I could hear the commotion from the train station. GERALDINE HART [to reporters]: Valerie Mack who was 24 years old in 2000 when she went missing was described as 5 feet tall and approximately 100 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes. That's what keeps Shannan's sister Sherre going, too. The last of the Gilgo Four to disappear was Amber Costello, a sex worker who vanished from her home on Long Island in September of 2010. JOHN RAY [in the marsh]: To say that she drowned, as was theorized, is on its face an absurdity. Missy Cann: It's worse. Please enter valid email address to continue. Missy Cann: My sister was a wonderful person. From then, the investigations into the Long Island Serial Killer (LISK) apparently started getting murky. James was an Inspector and a Commanding Officer for Suffolk Countys Organized Crime Bureau before the DA appointed him to be the Chief starting from January 2012. RICHARD DORMER | Former Suffolk County Police Commissioner [to reporters in 2011]: We found the pocketbook belonging to Shannan Gilbert. But Hart insists Shannan's case is still open. Change). The Long Island serial killer mystery came to light in a characteristically strange way. he definitely encountered gilbert that morning and called her mother. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Ray has interviewed witnesses and commissioned a second autopsy. Lynn Barthelemy: It just didn't happen to the girls. Megan's family says the 22-year-old from Scarborough, Maine, was a spunky but troubled kid who loved fashion. But she faced obstacles as a single mom of two with no driver's license nor college degree. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. And as the sun went down, they held a vigil in their honor. Victims 9 and 10: A female skull and a bag of female bones, both found in nearby Nassau County. (, Photo: They kept looking for Shannan, and in December 2011, a year-and-a-half after she disappeared . Part of you is like missing. In the podcast, Christopher claimed that the bag contained sex toys, pornography, and what seemed to be snuff films that could link James to the LISK. And their families embraced Shannan's mother Mari as one of their own. He knows who the culprits are for sure. So how would Maureen meet anybody on that Sunday? And she has a family. "They're all 4' 11, very petite hazel green eyes," says Varrone. Missy Cann can't forget the late-night phone call she received from her sister Maureen Brainard Barnes in the summer of 2007. Investigators don't believe Burke had anything to do with the murders, but that hasn't stopped the gossip. Tangredi and McNamee have not been included in the. Federal prosecutors were apparently able to flip police witnesses, who may have lied initially about what they saw inside the Fourth Precinct. Erin Moriarty: That had to hurt the credibility of the investigation. Bittrolff, a married father living in the hamlet of Manorville in the middle of Suffolk County, was arrested in 2014 for the murders of Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee.As in the film, he was tied to those killings through a DNA sample obtained from his brother, Timothy, who had beenarrested and convicted on a contempt of court charge in 2013 and was thus entered into a criminal database, local stationPIX11 reported in 2017.Investigators made a full match to Bittrolff after obtaining a plastic cup from his trash, the Associated Press reported. Burke and others testified against four teenaged boys. Erin Moriarty: Lily, do you remember when your mom disappeared? With the serial killer case seemingly stalled, graffiti appeared accusing the former chief of being the serial killer. Ray also commissioned a second autopsy. Also rumors of satanic worship and sacrifice. He reiterated thatto Oxygen.com this week, noting that there is no evidence that he is aware of to suggest that he had anything to do with the victims of the Long Island Serial Killer case. Tangredi, 31, was found beaten and strangled to death in 1993, and McNamee, 20, was found murdered in the same manner the following year. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. All dressed up, the two young women wandered around Times Square like carefree tourists. Cookie Settings | Lynn Barthelemy: She was so excited. Former Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer was stunned to have found the remains of four young women on an isolated stretch of Long Island's Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. "Some say the call was In December of 2011, they gathered at Gilgo Beach. Sara Karnes: she picked old '40s Hollywood glamour the way her curls fell that day just looked so '40s with the makeup and everything like that. Gilbert is was not just randomly placed there by a separate serial killer either but by the same group of guys. In 2015, before James Burke was sentenced to severe 46 months along with three years of supervised release, he resigned from his post. John Ray: The man who patronized sex workers is in charge of the investigation of murdered sex workers? Erin Moriarty: Wouldn't something like that end most cop's careers? Many have long suspected that when the DAs office refused help from the FBI on the LISK case, Burke was the reason behind that. He told her mother that he brought Shannon to a home for wayward/troubled girls in the nyc borough of Queens. ; div. How do I keep bugs off my patio this spring? LORRAINE ELA | Megan's mother [on video]: This little girl was her life. Someone has her this isn't normal. Investigators tracked Maureen's phone to a cell tower in Long Island. 