The Lost and the Found

This unidentified woman was a victim of serial killer Robert Shulman of Hicksville, Long Island. Yonkers Jane Doe was found in a dumpster behind I Love NY Pizza at 1288 Midland Avenue, Yonkers, NY on June 27, 1992.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Shulman_(serial_killer)

Robert Shulman (March 28, 1954 – April 13, 2006) was an American serial killer. Shulman, a postal worker from Hicksville, New York on Long Island, was convicted of murdering five prostitutes between 1991 and 1996, the year when he was arrested

Murders
Shulman was ultimately convicted of five murders.
Lori Vasquez, killed August 1991.[1]
Unidentified woman, killed June 1992, body dumped in Yonkers.[1]
Unidentified woman ("Jane Doe Medford"), found 7 December 1994 in Medford. Beaten and dismembered.[2]
Lisa Ann Warner, found 6 April 1995 in Brooklyn, New York. Beaten and dismembered.[2]
Kelly Sue Bunting (aka "Melani"), last seen 8 December 1995, found in Brooklyn. Hands amputated; found wrapped in a sleeping bag.

Robert Shulman



Mugshot
Born March 28, 1954
Died April 13, 2006 (aged 52)
Cause of death Natural causes
Criminal penalty Death, commuted to Life imprisonment
Killings
Victims 5
Span of killings
1991–1996
Country U.S.
State(s) New York
Date apprehended
April 6, 1996


Looking for the murder site, a detective canvassing hotels heard about a man driving a blue Cadillac who cruised the area. Trying to track the man down with this information, women were located who led them, not to a hotel, but to a residence where a blue Cadillac was seen. The registration was obtained, and the car was registered to Shulman's brother. Trying to get information about the sleeping bag in which Bunting was found, detectives learned Sears was the only manufacturer. Sears was contacted to see if the brother had purchased one with a credit card. Sears said the brother had no card, but pointed out that Shulman had a card. This was how police were initially pointed towards Shulman as a possible culprit. Women later identified him as the man cruising in the Cadillac, and cadaver dogs signaled the possibility of dead remains having been present in the Cadillac. Police searched Shulman's work place and found trace evidence matching that found on the body. Shulman was arrested on 6 April 1996. After interrogation, Shulman confessed to the three murders. (Shulman confessed to the earliest two murders at a later date.) A search of his room revealed hundreds of bloodstains scattered over almost every surface

Shulman was sentenced to death in 1999 for the only murder he committed after New York State reinstated the death penalty in 1995. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for his other murders because New York's death penalty law was not in effect at the time he committed them. His sentence was reduced to life in prison after the New York State Court of Appeals invalidated the death penalty in 2004.[1]

He died 13 April 2006 in Albany, New York of undisclosed causes.[3]

Shulman's brother Barry was indicted on charges of hindering prosecution and unlawfully disposing of dead bodies.

Recon by Carl Koppelman

Yonkers Jane Doe was a victim of serial killer Robert Shulman, of Hicksville, Long Island. Shulman admitted to picking up prostitutes in the area of Jamaica Avenue & 201st Street in Hollis, Queens, taking them back to his apartment at 11 Glow Lane in Hicksville to smoke crack and have them perform oral sex on him, after which he would beat them to death and dismember them.

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2015/06/02/yonkers-victim-serial-killer/28353213/

Crime Scene: No ID for serial killer's '92 victim

Jane Lerner , jlerner@lohud.comPublished 11:56 a.m. ET June 2, 2015

A convicted serial killer confessed to killing a woman and dumping her body in the trash behind a Yonkers pizza restaurant, but even now, 23 years later, police do not know her identity



Most unsolved murders involve a victim and an unknown killer, but this Yonkers cold case involves an unknown victim and a confessed killer.

The dismembered parts of a woman who has never been identified were found in a trash bin behind a pizzeria on Midland Ave. in 1992.

It would take years before investigators linked the body to Robert Shulman, a Long Island postal worker who was arrested in 1996 and convicted of being a serial killer.

Shulman admitted picking up prostitutes in New York City, taking them to his Long Island apartment for sex and drugs, then beating them to death and cutting up their bodies.

He was convicted of killing three prostitutes in Suffolk County in 1994 and 1995.

Shulman also admitted to killing two women and dumping them in Yonkers in 1991 and 1992 at the beginning of his killing spree.

The first Westchester victim was identified as Lori Vasquez, 24, of Brooklyn, whose remains were found Aug. 31, 1991, stuffed into a plastic trash can near a house at 6 Belknap Ave.

The second woman was found June 27, 1992, in a plastic can placed in a trash bin behind the I Luv New York Pizza parlor at 1288 Midland Ave.

Even now, nearly 23 years later, investigators have no idea who she is.

"There could be a family out there looking for her, waiting for her to come home," said Yonkers police Detective John Geiss. "We would love to identify her."

The investigation

The woman's arms and part of one leg were severed and never located — making it impossible for investigators to check her fingerprints.

