Williamsburg, Brooklyn is an upscale neighborhood filled with pricey lofts and trendy restaurants today. 

During the late 1990s, the neighborhood was heavily affected by widespread crack use, according to Luis Martinez, a retired detective from the Brooklyn North Homicide Squad of the New York City Police Department.

At that time, the area also became the hunting ground for a murderer targeting unprotected women. The first victim was discovered on a rooftop in a residential area on August 26, 1999. She was partially undressed, with her hands bound and a ligature around her neck.

“Her position was truly distressing,” recalled Jeannie Valentin, who is now retired from the NYPD’s 90th Precinct Detective Squad, during an episode of New York Homicide titled “The Brooklyn Strangler,” which airs Saturdays at 9/8c on Oxygen. “It was a heartbreaking scene.”

Vivian Caraballo’s body found on rooftop

Bystanders identified the woman whose body was found on the rooftop as 26-year-old Vivian Caraballo. “She was very friendly. She would talk to everybody in the neighborhood,” said her friend Jimmy Perez.

Investigators learned from her mother “that she was a very intelligent girl who got addicted to crack,” Valentin said. “She couldn’t get out.” 

An autopsy revealed that Caraballo was strangled. Semen swabbed from her body was submitted to a DNA database, but no match was found.

A Woman Is Found With Her Hands and Legs Bound, Strangled With Shoelaces

Joanne Feliciano found dead on a roof

On September 6, the body of 35-year-old Joanne Feliciano was found on the roof of her building three blocks from the first crime scene.

Feliciano was nude below the waist and had ligatures around her throat. “I definitely thought something was happening here,” said Valentin. 

Richard Gonzalez, Feliciano’s friend, said she was “a sweetheart, very athletic. But she became addicted to the drugs.” 

Detectives learned that Caraballo and Feliciano knew each other. “Joanne and Vivian frequented the same drug locations and were both in prostitution,” said Martinez.

The medical examiner found that Feliciano was strangled and recovered DNA. “They had sex with the same person,” Valentin said of these two victims. 

Two Friends Are Found Dead Within Weeks of Each Other – What Happened?

Rhonda Tucker discovered dead in her apartment

On September 25, 1999, Rhonda Tucker, who was 21 and had a young son, was found dead in her apartment in the Sumner Houses, a public housing complex in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn

She was naked, strangled and had a ligature around the neck. “She’s also a drug user,” Martinez said. “She went into prostitution to support her drug habit.” 

The medical examiner compared semen on Tucker’s body to DNA samples from the two Williamsburg victims. The semen matched on all three. 

Detectives were convinced that the same person killed all of the women. “We knew it was all connected,” said Joe Cunneen, now retired as a Brooklyn North Homicide Squad inspector. “We had a serial killer now going around killing prostitutes.”

Martinez recalled how, at this point, the urgency increased dramatically as the scope of the crimes came into focus. “We called him the Brooklyn Strangler. The stakes were a lot higher,” he told New York Homicide. 

Katrina Niles found dead in Brooklyn apartment

On October 4, Katrina Niles, 34, was found naked and strangled by a cord in her apartment at the Marcy Houses, a public housing complex in Bedford-Stuyvesant. 

“Detectives found that Katrina Niles was a city worker, a very hard worker, but unfortunately fell to crack addiction,” said Martinez.

While Niles’ death followed a pattern, there was a difference. “The first three victims all had matching DNA, but Katrina did not have the matching DNA,” said Valentin. 

However, there was a certain way of knotting the ligature that led police to believe that it was the same killer.

News of the fourth victim in just over six weeks spread. “It got attention, but it didn’t get the kind of explosive attention that like the Son of Sam or the Zodiac Killer got,” said Sean Gardiner, a former journalist who worked for Newsday at the time.

As interest in the story rose, a documentary film crew following the homicide squad started featuring the Brooklyn Strangler case. 

That added to the pressure on officials to catch the killer before he struck again. Detectives looked into other states’ DNA databases and jails. 

“There were over 100 people that we interviewed during that time, speaking to prostitutes, interviewing drug dealers, interviewing Johns,” said Martinez.

Sup. Dennis Singleton, now retired from the NYPD’s Brooklyn North Homicide Squad, had attended the FBI National Academy. He suggested reaching out to the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit to help create a profile. 

Bodies of Laura Nusser and Patricia Sullivan found 

Despite the detectives’ best efforts, in February of 2000, the body of 44-year-old Laura Nusser was found underneath the Williamsburg Bridge. 

“She’s got a family, a husband, a daughter,” said Singleton. “The one problem, again, was crack cocaine.” Nusser turned to sex work to support her habit, according to New York Homicide.

Four months later, Patricia Sullivan, a 48-year-old mother of five, was found naked with a shoelace around her neck. 

“She was a paraprofessional in a music class where she was helping the children,” said her daughter Ivy Bryant. “But my mother was on crack. Regardless of the drugs… that’s still my mom.” 

The medical examiner ruled Sullivan’s cause of death as strangulation. Semen recovered from her body was found to be a match for the DNA collected from the first three victims in the case.

Vincent Johnson becomes the suspect

As the Brooklyn Strangler’s toll grew higher, a tip led investigators to a homeless drug user named Lloyd. His DNA sample ruled him out as a suspect, but he shared information that would break the case open.

In July of 2000, he told police that Vincent Johnson, a man he did drugs with, talked about getting violent with sex workers and how he “choked one out.”

Detectives learned that Johnson, 31, had a record for minor offenses like trespassing and drug possession. They also found out that had lived in the Bronx and worked construction.

Johnson’s former girlfriend said that “their normal life basically spun out of control once they both started doing crack,” said Gardiner. They split, he lost his job and became homeless.

“We find out he solicits prostitutes for sex,” said Singleton. 

After a search, police rounded up Johnson and drove him to the precinct. During the ride, he claimed he had tuberculosis and coughed frequently. “In the parking lot where we park, he spat on the ground,” said Valentin.

During the interview, Johnson was elusive, offering terse answers. He refused all offers of water or a beverage, seemingly aware that police were trying to get his DNA. 

At this point, detectives swabbed Johnson’s spit in the parking lot. “We were very lucky that where he did spit, it was preserved and we were able to get it processed,” said Valentin.

Vincent Johnson charged with murders

On August 3, 2000, Johnson’s DNA came back as a match to some of the victims. After his arrest, Johnson told detectives how he operated. 

“He would buy crack and then lure the prostitute with the crack being the payment,” said Martinez. When the women were drugged out, he would kill them. 

He blamed his crimes on his abusive mother. “I think he was just looking for an excuse,” said Valentin.

Johnson was charged with murdering Caraballo, Feliciano, Tucker, and Sullivan — all the victims with DNA matches to him.

Johnson ended up taking a plea deal. He actually admitted to police that he killed Nusser. He was sentenced to life without parole. 

To learn more about the case, watch “The Brooklyn Strangler” episode of New York Homicide. New episodes of the show air on Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.