Cause of death Natural causes Name Robert Shulman | Span of killings 1991–1996 Victims 5 | |
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Died April 13, 2006 (aged 52) Criminal penalty Death, commuted to life imprisonment | ||
Robert Shulman (March 28, 1954 – April 13, 2006) was an American serial killer. Shulman, a postal worker from Hicksville, New York on Long Island, was convicted of murdering five prostitutes between 1991 and 1996, the year when he was arrested.
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Murders
Shulman was ultimately convicted of five murders.
Investigation
Looking for the murder site, a detective canvassing hotels heard about a man driving a blue Cadillac who cruised the area. Trying to track the man down with this information, women were located who led them, not to a hotel, but to a residence where a blue Cadillac was seen. The registration was obtained, and the car was registered to Shulman's brother. Trying to get information about the sleeping bag in which Bunting was found, detectives learned Sears was the only manufacturer. Sears was contacted to see if the brother had purchased one with a credit card. Sears said the brother had no card, but pointed out that Shulman had a card. This was how police were initially pointed towards Shulman as a possible culprit. Women later identified him as the man cruising in the Cadillac, and cadaver dogs signaled the possibility of dead remains having been present in the Cadillac.
Police searched Shulman's work place and found trace evidence matching that found on the body. Shulman was arrested on 6 April 1996. After interrogation, Shulman confessed to the three murders. (Shulman confessed to the earliest two murders at a later date.) A search of his room revealed hundreds of bloodstains scattered over almost every surface.
Trial and aftermath
Shulman was sentenced to death in 1999 for the only murder he committed after New York State reinstated the death penalty in 1995. He was sentenced to Life imprisonment for his other murders because New York's death penalty law was not in effect at the time he committed them. His sentence was reduced to life in prison after the New York State Court of Appeals invalidated the death penalty in 2004.
He died 13 April 2006 in Albany, New York of undisclosed causes.
Shulman's brother Barry was indicted on charges of hindering prosecution and unlawfully disposing of dead bodies.