood in Long Island, you would go to Barry. Barry was like the eyes, maybe not the ears, because he said he's a bit hard of hearing now, but he was the all-knowing figure in town. Like, he would see which kids acted up,

which neighbors stared a little too long at each other's wives and husbands. He would also see the yellow tape go up. He was there when many of the neighbors were interviewed or talking about what it was like to live so close to a suspected serial killer. And a lot of these testimonies are conflicting, so whether it's hindsight, truth, attention, or just a little bit of everything, many of the neighbors said, I always knew that something

was shady about that guy. My whole family stayed away from him. He was always, you know, eerie, cold, creepy, and whenever I talked to him, I just could not put my finger on it, but he gave me a sense of uneasiness. Some neighbors even wore their suspicions about him almost like a badger-owner. The Schmitz always had a gut feeling about this guy. Mike Schmit, the dad. He banned his kids from trick-or-treating at this man's house. They had to skip that house every single year, every single Halloween. There was one time that Mike caved and was like,

okay, fine kids, you can go ask for candy. When they got home, his wife flipped out and threw away all the candy. She did not trust him. Mike said one time a couple of the neighborhood dads were having beers out back, and they ran the backyard that faced this man's house. And he remembered as their sippin' on beer

during a lol in the conversation. He just couldn't help himself. He looked over and he said, he probably has bodies in there. And all the dads agreed. And now with the crime scene tape, the police lights, the uniformed officers in and out of the house, everyone wondered, were there bodies in the house? Barry, on the other hand, he questioned himself.

He's like, how did I let a suhook killer slip into the neighborhood? This guy was just an average businessman. Nothing about him was particularly outstanding nor extraordinary. I mean, in fact, the guy grew up here. So this zero killer, suspected zero killer, grew up in the neighborhood. Barry watched him grow up in his family home only to come back not too long ago to raise his own family here. He's a family man. He had a wife, he had two kids, a lovely daughter, and a big fancy job in the city.

I mean, how could he be a serial killer? So news spreads to old high school friends. A woman named Marine Boyle Hopeit had sit down and heard all the news of her old high school buddy being a suspected serial killer. And she just remembered he used to leave all these cute little note love notes for her during class. Sometimes in her locker, sometimes in her textbook, and like, don't get me wrong, she said the letters were nice, they were sweet, they were cute, she never really liked him back, but she never thought, oh, this guy's creepy, I'm scared of rejecting him.

In fact, she kind of thought the letters were kind and complimentary and she would always have a smile on her face when she read them. She said he was like a gentle giant. This part isn't intriguing. So he's a big guy, okay, tall, big and stature. All of the victims, well, most of them, were under five feet. Very petite woman.

And that is a very scary picture, I guess, to have. Anyway, the love notes would read something like, I like you. Could you like me back? Sweet Nuffings, exo, Rex Hewerman. Rex Hewerman of Long Island, New York. Rex Hewerman of R.H. Consultants and Associates. And Rex Hewerman, the main suspect in the Gilgopiche murders.

Rex Huerman, this is the suspected Long Island serial killer. So Marine from high school, she's really distraught when she's reading these headlines of Rex Huerman, this Rex Huerman, that even more so when she realized that one of his victims over 20 years after high school, was also named Marine. So did anyone really know who Rex Hewerman was? Some people say, no, I knew it from the get go. He was creepy. Some people said, I never saw it coming. He had a wife named Aza Ella Rapp, a stepson named Christopher, and a daughter that he shared with Aza Victoria Hewerman. And I'm not sure what the family dynamic was. There is not too much information on that,

but it does seem like the family is incredibly shocked at finding out that Rex was suspected of being a killer. Maybe they saw him the way that Steve saw him. So Steve is a property manager in Brooklyn that worked with Rex for the past 30 years. That's a long time, okay? And he said, he was just a big old goofy guy. Like he kind of had an Erdi side, but all I saw was a hard worker that was very detailed oriented in his work. And he said,

you know, he was a gem to work with. He was highly knowledgeable. There's actually a video of Rex online where he's talking about his line of work and how it is dealing with clients. And he seems like a New York business owner. Let you might come across. Like, nothing about the video feels that alarming unless you want to say, like, oh my god, his eyes felt empty. But as being honest as possible, like taking hindsight away,

I kept rewatching this video and I'm like, he seems pretty normal. He kind of has that gritty New York sense of humor where he says a little bit of edgy things, but it doesn't sound too aggressive. Just sounds like he says it like it is, type of guy. He also seems like one of those friendly dads that make these kind of off-color jokes, and you're like, ugh, I don't know if you should be joking like that.

But there's nothing that I think, if I had hired him as an architect for whatever, I don't know if I would have been like, oh my god, his eyes are empty. He just seems, at least in a professional setting very normal. And it's very possible that that's the Rex that the family knew. Or maybe they sell flashes of a darker side here and there. But maybe they could never imagine in a million years just how dark it would be. Someone who worked with Rex, a former coworker of his stated that he scared her. She said his face would turn bright red whenever he was like, Someone who worked with Rex, a former co-worker of his stated that he scared her.

