Long Island serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann left wife's DNA on victims' bodies
Long Island serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann left his wife's hair on three of the prostitutes he is accused of murdering and his own DNA on another's body, prosecutors have revealed.
Heuermann, 59, was dramatically arrested last night in midtown Manhattan outside his architectural office on Fifth Avenue, 13 years after the bodies were found.
There are growing questions over why it took investigators so long to set their sights on him. Police say it was the new DA forming a task force last year that finally cracked it.
Heuermann is suspected in the murders of the 'Gilgo Beach four' - four prostitutes whose remains were found on the Long Island beach in December 2010.
Today, the 6ft 6 suspect was charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello and Megan Waterman.
During an initial court appearance, he appeared smug - puffing his cheeks out and nodding as some of the charges were read. He pleaded not guilty to all six charges - three counts of first degree murder, and three of second degree murder.
After the hearing, his attorney said he cried to him 'I did not do this.'
Long Island serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann is shown being taken to court this afternoon. Photo: NBC
Heuermann is shown being taken into a police van today to be taken to the courthouse. Photo: Fox
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told the court his teams intended to follow Heuermann, who they have been watching since last year, for longer but feared he was about to flee the country.
Later, at a press conference, he and other law enforcement officials said he 'continued to patronize sex workers'.
'This obviously made us nervous,' sad Tierney.
'We had the FBI surveilling the defendant, this individual that continued to patronize sex workers at all hours of the night, continued to use fictitious identities, burner phones, as we worked through the case and got closer and closer, suddenly the balance tips in favor of public safety.
'We wanted to continue it but we felt it was time to take him off the street.'
He has been named as the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainar-Barnes, and is also being investigated for the murders of another six women found dead near the beach in 2011.
Ahead of his appearance, prosecutors released their bombshell evidence against him that includes;
- His wife's DNA was found on three of the victims' bodies
- One of his own hairs was found on one of the victims' bodies
- Cell phone calls made from a burner phone to the victims were traced to his office
- A call made to one of the victims' sisters after she died was traced to his office
- His Tinder profile with photos of him was linked to the burner phone
- His Chevrolet pick-up truck was seen by witness to one victim's disappearance
- He matches description of 'ogre' like man seen with one victim before she vanished
- Heuermann conducted graphic searches for child porn and images of women being sexually abused
- He also searched Google for updates on the case, searching 'why could law enforcement not trace the calls made by the long island serial killer'
The evidence was laid out in a 32-page letter by Suffolk County DA's Office explaining why he shouldn't be granted bail.
It details how a new task force set up by Suffolk County DA last year came across his name within months of investigation, prompting questions about why previous investigative units failed to nail him.
Heuermann's first link to the case is through the Chevrolet Avalanche truck that he owned in 2009 and 2010, when the women were murdered.
The vehicle was seen at the homes of at least one of the victims the day before she went missing.
Heuermann also matches the description of an 'ogre' like man visited one of the victims the night before she died.
In that case, he is said to have arranged a meeting with Amber Costello for sex at her home.
Costello and a male friend conducted a 'ruse' whereby the male friend pretended to interrupt their hook-up, claiming he was an angry boyfriend.
The man who'd paid for sex was forced to leave, with his money on the table.
Rex Heuermann is shown in one of his Tinder profile pictures. Police tracked the fictitious email account he used on the profile and his burner phone number to the case
Heurmann in another of the photos he used on the dating app. He is said to have sent the photos to women asking for hook-ups
In January this year, after watching Heuermann and his family since last March, the detectives in the case seized a pizza box he'd thrown in the trash outside his Manhattan office
The pizza box taken from a trash can outside Heuermann's midtown office
These are some of the searches conducted on Heuermann's computer
These are the sick Google searches conducted on Heuermann's computer
Heuermann is shown buying additional minutes for another burner cellphone in May this year. He paid cash
Afterwards, he texted Costello saying 'that wasn't very nice' and demanding a 'credit' on his next service.
Costello met with the customer again the following night, but she he insisted on doing so away from her home.
The witness said the customer was between 6ft 4 and 6ft 6, with a broad frame and glasses.
He lived nearby in Massapequa Park, where he still resides with his family, but his Icelandic wife was out of town when the murders occurred.
In addition to the car matching the vehicle seen at the victim's home, police were able to trace phone calls made from a burner phone to the victims to set up rendezvous to the areas surrounding his home and his Manhattan office.
New York City architect Rex Heuermann, 59, has been arrested in connection with Long Island's Gilgo Beach murders, in a bombshell breakthrough in one of the country's most notorious unsolved serial killer cases
Another call was made to one of the victims' relatives after she vanished. That call was traced to his office.
He also used fictitious email accounts and more burner phone numbers for a Tinder profile, where he posted photos of himself, years later.
In addition to the hard evidence linking him to the specific murders, Heuermann conducted also conducted incriminating internet searches.
Among them were search terms like '
He also conducted heinous Google searches for child porn and violent sexual images of women being tortured.
In January this year, after watching Heuermann and his family since last March, the detectives in the case seized a pizza box he'd thrown in the trash outside his Manhattan office.
His DNA from one of the crusts was a 99.6 percent match to a male hair found at the bottom of the burlap sack one of the victims was found in.
Prosecutors also discovered unidentified female hairs on three of the victims.
They initially traced Heuermann to the case by matching a description of his Chevrolet truck to the vehicle he owned at the time of the murders.
