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ID's Dark Minds Brings Fresh Clues from Atlantic City Serial Killing Case!

By John Kays

I have often heard the theory that there's a possible connection between the Long Island Serial Killer and the four women who were killed in Atlantic City in 2006. One of the victims, Kim Raffo, had left New York for Atlantic City just a few days before she was killed. A stronger connection between the two clusters of killings failed to materialize, but many still suspected the perpetrator was one and the same. I lean in this direction myself, but only for a muse of intuition, no hard facts.

This is why, and because there hasn't been any news, I watched and recorded ID's Dark Minds: The Eastbound Strangler with prominent true-crime author M. William Phelps as the presenter and host. I was curious if there would be any new evidence on the Atlantic City case (which Phelps calls the Eastbound Strangler), and it seems as if there was quite a bit more clarification brought to light in the case.

Barbara V. Breidor, 42, is one of the victims of the Atlantic City Eastbound serial killer!

One break-through is the Nostradamus-like flashes of a serial killer behind bars, known as 13, as provided by criminal profiler, John Kelly. 13 makes light of a foot-fetish problem that the killer had. You may remember, the four bodies were found in a drainage ditch near some seedy hotels, without shoes on. Also, 13 sees a mutuality between Long Island and Atlantic City. Serial killers move around a lot to avoid detection, so this theory is highly conceivable.

Towards the end of ID's Dark Minds, M. William Phelps actually interviews a girl (who remains anonymous) who partied with the final victim, Kim Raffo, shortly before she was found in this odd drainage ditch (I've never been there before, but this entire area of Black Horse Pike looks like a scene from a black and white Noir movie from the 1950s). This girl actually saw two of the victims' bodies in one of these little run down motels.

If this tale is true, she actually met the killer and saw Kim Raffo shortly before she disappeared. Trying to verify such an account must be tough, since so many of these girls are hooked on hard drugs and often have questionable faculties of judgment. I find myself believing her though. Don't know why exactly? She's not seeking any notoriety, since she wants to remain anonymous.

What reason would she have to make up such a big whopper? Have the New Jersey detectives followed up on her story? She could provide a police sketch artist with a good description of this strangler, then the sketch could be broadcast by the media. Maybe then some more memories of this sicko would be dislodged from these street girls' hazy minds.

Furthermore, I wonder why the Long Island investigators appear to discount a connection with Atlantic City? The idea that this guy moves a lot is highly likely. Have detectives ever been able to identify all the people that Kim Raffo associated with? I mean, did she know any of the ten girls? How about Shannan Gilbert? Did Kim ever meet Shannan Gilbert?

These investigative avenues seem obvious, but I haven't heard of any reports that make light of whether these leads have ever been followed up on. The Dark Minds special was good in providing me with another look at this cold case from 2006. Why wasn't it solved? Maybe for the same reason Long Island is unsolved: a very clever serial killer is still on the prowl!

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John Kays identifies timeless remnants from our past that will endure, or be admired by future generations.