Court documents released on Friday reveal how police caught the man they believe is the so-called “Long Island serial killer,” using cell phone records, a witness report of a pickup truck and DNA obtained from uneaten pizza crust.
Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect, was arrested by police on Thursday and has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, and another three of second- degree murder. He pleaded not guilty to all counts on Friday, and is being held without bail.
Authorities allege he is connected to 11 sets of human remains, which were discovered in 2010 and 2011 on Gilgo Beach, a remote site around 40 miles from New York City.
The dead included Amber Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, who collectively became known as the “Gilgo Four” with the case outfoxing police for more than a decade. Heuermann has been charged over the murder of the first three and is also the main suspect for the death of Brainard-Barnes.
Heuermann was arrested following an extended investigation, which included over “300 subpoenas, search warrants and other legal processes to obtain evidence” according to court filings.
Michael Brown, Heuermann’s lawyer, described the evidence against his client as “extremely circumstantial” and said it had left him “distraught.”
He added: “We’re looking forward to fighting this case in a court of law, not the court of public opinion.”
According to prosecutors, police attention was first drawn to Heuermann after a witness reported seeing a pickup truck, matching the description of one he owned, near where one of the victims disappeared in 2010.
All the victims and Heuermann himself had links to Massapequa Park or midtown Manhattan, where he worked, allowing police to narrow their search area.
Police recovered a male hair from the burlap sack containing the body of Waterman, which was preserved as evidence. In January 2023 officers recovered a pizza box discarded by Heuermann in a bin on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, containing uneaten crusts. Forensic testing revealed profiles of DNA taken from the hair and pizza crust were “the same,” excluding 99.96 percent of the North American population.
Police later seized cellphone billing records from Heuermann, linking him with a number of phones used to arrange meetings with three of the victims, as well as make taunting calls to one of Barthelemy’s relatives following her killing.
They allege he conducted “thousands of searches related to sex workers, sadistic, torture-related pornography” online, along with searching repeatedly about the ‘Long Island serial killer’ and other suspected or confirmed murderers.
Appearing on NewsNation, Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr., who was involved in the investigation, described Heuermann as “the guy next door, there was nothing unusual.”
He added: “This is something that was great police work through multiple agencies to really find this individual.”
Democrats demand his release.
“DNA is trans-phobic because it proves that there are only two sexes”.
And yet… “no one knows” who left drugs at the White House!!
I remember when Journalist used to write well-rounded articles, leaving the reader well-informed and answering all questions not posing more….. IF they arrested this person in connection with the ELEVEN (11) sets of remains found; then why 3 charges of first degree murder and 3 of 2nd degree murder and was this a Do 6 – Get 5 circumstance? IT drives me nuts when they put in facts or circumstances and then don’t explain them. My English Grammar teacher always taught us when writing a expose, a journalistic piece about an incident to address the Who, What, Where, When and Why (if known). Why was the one that the writer may leave out; because many times it is not determined. I know wonder if there is another serial killer and they did the other 5, or was there no DNA evidence or what happened? Worst part, this happened in New York so Alvin Bragg & Leticia James only can concentrate on Trump so this serial killer has a good chance that they’ll negotiate with him for house arrest.
I get your point, but you also need to proof-read before you hit SUBMIT. Also, ‘when writing a expose’, should read when writing AN expose. The word AN is always used if the following word starts w/ a vowel.
Louis Galmarini, I agree and I 99.9% of the time I do normally re-read what I write prior to submitting. However, I typed too quickly, and I hit “Submit” accidentally with my fat finger. I know that this happens to many of us and sometimes others are plagued with snafu’s when they utilize speech-to-text software. I immediately searched High & Low to find the “Delete” or “Edit” button but alas was unable to do so. Perhaps since you are so savvy, you can explain to me how I can fix my errors as I searched all over the website & even went out to the Internet & searched for a solution to fix, to no avail. I don’t write articles or pieces, as a professional journalist, for a living otherwise my proof-reader and Editor would have caught those before they upset you so. I’m so proud that you reached out to me, and to imagine that you have never made a mistake in your life – I feel privileged that you took the time and even bothered to comment, I’m honored to be in the midst of such perfection. I apologize to you profusely, but I am but a mere mortal soul that does make mistakes. We are being attacked 24 hrs./day because we are conservatives and our Country, and the decades of patriotism & unity we have all grown up knowing has run amok. We have high-powered Govt Officials installing fraudulent actor(s) in The White House, despite him being a Chinese Traitor. We are on the verge of WWIII and Biden just announced on the Worlds’ stage that we are running dangerously low on munitions and also, we’re sending cluster-bombs and 3000 more of our Neighbors to Ukraine. Our Strategic Reserves are at rock-bottom levels and none of our Federal Stockpiles were replenished after the COVID Pandemic; but let’s worry about a person’s typos in their post. I can think of 5000+ other incidents going on in America, where persons have violated the US Constitution, Federal & State Laws from sea to shining sea that are of greater importance. I do hope you can forgive me for making two small errors in my post, as they didn’t directly hurt anyone nor cause great harm. I hope I didn’t hinder your weekend and you can now enjoy your Sunday, since I’ve apologized profusely. Words of Wisdom ~“My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents.” ~ ~ “Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.“ ~ ~ “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can GET hit, and KEEP moving forward.“
I hear you Tamirose170!
Some people are just blind souls taking up space and breathing good air.
May you keep on writing the truth against the evil tsunami of democrats!
CJ
Let his ass off if he assassinates Joe and Hunter Biden TODAY
Many times I make typing errors because I can’t feel my fingers. Before you go off half baked, try to understand that mistakes are made. Shall we all call you to make sure that our writings are to your perfect typing abilities? Many times I am typing fast and accident hit the enter button when I did not want to and wahlah, it has been submitted. Yes, bad grammar is usually used when using there, their, they’re, when, win, too, to, two, bare, bear, where, wear, we’re. It happens. Go lightly, as you may one day find yourself on the other end of being admonished for missed typing errors.