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‘Gone Girls': Three Things We Learned From Netflix's New Long Island Serial Killer Doc

‘Gone Girls': Three Things We Learned From Netflix's New Long Island Serial Killer Doc

Yahoo28-03-2025

When 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert called 911 on May 1, 2010, she was absolutely frantic. An escort, Gilbert was on Oak Beach, Long Island for a date with a first-time client named Joseph Brewer when she became distressed, eventually screaming in the call to authorities, 'they're trying to kill me.' When she was last seen, she had run from Brewer and her driver Michael Pak, before knocking on several neighbors' doors for help and running off into the dark.
Gilbert was a sex worker. She was a diagnosed bipolar who was reportedly not taking her medication. And it felt like the police weren't taking it seriously. It took eight months from Gilbert's disappearance for police to look for Gilbert's body along the stretch of Long Island's Ocean Parkway where she was last seen. But when police began searching on Dec. 11, 2010, what they discovered wasn't Gilbert's remains — it was the skeletons of four women individually bound wrapped in burlap. They were later identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, four sex workers who all advertised online. The search to find Gilbert, and the discovery of the four women who would later be known as the 'Gilgo Four,' sparked a years-long investigation into a mystery figure that haunted the community for a decade: the Long Island Serial Killer.
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In Netflix's latest crime docuseries, Gone Girl: The Long Island Serial Killer, filmmaker Liz Garbus charts the winding story of the Long Island Serial Killer — LISK, as he became known — beginning with Gilbert's disappearance, the 'Gilgo Four' and the discovery of several more bodies, but also exploring the police corruption that stalled the case, and the eventual updates that linked a small amount of evidence to the eventual suspect, 61-year-old Massapequa resident Rex Heuermann. (Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the murders of seven women. A trial date has not yet been set.) Garbus also directed the 2020 film Lost Girls, a dramatized movie about the murders focusing on Gilbert's mother — Mari Gilbert, who died in 2016 —and the families of other dead sex workers who banded together to get attention and justice for their daughters' deaths.
In an interview with Decider, Liz Garbus said she got back in touch with the families of the women when Heuermann was arrested. 'I thought, I have to do a documentary,' she said. 'There was so much more to the story.'
Here are three things we learned from the new Netflix docuseries about the police department that failed the find the serial killer for years, the families that fought back, and the regime change that finally brought about a suspect.
When Mari Gilbert first asked for help finding her daughter, Suffolk County Police were not responsive to her pleas, according to Gilbert family attorney John Ray. Ray says in the docuseries that it took several months for police to even begin searching for Gilbert because of her profession, a stigma that followed the investigation as more bodies — all of them sex workers — were recovered on the highway alongside Gilgo Beach.
'She went to the police to report her daughter missing,' Ray says in Episode One. 'The police laughed at her and said, 'Oh, you know, she's a prostitute. She'll turn up.'' Many experts in the case attribute the eventual discovery of Heuermann to Gilbert's continued pressure on both the media and police department — even after police found Gilbert's body and ruled her death accidental. Police allege that Huermann targeted escorts and sex workers because he thought they weren't likely to go to authorities for help.
Though Heuermann has not been charged with Gilbert's murder, her role in the case is significant nonetheless. 'Mari saw Shannan as an unintended hero because it was Shannan's disappearance that ironically caused all the others to have been found and, now, to have at least one arrest,' Ray told CNN in 2024. 'Who knows what other lives have been saved because of the exposure of all this?
Gus Garcia-Roberts, an investigative reporter for Newsday, reported at the time that Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and Police Chief James Burke began working together when Spota was a prosecutor and Burke was 16 years old. Spota was the working prosecutor on the case of Johnny Pius, a young boy who was found beaten and asphyxiated in his Smithtown, Long Island schoolyard in April 1979. Police got a confession from 15-year-old Peter Quartararo, who implicated himself and his brother Michael. But it was Burke's statement — where he claimed he'd overheard the brothers discussing the crime with their friends — that got the Quartararo brothers convicted for Pius' murder. (Peter later recanted the confession.) Burke then became a cop after graduating from high school, working under Spota for many years. Through an attorney, Burke denied any allegations about false testimony in the John Pius case, according to a statement shown at the end of Episode Two.