She said his face would turn bright red, whenever he was like even a little bit riled up, or would see just like a random woman's face like just randomly. His face would turn bright red like a little teenage boy. And he seemed to get off on making his co-worker squeamish. He just liked getting this reaction, so he would talk in depth in graphic detail about hunting and killing animals to get a reaction out of his female co-workers. She also stated that an ex-co-worker had quit to start a new competing business nearby, and she said that Rex was so mad.

She was scared that he was going to go out and shoot the ex-employee. Authorities searched Rex Hureman's house house and found over 270 guns in his vaulted basement. He only had 90 permits and licenses for his entire collection, meaning the majority of his guns were not registered. Yeah. Side note, there were rumors that there was a soundproof torture room in his house, but that was confirmed to be false by authorities. It's likely that people misunderstood vaulted basement as soundproof room and then it became like torture chamber.

Other notable items found included a painting of a woman with two black eyes, like raccoon eyes, as well as a glass case with a doll inside. Interesting. These items have been seen by eyewitnesses being taken out of the house, but they haven't been confirmed by police. Here is what has been confirmed. The authorities dug up Rex's backyard and found nobody's buried.

They did confiscate eight terabytes of hard drives, and it hasn't been publicly revealed if the hard drives are filled to the brim if they have anything of significance on them, but a few of Huremen searches were released to the public. And it's really bad. I'm going to be censoring most of them for this episode. I don't even think I could say it without, I don't know, being on a watch list somewhere. It's linked in the show notes, the bail application, and that's where you can find it. He was into some incredibly, incredibly dark stuff. He wanted to see minors anywhere between the age of 10 and 13 years old.

He was looking for explicit content with girls with beaten or bruised faces or being tied up in torture. The word crying appeared numerous times in his searches. He wanted to see women and girls crying and in pain, and he specifically wanted to see them cry while actively basically being tortured. A very scary search that has been a topic of online discourse was specifically for a torture video of a red head. Many netizens have pointed out that his daughter has red hair and that just adds a very dark sinister layer to things. His searches are terrifying. I mean some of them just read, girl with beat up face, blonde hair, girl young depressed. It's just so

unsettling. A lot of torture, a lot of violence, a lot of girls and women with the exception of like one or two searches. But that's not all. Apparently, he was also actively searching about the Long Island Serial Killer case. He searched things like, why could law enforcement not trace the calls made by the Long Island Serial Killer? Why hasn't the Long Island Serial Killer been caught?

Long Island Serial Killer update 2022. Long Island Serial Killer update 2022. Long Island Serial Killer phone call. FBI active serial killers. The list investigation, new phone technology may be key to break the case. And at first I wondered, okay, maybe these searches could have been made in an anxious state, and it very well could have been.

But then these searches, I'm about to tell you about, make me feel like this guy is getting off on not being caught, like getting off off on out smarting the cops. Map of all known serial killers unsolved serial killer cases. America's five most notorious old cases. Eleven currently active serial killers. Eight terrifying active serial killers we can't find. The Gilgoboch killer criminal minds episode.

Yeah, he definitely is reliving it. It's not something that he's trying to hide away, get over, like he wants to be in that state. Yeah. He also allegedly searched up the victims by name and even some of their relatives names. And allegedly, the same account was used to search a number of podcasts and documentaries regarding this investigation. So if you guys put out a podcast for a documentary, you could very well been watching it.

As well as reviewing hundreds of images depicting the murdered victims and members of their immediate families. So he's trying to look at pictures of the victims' families or pictures of the crime scene the murdered victims or before they were murdered. Some people have interpreted this as Rex just getting off on not being caught. Which side note, a woman by the name of Nicole Brass went on a date with Rex like 8 years ago before he was arrested and stated that the date was incredibly chilling. She was working as an escort at the time and he just wanted to talk non-stop

about the long island's hero killings. He would even mention details that she had never heard before and it sounded like he was so invested in this case. She said, when he spoke about the murders, it was almost like he was visualizing it in his head, and getting off to what he was saying. It seemed like somebody who really wanted to brag about something, but they couldn't. While a task force was investigating the Long Island Zero killer, he was investigating the task force, trying to keep up with the news on if they were going to break the case or not. Now beyond that, there are other connections to Rex in the case. We can kind of break it down to a few parts. So let's start with the DNA evidence.

There was hairs found in the burlap sacks of how the bodies were wrapped on Gilgobie. Three of them were female Caucasian hairs. One of them was a male Caucasian hair, but they ran it through their systems. It wasn't a match to anyone. So this is basically another needle in a haystack. How are you even going to find who to test this DNA against if they're not already in the database? So they just have these four hairs. Three of them belong to Aza Elirab, Rex Hurman's wife wife. And you're, okay, she's not guilty. She's not even suspected of being involved. She's actually out of town when all the murders happened.

She was like visiting family in Ireland, going to Maryland, and New Jersey, at each time of the murders. But it's like when you're at home, how much of your hair do you think has fallen on the floor or is stuck to the couch on your bed in your garage? And then that can get picked up by clothes or shoes.