The car was seen at the home of Amber Costello, one of the victims, who vanished on September 2, 2010.
The street in Massapequa Park, Long Island, where a suspect was this morning arrested in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders
Heuermann's truck was removed from the home this afternoon
Representatives from The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York exit the office building of Rex Heuermann
Representatives from The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York exit the office building of Rex Heuermann, at 385 5th Avenue in New York City, and re-enter the building with additional supplies and gloves on July 14, 2023
Chilling similarities can be drawn between Heuermann, a married father-of-two, and the killer described in a 2011 FBI profile of the Gilgo Beach killer. That profile described a 'sadistic but charming average Joe', who could blend into any environment unnoticed.
Heuermann lived a seemingly normal, average Joe life until yesterday.
The profilers told The New York Times that the suspect was likely financially stable and bright.
'He may have sought treatment at a hospital for poison ivy infection. As part of his job or interests, he has access to, or a stockpile of, burlap sacks,' the profile read.
He grew up in Massapequa Park, attending high school with Billy Baldwin, and started working in Manhattan in 1987.
Heuermann was married once in 1990 and again years later to his current wife, Asa Ellerup, who is of Iceland descent.
He and Asa have an adult daughter Victoria, who works with Heuermann at his architectural firm, and a stepson, Asa's son from a previous marriage.
Part of his job was to negotiate between the city of New York's Department of Buildings and private architects.
In a 2022 video, Heuermann boasted about his architectural career working with New York City's Department of Buildings.
'I was born and raised on Long Island and have been working in Manhattan since 1987. A very long time!' he told Bonjour Realty.
The suspect's house sits directly north of Gilgo Beach across the South Oyster Bay
Forensics teams working at Heuermann's home on Friday. A freezer was among items seized
Residents of Massapequa Park watch in disbelief as police search the home on the quiet residential street
Heuermann's yearbook photo
Sherre Gilbert, the sister of Shannan Gilbert, one of the victims, told NBC News she was 'relieved' an arrest had been made.
'I am overwhelmed but relieved that they finally caught him.
'It’s been a long time coming and I never gave up hope that one day justice would be served.
'The suspect deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life.
'He destroyed many lives so while it won’t bring our loved ones back, it does help that one less monster is off the streets and he can’t ever hurt anyone else.'
Heuermann runs a small, architect's firm in the city.
On the company's website, he claims to have worked on projects including JFK Airport, projects for American Airlines and for some Catholic charities.
Long Island architect Rex Heuermann, 59, has been arrested today in connection with the Gilgo Beach serial killings in a major police breakthrough.
Heuermann was arrested last night outside his office in Midtown Manhattan
'Gilgo Four': These photos show the first four victims who were found a decade ago near Gilgo Beach, Long Island, as part of an investigation into a serial killer
Partial skeletal remains of Valerie Mack were located in a wooded area in Manorville in September 2000. Partial skeletal remains of Jessica Taylor, an escort working in New York City, were located in a wooded area in Manorville on July 26, 2003
A suspect has been arrested in connection with Long Island's notorious Gilgo Beach murders Among the victims was Shannan Gilbert, who was found dead in a swamp in Oak Beach in 2011 - about a quarter mile from where she was last seen alive.
A map showing where the victims remains were located along the barren stretch of Ocean Beach Parkway in Gilgo Beach, located on the South Shore of Long Island
John Ray, an attorney representing the family of two of the victims, told DailyMail.com they were given warning a week ago that an arrest was imminent.
'We had a tip about a week ago that they were about to do this. We have two names but we obviously don't want to say unless we're 100% sure.'
He confirmed to DailyMail.com that Heuermann's name was among those they were looking into.
Ray believes the discovery of a man's remains might have prompted the arrest today.
Ray said that while the suspect arrested today is a man, he and his clients 'have always had an outside theory' that a woman may have been involved.
No one has ever been arrested in connection with the killings.
Heuermann in an interview about his architecture firm
Heuermann's daughter Victoria works with him at the architecture firm where he was arrested last night
Heuermann's first marriage in 1990. He has since remarried
The decade-long investigation has been described as one of the most 'intense, prolific' hunts for a serial killer.
In 2020, a true crime podcast cast suspicion on former Suffolk County Police Commissioner James Burke.
Burke, who spent time in jail for assaulting a local man while in office, was the top cop from 2011 until 2015.
Among the victims was Shannan Gilbert, who was found dead in a swamp in Oak Beach in 2011 - about a quarter mile from where she was last seen alive.
The 24-year-old's neck had been broken before she was killed and had a puncture hole in it that could have been caused by a drill, according to her family's attorney.
The first victims were discovered in December 2010.
They were Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Costello, 27.
Known as the 'Gilgo Beach four', their bodies were found in burlap sacks.
Some of the four had been missing for three years by the time their bodies were found.
All were sex workers who advertised their services on Craiglist, leading policed to believe that is how the killer first made contact with them.
Some had also told friends that they planned to meet a client the day before they vanished.
In March and April 2011, another four bodies were found in the same area, including that of a toddler.
They were Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and an unidentified woman known as 'Peaches' or 'Jane Doe No. 3'.
Peaches' toddler daughter was also murdered.
In the following weeks, another two set of remains were found.
One belonged to an 'Asian man' now thought to have been a transgender sex worker who had been dead for five or six years, and Jane Doe No. 7, whose remains were found on a beach in the popular tourist town Fire Island.
An aerial view of the area near Gilgo Beach and Ocean Parkway on Long Island
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