As the Chief of Police, Burke was the lead officer in charge of the Gilgo Murder investigation. But during his tenure, officers reported that Spota and Burke discouraged them from collaborating or working with outside agencies on the case — including the FBI. Community members on Long Island were confused by disagreements between the district attorney, FBI, and local police department about whether or not there was more than one killer, and attributed a lack of progress to police indifference about the case.
Burke's career was plagued by scandal, including a dozen internal complaints on his official file. But according to Garcia-Roberts' investigation, it appears that Burke was working so hard to cover up his crimes that the Gilgo investigation was almost completely ignored.
Burke's internal investigations included allegations that he often hired sex workers, did drugs, and used his role to keep his actions secret, though he was not charged, and he denied the allegations. Several cops reported hearing Burke dismiss the Gilgo case, saying they were unimportant 'misdemeanor murders.' (He specifically denied using that phrase.) In 2012, an addict named Christopher Leob broke into cars in Smithtown, Long Island, one of which was Burke's vehicle. Leob said that when he was caught and brought into the station, Burke assaulted him, and hid the beating from the FBI. It took years for the FBI to finally get a member of the Suffolk County Police to speak. The Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney's Office found that Burke and Spota used their influence to pressure witnesses and other police officers into staying silent. In November 2021, Burke was sentenced to 46 years in jail for assault and obstruction of justice. Spota was also sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy.
'When a sitting District Attorney and one of his top prosecutors are corrupt and use their power to intimidate witnesses and cover up a brutal assault by a high-ranking law enforcement official, they not only jeopardize the safety of citizens who are entitled to the protection of the law, they also undermine confidence in the integrity and fairness of our criminal justice system,' Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn M. Kasulis said in 2021.
Once Burke and Spota were removed from their offices, it took new investigators assigned to the office and case only six weeks before they were able to identify Heuermann as a suspect.
Amber Costello, one of the 'Gilgo Four,' was the most recently deceased woman found in the investigation. According to family members, she went missing less than three months before police found the bodies by the highway.
Bear Brodsky and Dave Schaller, two friends who lived with Costello, explain in the docuseries that a man came by their house before Costello went missing. Costello had called them for help because she said the man 'wasn't taking no for an answer,' and was asking for his money back because Costello wouldn't sleep with him. 'It's almost like his eyes got this focus to them,' Schaller says in the documentary, describing how he and Brodsky forced the man to leave. As he did so, Schaller says the man kept his eyes on Costello the entire time: 'Imagine a predator who is just tripped. Like off. But his focus was on her.' Brodsky and Schaller kept pushing until the man left the house and got into his green Chevy Avalanche, but both say in the docuseries that his eyes were fixed on Costello, and he remarked 'I'll see you,' before he drove away.
When police came to Brodsky and Schaller after Costello's death, they immediately identified the man as someone who would have wanted to hurt Costello and gave officers a physical description. Schaller called him 'ogre-like' and specified his height, weight, eye color, hair color, and the color and model of his truck. 'How many fucking six-foot-eight giants driving around in Massapequa driving a Chevy Avalanche?' Schaller says. 'They had their answers for fucking years.'
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Joe Manganiello, Who Starred in ‘Pee-wee's Big Holiday,' Chokes Up Remembering Late Friend Paul Reubens: 'I Was His Biggest Fan'
Joe Manganiello, Who Starred in ‘Pee-wee's Big Holiday,' Chokes Up Remembering Late Friend Paul Reubens: 'I Was His Biggest Fan'

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Joe Manganiello, Who Starred in ‘Pee-wee's Big Holiday,' Chokes Up Remembering Late Friend Paul Reubens: 'I Was His Biggest Fan'

