Gilgo Killings Suspect Atypical of Modern-Day Serial Murderers

At the conclusion of the Gilgo Beach Killings saga, a curious public flocked to the suspect’s residence while fixating on his peculiar mannerisms, disturbing internet history, creepy demeanor, and cold affect as obvious indicators of his capacity to be a serial murderer. They remain unaware that what he stands accused of is atypical of this crime because this suspect matches the “classic” serial murderer archetype based on the popular image created by the FBI and ever-present in podcasts, books, and movies. This caricature is promulgated by both self-proclaimed experts and daughters of previous serial killers — all with books to sell. But broad strokes profiles of an organized, sophisticated, white, family man who blends in and charms others are useless today since modern-day serial murderers no longer fit that outmoded description.

In my research for Killer Data: Modern Perspectives on Serial Murder, I found that between 2022 and today, thirty-nine multiple homicide offenders have been apprehended — a group comprised of serial murderers who killed within a few months’ time (23%), or over a number of years (15%) and spree killers who operated within hours, days, or weeks (62%). These killers are 31 years old on average and are from racial and ethnic minority groups (69%) who greatly outnumber Caucasian offenders (31%). They favor firearms (67%) and use hands-on methods (13%), drugs (10%), and multiple methods (10%) less frequently while killing as an extension of their criminal career (33%), to terminate frayed personal relationships (28%), a belief in a mission (10%), for sex (3%), money (13%), or randomly (13%). Few maintain meaningful connections with anyone in their community and none could be heralded as upstanding, decent people beyond their homicide offenses. These empirical findings conflict with anecdotal evidence put forth by an old guard academic who cites Gacy, Bundy, Dahmer, and Olson when claiming that serial murderers are family men who choose sex workers most often and usually strangle them for the tactile sensation of feeling their victim’s last breath leave their body — the same old story we have heard for decades.

This suspect killed between serial murder’s Golden Age and the current epoch but because he is reminiscent of old-style serial murderers the comparisons were immediate. One set of media commentators likened this suspect to David Berkowitz merely because they both killed in warmer months. Another supposed expert claimed that this suspect behaved like Joel Rifkin and Ed Kemper simply because they share a sexual motive. Dennis Rader went so far as to call this suspect a “clone” of himself. Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy — like the suspect — were camouflaged by their elevated stature in the community, level of education, and family life. This suspect lived in the area where the crimes were perpetrated, maintains an assured, boastful personality, has acquaintances who are surprised upon arrest, and was obsessed with taunting victims and deviant, torture-related sex acts — all characteristics of Golden Age serial murderers who embraced the duality of their professional and killing selves and were proficient in appearing normal. Many harbored a preference for domination and degradation and played games with police while toying with the public through written or phone correspondence.

Today, behavior of that nature is incredibly rare as serial killings appease anger with few arising from a purely sadistic or sexual motivation. Offenders hardly ever revel in notoriety or care about the newsworthiness of their crimes. Our disconnected culture has made serial murderers impersonal, less confident, and less capable of conning and luring victims. They infrequently have resources — like a vehicle or home — to ensure their continued success. Almost no serial murderers clandestinely place victims in clusters or exclusively target sex workers or strangers. Many are not well educated, have menial jobs, are from diverse backgrounds, utilize traceable firearms, and tend to be discovered within a year or less. Social media profiles and an inquisitive public armed with true crime knowledge have made it harder to avoid scrutiny. The serial murder landscape has shifted from the days where anything goes.

The suspect’s use of technology to seek out victims and follow the investigation and its exploitation to apprehend him is one modern twist. Older offenders, like Dennis Rader, sometimes fail to see that technology can work against them. This suspect felt insulated from suspicion due to burner phones and throwaway emails, echoing Golden Age offenders who narcissistically thought they were one step ahead. But this suspect benefited from internal issues within the police department, a lucky break modern-day offenders are less comfortable relying on. The ubiquity of surveillance cameras and forensic science encourage forbearance and has contributed to a decline in the phenomenon as serial killing has become more difficult.

News interviews have transfixed the masses with erroneous assumptions about the suspect’s soundproof room, bodies buried on or near his property, trophy collection, odd possessions, abuse history, relationship with his mother, potential accomplice, and hordes of unknown victims. While time will bear out what has been fabricated or embellished to help people make sense of these homicides, we must interrogate why we buy into such narratives in the first place. To most, it is inconceivable that a serial murderer can be anything short of a monster. This suspect seemingly epitomizes the concept and is described by police as a demon and an ogre by a witness. But these expectations must be seen for what they are — desperation for this suspect to fit the prototypical serial murderer mold created by behavioral analysts fifty years ago. Because of their work, these offenders have come to encompass all of humanities’ strangeness. They are thought of as expert killing machines who make few mistakes, charm and fool everyone, and are compelled to continue killing. In contrast to that image, this suspect’s bravado belies a host of financial issues, a dilapidated property, and poor opinion held by half of those he encountered. Because these cases prompt panels of individuals to make public assessments and comparisons with Golden Age offenders and create photo opportunities to either syphon the attention for themselves and amass clout or ‘ambulance chase’ to grow their social media following, conflicting information will always exist at a detriment to the public.

In retrospect, it seems that all of the components were present to alchemize this suspect into a serial murderer. But how many men with these bizarre qualities are out there who are placated by other deviant interests and will resultantly never kill anyone? It is safe to say that we should not be wary of neighbors with tool sheds, unkempt houses, who live near famous crime scenes and stare too long at advertisements. Still, many social media users expect this suspect to have killed upwards of sixty people over his career. Others were excited to see construction equipment on the suspect’s property to confirm their suspicions. But he did not kill every potential victim that he encountered, there were no human remains found on his property, and he is not a suspect in another series of homicides in Atlantic City as was surmised by the true crime community. Conjecture of this nature is responsible for overblown fears of supposed ‘darker forces’ involved in explainable and unconnected deaths. In reality, the Gilgo Beach serial killings suspect may have been forced to curtail his plans or stop killing for a combination of the same reasons others have — paranoia, age, and unmanageable competing interests.

We should not assume that this suspect is the quintessential serial murderer as he is a holdover from the Golden Age. Perhaps that is one reason why this suspect remained free of suspicion for so long as police have adapted to the means and motives of modern-day serial murderers. It would be dangerous to adhere too firmly to the profile put forth by “experts” who regurgitate the narrow view of serial murder. After all, this suspect was not an ‘average joe’, did not drive an expensive vehicle, nor was he a seasonal visitor, cannot be described as charming, and is likely not responsible for each of the eleven sets of remains. As long as the individuals meant to help us comprehend these offenders place themselves at the forefront and hunt for glory, and media outlets allow anyone to comment publicly, we will never truly understand serial murder. In the end, this series serves as a reminder that serial murderers come in all sizes and cannot easily be categorized using what we think we know about a phenomenon in flux.

Enzo Yaksic is the author of Killer Data: Modern Perspectives on Serial Murder