Rita Tangredi, 31, and Colleen McNamee, 20, 1993-94 ** John Bittrolff ARRESTED **

[LindsayLohan6]

Lol yup hunter def and Flukeyou used to claim all the time that Dr. Hackett ran the bodies thru a chum grinder. Remember how much of nut fluke was lol!

 

[Just K]

This might be a weird association on my part, but did anyone else think "wood chipper" when they heard "wood chips"? I mean, isn't that a common "hide the body" joke?

From the movie This is 40:
Debbie: "Have you ever thought about killing me?"
Pete: "Oh yeah"
Debbie: "Really?"
Pete: "Sure"
Debbie: "How would you do it?"
Pete: "A wood chipper"
Debbie: "A wood chipper?"
Pete: "Yeah"
Debbie: "A wood chipper?"
Pete: "Yeah"
Debbie: "Wow"
Pete: "I know. Did you see Fargo?"
Debbie: "Yeah"
Pete: "Vhoom!"

When I saw the headline, I literally gasped and said, "Oh my God!" My friend said, "What?" I was almost embarrassed because as i read further I realized that they found wood chips not that they found evidence inside a wood chipper.

Uh, now I've had a sick image and it goes to the comment, from DA, about their heads beaten so bad their brains were torn from their head. Could he have tried putting them into a wood chipper?

 

[threelittlebirdies]

This might be a weird association on my part, but did anyone else think "wood chipper" when they heard "wood chips"? I mean, isn't that a common "hide the body" joke?

From the movie This is 40:
Debbie: "Have you ever thought about killing me?"
Pete: "Oh yeah"
Debbie: "Really?"
Pete: "Sure"
Debbie: "How would you do it?"
Pete: "A wood chipper"
Debbie: "A wood chipper?"
Pete: "Yeah"
Debbie: "A wood chipper?"
Pete: "Yeah"
Debbie: "Wow"
Pete: "I know. Did you see Fargo?"
Debbie: "Yeah"
Pete: "Vhoom!"

Maybe he used the same equipment to cut the bodies up that he did to cut the wood up. Like you said wood chipper. The neighbors wouldn't think anything of it, just that he is chopping up that wood again.

 

[bessie]

My opinion is that the woodchips aren't some kind of strange signature, but rather something he didn't think about. If I had to guess, I'd say it was accidental transfer from his vehicle, shop or a construction site. Just a guess, but it sure makes me wonder about that "abandoned housing development" on Esplanade Dr.

Agreed. Woodchips cling strongly to clothing and hair, and very likely transferred from a work shed, vehicle -- and yes, possibly -- a work site where the victims were held. They're incidental, but also significant.

 

[LikeAHunter]

Agreed. Woodchips cling strongly to clothing and hair, and very likely transferred from a work shed, vehicle -- and yes, possibly -- a work site where the victims were held. They're incidental, but also significant.

I think some of the confusion and disagreement stems from the use of the words wood chips. I wish he would have been more specific. Were they wood shavings? Saw dust? Because wood chips make you think of larger peices of wood.

 

[bessie]

I think some of the confusion and disagreement stems from the use of the words wood chips. I wish he would have been more specific. Were they wood shavings? Saw dust? Because wood chips make you think of larger peices of wood.

Chips, shavings-- they all cling and are easily transported from place to place. Regardless, the prosecutors stressed the fact that JB has been a carpenter for his entire adult life. In my mind, "carpenter" indicates wood shavings. But, that's JMO.

 

[threelittlebirdies]

That is a good point you guys brought up about storing the body in a work space or vacant house he is working on that would have wood shavings all over the place.

I would love to find out what job he held back then and if he lived with his parents in Mastic or with his wife. If with his parents at the house in Mastic, I would hope LE is searching that house, garage archives in the house, etc.

 

[threelittlebirdies]

Also, he has the face and mannerisms of a drug addict.

 

[*Indigo*]

What has he been up to since then?
Thats the $64,000 question.

 

[cpaul]

What's bugging me are all the discrepancies in these reports. Were they mutilated or weren't they?

Could they be referring to the condition of their heads when the word mutilated is used?