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Steve Gerben Talks ‘Tires' Impact on Dad's Shop, John McKeever Explains That Whole 'McKeever' Thing
Steve Gerben Talks ‘Tires' Impact on Dad's Shop, John McKeever Explains That Whole 'McKeever' Thing

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Steve Gerben Talks ‘Tires' Impact on Dad's Shop, John McKeever Explains That Whole 'McKeever' Thing

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And the other thing that I kind of realized when we started making Tires and when I started doing more behind-the-camera stuff and just writing, I just thought, you know, I have like, a three-second window in every episode for people to remember who I am. And I just feel like I should probably get rid of half of the stuff they have to remember. So if I can get them to get rid of 'John,' which is probably the most forgettable name out there…and I think a lot of times when people read 'John,' they almost don't even read the second part. My fear was like, it would be viewed as, like, 'Who the fuck does this guy think?' That's definitely how I viewed it. JM: I totally get it. But it was more like I have three seconds for people to remember who I am… Steve, you just did … SG: Shane wanted me to do Late Night and wouldn't do it without me. Hats off to Seth for taking that risk. But anyway, I was telling Shane, like, 'I'm very nervous.' And the way that this whole thing goes down, you know, it's very like, bing, bang, boom. You're in the green room, then hair and makeup, Seth's doing the monologue, they bring you out, 'They're like, stand here, Steve you're gonna sit there. Get together, take a picture.' And they go, '20 seconds.' And so then I'm just standing there…and I look at Shane and I go, 'I'm having some pretty bad fight-or-flight right now, man.' And he just looks back and he goes, 'fight.' I don't think I've ever heard something that cool, that badass. JM: It was so cool to see Steve be Steve, and now the world gets to see that. It is a true one-of-one. I think the nice thing about Tires is it's a true Trojan Horse. Shane gets everybody in the door, and Steve falls out. Shane plays 'Shane' and Kilah Fox plays 'Kilah' — most of the cast uses their real names — but Steve plays Will and Chris O'Connor plays Cal. When do you use real first names and when don't you? SG: Very early on I told Shane, 'Do a different name, like Sean or something.' He's like, 'Just call me Shane.' I don't know why we kept 'Kilah'… but Shane was just like — he didn't want to be bothered. JM: It was honestly a nightmare when we wrote the first season, because I would write some scripts, and I put 'Steve' because I couldn't get used to the 'Will' thing. Now it's very easy. SG: Shane does not like that I'm Will because he does not like that I'm acting. I wanted to act. I wanted, as small as it is, to separate from me the person. How's your dad's shop doing? Has the show been good for business? SG: No, he's not doing, like, better. He's not doing any worse. The [Tires shop and real shop] have different names, and— shops are just, they're tough to run. It's just really hard to hire right now, he's just, like, chronically understaffed. You would think, next to this set [it would get a boost], but it hasn't changed for much. But he's fine. Did you work at the shop? SG: I was trying to work for him, I would work the counter, and I was awful. And so, for the past 16 years, I've been working for my brother. But yeah, I just wasn't cut out for for [the shop] business, honestly. What does your brother do? SG: He is a trademark attorney. Are you a attorney? A paralegal? SG: Paralegal. (Laughs) But now, Tony, I'm an actor! The show, especially season two, covers a lot of topics that can be dicey to approach comedically. This season, Shane brings a gun to work — and that's just the first episode. Is it a purposeful choice to go hit on all of the subjects you're not supposed to joke about in polite company? SG: I'm going to take that one because John would be too modest to answer this. It's John. He knows how to walk that line, and he will also— sometimes it's very hard in the moment when everybody's pitching, like, funny ideas or whatever, to be the bad guy and be like, 'That's too far.' And yet he makes those decisions. And it is John. That is a very specific thing where it's like, he— Shane can walk a line too, we've all seen that. But insofar as the writing process, John is just so good at that. JM: Steve and I, we spend a lot of time on that. There's a few rules that we we follow and that we generally believe in. And one of them is like, 'Is this funny or is this mean?' If it feels mean, it's got to go. If it's to make a point, you know, if it's to make some lame political point — one way or the other — where you're trying to get people watching, not to laugh, but to go, 'Hmm, I agree with that.' Then that fucking sucks. We've spent a lot of time talking about, like, what we can and can't say. And I think we can say anything. I think anything's on the table, but it's that whole thing of, 'Are we making sure that the right person is the butt of the joke here?' And we are ingratiating our characters to the audience enough for them to grant us forgiveness. 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Cannes Showcases Africa's Film Future
Cannes Showcases Africa's Film Future

