Joel David Rifkin suffered through high school, made half-hearted attempts at college, and couldn’t hold a steady job.
But there was one thing he at which he never failed: killing prostitutes.
Following the suicide of his adoptive father in 1987 until his arrest in May 1993, Rifkin prowled the streets of Long Island, Manhattan, and other areas of New York City, searching for working girls.
It was by sheer luck that Rifkin was caught. Before he was spotted for failing to have a license plate on his vehicle, police didn’t even realize any of his victims were connect; much less that they were murdered at the hands of a serial killer.
Crossing the Line by Lisa Beth Pulitzer and Joan Swirsky tells part of Joel Rifkin’s story.
In an obvious attempt to be the first published on Rifkin, these two authors hurriedly tossed together a book that was on bookshelves only four months following Rifkin’s conviction on one of the nine murders for which he would be tried.
While it would appear that Pulitzer and Swirsky did some interviews, it’s obvious that much of the information was obtained from other media sources and Court records.
If it want to read about Rifkin in a condensed, quick version then Crossing the Line will serve the purpose. However, you may want to check other books published after all of Rifkin’s trials. (Scroll past documentary videos for a listing of books on Rifkin)
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