It's not that you would necessarily be guilty of a crime or even understand that a crime had happened. It's just, you shed DNA as you exist. Now, his DNA, one of it, was linked to the case. Now, this is going to be important later, but there's other evidence. And I think this will be like the new age of serial killers. So American Express, AMX records, it's a credit card if you're not from the US, they showed

a recurring payment made to Tinder, the dating app. Which is his AMX. Yes. Which revealed that Rex had a Tinder profile set up that linked to a burner phone number. His name on Tinder allegedly was Andrew Roberts. So basically, they believe that they're able to track his Tinder account to a burner phone and this burner phone to Rex

and this Tinder account is linked to his Amex. So it's like a digital trail. Side note, this selfie was also sent by a burner phone. So like, I don't know how they're gonna argue that one in court, right? He sent a selfie to a sex worker from a burner phone. Rex was also caught on CCTV cameras at a cell phone store in Midtown Manhattan purchasing minutes for one of these burner phones.

Which for those interested, Rex had a ton of different emails, fake emails that authorities believe he used to conceal his identity on these websites while hunting for victims. And one of the emails was Hunter, 1903-A3 at Gmail.com. And I'm sure it could very well just be Hunter the name, but with all the talks of him being someone that likes to taunt Chase and hunt his victims, I just thought it was an odd detail. But this is where I thought things were so interesting.

So you know the whole Black Mirror episode, the Terms in Conditions episode, the recent release. Well, Terms in Conditions might have caught Rex too. So Authorities traced Rex's home IP address. They monitored his IP address. And in creating one of these fake emails, he had to accept terms and conditions that was accepted from his supposed IP address.

So they're basically saying, we can confirm, at least we're going to argue that this can be confirmed to be his fake email address that was used to create a Tinder account that is also used to link to a burner phone. Because he accepted terms and conditions from the IP address of his home. Then that same IP address was used to look up news

about the investigation. So they're saying we can try to argue that he is looking up news about his supposed at own investigation. And then that same IP address was used to book flights at JetBlue for Rex Heurman and his wife. So it's like, we can all connect these things to Rex because of his IP address.

Right, because IP address is the same for Rex and for all these fake identities. Yes, but also he's like using the same IP address to book a flight for Rex Heurman, meanwhile creating fake identities for the same IP address. So it's kind of like this. IP address is book a flight for Rex Huerman, meanwhile creating fake identities for the same IP address. Yeah, so it's kind of like this. IP address is the common link for all these fake, yeah.

Which I feel like this could very well be, like the new age of serial killers being caught. Now these are all the things that authorities are gathering and building a case against Rex Huerman. I'm sure that there's a lot more information and a lot more evidence that hasn't been released to the public yet. And the way that they caught him is also very interesting.

So back in January of 2022, there was a designated task force that was going to pour over the files and just try to find all these little pieces of evidence and see what they have. In March 2022, they keep coming across their very first lead, which had been there for decades, over a decade. And it's this car, one of the first victims that was discovered, vanished on the beach. There was an eyewitness who saw her

and was like, before she vanished, there was this Chevy Avalanche. Avalanche, those like there. This old Chevy, they like, I believe they gave the license plate names and that car was believed to be driven by the killer. And in 2022, they traced it to Rex Hewerman. Now, that's when they started investigating him

and they uncover the alleged burner cell phones that Rex allegedly purchased to arrange meetings with three. I'm so sorry, that's it, just a car. Yeah, and a lot of people are like, how did you not investigate that earlier? But I guess they didn't think that it was a big lead. Yeah, tell me about it, okay, a lot of people are mad. Okay. Yeah. So then they start investigating Rex or like this guy is buying a lot of burner phones. A lot of

these burner phones can be connected to be in contact with a lot of the victim's phones at one point or another. All of his locations can be traced to when those phone calls to the victims came out. He was in that area, his own personal cell phone pinged him in that area, which was also very close to his Midtown office in Manhattan. So it would make sense that he got out of work and then made those taunting phone calls if it indeed is him. On top of that, they pull his Amics records and there were numerous instances where Rex was buying

something in the same general area as he was calling. So like right after a phone call was Pinkdom in Midtown Manhattan to one of the victim's family members, he would be purchasing like a hot dog in Midtown Manhattan. So just another link. And if you guys are into the whole nitty-gritty breakdown in this, the show notes, I'm gonna have the bail application,

you can read over that, the court doc, but there's just a lot more in depth of like where each cell phone towers pinned him and at what times and like all of that. They also have the hairs from the Gilgo Beach 4 and they needed to test Rex Huermann's DNA. He ends up throwing away a pizza box in a garbage can in Fifth Avenue,

like on the side of the street, one of those public trash cans, while leaving work. They get it. He's not a crust eater. So his DNA is left all over that pizza crust. That pizza box was brought in and the DNA was a match. Now it is again important to note that even though Aza LR up the wife's DNA was a match to the hairs found on the bodies Authorities do not believe that any of Rex's family members have been involved or to even have knowledge of his crimes.

In fact, authorities found multiple travel records that Aza wife, was out of town when the murders took place. Like I mentioned, if this is all true, then it's likely that he timed so that he could kill when he was alone. It's a tricky situation because, you know, obviously there are so many victims with ties to this case and all of their families who have been searching for justice and answers. And I can't imagine that the type of pain that they had been experiencing for the past 13 years, but I hope I can gently point out that typically serial killers have a lot of a lot of victims and it's not just the victims they killed and not just the victims families, but with a lot of serial killers, they were family members, you know, and a lot of these family members, they were floored to find out that and a lot of these family members,

they were floored to find out that the person in their life had a double life. So I would just wonder if it's such a niche feeling that most of us will never hopefully be able to relate to. It's loss, grief, anger, betrayal, and just a strong sense of like, how I would imagine it's just a whole questioning of your life and identity. Rex's family members are really going through it. So they're going through this process, but his wife, Aza, is also battling cancer. Her health insurance runs out soon because she was covered under Rex's work plan. And their son Christopher has a disability. And I'm not saying this to be like, oh my God, guys, there are the only victims in this case.

