(Trends Wide) — A grand jury indicted Rex Heuermann, a New York architect, on Friday with six counts of murder in connection with the deaths of three of the four women who became known as the “Gilgo Four” after the area where they were killed. His remains were found in 2010, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.
Heuermann, who told his lawyer he is not the killer, was taken into custody for several of the Gilgo Beach murders, an unsolved case involving at least 10 sets of human remains discovered since 2010 in suburban Long Island, according to two law enforcement officers.
This is the first arrest in the long-dormant case that terrorized residents and sparked conflicting theories about whether a serial killer was responsible.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said authorities, fearing the suspect might be briefed on the developments, proceeded to arrest him late Thursday.
“We knew that the person responsible for these murders would be watching us,” he told the media.
Authorities conducted a search at an address registered to Heuermann in Massapequa Park, the sources said.
Federal police detained the suspect late Thursday, according to a Tierney spokesman.
The suspect is linked to the murder of four women, whose bodies were wrapped in burlap and discovered within days of each other in 2010, the spokesman said. The deaths were then known as the “Gilgo Four”.
Heuerman broke down in tears after his arrest and told his lawyer that he did not commit the murders of which he is accused, court-appointed defense attorney Michael Brown said Friday.
An aerial view of the Gilgo Beach area (Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“I didn’t do this,” Brown said Heuermann assured him during their conversation after his arrest.
Heuermann was sentenced to preventive detention without the right to bail. He pleaded not guilty through his attorney. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 1.
In the courtroom, he wore a gray short-sleeved collared polo shirt and tan pants. He remained largely expressionless, consulting with his attorney on a couple of occasions.
Heuermann is also the prime suspect in the disappearance and death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, the district attorney said in a bond request. Heuermann was not charged with that murder, but the investigation is expected to “be resolved soon,” the prosecutor said.
The bail request stated that “there is substantial evidence of the involvement of the defendant Heuermann in the disappearance and death of Brainard-Barnes.”
Heuermann also used the cellphones of a victim, Melissa Barthelemy, to taunt her family members into admitting to killing and sexually assaulting her, according to prosecutors.
Rex Heuermann (Crédito: RH Consultants & Associates)
How Heuermann was located
The case against Heuermann has been consolidated in the two years since the investigation was reopened by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the case.
Harrison formed a task force that included detectives from the county police, investigators from the sheriff’s office, state police and the FBI.
Investigators reviewed phone records collected in both downtown Manhattan and the Massapequa Park area, two areas where a “disposable phone” used by the alleged killer was detected.
Authorities then whittled down the records collected by cell towers by thousands, then hundreds, and finally a handful of people who could match a suspect.
From there, investigators worked to target people living in the cell tower area who also matched a physical description given by a witness who had seen the alleged killer.
In the small group, they searched for a connection to a green van that a witness had seen the suspect drive, the sources said.
Investigators found that Heuermann, who matched the physical description of a witness, lived near the Long Island antenna site and worked near the New York City antenna sites where other calls were picked up.
They also discovered that he had driven a green van, registered to his brother’s name. But they needed more than circumstantial evidence.
Investigators were then able to obtain DNA from an immediate family member of Heuermann, who was sent to a specialized laboratory, the sources said.
According to the lab report, the DNA matched that of a relative of the person who left the DNA in a burlap sack containing one of the victims buried near Jones Beach.
Male DNA discovered on the body of a victim, Megan Waterman, was linked to Heuermann through laboratory analysis, prosecutors said.
During the initial examination of Waterman’s skeletal remains and materials discovered with his body, the Suffolk County Crime Lab recovered a male hair from the “bottom of the burlap” used by his killer to wrap Waterman, according to the bail request. .
As authorities focused on Heuermann as a suspect, a surveillance team recovered a pizza box he discarded in the trash and collected a DNA sample from the leftover pizza crust for analysis, the prosecutor said.
The murders baffled authorities for years.
Heuermann, who according to a source familiar with the case is married with two children, is a registered architect and owner of the New York City-based architectural and consulting firm RH Consultants & Associates since 1994, according to your company’s website.
