John Bittrolff's house

This is the former home of murderer and suspected serial killer John Bittrolff.

It is located at 167 Silas Carter Road in Manorville, New York.

Bittrolff's wife purchased the property in 1997 for $198,500. He lived here until 2014, when he was arrested for the murders of Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee.

Background

Bittrolff was born on July 1, 1966, to John Frederick Bittrolff and Lynne F. Bittrolff (née Norwick). He has two younger brothers, Timothy and Kevin.

Bittrolff grew up at 40 Shore Drive in Mastic Beach.

His parents separated when he was a child. Around the same time, his paternal uncle, Kenneth Bittrolff, started living with his mother.

One source stated his mother was domineering and often absent. She treated Bittrolff like "the golden child." To her, he could do no wrong. This view contradicted reports from neighbors, who claimed he would sometimes walk up to people without saying a word and "start swinging."

By his teenage years, Bittrolff had developed a reputation for aggressive and antisocial behavior. He provoked fights, broke into homes, committed theft, vandalized property, and bullied younger children. On one occasion, he reportedly forced a boy to eat a black snake firework. In another incident, he fired a tipless arrow at someone's leg.

Neighbors also alleged that Bittrolff engaged in acts of animal cruelty. One claimed he killed their family's pet cat.

Detective Sergeant Charles Leser of the Suffolk County Police Department later confirmed these reports. During a 2017 interview with The Daily Beast, Leser said Bittrolff tortured animals as a youngster and was nicknamed "Crazy Johnny B."

Bittrolff attended William Floyd High School, though his time there was reportedly marked by disciplinary issues.

While a class reunion website claims he graduated in 1984, his photograph does not appear in the school's yearbook. According to a source familiar with the matter, he was held back that year and expelled in 1985 after driving a dirt bike through the school grounds and knocking over an assistant principal.

He fled the scene but was identified after an onlooker recognized him from an earlier incident.

A former neighbor from Mastic Beach said he had a reputation for stealing: "If someone robbed your house, it was probably John."

On March 22, 1987, he was arrested and charged with fourth-degree grand larceny. He pleaded guilty in July 1987 and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and five years' probation.

On October 8, 1990, he was charged with third-degree assault after he attacked someone with a baseball bat. He reportedly carried out the attack as a favor for someone else. In February 1994, he pleaded guilty to the crime and received a one-year conditional discharge requiring him to stay out of trouble. That same year, Bittrolff also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.

He started dating Patricia "Patty" Asero in the mid-1980s. By 1993, they were engaged and living together. The couple married in 1995, and Asero gave birth to their first son in July 1996. Their youngest son was born between 2001 and 2003.

Before moving to Manorville in 1997, he lived on Concord Road in Shirley and Orchard Neck Road in Center Moriches. His father, with whom he reportedly had a strained relationship, died in 1998.

Bittrolff worked as a self-employed carpenter throughout most of his adult life. Public records show he owned two contracting companies: "Coastal Construction" and "My 2 Boyz Contracting," both registered by his wife.

Although his name did not appear on the deed for 167 Silas Carter Road until 2003, this was likely due to mortgage-related reasons, such as issues with his self-employment income or tax records. One source indicated Bittrolff may have filed for bankruptcy in the mid-1990s.

Following his arrest in July 2014, his neighbors in Manorville described him as a "regular guy" who was helpful and pleasant.

Murders

On November 2, 1993, the nude body of 31-year-old Rita Tangredi was discovered in a wooded area of East Patchogue. She had been strangled and bludgeoned.

Three months later, on January 30, 1994, the body of 20-year-old Colleen McNamee was found near the Long Island Expressway in Shirley. Like Tangredi, she had been beaten and strangled.

Both women were sex workers killed in a similar fashion. Their bodies were found nude and "posed" in wooded areas less than 10 miles apart. Additionally, both victims were missing their underwear and left shoes.

For more than 20 years, the murders of Tangredi and McNamee remained unsolved.

In 2013, Bittrolff's brother, Timothy, was arrested for an unrelated offense and required to submit a DNA sample. The sample was later identified as a familial match to DNA recovered from the victims' bodies.

Bittrolff became the prime suspect after the match proved the killer was a close relative of Timothy.

Following the DNA breakthrough, investigators tailed Bittrolff in a plumber's van, hoping he would discard an item containing his DNA.

However, Bittrolff appeared to see through this facade. At one point, he executed an evasive driving maneuver in an attempt to lose them.

Detectives eventually retrieved a sample from the family's garbage that matched the DNA found on Tangredi's and McNamee's bodies. Shortly after, the police pulled him over and brought him in for questioning.

During the interrogation, he drank from a cup they offered him. This cup gave investigators a direct sample of his DNA, which confirmed the match.

Bittrolff claimed he didn't know the two women. However, he reportedly became unsettled when detectives told him they had found his DNA on the victims' bodies. At that point, he stopped talking and asked for a lawyer.

Hours after the interrogation ended, Bittrolff reportedly asked Detective John McLeer how investigators had obtained his DNA. When McLeer explained that his brother's DNA had been entered into the system, Bittrolff allegedly responded, "I f-cking knew it. I f-cking knew it."

He was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in July 2017.

Later that year, the Suffolk County District Attorney, Thomas Spota, named him a potential suspect in the Gilgo Beach case.

For years, speculation persisted regarding his possible involvement. That narrative shifted on July 14, 2023, when prosecutors indicted Rex Heuermann in connection with three of the killings.

Court records suggest that Heuermann was aware of Bittrolff's status as a suspect, as bail documents revealed he had searched Bittrolff's name on Google.