Joel David Rifkin (born January 20, 1959) is an American

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

, who was sentenced to 203 years in prison for the murders of 17 women between 1989 and 1993.

Early life

Rifkin's birth parents were both young college students and his biological father was an Army veteran. On February 14, 1959, when he was three weeks old, Rifkin was adopted by an upper-middle-class couple living on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. Rifkin performed poorly in school due to

learning disabilities Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficulty ...

and was unpopular with classmates. He graduated from East Meadow High School in 1977, then attended classes at

Nassau Community College Nassau Community College (NCC) is a Public college, public community college in the East Garden City, New York, East Garden City section of Uniondale, New York, Uniondale, Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, New York (state), N ...

, the

State University of New York at Brockport State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, and the

State University of New York at Farmingdale The State University of New York at Farmingdale (Farmingdale State College or SUNY Farmingdale) is a public college in East Farmingdale, New York, United States. It is part of the State University of New York. The college was chartered in 1912 as ...

, but left before earning a degree. After leaving college, Rifkin became self-employed as a

landscaper Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # organism, Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with ...

. On February 20, 1987, his father, Bernard, committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

, overdosing after having suffered from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

for several months. On August 22, 1987, Rifkin was arrested during a prostitution sting in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the s ...

, after offering an

undercover A cover in foreign, military or police human intelligence or counterintelligence is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent during a covert operation. Official cover In espionage, a ...

female police officer money for sex.

Murders

Rifkin committed his first murder on February 20, 1989, killing Heidi Balch in his own home in East Meadow. He then

dismembered Dismemberment is the act of completely disconnecting and/or removing the limbs, skin, and/or organs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with regicid ...

her body, removing her teeth and fingertips, putting her head in a paint can which he left in the woods on a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

Hopewell, New Jersey Hopewell is a borough in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Centrally located within the Raritan Valley region, this historical settlement (and its neighboring township of the same name) is an exurban commuter suburb of New York ...

, disposing of her legs further North, and dumping her remaining torso and arms into the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

around

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. On March 5, 1989, Balch's severed head was discovered on the seventh hole of the golf course. On April 8, 1989, Balch's legs were found in Pequonnock Creek near

Jefferson Township, New Jersey Jefferson Township is the northernmost township in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 20,538, a decrease of 776 (−3.6%) from the 2010 census count of 21,314, ...

. Her remains were not identified until 2013. Rifkin killed 16 more women during the next four years. He was implicated in Balch's murder after his arrest in 1993. Investigators determined in 2013 that Balch and the woman he described as his first victim were synonymous. Rifkin picked up

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

Tiffany Bresciani on Allen Street in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, on June 24, 1993 with her

pimp Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...

and boyfriend,

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

musician Dave Rubinstein. Bresciani told Rubinstein that she was going to be returning in 20 minutes. After Bresciani failed to return, Rubinstein called the police with a description of the 1984

Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...

pickup truck that Rifkin drove. Partially as a result of her death, Dave Rubinstein committed suicide by overdose less than two weeks later.

Arrest and trial

On June 28, 1993, at 3:15 am, state troopers patrolling Long Island's

Southern State Parkway The Southern State Parkway (also known as the Southern State or Southern Parkway) is a controlled-access parkway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. The parkway begins at an interchange with the Belt and Cross Island parkways ...

noticed a 1984 Mazda B2000 pickup truck without a license plate. After indicating for the driver to pull over, he failed to stop and led police on a 20 - 25 minute chase, ending after he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a light pole. The driver was identified as Joel David Rifkin, and after searching the vehicle, the troopers found the body of Tiffany Bresciani wrapped in a

tarpaulin A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinf ...

.Simmonds, Jeremy
"Dave Insurgent"
''The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches'', p. 301, Chicago Review Press, 2008, accessed August 21, 2011 He was found guilty of 9 counts of

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

on May 9, 1994, and sentenced to 203 years up to life in prison.

Prison life

Prison officials decided in 1996 that Rifkin was so notorious that his presence in the general prison population could be disruptive. He was confined to his cell at the

Attica Correctional Facility Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison campus in the Town of Attica, New York, operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. It was constructed in the 1930s in response to earlier riots ...

for 23 hours per day. He spent more than four years in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

, then was transferred to the

Clinton Correctional Facility Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison is sometimes colloquially referred to as Danne ...

Clinton County Clinton County may refer to: *Counties named for George Clinton, first and third Governor of New York, and later the fourth Vice President of the United States: **Clinton County, New York ** Clinton County, Ohio *Counties named for DeWitt Clinton, ...

, New York. Rifkin sued, arguing that his solitary imprisonment was

unconstitutional In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

. In 2000, a state

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

determined that prison officials had not violated his

constitutional rights A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...

by housing him in isolation. Corrections officials said that Rifkin was imprisoned with more than 200 other inmates at Clinton who were not allowed into the general prison population.

Known victims

In popular culture

A 1993 episode of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

,'' "The Masseuse", features a character named Joel Rifkin as the boyfriend of

Elaine Benes Elaine Marie Benes () is a fictional character on the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', played by former SNL cast member Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend in the sitcom is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld, and she is also good fri ...

. She begs him to change his name because of the association with a serial killer.

References

External links

*
Adoption:Uncharted Waters
' by David Kirschner, PhD includes three chapters detailing his psychological interviews with Rifkin prior to and during the trial. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rifkin, Joel 1959 births 20th-century American criminals American adoptees American agnostics American people convicted of murder American people with disabilities American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment American people of Jewish descent Crimes against sex workers in the United States Serial killers from New York City East Meadow High School alumni Living people People convicted of murder by New York (state) People from East Meadow, New York Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New York (state) Serial killers from New York (state)