Grifters, Snake Charmers and True Grime Since the reckless press conference, John Ray and his “expert technician” Lena have gone on a ‘media blitz”, attempting to dazzle the public with salacious comments, to put forth tenuous innuendo and then the manipulation of a morsel of truth wrapped in fantastical fiction, using victims and callous descriptions to shock the fickle public into carrying the John Ray banner. John Ray has been this story-teller for years. He’s made up scenarios regarding Shannan, incorporating insults levied against her and her Mom, Mari. John Ray has an affinity for the dramatic, it is one thing to dress dramatically, but it is wholly disrespectful to call Shannan a “nasty bitch”, to dabble in disgusting and illogical “hunting/bow and arrow” theories that are hurtful to her memory and debilitating to her Family. John Ray is the poster boy for the True Grime community. He has imbedded himself in this case and has spun a web of folly all around the center of his narcissism. And he attacks when he feels threatened with irrelevance. The Taylor Family fired him, privately, respectfully, and he had his “expert technician” and her “perennial sock puppet” husband attempt to bully and discredit the Taylor Family in public forums such as Reddit and Twitter. It all went away when these “experts” produced page 2 of a document that could only have come from the office in Miller Place, and got called out for it. They over-played their hand. They think this is some sort of game to be played, all at the expense of victims and families. It is a distraction, it is abhorrent, yet the snake charmer continues to insert himself in places he does not belong. On June 6th, 2024, the day Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor got Justice, John Ray claimed he represented “several LISK victims”, he does not. Media gets it wrong to this day, but they are learning, particularly when called out on it, and many who would have covered a John Ray presser, stayed away from his latest one, well done….incremental success... John Ray does not represent a single Gilgo Victim. Read that again, John Ray does not represent a single Gilgo Victim. Full Stop. He’s done that for years and years, he’s propagated the illusion that he speaks for the Gilgo Families; repeating it so much until it becomes a part of the lexicon of Gilgo itself, like a tick, latching on and sucking it’s way under the surface hoping to exist in some symbiotic way in order to remain relevant. John Ray’s “altruism” is duplicitous and to be blunt, a con. He has missed his opportunity to hold Hackett accountable; a motion to dismiss his civil suit is being considered by the court. When the civil case is dismissed what happens to the unwitting sacrifice of Shannan Gilbert? Was it all in vain? A civil case could be a trial within 12-18 months, yet it is already 11 years and there is still nothing to show for it, in fact it’s most likely to get tossed. #Grifting John Ray’s partner in Grime, Fran Nicotra has also done nothing to protect the interests of the Gilbert Estate since the death of Mari Gilbert. Ray and Nicotra moved with lightning speed to take advantage of Sherre Gilbert. Utterly shattered by the death of Shannan and the murder of her Mom, they capitalized on this incomprehensible time to extract a signature to make Fran co-executor of the Gilbert Estate. This was just an attempt to further worm their way in deeper. Fran did nothing to protect the Gilberts, allowing media hounds to make money off of the tragedies from documentaries, movies, books and interviews and innumerable articles riddled with inaccuracies. All the while begging the public to help “recoup expenses” by donating to the Magdalene Dismas Society, a Go Fund Me that has generated nearly 26K to date (adding 10K since the farce of a presser). John Ray’s play on words regarding the name should be interpreted in much the same way he interprets nefarious meanings exemplified during the recent press conference. As John and Lena have been saying lately “taken in totality”, John Ray’s name calling of Shannan and Mari, while misrepresenting Mary Magdalene as a “prostitute” really shows us insight into what John Ray truly thinks, which is very little of Shannan, of Mari and of every other Gilgo Victim (none of which he represents). From the page: *(Magdalene Dismas Society takes its name from the former reputed prostitute who stood at the foot of Christ's cross, and the "good thief" who was crucified with Christ: Two unlikely heroes). On the GFM page John Ray and the Grifters, begun using the LISK acronym in order to attract the public’s attention to the macabre. Also from the GFM: This paticular (sic) GofundMe campaign for LISK will continue to remain active and open for continued donations. Through Magdalene Dismas Society Inc., John Ray and his team of experts will continue their fight for the victims and their families. In 2011 John Ray stepped up to give a voice to the voiceless. Since then, he has literally exhausted thousands upon thousands of dollars of his own money representing the families of the deceased victims…..All of the cost associated with the evidence and facts gathered by Mr. Ray and his team that can not (sic) yet be disclosed to the public due to the ongoing LISK investigation, were covered by Mr. Ray. In order for John Ray to continue his investigation and representation of the LISK victims and their families, he still very much needs our help. Once again, John Ray does not represent