Police think the woman was white or possibly Hispanic, in her late 20s or early 30s. She had dark hair.

She had a tattoo of a green butterfly on her right rear shoulder.

Shulman was found guilty of killing three women in Suffolk and was sentenced to death in 1999.

A year later, he went on trial in Westchester in the two Yonkers cases, including the unidentified woman. Then-Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said her office pursued the local cases, which were too old to qualify for capital punishment, in part because Shulman was appealing his Long Island convictions.

On the second day of his trial in Westchester, Shulman admitted to killing the two women whose bodies were dumped in Yonkers.

He made the admission to spare his younger brother, Barry Shulman, additional punishment for helping dump Vasquez's body.

Barry Shulman was given a two-year sentence for pleading guilty in Suffolk to helping his brother dump the bodies of two victims. When his brother pleaded guilty in Westchester, Barry Shulman pleaded guilty to the disposal of Vasquez's body in Yonkers. He was given a two-year prison term to run at the same time as the Long Island sentence.

Westchester prosecutors said a pre-sentence report on Robert Shulman showed he had no remorse for his crimes.

A Westchester State Supreme Court justice told Shulman his prison sentence of 25 years to life "means that you won't be able to walk on the streets again.

"You have caused irreparable damage to numerous families and numerous individuals," the judge said. "You have served as judge, jury and executioner. "

Shulman's death penalty sentence for the Long Island homicides was later changed to life in prison without parole when New York's death penalty was overturned in 2004.

He died in prison of natural causes in April 2006 — 10 years after his arrest and nearly 14 years after the body of a woman still known as Jane Doe was found in the trash behind a Yonkers restaurant.



Whom to call

Yonkers police ask anyone who thinks they might know the identity of serial killer Robert Shulman's victim who was found in Yonkers to contact them at 914-377-7900.

https://pix11.com/news/themissing/serial-killers-yonkers-jane-doe-idd-nearly-30-years-after-body-found-in-dumpster/

Serial killer’s ‘Yonkers Jane Doe’ ID’d nearly 30 years after body found in dumpster

YONKERS, N.Y. — She was a victim of serial killer Robert Shulman, a postal worker from Hicksville, Long Island convicted of killing and dismembering five women in the 1990s using barbells and a baseball bat. But no one knew her name — until now.

Det. John Geiss, of the Yonkers Cold Case Squad, told PIX11 News on Monday Meresa Hammonds was the victim found in a Yonkers dumpster on June 27, 1992. She was a mother of two sons who was living in New Jersey. She was 31 years old.

For 29 years, Hammonds was listed as missing. 

Now, using genetic genealogy, police have confirmed she was one of the serial killer’s victims. 

Shulman once said he used to smoke crack with his victims at his apartment in Patchogue, black out, and then wake up to find them dead in bed. 

The women, who were sex workers, were then dismembered. Shulman deposited the body parts in Long Island dumpsters, sometimes going to Manhattan or — in Hammonds’ case — Yonkers.

“I wanted to try the genealogy (for identification), because it was successful in a Mount Vernon case,” Geiss told PIX11 News on Monday.

Genetic genealogy was also used to track down California’s notorious serial killer and rapist, Joseph DeAngelo, a former cop who was arrested in 2018 at the age of 73.

DeAngelo pleaded guilty in 2020 to 26 counts of murder and kidnapping.

In the Yonkers case, Det. Geiss said he went through the FBI, which has a specialized team. The DNA from Hammonds was put into private genealogy websites.

“After three weeks, we got a hit and it was right on the money,” Geiss said.

Hammonds was identified because one of her cousins had submitted DNA to a genealogy website and it was tied to the then-unknown murder victim.

Geiss then flew to Michigan in early November to meet with Hammonds’ sister and two brothers. They gave DNA samples, which provided a genetic link to the victim. They also identified Hammonds from a photo and a butterfly tattoo on her right, rear shoulder.

The final DNA test that sealed the identification came from Hammonds’ now-adult son, Jason Di Tripani. Geiss said he met with him in New York.

“Jason didn’t know too much about his mom and wondered why his mother didn’t go looking for him,” Geiss said. “At least they have answers.”

One of the positives to come out of the tragedy was Di Tripani learning he has aunts, uncles and cousins.  He met his late mother’s family for Thanksgiving in Michigan.

Di Trapani wrote to forensic genealogist Carl Koppelman on Facebook after his mother’s identification was confirmed.

“I’m truly thankful, and to detective John. She will always be missed, was taken from all of us to(o) young, but like you said, at least we know she was loved and can rest in peace. Best part is getting my mom’s family in my life, because before all of this, I had no clue who they were. Love every single one of the Hammonds family. Truly grateful to have found you. Better late than never. Love all of you more than you could ever know. My mom was truly loved and blessed. Rip MOM 92,'” he wrote.

Shulman initially received a death sentence for one of his murders, but he was later re-sentenced to life without parole for the five killings. He died of natural causes on April 13, 2006, at the age of 52.