Trust me, I'm not. But I will say that the police have been a bit rough with the way that they approached the Huerman family. I mean, forget Rex, I'm talking about his family. They were essentially kicked out of their homes. The family have reported that the home has been completely trashed. So essentially, the police during the search warrant,

I will say they were thorough. They even cut up a bathtub in the family home to make sure that there were snow evidence or bodies hidden inside the bathtub. And additionally, authorities did not give the family time to ensure the safety of their two family cats. So thankfully Christopher's service dog is fine, but it just it adds another layer of pain and messiness to this case. Now, there is a quote from Anthony St. Martin that just kept popping up in my mind while we were researching this case, which is if we never experienced the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer's day. And I think that applies strongly to the victims in this case. These were good people that had fallen into hard,

dark winters, but most of them, their family states, they never stopped providing warmth to everyone around them. Even if they themselves were out shivering in the cold, they still were bringing happiness and smiles, and joy to everyone around them, and I think that's what we should focus on. Megan Waterman was the first of the Gilgo Beach bodies to be identified.

She was 22 years old. Her family said, if you had just met Megan, you would fall in love with her. She was hilarious, super witty, she'd have a pure heart. And maybe that was hard for her to be in a world that is pretty cruel. And maybe it's hard for her to understand that a world that is pretty cruel and maybe it's hard for her to understand that not everyone has the level of love and compassion that she wanted to have.

And one of the biggest things during her childhood was she felt abandoned by her parents. Her mom lost custody of her. She was raised by her grandma and eventually that frustration and anger and confusion about this world led her to feel rage. Just a lot of rage. She fell into drinking as a teenager and she had this turning point in her life where she found out that she was going to be a young mom. This is in her late teens and she's like, okay, now I really have to straighten out my life. I want to be the best mom I can. I want to be the

best example for my future daughter. She stopped drinking. She starts working, saving up, and her goal was just to give her daughter everything. Her whole life changed after being a mom. Her priorities were changed, and we're all just like too familiar with how much money rules this world, and Megan, she's just trying to make money for her kid. And sometimes that was doing things that she didn't necessarily want to do. Megan had been back in touch with her mom, and her mom actually found out about Megan's drop through a friend.

They were like, hey, you need to check out Craigslist. So she started scrolling on Craigslist and there was Megan and she was shocked. She was like, I need to know what's going on. And it turns out that Megan had met a man named Akim. At first Akim seemed like a really nice guy, aspirational almost. He was living a life that most people could only hope for. Like he had time freedom. He had the financial

capabilities to indulge in whatever luxuries he wanted, and Megan was like, I want that for my daughter. He told her escorting is the best way, and she was convinced. She starts posting on Craigslist and the Back page, which is another website, and it came supposedly slid right into the role of being her pimp. He would drive her to her client's meetings, and on this particular night, he took her to Long Island, dropped her off at a holiday in express, and then she vanished. CCTV cameras showed her leaving the hotel at around 1.30 a.m. She was seen alone leaving. Maybe she was meeting up with someone else, maybe it was, yeah. And that was the last time she was ever seen alive.

The second body belonged to marine brain art barns She she grew up very Pensive she seemed like she could see connections that others couldn't see so even as like a middle school Or she wondered things like is heaven a physical place or just a state of mind? Growing up her head was just always in a book her nose was shoved in a book and when she got really into it, she was so lost it would take like a semi-truck honking its horn full blast for her to be like, oh my god what's going on in reality. And that's not to say that she was out of touch or living in her own version of reality. She just really loved getting lost in ideas and connections and stories.

Her favorite book for a while was The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. And her thing, you know, Marines, one thing was Life is Full of Mysteries. And you know, a lot of people, they'd be like, ah, what's the point in trying to figure it out. But Marine was a firm believer that the answers were just right there for anyone who dug deep enough. And her eyes would light up when she would tell her siblings about what she had just read. And this is how she grew up. And sure, she went through like a rebellious phase, but she was skipping school to read books. So it's not like the most thrilling way to break the rules if you ask me. But I think what made her very special was the very thing that made it very hard for her to be happy in this world. She was a very big dreamer,

and she hated the idea that not everyone was that. So one time she was living with her sister, Missy, and she brought home these two straight kittens. They were infested with fleas, like the fleas were spreading everywhere. And her sister was like, you gotta get them out of here. You gotta get them out of the house. We can barely afford to take care of ourselves. We cannot take the sun. And Marine told her, you gotta get them out of the house, we can barely afford to take care of ourselves, we cannot take the sun. And Marie told her, you can't live life being so heartless.

She went and bought flea shampoo with whatever little money she had. She came home, spent hours taking off every single flea and tick, and her whole body was covered in scratches from the kittens. But she did not feel any of that pain. And by the time she was 21, she had a four year old daughter with no steady income. She tried everything. She tried working at a call center, delivering pizzas.