 

[cpaul]

Agreed. Woodchips cling strongly to clothing and hair, and very likely transferred from a work shed, vehicle -- and yes, possibly -- a work site where the victims were held. They're incidental, but also significant.

To take it a step further…Were the "woodchips" from both sites from the same species of tree, same size and shape, produced from a similar tool? Was it actually wood chips, wood shavings or sawdust? I would think a house under construction would have both sawdust and wood shavings throughout and would both be found on clothing, hair etc. Different tools produce different forms of wood debris. Their using "woodchips" may not be an accurate description for what was found…someone in the construction trade may have used a different word to describe what was found.

 

[cpaul]

As far as the defense goes not only a carpenter…home handyman, do it yourselfer, laborer at a construction site or anyone who visits a construction site or who had access to a construction site.

 

[Mountain_Kat]

Could they be referring to the condition of their heads when the word mutilated is used?

Absolutely possible. It's not what I think of when I think of mutilation, but yes, I think someone could see those kinds of injuries and describe them as a mutilation based on the savagery alone.

What I find interesting in this case is that the victims were strangled AND beaten with a blunt object to the point that their brains were coming out. Bittrolff certainly didn't bash their skulls in and then strangle them...what would be the point? If strangulation was the cause of death (note the "if" in that sentence), then when, and why, did he beat their brains out? I'm almost inclined to think he strangled them somewhere else, transported them to the dumpsite and THEN beat them. As to why he might do that...who can say? Maybe in his mind, he was erasing them as individuals. Maybe he thought the act might make them harder to identify. Or maybe he just did it because he's a sick sob and because he could. When you add posing the bodies into the equation, my guess is that everything he did to the bodies after they were dead was done either for shock value, or to satisfy his own fantasies, or both.

(Just thinking out loud here).

 

[Mountain_Kat]

Chips, shavings-- they all cling and are easily transported from place to place. Regardless, the prosecutors stressed the fact that JB has been a carpenter for his entire adult life. In my mind, "carpenter" indicates wood shavings. But, that's JMO.

Growing up around horses, when I hear the words "wood shavings" I think of animal bedding.

 

[cpaul]

I'm wondering why no DNA found under finger nails…no fight or struggle?

 

[cpaul]

Growing up around horses, when I hear the words "wood shavings" I think of animal bedding.

Another good point. They would have done forensics on the wood evidence, correct?

 

[cpaul]

In the sense he's using it in what's quoted, I think he's referring to "the killer" in generic terms as far as scientific possibility so to me that's a little different.

A DNA match led to the arrest of John Bittrolff. “We confirmed from this defendant’s DNA that he is the killer,” DA Spota said.

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2014/07/30/bittrolff_arraignment/

Note: This is a different quote then the one posted that fieldnotes commented on.

 

[bessie]

Could they be referring to the condition of their heads when the word mutilated is used?

Yes, and some descriptions I've read make it sound like just that.

 

[topratedsleuth]

So...with respect to Costilla, it sounds as though the missing piece of evidence might be a DNA match. If that's the case, that's a bit of a head-scratcher for me.

I quoted the above and suggested that Costilla might just be a weaker case. But I see that tying JB to it was supposed to be "pending lab results", so I'm scratching my head now too, MK. I had been thinking that there might not be a good DNA sample from Costilla. I'm not sure how long it took to find Costilla, and I've posted a link somewhere earlier that contends that DNA is often not usable forensically after 6 weeks (which could have been a problem trying to collect it from GB4 victims). But if they were doing lab testing, they must have been testing something, so I don't know.

 

[bessie]

I quoted the above and suggested that Costilla might just be a weaker case. But I see that tying JB to it was supposed to be "pending lab results", so I'm scratching my head now too, MK. I had been thinking that there might not be a good DNA sample from Costilla. I'm not sure how long it took to find Costilla, and I've posted a link somewhere earlier that contends that DNA is often not usable forensically after 6 weeks (which could have been a problem trying to collect it from GB4 victims). But if they were doing lab testing, they must have been testing something, so I don't know.

DNA samples that were non-usable 10-20 years ago are being re-examined in many cold cases today, as advancements in biotechnology have made them now viable. That could be the case here.