5 foot or under, 100 pounds. Amber's friend and former roommate Dave Schaller says she was a drug addict who used sex work to support her habit. I miss her so much. But Missy had no luck in her search. These claims are significant as it puts James in the same area where a possible LISK victim disappeared. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Help. Look, Im not saying he isnt on to something herebut the fact that this guy just called a press conference basically accusing the former chief of police of being a serial killer? Hart says the belt belonged to a large male. She had been working as an escort in New York City when she vanished in June 2007. Varrone worked with the FBI to come up with a profile of the killer. He was rumored Gus Garcia-Roberts: There was a lot of pressure to solve the case. John Ray: he identified himself, told Mari that he was running a home for wayward girls and that Shannan wanted to enter the home . 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. So now, lets find out more about James, shall we? Lynn Barthelemy: Every single minute of the day. Bittrolff was sentenced to two consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences in 2017 for the killings of Tangredi and McNamee and he is currently incarcerated at Downstate Correctional Facility in New York. Chromebooks are excellent alternatives to traditional laptops and have built-in security software. No wonder it's been the subject of numerous films and documentary projects. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. (LogOut/ And in 2018, Hart became the Suffolk County Police Commissioner. RICHARD DORMER [to reporters]: I don't think it's a coincidence that four bodies ended up in this area. The remains of her older sister Maureen Brainard-Barnesmissing for more than three yearshad been discovered on Long Island. At 8:31 of Guy Malones interview he states that after conducting private research into his wife and James Burke, he discovered that the pager that his wife had been using was the same pager used by Lowrita Rickenbacker, a known associate of James Burke who had been linked to prostitution in the past. He is most " from the time that she called me, it was poof. Convicted of: Deprivation of civil rights; conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice. Also the borough of Queens is geographically connected to Long Island:,,conveniently. Copyright var currentYear = new Date().getFullYear();document.write(currentYear); Newsday. First published on December 12, 2020 / 11:13 PM. Missy Cann: "I'll see you in the morning I love you." John Oliva: The rumor mills were running wild. Indictments sealed. I think Hackett used Gilbert to fill an rx that night, (maybe Hackett had something going with selling pills) thats why I think he called her mother, to explain why he wrote it. John Oliva: He left his gun behind and she recovered his weapon. Maureen and three others were found first and dubbed the Gilgo Four. Eventually, police would find 10 sets of remains in the area. All she knew was that someone had taken her sister. I don't think we missed anything. He says some call him a storyteller. And In 2015, John Ray helped the Gilbert family bury Shannan in a Long Island cemetery not far from Oak Beach. Lynn Barthelemy's 24- year-old daughter Melissa had been missing a year-and-a-half when her remains turned up on Gilgo Beach. Or was it worse? Sara Karnes: Yeah. Hart has declined to look at them, saying there's no way to know if the evidence has been tampered with. According to court testimony, detectives begin to beat him before Burke himself took over. Dominick Varrone: We didn't pay that much attention to him. When the police found the Gilgo Four, Sherre Gilbert, 22 at the time, was certain her missing sister Shannan would be among them. Nov. 27, 2017: Brown: Third time a charm for Suffolk top cop search? By early 2007, things seemed to be looking up for Maureen. Many of the Gilgo Beach victims, whose bodies were discovered in December2010 wrapped in burlap and discarded on a stretch of Ocean Parkway, had also been strangled. Geraldine Hart: Not having the FBI involved consistently from the beginning has definitely hindered this investigation. