BREAKING: NY - James Burke, ex-police chief of Suffolk County, arrested for soliciting a male undercover officer, 22 Aug 2023

[Justice101]

Dumb question.. .since this guy was the former police chief, does that even matter since the new police chief in town was the one who go the cold case going and solved?

 

[Betty P]

Dumb question.. .since this guy was the former police chief, does that even matter since the new police chief in town was the one who go the cold case going and solved?

Yes and no. Rodney Harrison was the new "outsider" police commissioner who came in and put together a task force to catch LISK. Rodney did a good job, but asked too many questions when the investigation started to shut down after Heuermann's arrest for the murders of 3 women.

Harrison's task force consisted of the police chief who replaced James Burke as well as a few other members of the county prosecutors office (Ray Tierney) who also didn't vigorously pursue the LISK case. Harrison made the county prosecutor and police chief work with the NY State police, the FBI and others. They made their arrest in about 1 years time.

So, James Burke didn't work on Harrison's task force, but some of his friends did. It's believed there are people within the Suffolk County PD who are still loyal to James Burke. They did force Rodney Harrison out after Rex was arrested, something that didn't have to happen. With Harrison gone, some folks are working to make sure things dont go back to "business as usual".

Also, the attorneys representing Rex Heuermann, his wife and his kids are all part of the old Suffolk County machine that James Burke was part of.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/14/us/gilgo-beach-murders-suspect-arrest/index.html

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In December 2008, veteran criminal defense attorney Robert Macedonio appeared in a Suffolk County courtroom, this time as a defendant. “It’s embarrassing for me to be standing here,” Macedonio told…

matthewdoig.com

Suffolk DA Candidate Ray Tierney Comments on Sentencing of Former DA Thomas Spota and His Former Aide Christopher McPartland | Ray Tierney For District Attorney

Upon learning of today’s sentencing of former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and his former aide, Christopher McPartland, Suffolk DA candidate Ray Tierney commented on the DA’s office and its longstanding pattern of political corruption. “The DA’s office that operated under Thomas...

www.raytierneyforda.com

 

[jessr927]

I wasn't sure what thread to post this under but settled here since she had ties to Burke. Lowrita Rickenbacker passed away last December.

Obituary of Lowrita Rickenbacker | Joseph A Slinger-Hasgill Funeral Service, Inc.

Amityville, New York Our home serves both the needs of intimate and larger services. Our state of the art chapel is handicap accessible and equipp

slingerhasgill.com

 

[Betty P]

I wasn't sure what thread to post this under but settled here since she had ties to Burke. Lowrita Rickenbacker passed away last December.

Obituary of Lowrita Rickenbacker | Joseph A Slinger-Hasgill Funeral Service, Inc.

Amityville, New York Our home serves both the needs of intimate and larger services. Our state of the art chapel is handicap accessible and equipp

slingerhasgill.com

Yes, this is the right thread for posting it, JMO. For those wondering, Lowrita was a prostitute who was also the girlfriend of former Suffolk Co Chief of Police, James Burke. Burke was accused of failing to fully investigate the Gilgo Beach murders for many years. He was also a drug addict who had along term relationship with another woman who ran a prostitution ring.

Cop who bungled Gilgo Beach investigation was a cross dresser

A Long Island attorney of two Gilgo beach murder victims calls out former Suffolk County Police Chief for deviant behavior of prostitution, drugs and pornography.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[jessr927]

Yes, this is the right thread for posting it, JMO. For those wondering, Lowrita was a prostitute who was also the girlfriend of former Suffolk Co Chief of Police, James Burke. Burke was accused of failing to fully investigate the Gilgo Beach murders for many years. He was also a drug addict who had along term relationship with another woman who ran a prostitution ring.

Cop who bungled Gilgo Beach investigation was a cross dresser

A Long Island attorney of two Gilgo beach murder victims calls out former Suffolk County Police Chief for deviant behavior of prostitution, drugs and pornography.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Lowrita was also an amateur bodybuilder and graduated from college on LI with a degree in horticulture. She also said that Burke fathered one of her daughters who she raised with her husband who was a corrections officer at Sing Sing.

 

[Betty P]

Lowrita was also an amateur bodybuilder and graduated from college on LI with a degree in horticulture. She also said that Burke fathered one of her daughters who she raised with her husband who was a corrections officer at Sing Sing.

She sounds like a interesting character. An unusual match, too - a corrections officer married to a prostitute whose boyfriend was a cross dressing, drug addicted Chief of Police.

Did she change and later give up prostitution, drugs and the criminal life? I hope her daughter was able to have a normal life.

 

[Forest_Wood]

She sounds like a interesting character. An unusual match, too - a corrections officer married to a prostitute whose boyfriend was a cross dressing, drug addicted Chief of Police.

Did she change and later give up prostitution, drugs and the criminal life? I hope her daughter was able to have a normal life.

Is this the same lady who claimed she and her cop boyfriend picked up Karen Vergata and took her to RH's house for a night of swinging?

 

[jessr927]

Is this the same lady who claimed she and her cop boyfriend picked up Karen Vergata and took her to RH's house for a night of swinging?

No, not as far as I'm aware. I think the woman who spoke of the swinging was dating or married to an NYPD cop.

 

[jessr927]

She sounds like a interesting character. An unusual match, too - a corrections officer married to a prostitute whose boyfriend was a cross dressing, drug addicted Chief of Police.

Did she change and later give up prostitution, drugs and the criminal life? I hope her daughter was able to have a normal life.

I don't know what her last days looked like but I did find a couple of articles on arrests in the 2000s. It appears her children are all doing well and are well adjusted.

 

[Betty P]

Is this the same lady who claimed she and her cop boyfriend picked up Karen Vergata and took her to RH's house for a night of swinging?

No, I don't believe so. John Ray met and talked with both women at different times (one as the tipster, the second as a legal client). I assume he would have known if they were the same woman.

 

[sds71]

Asked about Burke’s pending sex case, O’Rourke said there are "problems" with the case, citing how Burke was originally charged with four counts, before two were ultimately dismissed: offering a sex act and fifth-degree criminal solicitation.
"This case is gonna go away," he said. "It’s not gonna result in any real substance. What can they do to him? He’s already been convicted of a felony, a federal felony. He served time."

"He was there," said O'Rourke. "He was going to the men’s room. The park rangers, who were retired police officers, who made the arrest, they were in contact, and we have confirmed, with Bellone’s office at the time," he saidd of former Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who appointed Burke as chief, stuck by him through scandal, but later fired him. "And of course, Bellone and Burke were not getting along, let’s put it that way."O'Rourke also said the rangers who arrested Burke were fired for misconduct.

"They took photographs of Mr. Burke inside the police facility before he was arraigned," said O'Rourke. "They also charged him with a crime that didn’t exist. ... And there is no doubt, they were all fired as a result what they did. They took photos inside the police facilities is not permitted by rules and regulations, nor county law, nor even state law so that’s the reason why they’re no longer associated with any law enforcement agency."

Gilgo Beach killings: Disgraced former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke is willing to help in the case against accused serial killer Rex A. Heuermann, attorney says

Burke's attorney James O'Rourke, of Smithtown, said his client is "still at heart a law enforcement individual."

www.newsday.com

 

[snarast]

Burke derailed the entire LISK investigation for a decade. Who knows how many women were murdered by RH as a result. And Burke still receives his pension.

But the officers were all unceremoniously fired for documenting the activities of this beacon of police misconduct?

Okidoki. Those must be friends in some mighty high places indeed.

IMHOO