one single Gilgo Victim, not one single Gilgo Victim. Again, misrepresenting the facts, bread crumbing and gaslighting while attempting false equivalency as an angel “gatekeeper” working tirelessly on behalf of no one actually. In contrast, I have used the “CatchLISK” handle for several years now, I equate the acronym as a verb, an actionable placeholder for definitive facts, open source information, links and timelines, among other resources for true, actionable advocacy. Since his press conference, the Mass Media has distanced themselves from John Ray and his cohorts. Dr. Gary Brucato has walked back his gross participation (while throwing shade at the public for not being as smart as he thinks he is). But thirsty content creators are flocking to John Ray and providing him a forum to spew his misrepresentation of the facts. Layered with the gross negligence of bloggers using untold degrees of separation to weave tales of connectivity and conspiracy, of sex parties and serial killers, of satanists and cannibals, all the while, using victim role playing in horrendous fictional scenarios and calling family members "secondary victims”, yet another vile term intended as a derogatory slight towards the families. This is the irresponsible pablum the True Grime community is consuming, like cannibals themselves. Lorraine Poe, was a swinger. She was involved with a former NYPD detective, that much appears to be true. The rest of her story does not measure up. John Ray and Lena said recently on a podcast, that how could Lorraine know about the “burn can” listed on the HK Document, that only just recently came out, well easy, because after LISK’s arrest, neighbors interviewed made the claim that RH was burning things in his backyard, that is where the burn can was first mentioned. Lorraine mentioned seeing a Xmas tree and a conch shell in the home even though it was February, well….one of the first images that came out was a picture from inside the home that had a Xmas tree in the background, so that gets added in to her affidavit. Lorraine claims she was in the house for a swingers party in February…well….that was added in to the affidavit because we know that Karen Vergata made a call to her Father on Valentine’s Day. This is how they mesh fact and fiction and the public devours it as definitive. Verbal manipulation. The Taxi Driver affidavit has some truth to it as well, easy enough to validate this taxi driver and the company she drove for, but totally unsubstantiated claims to link LISK to Shannan can only have been the impetus for Hackett’s lawyers to file the motion to dismiss because John Ray is linking LISK to Shannan, so Hackett couldn’t possibly have been involved in Shannan’s death. John Ray has sabotaged his own civil case and last hope to get Shannan some measure of Justice, even if it were a malpractice wrongful death verdict….wasted opportunity, sacrificing Shannan while keeping himself “relevant” in the LISK case. “Alice Poe” made all sorts of nonsensical claims that she was in a room with Burke, LISK, Bittrolff and Macedonio, all smoking crack-except for her of course…Alice became another expendable pawn John Ray and his “experts” used to try to slander Jasmine, Jessica’s cousin and Taylor Family indefatigable Advocate. “Alice Poe” has since been relegated to the background, incompetent and unhinged, with much more to lose than the “In John Ray We Trust” stance she previously held…. I see you DN and how you were manipulated….I hope you can escape from John Ray as easily as you claim you did from LISK. Throughout a recent podcast interview with John and Lena, they make claims and then walk them back with phrases such as: “Tangential, not concrete connections, perhaps”, “kinda have to guess”, and “what are the chances”, gets lost on the public because they are still absorbing the ridiculous, sensationalistic and exploitative comment prior to the walk-back, this is how snake charmers, charlatans and con-artists maneuver. True Grime consumers will never go away and sadly this will all increase in intensity as the LISK case will undoubtedly become all the world will talk about while grifters will do all they can to be relevant, to gather clicks and followers, to ingratiate themselves into the conversation, and to make money off of the brutal murders of innocent people. But it is critical to remember the women who had their lives taken from them and the families who have had their loved ones stolen from them. I don’t speak for any family member. I don’t hide behind a pseudonym or a fake You Tube name, anonymous Reddit account, or any Twitter Troll account. I am out there as the real me, standing up for real victims of real crime, speaking real truths and real facts. The victims are not characters in a story, they are real humans with real loved ones and hurting any of them will draw my attention, and I am not alone. The victims belong to their loved ones, they do not belong to the public, they do not belong in B-movie thriller scenarios. Be respectful, be ethical, be true. Think about how you'd feel if your loved one was a victim and then reflect on what you are doing and if you'd be ok with it being done to you. Say their names: Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello. Karen Vergata, Peaches, Toddler, Valerie Mack, Asian Doe, Judith Ramona Veloz, Tanya Rush, Natasha Jugo, Andre Jamal “Sugar Bear” Issac, Manorville Males, and sadly IMO dozens and dozens more…… #VictimExploitationDoesNotEqualVictimAdvocacy #CatchLISK