John Bittrolff: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

John Bittrolff, of Manorville, New York, was arrested and charged with the cold case murders of Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee in 1993 and 1994, reports ABC New York. Both victims were found dead in Long Island.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. The 2 Victims Were Found Bound & Naked in the Woods

John Bittrolff Mugshot

(Suffolk Police Department)

Bittrolff has been charged with two counts of second degree murder. Rita Tangredi was found naked in a wooded area in East Patchogue and Colleen McNamee was found dead in similar circumstances in Shirley, the two women were strangled. The two crime scenes are approximately 13 miles from each other on Long Island. Both Tangredi and McNamee worked as sex workers in Long Island.


2. Newly Found DNA Evidence Linked Bittrolff to Both Cases

Both murders were considered cold cases until DNA evidence in 2014 linked Bittrolff to both killings. Bittrolff was arrested at 6:30 a.m. on July 21. He was arraigned at the First District Court in Central Islip on July 22, reports the Riverhead News Review.


3. He’s Not Implicated in the Gilgo Beach Murders

Gilgo Beach Long Island

In 2011, four sets of human remains were found on Gilgo Beach in Long Island. (Getty)

Newsday reports that there is no evidence linking Bittrolff with the Gilgo Beach murders. One source told NBC New York that there are “significant dissimilarities” between the Gilgo Beach case and the killing\s of Tangredi and McNamee.


4. He Is Married With 2 Kids

Bittrolf has lived in Manorville since purchasing his home there in 2003. He has at least one son, John Jr. NBC New York quotes a neighbor saying that Bittrolf works in construction.


5. There’s Another Murder That May be Related to Bittrolff

There was another murder in the area around the time of the killings of Tangredi and McNamee, Sandra Costilla was found dead in a wooded area 18 days after Tangredi was discovered. No arrest has ever been made in the case of Costilla. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 1999 that a Pennsylvania man was once implicated in the murders of Tangredi and McNamee. That man was later convicted of another murder in 2003.