John Bittrolff

John Bittrolff (born July 1, 1966) is an American convicted murderer and a suspect in the Long Island serial killer case. In July 2014, he was charged with the murders of Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee. He is also a suspect in the murder of a third woman, Sandra Costilla.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Bittrolff became a suspect in the unsolved murders after his brother, Timothy Bittrolff, was partially matched to DNA found on the bodies in 2013. Timothy Bittrolff submitted the sample after violating an unrelated order of protection, in 2013.[7]

John Bittrolff
Born (1966-07-01) 1 July 1966
New York, U.S.
Conviction(s)Murder
Criminal penaltyTwo consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences
Details
Victims2 confirmed
Span of crimes
1993–1994
CountryUnited States
State(s)New York

On July 5, 2017, Bittrolff was found guilty of Tangredi and McNamee's murders.[8] He was sentenced to two consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences on September 12, 2017. He is imprisoned at Downstate Correctional Facility.

Victims

Bittrolff was convicted of killing two women and is a suspect in the death of a third.

Rita Tangredi

Tangredi was found dead on November 2, 1993 in Suffolk County, New York. Tangredi lived in East Patchogue and was known by police to be a sex worker.[9]

Colleen McNamee

McNamee's body was found on January 30, 1994 in Shirley, New York, also in Suffolk County. Believed by authorities to be a sex worker, she was beaten, strangled to death and left naked in the woods, near the William Floyd Parkway.[10][11]

Sandra Costilla

Costilla's body was found on November 20, 1993 in North Sea, New York.[12]

Long Island serial killing suspect

After Bittrolff's sentence, the case's prosecutor announced that Bittrolff was also a suspect in at least one of the 10 murders attributed to the unidentified Long Island Serial Killer (LISK) in New York's Suffolk and Nassau counties. Suffolk County District Attorney's office prosecutor Robert Biancavilla released a statement noting that Bittrolff was likely responsible for the deaths of other women, and that, "There are remains of the victims at Gilgo that may be attributed to the handiwork of Mr. Bittrolff, and that investigation is continuing".[13][14]

Bittrolff was a carpenter who lived in Manorville, where the torsos of Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack were recovered. The remains were discovered roughly three miles away from Bittrolff's home. He also reportedly once "cut out the heart of a deer he had just shot and ate it raw in the woods."[15][16]

A further link between Bittrolff and the Long Island Serial Killer case has been established: the adult daughter of one of Bittrolff's victims, Rita Tangredi, was reportedly "best friends" with Melissa Barthelemy, one of the first LISK victims discovered at Gilgo Beach. Melissa Barthelemy's mother also reported that Melissa "had a lot of calls to Manorville from her phone" at the time.[17][18]

See also

References
  1. Benjamin Mueller. "Two Decades After Pair of Killings on Long Island, Authorities Make an Arrest". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  2. Paul Farrell. "John Bittrolff: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know - Heavy.com". Heavy.com.
  3. "Man arrested in decades-old murder case". New York Post.
  4. "Long Island Murder Suspect May Be Linked to Three Deaths, Say Officials". NBC News.
  5. "Wood chips bolster murder charges against LI man: prosecutors". NY Daily News.
  6. Nicole Allegrezza. "DNA nails suspect". The Long Island Advance.
  7. Frank Eltman. "Prosecutor: Convicted killer may be tied to more NY slayings". Newser. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  8. Frank Eltman. "Man Is Convicted of 1990s Murders of 2 Prostitutes". NBC New York.
  9. "Rita Tangredi's sister: 'I prayed every day' for 21 years that her killer would be found". Newsday.
  10. "Brother's DNA led to arrest of LI 'family man' in 2 cold case murders". New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV.
  11. "Cops: Manorville man charged in two cold case murders". Riverhead News-Review.
  12. "Arraignment Thursday for Manorville Man Accused of Murdering Two Prostitutes, Suspected in Third North Sea Case - The Sag Harbor Express". The Sag Harbor Express. Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  13. Frank Eltman. "Prosecutor: Convicted killer may be tied to more NY slayings". Newser.
  14. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/convicted-killer-tied-gilgo-beach-murders-article-1.3490281
  15. Frank Eltman. "Prosecutor: Convicted killer may be tied to more NY slayings". Newser.
  16. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/convicted-killer-tied-gilgo-beach-murders-article-1.3490281
  17. http://people.com/crime/prosecutor-says-john-bittrolff-long-island-serial-killer/
  18. http://pix11.com/2017/09/12/convicted-killer-may-be-tied-to-gilgo-beach-murders-prosecutor/
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