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Topics you care about, straight to your inbox. James has not made any public statements or appearances since his discharge. But the next day, Sara returned to Norwich, and says Maureen remained to make more money. The department also released images of evidence. Maureen's emails revealed another secret: she was a sex worker. CHRISTOPHER LOEB [in court]: Every time I asked for a lawyer I got hit again, I got hit again, I got choked, I got slapped, I got kicked. Dominick Varrone, then chief of detectives, was struck by an odd detail. Burke has a long history with law enforcement, beginning when he was a 14 year old witness in a brutal murder case, involving a 13-year old boy who had stones She said that in 2011, she partied with James at an unknown Oak Beach home, where they engaged in rough sex. According to her, there were various drugs at the place, and she saw James use cocaine on a few occasions. As for the person dismembering bodies-could be the doctor-he knows anatomy. Privacy Policy | I just want her to know she has a special place in my heart, and no one can ever replace her or come above her. Wouldn't he know the last person she saw? The woman whose disappearance set off the search that led to the discovery of the Gilgo Four was Shannan Gilbert. But when Mari Gilbert went out to talk to him, Dr. Hackett denied it: DR. PETER HACKETT to MARI GILBERT [video]: I never saw her. And he says he was not allowed to share what he knew about the serial killer with the new investigators. In the days before Maureen disappeared, she was under enormous financial pressure. "48 Hours" has reported on the Long Island serial killer from the beginning. Maureen's sister Missy Cann will wait as long as it takes. I dont believe Charles Peter Hackett called Shannon Gilberts mother to let her know why he ordered drugs for Shannon. Maureen was about to be evicted from her apartment, and was facing an ugly, expensive court battle for custody of one of her young children. James Burke, Suffolk County Chief of Police As detailed by Vice in a March, 2016 story titled The Strange Rise and Violent Fall of Long Islands Dirtiest Police It was the search for Shannan Gilbert that led to the discovery of the Gilgo Four. I didn't realize that part of it. As Rolling Stone reports, on May 1, 2010, a 24-year-old sex worker named Shannan Gilbert went missing in Long Island. Missy Cann: She had got a job at a telemarketing place and she was doing really well. Burke declined "48 Hours"' request for an interview. Burke was a police officer when the investigation started and was later promoted to the chief of police in 2011. The former chief of police was sent to prison for 46 months back in 2016 after pleading guilty to a civil rights violation arising out of an assault on a local man. Quite odd. Burke was named the new Suffolk County police chief. But James Burke soon had other problems, beginning one night in December 2012 when a petty thief named Christopher Loeb picked the wrong SUV to rob. Charles Peter Hackett is the Long Island Serial Killer. A week later, a quarter of a mile from her belongings, they finally found Shannan. So, they decided to update their photos instead and hired a photographer. A new regime led by James Burke took over the department. Erin Moriarty: Was it because Burke didn't want to share credit or was it to keep out prying eyes? Lily Waterman: Yeah. Erin Moriarty: So, does that mean whoever took her and killed her was someone she had seen before? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Subscription terms | Eventually, 10 sets of remains were recovered. They even found pain pills in Burkes cell. Missy Cann: Because this person, whoever killed my sister, thought that they were taking away my sister's voice. First, Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone suddenly found himself out of a job. When she stopped calling home in July of 2009, her mother panicked. Working that stupid telemarketing job was not enough. When the Smithtown native was brought into custody, he was tied to the floor and violently beaten by James. I was just very, like, confused on why she, like, wasn't around. On the spot where each woman was found, they erected a cross. That morning police revealed for the first time that they believed they found the remains of Shannon Gilbert. Dominick Varrone: I get a phone call that I'm being told to retire within 15 days, or I'd be demoted to captain. Erin Moriarty: Was there any relief in at least knowing what happened to your sister? Gus Garcia-Roberts: his first priority clearly wasn't this serial killing on his turf. Dominick Varrone: I think burlap was selected because of its ability to take dampness, moisture and breathe, which would promote decay as well as act as camouflage. I would do anything to bring her back, but I can't. Sherre Gilbert: Yeah, she had a lot of potential.