“Over the years, Rex Heuermann has provided services to other city agencies, nonprofit agencies, builders, developers, and individual building owners,” the company’s website says.
In 2022, Heuermann was interviewed for the YouTube channel “Bonjour Realty”. He talked about his career in architecture and said that he was born and raised on Long Island. He started working in Manhattan in 1987.
Trends Wide has reached out to Heuermann’s company for comment.
The murders have baffled authorities since the discovery of the first set of female remains in the bushes along an isolated stretch of beachfront property in Gilgo Beach.
County Executive Steve Bellone speaks during a press conference on July 14, 2023.
At an impromptu news conference Friday, county officials said they will file an indictment.
County Executive Steve Bellone called the arrest “a big, big step forward … to close the case for these families and get justice for the victims.”
In 2020, authorities found a belt with initials that the suspect may have tampered with and made a new effort to collect clues. (Credit: Suffolk County Police Department)
Police had previously identified the Gilgo Four:
One was Barthelemy, whose skeletal remains were found near Gilgo Beach on December 11, 2010.
Two days later, on December 13, the remains of three other women were found: Brainard-Barnes, who was promoting her escort services on Craigslist and was last seen in early June 2007 in New York City; Amber Lynn Costello, who was also announcing her services and was last seen leaving her North Babylon home in early September 2010; and Waterman, who was also billed as an escort and was last seen in early June 2010 at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge.
Lawyer: This case is “a part of something much bigger”
John Ray, an attorney representing the family of Shannon Gilbert — whose disappearance and search led to the discovery of the “Gilgo Four” and other remains — said Friday he doesn’t know whether Heuermann is also responsible for her death.
“We breathed a big sigh of relief,” Ray said. “We are happy that the police are finally taking a positive step in this regard, but this is just the beginning… This is just one part of something much bigger, let’s say, the murders that took place.”
Ray also represents the family of Gilgo Beach victim Jessica Taylor. “We don’t know if it’s related to the Jessica Taylor murder,” he said.
Jasmine Robinson, a representative for Taylor’s family, said she is “hopeful for the future and hopeful that a connection will be made” to resolve the other cases.
Some victims advertised their escort services on websites
The mystery of the murders had confused county officials for years. In 2020 they found a belt with initials that could have been tampered with by the suspect and launched a website to collect new leads in the investigation.
Police said some victims they identified had advertised prostitution services on websites such as Craigslist.
The mystery began in 2010 when police discovered the first set of female remains in the bushes along an isolated stretch of waterfront property in Gilgo Beach while searching for Shannan Gilbert, a missing 23-year-old woman from Jersey City, New Sweater.
When Gilbert’s body was found a year later in neighboring Oak Beach, investigators had unearthed 10 sets of human remains scattered across two Long Island counties.
The grim discoveries generated widespread attention in the region and sent waves of fear through some communities on Long Island’s south shore.
Police arrive at a Long Island home on Friday, July 14, 2023.
Authorities later said they believe Gilbert’s death may have been accidental and unrelated to the Gilgo Beach murders.
Still, Gilbert’s disappearance led to the discovery of the bodies of four women who were found in the brush along a 400-meter stretch of Ocean Parkway in Oak Beach.
Additional remains were discovered in neighboring Gilgo Beach and in Nassau County, about 40 miles east of New York City. They included a young girl, an Asian man and a woman initially known as “Jane Doe #6,” investigators said.
In 2020, police identified “Jane Doe #6” as Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old Philadelphia mother who went missing two decades earlier.
Mack’s partial remains were first discovered near Gilgo Beach in 2000, and additional dismembered remains were found in 2011, according to Suffolk County Police.
Last year, Suffolk County police formed a task force that included the FBI, state police, and the offices of the county district attorney and sheriff to strengthen what police called “one of the most difficult homicide investigations.” important in Long Island history.
Carroll Alvarado and Laura Dolan, both with Trends Wide, contributed to this report.