Nothing really stuck. And then she was like, you know what? I'm gonna be a musician. She really loved writing. So she's like, okay, this is what I'm gonna do. But in order to fund myself, I'm gonna try to be a model. So she goes on modelman.com.

She submits these profile shots and like model headshots. And then email starts flowing in from a ton of quote modeling agencies. They were basically escorting agencies. And obviously they know what they're doing. They're targeting young women who need to make money. And of course it starts slow. They say it's like webcam stripping, but in no intercourse it's like being a dancer that's

it. It's a great stepping stone into being a model. All the top models have this phase in their career and slowly she gets more and more intrigued and she goes up to meet with a talent scout in New York City and he kept saying as long as she came to New York City he could help her get set up and she would be modeling in no time. Marine was really excited, really excited. So right off the bat, the first day, it felt like the possibilities were endless. She was told about how much money she could make, about how this was the start of a successful life for her and her daughter. And soon enough, she was on Craigslist. And she usually went by Marie or Juliana. And it just seemed like she never told

any of her family members about her job. Not even her sister, Missy, Melissa, that she was super close with. In fact, Missy would ask, like, what are you doing in Manhattan all the time? And Marie and we kind of get a little bit touchy about it. It made Missy very nervous, like, what would my sister be so touchy about?

Why is she so sensitive when I ask what her job is? So most of the time, Marien would meet with clients in hotel rooms and she tried to stay away from doing out calls, which means that she goes to meet with the man, whether it's at their place of choosing, typically their home. But July 9th, 2007, at around midnight, she called her friends that she was doing an out call. That was the last time she was seen alive. When Missy and Marien's brother found out that she was missing, they actually went to New York City and they had a picture of Marien and they were just asking

any passerby. Like, have you seen this woman? Please have you seen this woman? And I think the visual of that is just so heartbreaking because if you've ever visited New York City, it's, it's an amazing city, but people are on the go, people are probably not stopping to listen. And even the ones that did, they didn't, they hadn't seen her. And it seemed like the police didn't care because she was an escort,

and they said she probably ran away. Her body was found on Gilgopiech three and a half years later. After her disappearance, her best friend Sarah would actually receive phone calls from the killer. Yeah. And the killer would try to get Sarah to verify Maureen's tattoo to be like, I know Maureen. Do you know Maureen? Where was her tattoos? Sarah would state the location of their tattoos. And he said, you know, I saw her. She was alive, living at a whore house in Queens, New York, which obviously turned out to be a false

lead, but it does seem that it was the Long Island serial killer calling. Side note, according to the book Lost Girls by Robert Colcker, Marina actually had posted on MySpace during her escorting days about having nightmares about encountering a serial killer during her job. Because I guess she was scared of the dangers of her job, which I'm saying she really avoided doing outcalls. The best place to bet on the NFL is Fandule. North America's number one sportsbook.

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Use code WalaSpotify85 and save a total of $25 off your first four orders. See full promo details at VWALAW.ca. Now, Melissa Bithellamy was a New Yorker through and through. She would be the third body found on Gilgobiech. She was born in New York. She very much had that no nonsense New York attitude. I think she got it from her mom. So when Melissa's mom Lynn was giving birth to her, she was admitted into this Catholic

hospital nearby. And she's screaming from the pain of the contractions, like she's giving birth. It's painful. And this none runs in. And it's like, she's waking up the other patients. And Lynn screams at her, shut up. You've never even had sex before. So it's just it runs in their family, you know, and honestly valid.

Melissa grew up to be four feet ten inches tall on a good day, they said. But she literally did not care. Her family said she'd such a fiery personality. She was not scared to go up against men that were doubled, triple her size. Her stepdad Jeff said, yeah, that girl would not hesitate to punch a man in the face if he started something with her. She was fearless. We actually had a rule for her, which was you never hit first. Melissa told her family that she was going to move from Buffalo, New York, into the city, to start her own hair salon. And she left her family, including her sister Amanda, and the two of them were like two peas in a pod, so this was really rough for them to be separated. Melissa's plan was to start working at a salon, make money, market herself, save up as much as possible, and then start her own salon.

And when she gets to New York, it's just, it's rough. She's not even making enough to pay the bills, to support herself. So she quits, and she tries her hand at a topless bar. Her parents were not thrilled. They scolded her, but she reassured them, listen, no one's touching me, and I'm just getting enough to pay the bills and maybe start something new of my own. Amanda knew that she was lying, but Amanda, her sister, would never break sister code

by telling the parents the truth. Amanda knew that Melissa was working as an escort and not at a topless bar. At first, Melissa told Amanda, don't worry, because I'm just going out a bunch of dates with lonely guys, okay? There's no sexual activity. But as time passed, Melissa finally told Amanda,

okay, yeah, there are some activities involved. And Amanda was just so worried, but every time Melissa would come home, she seemed happy. She loved to spoil her family with gifts. But near the end of 2008, her family noticed a shift. The next time she came home for a visit, she kept talking about how she wanted to move back home soon. It just seemed like she was exhausted of this line of work. And then July 12, 2009, she left her apartment to meet up with a client and she was never seen alive again.