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Cannes Showcases Africa's Film Future

African cinema has arrived in Cannes determined to blaze its own trail amid signs of a slowdown in investment across the continent from the world's leading streamers. Leading the way is Akinola Davies Jr.'s drama My Father's Shadow, an Un Certain Regard contender that's being touted as the first Nigerian film ever selected for Cannes' official lineup. The continent's vast array of location options, meanwhile, is being showcased thanks to the Cameroon-set police thriller Indomptables, from French director Thomas Ngijol, part of this year's Directors' Fortnight lineup. 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But in the post-pandemic reassessment of streaming, when revenue per user became Wall Street's preferred metric for assessing success in the sector (rather than sub growth at any cost), U.S. studios and platforms began speaking much less frequently about their original content ambitions in Africa. 'We've already realized that we want to tell authentic African stories and we don't want to tell them just for local audiences,' says Osamede's Nigeria-based director James Omokwe. 'So Cannes is one of the first places we want to go internationally, for people to see what we've done — to see what's coming out of Africa and to see our first moves out of, you know, the rubble [of the streaming investment slowdown].' Set against the backdrop of the 1897 British invasion of the Benin Kingdom, Osamede follows an orphaned girl who happens upon supernatural powers, with the filmmakers promising a 'genre-blending epic that mixes myth, magic and resistance.' 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The actor — who was born to a Sierra Leonean father and a Ghanaian mother — cited the K-wave content boom from South Korea as an example of what Africa could achieve, lamenting to CNN on the sidelines of the Stellar Development Foundation's Meridian conference in London that the majority of Africa-set content 'isn't even generated from Africa.' 'The median age in Africa is 19; these young people are optimistic and deserve the chance to tell their own stories,' Elba said. UNESCO has projected that Africa's film and audiovisual industry could 'create 20 million jobs and add $20 billion to the continent's GDP by 2030.' Lagos-based media mogul Mo Abudu, founder and CEO of the EbonyLife Group, is well aware of those prospects — and of the potential for African content and talent to expand its global reach. 'I'm very excited about the fact that we need to create our own distribution channels, our own distribution networks,' she says. 'We need to find ways to fund our own productions. 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'We are also in the process of launching our own OTT platform [EbonyLife ON],' says Abudu. 'We will start small. We will build. But I do believe that it's important to take these baby steps and to get out there and to start creating some momentum. We can't keep waiting on anyone else to do this for us.' Co-productions continue to be one of the African industry's main drivers of investment and growth. My Father's Shadow — which stars Sope Dìrísù and centers on a family reunion around the time of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election — was produced by the U.K.-Ireland operation Element Pictures in partnership with Nigeria's Fatherland Productions. Support has also come via BBC Film and the BFI, while international sales are being handled by Germany's The Match Factory. Sarika Hemi Lakhani spent 18 years working across Africa with the Kenya-based One Fine Day Films (Nairobi Half-Life) before moving to Berlin last year to join Tom Tykwer's X Filme Creative Pool. The hope ahead, she says, is for co-production treaties that balance creative control between those holding the purse strings from outside Africa and the talent the region is providing. 'There are so many untapped stories on the African continent,' she says. 'And that means there are also so many untapped opportunities.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now

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