In 2017, prosecutor Robert Biancavilla stirred up the stagnant Long Island serial killer investigation by introducing a potential suspect, per People. The person was John Bittrolff, a carpenter who's currently serving a sentence of "at least 50 years" for strangling two sex workers to death in Long Island. The crimes happened in the 1990s, but as PIX11 tells us, he didn't get caught until 2014.
Due to the fact that Bittrolff lived in the area, targeted sex workers, and murdered them in a way that was quite similar to many Long Island serial killer victims, he evidently became a noteworthy guy in the authorities' eyes. "There are remains of the victims at Gilgo that may be attributed to the handiwork of Mr. Bittrolff, and that investigation is continuing," Biancavilla said.
As an interesting note about Bittrolff's potential involvement in the Long Island serial killer case: One of the victims, Melissa Barthelemy, went missing in 2009. Her case is notorious for the number of nasty calls her little sister received from Melissa's phone — presumably from the killer, who also outed Melissa's sex worker status to her family. When Bittrolff was named as a potential Long Island serial killer suspect, the family revealed that Melissa's job and his Long Island hamlet community of Manorville were connected. "I don't know what to think, because Melissa had a lot of calls to Manorville from her phone, and that is where this guy is from," the victim's mother said.
