The infamous Gilgo Beach murder spree saw the remains of at least 10 victims discovered on the Long Island waterfront in 2010 and 2011. However, forensic psychologists say the killer may now be too old to strike again or may have learned to control their destructive instincts.
A memorial to the victims of the Gilgo Beach serial killer (Image: File image/Getty Images)
A serial killer who is believed to have not struck for more than a decade may have given up murder because he is too old, an expert claims.
The infamous Gilgo Beach murder spree saw the remains of at least 10 victims found on the waterfront in Long Island, New York state, in 2010 and 2011. However, no murders have been linked to the cases since 2011, and forensic psychologist Dr Joni Johnston says the killer may now be too old to act or might have been able to control their urges.
Dr Johnston said that there is a chance that the person or people responsible for the deaths were going “through a period of their life where something else is satisfying them.”
“There’s a sense, I think, sometimes we’ve had for a long time that serial killers don’t have control on what they do,” she said.
Amber Lynn Costello, 27, went missing in September 2010 (Image: Suffolk County Police Department)
“They may have these urges. They may talk about this kind of pressure to repeat it, and I think for some that probably is true, but it doesn’t mean that they’re going to grab somebody in front of a police officer.”
Another possibility is that the murderer is behind bars for another crime.
Forensic psychologist Dr John Delatorre told the The US Sun that the serial killer’s emotional state also could affect their desire to kill again.
“This is a long time, and so, you’re fantasizing about how that’s going to go. And so then, you do it,” he said. “And then, you get all these different emotions. Sometimes you feel good, sometimes you feel bad.”
The remains of at least 10 victims were found on the Long Island waterfront (Image: File image/Getty Images)
There is uncertainty over whether the victims were all killed by a single person, but Long Island officials are convinced the deaths of four female escorts were the work of one individual.
The so-called ‘Gilgo Four’ — Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, and Melissa Barthelemy, 24 — were found wrapped in burlap just a few hundred yards apart on the beach.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison last year announced the creation of a task force to tackle the cold cases.
“I believe this case is solvable and identifying the person or people responsible for these murders is a top priority,” Harrison, the NYPD’s former chief of department, said at the time.
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