In today’s world of infinite information, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to be certain of the validity and legitimacy of the information we receive. Because of this, it almost seems as if we have varying realities that govern our decisions, apart from our political ones. What movies or products should we boycott or buy in bulk? Should we trust teachers with our children or remove them from the public world altogether? Which version of reality should we choose to repeat among our inner circles, and which one will earn us the chagrin and grimace of those we once thought were close?
The preferred answers to these questions are not really answers, they’re more or less combat plans. Instead of keeping logs and learning history, the knee-jerk responses usually consist of “misinformation,” “conspiracy,” and some type of rage or bias based on sex, race, or religion.
Growing up, most of us were taught that there is no such thing as a “stupid question.” Now, it feels like we’re considered stupid for simply asking questions. Instead of substantively answering legitimate points of concern or curiosity, we’re reduced to slapping labels on those concerns for the fact checkers to swoop down like technocratic vultures and humiliate you on social media, or hive-minded individuals parroting a mainstream-media-peddled response that only discourages cooperation and debate.
These responses prey on the busy, two-jobs-required society that swallowed our passions and hobbies years ago and relies on short-term memory and sensationalism over true stupidity. Most major “news” is akin to nothing more than supermarket tabloids and word-of-mouth water cooler gossip.
As rumors of conspiracy, intrigue, and corruption swirl, there’s two common responses we hear: “I think that’s a little out there,” and “At this point, I wouldn’t put it past them.”
Both are fair, but at the same time, neither are truly valid. They’re essentially both based on confirmation biases, wherein we search for what we expect or already know and apply predetermined opinions or knowledge to formulate an end result with which we can go to bed comfortably.
These rumors have been swirling endlessly in Suffolk County since one of the coldest cases was cracked earlier this summer by District Attorney Ray Tierney: the infamous Gilgo Beach Murders. A sordid crime spree that rocked the nation, the typical questions of a serial killer’s motive and the delays in linking evidence to suspects arose.
However, as a suspect has been obtained, the questions now move to why there was nearly a ten-year lapse in linking evidence to the suspect. Some cases remain cold for decades; a lot of solving it is connection-based and reliant on being in the right place at the right time.
But what if it truly wasn’t that simple? What if there truly is more behind, not only Gilgo, but other cases of different calibers? This isn’t to insinuate that all the same players in one are necessarily involved in the other, but as names become crossed, it becomes more difficult to ignore and brush off as “conspiracy.”
And on Long Island, the largest smallest town in the nation, everyone – somehow – knows everyone.
Wouldn’t it be wise to be on your best behavior at all times?
The arrest of disgraced former Police Chief James Burke might only answer some of the aforementioned questions, but it certainly speaks to the last one. Burke’s sordid past goes back to the 1990s, where he was known to have frequented with hookers in drug-fueled trysts while in his police car , in uniform, and on duty. While we all certainly make mistakes and have our own demons, somehow this was not enough to prevent County Executive Steve Bellone from appointing Burke Chief of Police.
The degenerate behavior continued as the abuse of power created a powerful “inner circle,” by which many decisions were made within the upper echelon of the Suffolk Police Department.
It is also said by many within the police department and county government that Burke ended the department’s cooperation with federal authorities investigating the Gilgo Beach murders.
Additionally, it’s common knowledge that aristocrats and elitists have disposed of prostitutes because they view them as disposable commodities and not people with pasts and problems.
One of Tom Spota’s last prosecutions before his 2017 resignation for obstructing the federal probe into Burke’s abuse of power was that of John Bittrolff.
Bittrolff was a Manorville carpenter whose DNA was linked to the bodies of three prostitutes whose bodies were dumped in East Patchogue, Shirley, and North Sea. Rita Tangredi, one of Bittrolff’s sex worker victims, had a daughter who was friends with Melissa Barthelemy, one of the Gilgo Beach victims whose death has been allegedly attributed to Rex Heuermann.
According to Barthelemy’s mother, Melissa had many calls to Manorville on her phone.
Bittrolff is considered a suspect in the outstanding victims of the Gilgo Beach murders.
If common denominators like these are presented and hardly refuted by anyone, where exactly does logic take us? While it doesn’t necessarily mean something in and of itself, it also doesn’t mean nothing. It’s food for thought and it should be treated as such without cries of “conspiracy,” “misinformation,” or inherent bias. A critically thinking nation will find the truth with a good memory and an entertainment of every possible scenario and outcome.
Furthermore, when it’s a smaller world, but a smaller Island, we should all be on our best behavior. Burke’s apprehension by police for soliciting an undercover cop and exposing himself is almost too good to be true when the crimes with which he was charged require DNA samples taken by the precinct upon processing.
Here’s a friendly piece of advice from your local newspaper: if you see an advertisement for an escort service, it is almost certainly a sting operation set up by the police department. Someone who had a career in the police department should, on paper, know that.
If there is something brewing related to the “palace king’s” past, it will turn up in due time.
Did Burke purposely botch the investigations for reasons political, personal, unknown, or all of the above?
“It seems a little out there.”
Is it the most unrealistic hypothesis?
“I wouldn’t put it past him…”