The whole family went to find Melissa Mode, okay? They're like, we gotta find her. Just like Maureen's family, they tried everything to locate her. They knew that Melissa would never disappear without telling them would never go on the run. They called the police every single day demanding that they help look for her and every single day the police would just hang up on them. A heartbreaking detail about this case, Amanda had to break the news to her parents about Melissa's line of work. Amanda felt guilt. She felt like maybe if I had said something or done something sooner, she wouldn't be missing. Melissa's family felt guilt of why didn't she tell us, did she not trust us, did she not think we would understand. It was just a lot of layers of grief.

And additionally, Amanda was even seen as slightly suspicious by authorities because it seemed like she was hiding something and she would slowly have to reveal all the truth. For example, Melissa would bring around a boyfriend named John. And her parents thought that he was a nice man that was in love with their daughter. But Amanda knew he was basically just a pimp. He would, he's the one that exposed Melissa to sex work. He dated her like a boyfriend and then lured her into ice-coating, being like, oh yeah, all my friends, girlfriends do this.

I mean, it's just, you don't have to do anything with a client if you don't want to. It's all about having your own freedom and power. You don't have to do anything you don't want. And in the end, you're the one holding the strings and you're the one making the money. And he slowly made her feel more and more comfortable to do it, but the minute that she did, he just used her for her body and her for money. He started becoming physically violent with her as well. I mean, Melissa had been admitted to the hospital on three different occasions for head trauma and another time for her collapse long.

He was beating her and putting her in a position where she could no longer be in control of anything. And now, she was missing. 27-year-old Amber Lynn Castello was also found in Gilgo Beach. She was from North Carolina, and she had all the traits of like a southern girl, very kind, sweet, trusting. She was very petite as well.

She had this older sister named Kim, and Kim was kind of like her mom, sister, and best friend. And Amber just seemed like a really happy kid until she was five. A 26 year old neighbor offered to take Amber and her older sister Kim and another girl from the neighborhood to play tennis at the park. We're not too clear what happened, but it seemed that the neighbor would grab Amber, drag her to the bushes and essay her.

The family was wrecked after that. Amber's father went up to the man and pulled a gun to his head. We don't know if he was arrested, but it was a very hard situation to overcome. Amber was emotionally traumatized. I think that she kind of blamed her parents as a kid. Her parents blamed themselves as a kid. It was a lot. And then everything just kind of deteriorated from there. As Kim

grew up, both of the parents felt sick at the same time, and Kim was like, okay, I got to quit school, and I'm going to become a dancer. So she became like a bachelor party dancer. Sometimes it would be her alone or with other girls, and she waited for this big, big agency. And she was told over and over again, like, you don't have to do any sexual activities. In fact, this agency strictly forbids you from doing sexual activities, wink, wink. So the agency is basically saying, we pay you to go dance.

Now, if you do something else, we don't wanna hear about it, we don't wanna know about it, you take that money and cash. Yeah, because I guess it would be illegal if they were running like, yeah, an escorting business. And some of these girls, they all lived in the same house. There was almost like this sorority type atmosphere to it. And Kim really liked it.

She was making more than like $800 a night or more. And other girls at her age, they were making like $10 an hour, working at fast food chains, if even $10 an hour. And Kim treated this job like a job. She was here to make money, set boundaries with clients. And in the end, it's all about making the money providing for her family. Amber was here to make money, set boundaries with clients, and in the end,

it's all about making the money, providing for her family. Amber eventually joined to help make some money for the family. And people said that if you saw both the sisters, they were just very different. Amber seemed like she was more here for making connections, finding friends. Like I said, it's like a sorority type atmosphere. She really just wanted to feel like she fit fit in with the other dancers. She seemed too innocent for this line of work. For example, one of the dancers' boyfriends got arrested for purchasing illegal drugs. And that dancer couldn't afford a lawyer whether she had blown through the money that she had made or she wasn't making as much as the other girls or had just started. Amber offered to dance and potentially do more

within attorney as payment for representing her dance colleagues boyfriend. Yeah. And while working for this agency, it seemed like the girls were, you know, kind of getting led to do drugs. Kim got addicted to crack at one point and for Amber, it was heroin. She was so addicted, she started stealing from her clients and that resulted from her being let go from the agency. I believe Amber was briefly married but it just she was going through a dark dark time. I mean her addiction grew more intense and she just how people describe her is Amber was someone that really wanted to be happy but had a hard time sustaining that feeling. Just keeping it for more than a

second and it just felt like her life she was just chasing happiness but had a hard time sustaining that feeling, just keeping it for more than a second. And it just felt like her life, she was just chasing happiness on all the wrong roads. I mean, she was just someone who was dealt very, very bad cards and just wanted to smile a bit. And I mean, that's the thing, most of these victims, they were all trying, they're all trying to do good for their families or their children or for their futures.

And it's just hard. So, I mean, you can really see that with Amber. She would be very, very in a dark space and then she would consistently try and go to church to pull herself out of it and then it wouldn't work and then she would go back to drugs and go back to escorting. It was a lot. She went off to do her own thing after she was like go from the agency. Kim was also working and she was very busy, so they kind of drifted apart. They didn't have a falling out, but Kim was also kind of telling her, sister, you gotta stop doing these dangerous outcalls.

