The straight, quiet stretch of Ocean Parkway would give him plenty of time to listen and watch for coming cars. The isolation provided investigators their first clue: The killer knew Long Island well enough to find perhaps its most secluded place. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that four bodies wound up in this area,” Richard Dormer, the Suffolk County police commissioner, told reporters days after the discovery. The investigation into the murders became mired in a police corruption scandal, after which the case went cold for years. Some local politicians grew frustrated and worried that police had bungled the case.

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Persons: Long, ” Richard Dormer Locations: Gilgo Beach, Suffolk County