Two young and unwed college students delivered a baby boy on January 20, 1959. Just 3 weeks later he would be adopted by Bernard and Jeanne Rifkin. They, plus their daughter Jan, were a middle-class family living in the Long Island suburbs of East Meadow.

This is the story of New York's most prolific serial killer Joel Rifkin aka “Joel the Ripper”


Documentary/Videos to Check Out:

1. “Rifkin on Rifkin” - Oxygen: True Crime – 4/10/21 – S1/Ep1 (as mentioned earlier)
https://www.oxygen.com/rifkin-on-rifkin-private-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/videos

2. Dr. Todd Grande – YouTube Ch. Mental Health and Personality – 5/6/20
He analyzes the Joel Rifkin case. He is not diagnosisng but instead discusses what the mental health and personality factors that could be at work in Rifkin’s case. https://youtu.be/Fhd01XCp8t4

3. “Crazy, Not Insane” Documentary – HBOMax – 11/18/20

4. “Joel” Documentary – Amazon Prime & IMDB - 2018



Resources:

- Daily Mail - By Snejana Farberov – 4/13/2021
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9466029/Serial-killer-Joel-Rifkin-tells-dismembered-body-never-heard-tape.html

- The Courier News – 6/30/93
https://www.newspapers.com/paper/the-courier-news/3776/

- Daily News – 6/30/93
https://www.newspapers.com/paper/daily-news/7802/

- Criminal Mindscape - MSNBC - 5/20/12 – Education N.G. Berrill (2009)
https://archive.org/details/MSNBCW_20120521_050000_Criminal_Mindscape

- Video clip from Oxygen Rifkin on Rifkin interview discussing how he bludgeoned someone https://youtu.be/VWWcOrOAUjM

- Oxygen: True Crime – 4/10/21 – S1/Ep1
https://www.oxygen.com/rifkin-on-rifkin-private-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/videos

- Dr. Todd Grande – YouTube Ch. Mental Health and Personality – 5/6/20
Analyzes & discusses mental health and personality factors in Rifkin’s case.
https://youtu.be/Fhd01XCp8t4

- “Crazy, Not Insane” Documentary – HBOMax – 11/18/20

- “Joel” Documentary – Amazon Prime & IMDB – 2018

- “Bad Girls” – by Donna Summers – released 4/25/1979
https://youtu.be/nhyUICuE65Y