Home Place stores was out of SC. They went out of business in 2001. They had a store in Commack before closing. Linens-N-Things had 8 stores in all of New York State by 1996.
I think the hand towel and pillow sham were probably used to transfer the torso, like oven mitts. Seems like the killer wanted distance (emotional/physical?) from his work. The longer the time between death and dismemberment, the less of a bloody mess it would be. This could explain the lack of...