Joel Rifkin murdered women, mainly prostitutes, from 1989 to 1993.
Rifkin was stopped in 1993 for a routine traffic stop because he was driving without license plates. He was forced out of the car and the officers smelled an odor coming from the vehicle. They saw a woman's decomposing body in Rifkin's trunk. While in custody, Rifkin admitted to 17 murders.
Timeline of Murders
1989-1990- The first 2 victims were not found or identified.
1991- In July, Barbara Jacobs(age 31) was found strangled and rotting, in the Hudson River. Her body was wedged inside a plastic bag, then forced into a cardboard box.
In September, Yun Lee(age 31) was found in the East River, her body folded inside a steamer trunk.
Mary Ellen Deluca(age 22) was missing for a month before her body was found in a field upstate in Cornwall, NY.
Lorraine Orvieto(age 28) was strangled a few days before Christmas, however her body wasn't found until 6 months later. She was jammed in a 55-gallon oil drum and dropped into the Cony Island Creek.
Another victim (unidentified) was also stuffed into an oil drum, Rifkin claimed, although he cannot remember her name and when he dropped her into the Harlem River.
1992- In April, Iris Sanchez(age 25) was strangled and left in a vacant lot in JFK airport.
In May, Rifkin strangled Anna Lopez(age 33) and left her body in the woods off Interstate-84.
In November, Rifkin murdered Jenny Soto(age 23).
1993- Leah Evens(age 28) was murdered and left in rural Northampton, where her body was discovered on Mother's Day.
In June, Rifkin was stopped for a routine traffic stop and the woman found in his car was Tiffany Bresciani(age 22).