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(Trends Wide) — A grand jury indicted Rex Heuermann, a New York architect, on Friday with six counts of murder in connection with the deaths of three of the four women who became known as the “Gilgo Four” after the area where they were killed. His remains were found in 2010, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.
Heuermann, who told his lawyer he is not the killer, was taken into custody for several of the Gilgo Beach murders, an unsolved case involving at least 10 sets of human remains discovered since 2010 in suburban Long Island, according to two law enforcement officers.
This is the first arrest in the long-dormant case that terrorized residents and sparked conflicting theories about whether a serial killer was responsible.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said authorities, fearing the suspect might be briefed on the developments, proceeded to arrest him late Thursday.
“We knew that the person responsible for these murders would be watching us,” he told the media.
Authorities conducted a search at an address registered to Heuermann in Massapequa Park, the sources said.
Federal police detained the suspect late Thursday, according to a Tierney spokesman.
The suspect is linked to the murder of four women, whose bodies were wrapped in burlap and discovered within days of each other in 2010, the spokesman said. The deaths were then known as the “Gilgo Four”.
Heuerman broke down in tears after his arrest and told his lawyer that he did not commit the murders of which he is accused, court-appointed defense attorney Michael Brown said Friday.
An aerial view of the Gilgo Beach area (Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“I didn’t do this,” Brown said Heuermann assured him during their conversation after his arrest.
Heuermann was sentenced to preventive detention without the right to bail. He pleaded not guilty through his attorney. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 1.
In the courtroom, he wore a gray short-sleeved collared polo shirt and tan pants. He remained largely expressionless, consulting with his attorney on a couple of occasions.
Heuermann is also the prime suspect in the disappearance and death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, the district attorney said in a bond request. Heuermann was not charged with that murder, but the investigation is expected to “be resolved soon,” the prosecutor said.
The bail request stated that “there is substantial evidence of the involvement of the defendant Heuermann in the disappearance and death of Brainard-Barnes.”
Heuermann also used the cellphones of a victim, Melissa Barthelemy, to taunt her family members into admitting to killing and sexually assaulting her, according to prosecutors.
Rex Heuermann (Crédito: RH Consultants & Associates)
How Heuermann was located
The case against Heuermann has been consolidated in the two years since the investigation was reopened by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the case.
Harrison formed a task force that included detectives from the county police, investigators from the sheriff’s office, state police and the FBI.
Investigators reviewed phone records collected in both downtown Manhattan and the Massapequa Park area, two areas where a “disposable phone” used by the alleged killer was detected.
Authorities then whittled down the records collected by cell towers by thousands, then hundreds, and finally a handful of people who could match a suspect.
From there, investigators worked to target people living in the cell tower area who also matched a physical description given by a witness who had seen the alleged killer.
In the small group, they searched for a connection to a green van that a witness had seen the suspect drive, the sources said.
Investigators found that Heuermann, who matched the physical description of a witness, lived near the Long Island antenna site and worked near the New York City antenna sites where other calls were picked up.
They also discovered that he had driven a green van, registered to his brother’s name. But they needed more than circumstantial evidence.
Investigators were then able to obtain DNA from an immediate family member of Heuermann, who was sent to a specialized laboratory, the sources said.
According to the lab report, the DNA matched that of a relative of the person who left the DNA in a burlap sack containing one of the victims buried near Jones Beach.
Male DNA discovered on the body of a victim, Megan Waterman, was linked to Heuermann through laboratory analysis, prosecutors said.
During the initial examination of Waterman’s skeletal remains and materials discovered with his body, the Suffolk County Crime Lab recovered a male hair from the “bottom of the burlap” used by his killer to wrap Waterman, according to the bail request. .
As authorities focused on Heuermann as a suspect, a surveillance team recovered a pizza box he discarded in the trash and collected a DNA sample from the leftover pizza crust for analysis, the prosecutor said.
The murders baffled authorities for years.
Heuermann, who according to a source familiar with the case is married with two children, is a registered architect and owner of the New York City-based architectural and consulting firm RH Consultants & Associates since 1994, according to your company’s website.
