That’s one way to put it.
IIRC correctly Burke had been involved in some sketchy shit and got into legal trouble when he was young, well before he joined the PD.
Spota was his defense attorney, apparently favors were done and dirt was collected. Burke apparently worked for Spota’s law firm doing dirty work before joining the PD. The impression I’ve got is he was basically placed in the PD, it’s inarguable that Spota made him the Police Chief.
Spota sat at the top of a very, very corrupt political machine that effectively controlled things in Suffolk County.
Burke was known for arriving drunk to meetings, passing out in public. And once famously brought a sex worker to a search warrant. There are rumors about hard drug use, and this is apparently the 3rd time he lost his gun and badge, which in itself is a federal crime.
There were very long lived state and federal investigations into the County Government and Spota and Burke in specific. The federal end seems to have disappeared during the Trump Years.
Not really. As far I’m aware that’s mostly rooted in idle gossip from cops with no connection to or access to the actual investigation. The only reported “connection” is that Shannon Gilbert’s family claims an unnamed sex worker told them she thought it might be Burke. And they were apparently told this after the speculation was already reported locally.
Honestly the connection between Gilbert and the Gilgo Killer is pretty spurious as it is, mostly pushed by her family. Apparently Gilbert’s movements and contacts around her disappearance are well established, and anyone she was in contact with is solidly alibied for every other murder. The official cause of death was exposure due to a cocaine overdose. The only person disputing that is the same gun for hire former coroner who was telling all the papers Epstein was probably murdered despite never examining the body.
There’s honestly not a lot of details about the case out there to begin with. But I know some people who were on the federal task force for the case. From what I’m told almost all of the details out there are either older theories since disproven or plain rumor. None of the supposed suspects in the press have ever actually been a suspect, because the case has never actually had a plausible person of interest. A lot of the public info may also be mucked because that stretch of sand dunes seems to have been something of a known body dump. And there were a number of bodies found that don’t seem to be associated in anyway.
Cops are inveterate gossips though, and they tend to have a pretty incestuous relationship with the press. So when asked by reporters for info about the case they pass over the mix of old info and gossip as if it’s authoritative.
There were some confirmed details released last year in concert with the announcement that another set of remains had been identified. Apparently because some one had already posted them to a true crime discussion board. Including photos of a belt and a few other things that had previously been with held.
Suffolk County NY. Out on Long Island, about 50-75 miles East of NYC.