But as Amber grew more addicted to drugs, she was just more desperate for funds. She was actually one of the more recent victims. She had disappeared for a few months months and then Kim would get a call that her body was found on Gilgobie. Yeah. And the saddest part is Kim actually became hyperfixated on trying to find justice for her sister. She became a true crime fanatic.

She read books on true crime. She read books on serial killers and profilers. She even thought to herself, she could catch the killer alone if the police can't do it. She could present herself as the perfect victim online and see if he would reach out to her. Yeah. Because you know, the assumption is that there was a client targeting the escorts. I think the general consensus is that the Gilgobiege 4 were victims of one serial killer.

The initial four bodies that I just talked about. The way that they were killed they seem to have strong links to 1-0 killer. And as of right now Rex Hewerman has been charged with the deaths of 3 of the Gilgo 4. And it's suspected by authorities that he was heavily involved and is the culprit for the other of the Gilgo 4. So we're still going to go over the others, but keep in mind that they have not been definitively linked to Rex He Huriman as of right now. Jessica Taylor was also found on Gilgho Beach. Her head and hands were at least the rest of her body was actually discovered eight years ago.

And they had finally matched, yeah. So about 40 miles away, her torso was found eight years ago. There was another body found nearby, 24-year- old Valerie Mac, just like Jessica, only her head and hands were found at the beach. The rest of her body was found 40 miles away. So are you saying that he yet dismembered her? And then disposed them separately. Yes. So some people think that there was an evolution. If all of these bodies were belonging to one killer, there's an evolution as this personality evolves, as his killings evolve, maybe his confidence goes up. If this is true,

because these bodies seem to have been from much further back. So people are speculating he might have dismembered them as an attempt to, because he's more anxious of being caught. But maybe as his confidence grows, he has been just dumping bodies whole. Because he's like, no one's gonna find the bodies. I don't have to go around and do all of this. And then he stopped.

Well, people think that he probably didn't. Yeah. That there's another dump site somewhere, whether that be Rex or the Long Island Serial Killer, because again, legally, he hasn't been convicted yet. So just covering my butt there. Yeah. So whether whoever it is if they're still alive, the Long Island Zero Killer, they probably never stop killing.

Then there is whom the authorities refer to as quote, peaches, which I feel is a little bit disrespectful, but that is how she's often referred in this case. She was a Jane Doe and she had a tattoo of a heart shaped peach on her left breast. So authorities called her peaches. She was a young black woman wearing gold jewelry at the time of her death. Her torso had been found decades ago in a storage bin, but her limbs were found in Gilgo Beach. Her body was linked to the toddler found on Gilgo Beach.

So remember, there's a toddler. That is believed to be peach's daughter. And the theory is that Peach was an escort that had brought her child with her on the job because she couldn't afford care and her child was killed to get rid of any witnesses or trouble. There was also an unidentified Asian individual found on Gilgopie and just to put a quick disclaimer, we have no idea how this person identified while they were alive. In all reports, they are referred to as he, him because forensics have identified the remains as quote mail

and the investigators have come up with their own theory of how this person was killed. Their body was found in women's clothes. So authorities speculated that they weren't escort and they had advertised their services online and the theory was the killer hired them and for whatever reason was very upset with how they might have presented themselves in the ad and then killed them. Profilers and

officials lean towards this theory because their victim profile doesn't really match the others and again they speculate that they were killed by blunt force trauma. I believe we're dealing with skeletal remains so there might be some evidence on the bones, but I guess it's just different from the strangulation and its fixation of the other victims. And then just, you know, again, this is just going off the theory that all of the victims are related to the Long Island serial killer case. Some people argue that there are two killers that dump their bodies in the same place.

Nothing is 100% or certain as of now, there was another body though. She was known as the Fire Island Jane Doe, but has recently been identified as Karen Vergata. Her legs were found wrapped in plastic decades ago, and the rest of her body was found on Gilgobie. And now we have to talk about Shannon Gilbert. She's actually not considered by authorities

as a victim of the Long Island Serial Killer or the Gilgo Beach Killer, but it seems like her disappearance almost triggered this investigation. It's almost impossible to hear about the Long Island Serial Killer without having Shannon's story so closely intertwined. So whether or not Shannon was a victim of the Long Island Serial Killer,

it's yet to be seen, but Shannon was still a victim of someone. December of 2011, a year after the initial Gilgo Beach four were found, Shannon's remains were found in Oak Beach, not too far away. Her family was absolutely devastated. I mean, they said Shannon's life had been cut short before she could accomplish her dreams.

Shannon was always known to be this very independent, strong-willed person, but her was always known to be this very independent, strong, wild person, but her friends remember her to be a bit unstable. She didn't have that solid foundation to fall back off on when she was growing up. She did have a rough childhood. She was in and out of foster care. She was early on diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

