Serial Killer Joel Rifkin’s Long Island Home Closes for $670K
The Long Island home where notorious serial killer Joel Rifkin brutally murdered and dismembered numerous women has found a new owner—one who plans to breathe new life into the property.
After several months on the market and multiple price reductions, the East Meadow house was sold on Wednesday for $670,000, Pinpoint Realty listing agent Angela Cernuto confirmed to Realtor.com®.
The final sale price of $670,000 was $110,000 less than the most recent asking price of $780,000 and $155,000 less than the $825,000 the property was initially listed for in April.
Cernuto told Realtor.com the buyer plans to revitalize the home and may demolish part of the property as part of the renovations. The new owner’s identity, however, remains a mystery.
The property previously went under contract twice, but both deals ultimately fell through after the home’s history was disclosed to prospective buyers, Cernuto said.
The third deal was successful, with the sale closing on Wednesday. Cernuto said the four-month-long process moved relatively quickly given the circumstances. She added that the buyer was not deterred by the home’s history.
“We’re selling a house, not the history,” she said.
Cernuto recalled how the property’s open houses attracted true-crime enthusiasts. But she said the home’s history shouldn’t overshadow its appeal as a property in a desirable area, known as Barnum Woods, or the decades it served as a family home after Rifkin was long gone.
“I’ve been inside that house and it’s just a house,” she said. “There are no skeletons in the closets, no ghosts popping out.”
The 1,675-square-foot, two-story Cape-style house has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a finished basement. It is located on an approximately 7,000-square-foot corner lot on a tree-lined street in the quaint residential neighborhood of East Meadow.
Built in 1951, the home was described in its listing as a “well-maintained home” that “offers a spacious and versatile layout with sun-filled living areas, an updated eat-in kitchen, generous sized bedrooms, and plenty of storage throughout.”
Rifkin’s house of horrors
Between 1989 and 1993, Rifkin lived in the East Meadow home with his mother, Jeanne Granelles Rifkin, and sister, Jan Tsistinas, while secretly carrying out the string of gruesome slayings.
Rifkin admitted to the murders of 17 women, most of whom were sex workers, and told authorities that he had killed several of his victims inside the family home.
Many of the women had been dismembered, their remains found hidden in various locations across the tristate area.
In June 1993, his murderous rampage came to an end when New York State troopers tried to stop his pickup truck on the Southern State Parkway due to no license plate.
Rifkin fled from the troopers, triggering a police chase that ended in his crashing into a telephone pole.
When officers searched his car, they discovered the body of 22-year-old Tiffany Bresciani, who was believed to be his last victim.
Rifkin was arrested and, in 1995, was sentenced to 203 years in prison. He is currently serving his sentence at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York.
Rifkin’s attorney, Robert Sale, told the New York Times in 1993 that his mother and sister were “destroyed” by the news of his heinous crimes, which he carried out undetected for years.
The previous owners looked beyond its dark past
Rifkin’s mother lived in the East Meadow home until her death in 2010.
The property then hit the market for the first time since Rifkin’s crimes came to light.
It was initially listed for $424,500, but its gruesome history proved to be a hurdle for prospective buyers and the house spent nearly a year on the market, undergoing several price cuts.
At the time, listing agent Greg Berkowitz of Laffey Fine Homes told the New York Post that several prospective buyers had walked away after learning about the property’s history.
Then in 2011, James Aiosa purchased the home for a reduced price of $322,000.
Berkowitz said at the time that the buyer was undeterred by the home’s grim past and was happy to have bought it at a relatively low price.
Aiosa’s son, Vincent Aiosa, told Newsday that his father had been looking for a bigger home for their family for a good deal. He added that the property’s tragic past did not discourage him.
“To him, it was a house,” Vincent Aiosa told the outlet. “It was in a great location, and the size was what he wanted.”
Over the years, the family installed new siding, updated the kitchen and bathrooms, and added a room in the basement.
But the home’s dark history was never far away. People frequently slowed down as they drove past, and the family once received a letter about the crimes committed there.
Despite this, James Aiosa always welcomed his neighbors and friends into the home, according to his son. After he died in 2025, his son, who now lives in Wantagh, helped facilitate the sale of the house.
The latest sale marks a new chapter for a property that has been associated with tragedy for more than 30 years.
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