“Over the years, Rex Heuermann has provided services to other city agencies, nonprofit agencies, builders, developers, and individual building owners,” the company’s website says.
In 2022, Heuermann was interviewed for the YouTube channel “Bonjour Realty”. He talked about his career in architecture and said that he was born and raised on Long Island. He started working in Manhattan in 1987.
Trends Wide has reached out to Heuermann’s company for comment.
The murders have baffled authorities since the discovery of the first set of female remains in the bushes along an isolated stretch of beachfront property in Gilgo Beach.
County Executive Steve Bellone speaks during a press conference on July 14, 2023.
At an impromptu news conference Friday, county officials said they will file an indictment.
County Executive Steve Bellone called the arrest “a big, big step forward … to close the case for these families and get justice for the victims.”
In 2020, authorities found a belt with initials that the suspect may have tampered with and made a new effort to collect clues. (Credit: Suffolk County Police Department)
Police had previously identified the Gilgo Four:
One was Barthelemy, whose skeletal remains were found near Gilgo Beach on December 11, 2010.
Two days later, on December 13, the remains of three other women were found: Brainard-Barnes, who was promoting her escort services on Craigslist and was last seen in early June 2007 in New York City; Amber Lynn Costello, who was also announcing her services and was last seen leaving her North Babylon home in early September 2010; and Waterman, who was also billed as an escort and was last seen in early June 2010 at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge.
Lawyer: This case is “a part of something much bigger”
John Ray, an attorney representing the family of Shannon Gilbert — whose disappearance and search led to the discovery of the “Gilgo Four” and other remains — said Friday he doesn’t know whether Heuermann is also responsible for her death.
“We breathed a big sigh of relief,” Ray said. “We are happy that the police are finally taking a positive step in this regard, but this is just the beginning… This is just one part of something much bigger, let’s say, the murders that took place.”
Ray also represents the family of Gilgo Beach victim Jessica Taylor. “We don’t know if it’s related to the Jessica Taylor murder,” he said.
Jasmine Robinson, a representative for Taylor’s family, said she is “hopeful for the future and hopeful that a connection will be made” to resolve the other cases.
Some victims advertised their escort services on websites
The mystery of the murders had confused county officials for years. In 2020 they found a belt with initials that could have been tampered with by the suspect and launched a website to collect new leads in the investigation.
Police said some victims they identified had advertised prostitution services on websites such as Craigslist.
The mystery began in 2010 when police discovered the first set of female remains in the bushes along an isolated stretch of waterfront property in Gilgo Beach while searching for Shannan Gilbert, a missing 23-year-old woman from Jersey City, New Sweater.
When Gilbert’s body was found a year later in neighboring Oak Beach, investigators had unearthed 10 sets of human remains scattered across two Long Island counties.
The grim discoveries generated widespread attention in the region and sent waves of fear through some communities on Long Island’s south shore.
Police arrive at a Long Island home on Friday, July 14, 2023.
Authorities later said they believe Gilbert’s death may have been accidental and unrelated to the Gilgo Beach murders.
Still, Gilbert’s disappearance led to the discovery of the bodies of four women who were found in the brush along a 400-meter stretch of Ocean Parkway in Oak Beach.
Additional remains were discovered in neighboring Gilgo Beach and in Nassau County, about 40 miles east of New York City. They included a young girl, an Asian man and a woman initially known as “Jane Doe #6,” investigators said.
In 2020, police identified “Jane Doe #6” as Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old Philadelphia mother who went missing two decades earlier.
Mack’s partial remains were first discovered near Gilgo Beach in 2000, and additional dismembered remains were found in 2011, according to Suffolk County Police.
Last year, Suffolk County police formed a task force that included the FBI, state police, and the offices of the county district attorney and sheriff to strengthen what police called “one of the most difficult homicide investigations.” important in Long Island history.
Carroll Alvarado and Laura Dolan, both with Trends Wide, contributed to this report.