She was prescribed medications for it, but eventually she stopped taking them because she said it felt her, it made her just feel so disconnected and shaky. One of her biggest dreams was just to support her siblings and provide for them. She wasn't picky about the jobs that she had. She was a hostess at Applebee, she was a receptionist at hotels. Eventually she moved in with her boyfriend Alex and started escorting for an agency. She eventually branched off so that she would have to stop splitting the profits with the agency and she hired a personal driver, Michael Pack. He was known to just drive personal escorts to and from clients and almost kind of serve

as protection but not really. As of right now, Rex has not been charged with Shannon's death. There have been no known links as of right now between the two, but Shannon's family and friends are absolutely certain that Shannon was killed, whether it was by Rex or by somebody else, she was killed. But what's infuriating is that authorities would state, this may just be a young lady who ran into the brush in a hysterical state, fell down and expired for some reason. What? So they're hinting at her mental illness past history, mental health past history of being diagnosed

with different mental diagnosis, and also maybe she was on drugs. It's a very harsh way of stating it. A lot of netizens feel like, even if that are true, the way that they're stating it and going about Shannon's death feel like they're just trying to sweep it under the rug

because they already have enough on their plates. A lot of people wondered if the police commissioner at the time would have still said that it had Shannon not been an escort. Authorities theorized though that Shannon was having a mental break and mixed with drugs was a recipe for disaster. She got lost in the thick reads that are 12 feet tall and

then died. But according to Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist who conducted an independent autopsy of Shannon's remains, he said he observed damage to Shannon's hyoid bone, which is a bone in your neck area. He believes that indicates strangulation. And since there were reports that she was drowned in the marsh, like she drowned in maybe a few inches of water in the marsh, which is common, you can drown in a few inches of water. He stated, but her face was found face up, which is atypical of drowning victims, even if the water was a bit higher. The Gilbert's Shannon's family were really upset because Shannon's cause of death was listed

as this fixation, which lined up with the other deaths caused by the Long-Anne and Serial Killer. They stated this isn't about us trying to pinpoint a Serial Killer or trying to make her disappearance fit an narrative, it's about finding truth and justice for Shannon. They also stated that they want to remember Shannon, that while alive she had a complicated journey, but in death she was a true hero. She was the potential reason that the other victims had been found and ultimately led to the alleged serial killer being caught. So as of right now, Rex here men has been charged in the deaths of Meghan Waterman, Melissa Brythellamy, and Amber Lynn Costello. He has not been charged in the death of marine brain art barns, but not because he's not suspected of being involved, but because his DNA was not found directly on her body. Authorities are confident that Rex is the Gilgo for killer,

but as for the rest of the victims, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how that plays out in court. And I'm not saying that to insinuate that there's not good evidence against Rex. I'm just saying he hasn't been convicted in the court of law so I'm maintaining some caution. That's all.

There is, however, an unfortunate update. Shannon's sister, Sarah, was charged with murdering their mother who was very vocal about this case, and has been an advocate in this case. In a schizophrenic episode in 2016, Sarah stabbed her mother hundreds of times of the knife and blooded in her with a fire extinguisher. She's been sentenced to 25 years to life, She grabbed her mother hundreds of times with a knife and bled in her with a fire extinguisher.

She's been sentenced to 25 years to life and it's just adds another layer of tragedy to this case. And I mean, of course, a lot of people think that there are no excuses to something like that, but there are a big group of people online that wonder, would this still have happened? Had Shannon not gone missing? How much trauma did the family endure for her to have

Ace gets a frenic episode of this caliber? Yeah, so it's just been truly, we don't know the impact of this case. And back to the disgraced police chief Berger, remember that guy with the dildo in his car? Oh yeah. According to the Daily Mail, which is considered by many a quite questionable publication, so do without what you will, they have been publishing a few pieces about a supposed connection

between Rex, Hugherman, and former chief Burke. They claim that sources claim that the two would meet at notorious pickle parks. Listen, I had to look up pickle parks. Pickle parks are people who cruise around looking to either pay for sex or either offer sex for pay. But apparently after Burke got out he was arrested recently for soliciting an undercover park ranger and for indecent exposure and public lootness. He was offering sex for pay and apparently Burke and Rex had crossed paths according to many anonymous sources. and Rex had crossed paths according to many anonymous sources. I guess it's just something to look out for.

A link between the two, you know, it would be very interesting as the trial pushes forward. In slightly more positive news, K9 officer Blue was eventually honored at their Police Department Award ceremony for their contributions to the Gilgobee Chalmisside investigation. Rex Hewerman has pled not guilty. He's due back in court at the end of this month, end of September,

so I imagine there's gonna be a very lengthy process to justice, but the families they've waited long enough. Jessica Taylor's cousin said, I hope that she's remembered as a beautiful young woman, not just by her occupation at the time, but by everything else. She's loved and missed every day. Megan Waterman's sister said, I felt anger and relief. It's starting all over again, you know. She was vulnerable, naive, a drug addict girl who was very influenced by this monster of a man. And Lynn, the mother of Melissa said, I'd like him to suffer at the hands of other inmates. Death is too good for him.

And I guess one beautiful thing that has come hands of other inmates. Death is too good for him. And I guess one beautiful thing that has come out of such a tragic heinous series of events is the victim's families have formed a very strong bond. They're leaning on each other for support and uplifting each other. And hopefully that will help them in their fight to justice. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison

stated, Rex was a demon that walked among us, a predator that ruined families, someone that shattered lives and not just one, but several and maybe more, and I wish I could give you an answer. I can't tell you at this time, is Rex Huriman going to be held accountable for the other bodies on Ocean Parkway?

Only time will tell. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next. But what are your thoughts? Please leave it in the comments and please stay safe. I will see you guys on Sunday for the mini-suit. Bye!