As the reader peruses these pages, he or she will note pertinent information regarding accused serial killer Rex Heuermann, disgraced former Suffolk County Chief of Police James Burke, disgraced former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, and his disgraced former Anti-corruption Bureau Chief Christopher McPartland. The four will be presented intermittently throughout the book. This approach will avoid bogging the reader down with too much information at one time as there is much to cover within these pages. Also, specifically related timetables referencing these major characters as well as the murder victims in lieu of lengthy prose will expedite the writing process. For example, trying to encapsulate all relevant information from a 598-page book titled
A Criminal Injustice
by Richard Firstman and Jay Salpeter referencing the Marty Tankleff murder case is unnecessary when a minimal bulleted synopsis will succinctly suffice in drawing out pertinent data I want to present. Breaking up a specific incident into palatable sections avoids ennui, delivering powerful prose in small doses rather than in prolific mouthfuls of minutiae. The culture of corruption and incompetence referencing Suffolk County Law Enforcement is concisely covered between the years 1979-2022. This period particularly includes a brief history of the Johnny Pius murder case; the Seymour/ Arlene Tankleff murders, the seventeen-year false imprisonment of their adopted son, Marty Tankleff, the misdirection and cover-up by detectives James McCready and Norman Rein, the purported accomplices and/or co-conspirators to those murders: Jerry Steuerman, Joseph Creedon, Peter Kent, Glen Harris; and the Rex Heuermann Gilgo Beach murder case-victims: Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, and possibly Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
One cannot begin to understand the culture of corruption in Suffolk County- featuring two of its major players, a young Jimmy Burke and an aspiring middle-aged prosecutor, Thomas Spota-until one goes back in time to the late 70s. The pair went on to become the infamous Suffolk County's chief of police and district attorney, respectively. The duo thwarted and botched several high-profile murder cases along the line until their imprisonment; the last matter resulting in failure to identify serial killer Rex Heuerman, whom law enforcement could have apprehended thirteen years earlier in time! This last unfolding leads up to the courageous and competent formation of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force, set in place by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, including cooperating inter-agencies from local, state, and federal governments: Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's office, Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon, Jr.'s office, New York State Police, and the FBI.