Viewer discretion is advised. Some may find this content disturbing. This is a documentary I found interesting.
A woman's severed head was found on a golf course in Hopewell, in 1989, the first victim of convicted murderer Joel Rifkin, according to police. But more than two decades later, there were no solid clues into who the woman was - until 2013, when investigators said that they positively identified the remains as 25-year-old Heidi Balch, a drug-addicted prostitute.
Authorities had been examining a short list of prostitutes known to have worked in the New York City area around the time of the woman's death. One of the names, 'Susie Spencer,' stood out.
A book about the murders, From the Mouth of the Monster, indicates that Rifkin's first victim was called 'Susie' - a name that Miss Balch had been using. A comparison between a reconstruction of Miss Balch's head with a mugshot revealed a match between a mole on her face and a cut above her right eye. They also used DNA from her parents to confirm the identity.
Miss Balch's family told cops that they feared she had gone down a grim path before her disappearance. Hopewell Police Chief George Meyer told WPIV: 'She was young. She met a horrible death, and as bad as everything is, maybe at this point at least, we can provide closure to her family. They now know what happened to their daughter.
Rifkin was convicted of killing nine women in the New York area, but he is believed to have had as many of 17 victims - mostly prostitutes with a history of drug use. He denies being involved in the death of four call girls found over the last few years at Gilgo Beach on Long Island.
Rifkin is currently serving a sentence of more than 200 years at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Upstate New York.
A woman's severed head was found on a golf course in Hopewell, in 1989, the first victim of convicted murderer Joel Rifkin, according to police. But more than two decades later, there were no solid clues into who the woman was - until 2013, when investigators said that they positively identified the remains as 25-year-old Heidi Balch, a drug-addicted prostitute.
Authorities had been examining a short list of prostitutes known to have worked in the New York City area around the time of the woman's death. One of the names, 'Susie Spencer,' stood out.
A book about the murders, From the Mouth of the Monster, indicates that Rifkin's first victim was called 'Susie' - a name that Miss Balch had been using. A comparison between a reconstruction of Miss Balch's head with a mugshot revealed a match between a mole on her face and a cut above her right eye. They also used DNA from her parents to confirm the identity.
Miss Balch's family told cops that they feared she had gone down a grim path before her disappearance. Hopewell Police Chief George Meyer told WPIV: 'She was young. She met a horrible death, and as bad as everything is, maybe at this point at least, we can provide closure to her family. They now know what happened to their daughter.
Rifkin was convicted of killing nine women in the New York area, but he is believed to have had as many of 17 victims - mostly prostitutes with a history of drug use. He denies being involved in the death of four call girls found over the last few years at Gilgo Beach on Long Island.
Rifkin is currently serving a sentence of more than 200 years at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Upstate New York.
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