Kara Flynn
Joel Rifkin
(Joel The Ripper)
Background:
 Rifkin's birth mother was a 20-year-old college student,
and his birth father was a 24-year old college student
and army veteran.
 He was adopted by Benjamin Rifkin.
 He was a cub scout as a kid and was very shy and
awkward, which resulted in bullying.
 He had and I.Q. assessed at 128, but struggled academically in school due
to severe dyslexia.
 During his freshman year at college, he was arrested for shoplifting.
Crimes accused of committing:
o Rifkin committed his first murder in 1989, killing a woman in his home in
East Meadow, Nassau County, Long Island, New York, and then
dismembering her body.
 He removed her teeth and fingertips, putting her head in a paint can
and then leaving the paint can in the woods of a southern New Jersey
golf course and her legs further north in New Jersey and then
dumping her remaining torso and arms into the East
River around New York City.
o He killed 16 women in 4 years.
o The22 year old prostitute, Tiffany Bresciani, was
Rifkins last murder.
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 Rifkin had picked Bresciani up in his Mazda pick-up truck on June 24,
1993, where she was working on Allen Street.
Evidence Brought Against Criminal:
 The police found Rifkin driving with Tiffany Bresciani
dead in his back seat.
 The police found 75 pieces of womens jewelry,
photographs Rifkin had taken of several unidentified
women, various items of feminine clothing, makeup cases,
a womans curling iron, wallets and pocketbooks, plus a
mixed bag of ID cards.
 There was 3 ounces of blood found in his garage
along with a chainsaw stained with human blood and flesh.
Sentence:

Rifkin was found guilty of nine counts of second degree
murder in 1994 and sentenced to 203 years to life in prison.
 His first possible parole date is February 26, 2197.
Quote:
“I will in all probability be convicted, but I will not go away as a monster, but as a
tragedy.”
Theory:
Joel Rifkin murders came from Differential-Association Theory because this
theory is learned by interactions with others. This means that other people
influenced Rifkin. Although he did not interact with many people, the way people
treated him influenced him. By him being bullied and a loner all his life, he turned
to reading.
Rifkin began reading a book on the unidentified Green River Killer. Books
like those are said to give people like Rifkin ideas. Therefore Rifkin kept reading
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more and more things on serial killers. Eventually, news clippings about the case
of New York serial slayer Arthur Shawcross were found
throughout his room.
Books: From the Mouth of The Monster
Tv Shows: Only Biographies were done on him