The artwork encircling Rifkin’s truck is a slight replication of the movie poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy, a film Rifkin obsessed over. He became fixated on the idea of strangling prostitutes, mirroring the movie’s serial killer character whose modus operandi is to murder his victims by strangling them with a necktie.

He drew further inspiration from Frenzy drawn from a scene featuring a steamer trunk. He purchased a cheap one himself, and squeezed one of his victim's inside of it.

On March 5, 1989, a member of the Hopewell Valley Golf Club sliced his ball into the woods along the seventh green and found a can containing the head of one of Rifkin's victims. It sat in an evidence room for more than two decades before she was identified.

Rifkin used an X-acto knife to dismember one of his victims.

Rifkin attempted to erase the identity of one his victims by severing her fingertips and removing her teeth with pliers.

In school, students would throw eggs at Rifkin - ever the target of their bullying.

Rifkin was on the yearbook staff in high school, which he thought he would find enjoyable. This was turned on its head when his camera was immediately stolen. To add insult to injury, he was excluded from the end of the year wrap party.

Upon completing high school, Rifkin, who held a strong passion for horticulture and photojournalism, made several endeavors to enroll in community college. He eventually attended the State University of New York at Brockport, where he gained experience as a photographer for the school's newspaper, The Stylus, while pursuing his studies.

Rifkin's victim profile consisted mostly drug addicted prostitutes, and his method of murder was strangulation.

On a summer night in 1993, police officers had no reason to consider pulling over Rifkin in his 1984 Mazda pickup truck while driving on the Southern State Parkway. He wasn't exceeding the speed limit or exhibiting any erratic behavior, except for one minor problem: the vehicle was conspicuously absent of a license plate.

When the officers attempted to pull him over, Rifkin fled and attempted to evade the pursuing troopers. The Mazda accelerated to speeds reaching 90 mph as it evaded authorities, with multiple units from Nassau County and the Garden City Police Department participating in the pursuit. The driver of the Mazda then tried to execute a left turn onto Old Country Road in the eastbound direction from Roslyn Road. However, they lost control of the vehicle, resulting in a collision with a light pole on the south side of the roadway, severing it in the process.

Troopers initiated an inventory search for the purpose of impounding the Mazda. Drawn to the pickup's bed by a putrid odor, the troopers uncovered a naked, decomposing female corpse beneath a blue tarp. It appeared she had been deceased for several days.

The discovery of the body in the Mazda explained Rifkin's use of Noxzema, of which he had a thick layer smeared across his mustache. He used this trick for handling corpses to mask their odor—a method famously depicted in the Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs two years prior.

When questioned about the body, Rifkin admitted, "She was a prostitute. I picked her up on Allen Street in Manhattan. We engaged in sexual activity, but things took a dark turn, and I strangled her. Do you think I need a lawyer?"

In the course of the ensuing inquiry, Rifkin confessed to committing an additional 16 murders involving female prostitutes hailing from both New York City and Long Island regions. A thorough investigation carried out by the "Rifkin Task Force" resulted in the discovery and identification of the remains of 15 of Rifkin's victims. Subsequently, criminal charges were either filed or under consideration across a total of 10 jurisdictions.

When police searched Rifkin's East Meadow residence, which he shared with his mother and sister, law enforcement unearthed additional unsettling evidence in their quest to capture a killer: a collection of clothing, jewelry, driver's licenses, library cards, and credit cards belonging to approximately 10 women. Armed with this crucial information, they were able to identify more of his victims. Investigators also discovered a blood-stained wheelbarrow and chainsaw at the property.

In the garage of Rifkin and his mother's house, police found a chainsaw stained with blood and human flesh, a stockpile of rope, a tarp, and women's panties.

Always the butt of the joke, Rifkin was nicknamed “turtle” and “lardass” for his stooped posture and slow gait.

Rifkin killed a 28 year old woman just days before Christmas. She was strangled, placed inside a 55-gallon oil drum, and then discarded into Coney Island Creek, where her remains would remain undiscovered for over six months.

This method involving the use of an oil drum was a newfound twist in Rifkin's modus operandi and had been employed at least four times, according to his own account. One unidentified Jane Doe victim met the same fate, her remains retrieved from Newtown Creek in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on May 13, 1992. Another victim was discovered in her oil drum in Coney Island Creek on July 9, just two days before passers-by stumbled upon the skeletal remains of the woman he killed before Christmas nearby. Rifkin also recalls another oil drum victim, although he cannot recall her name or precisely when he disposed of her body in the Harlem River.

When cops searched Rifkin's upstairs bedroom, they found 75 pieces of women’s jewelry, photographs Rifkin had taken of several unidentified women, various items of feminine clothing, makeup cases, a woman’s curling iron, wallets and pocketbooks, plus a mixed bag of ID cards.

Rifkin would use his mother’s car as temporary storage for body parts - putting them in garbage bags and putting them in the trunk or way back behind the seats.

Rifkin wasn't shy about his twisted sense of humor, as evidenced by a bumper sticker affixed to the rear of his vehicle bearing the phrase: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me.”