Gilgo Beach case: New DNA evidence links Rex Heuermann to murders

Follow updates as Rex Heuermann appears in court for a pre-trial conference in the Gilgo Beach murders case.

Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann will return to court in New York where he faces charges for the murders of three women whose bodies were found dumped along the shores of Long Island.

The 59-year-old architect is scheduled to appear in Suffolk County Supreme Court for a pre-trial conference on Wednesday morning.

At the hearing, the judge could rule on a motion seeking to return the accused killer’s stash of guns to his family.

Mr Heuermann’s wife Asa Ellerup has asked that the trove of around 200 guns seized during a search of their home in Massapequa Park be given back.

Prosecutors and the defence will also discuss other matters surrounding evidence in the case.

Mr Heuermann is expected to appear in person for the hearing.

For around two decades, the sands and marshes of Long Island’s Gilgo Beach kept a dark secret.

A killer or killers roamed the locality, luring in escorts and sex workers and brutally murdering them.

Body after body was dumped along the shoreline, hidden for months and even years without being discovered.

Then, in 2010, a chilling 911 call made by a woman in fear for her life led police to search the area.

What they discovered was far more horrifying than anyone could have imagined.

Over the next year, the remains of 11 victims – mainly female escorts – were discovered dumped in the area, plunging the Suffolk County community into terror.

But, the case went cold and no arrests were made, no suspects were named and there was no justice for the victims and their families. That is, until now.

In July, local married father-of-two Rex Heuermann was arrested on suspicion of being the infamous serial killer. The 59-year-old has been charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello and is also the prime suspect in the murder of a fourth woman Maureen Brainard-Barnes – who was last seen alive in New York City in early June 2007.

Now, the question is: now an arrest has been made, is the hunt for the Gilgo Beach serial killer finally over?

The remains of at least 11 victims were found in the Gilgo Beach area though it remains unclear if they are all the work of the same killer. Many were sex workers who offered escort services on Craigslist or worked in New York City.

The first victim found was Melissa Barthelemy, whose remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway on 11 December 2010 during the search for Shannan Gilbert – a 24-year-old sex worker from New Jersey who vanished after visiting a client in Oak Park and making a chilling 911 call where she revealed fears for her life.

Two days later on 13 December, the remains of three other victims – Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello – were found close by.

All three women were known to advertise escort services on Craigslist.

Brainard-Barnes – known as one of the Gilgo Beach Four – was last seen alive in early June 2007 in New York City while Costello was last seen leaving her North Babylon home one day in early September 2010.

Waterman was last seen alive in early June 2010 at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge.

Brainard-Barnes, Waterman, Costello and Barthelemy are together known as the “Gilgo Four”.

Mr Heuermannis charged with the murders of Waterman, Barthelemy and Costello but is yet to be charged with Brainard-Barnes’ murder.

His Manhattan business describes him as a registered architect with over 30 years’ experience.

His neighbours describe him as a “family man” living with his wife and two children in a tight-knit community in Suffolk County.

But now authorities are describing him as the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer who unleashed terror along the shores of Long Island more than a decade ago.

Who is Rex Heuermann?

Rex Heuermann will return to court in New York today where he faces charges for the murders of three women whose bodies were found dumped along the shores of Long Island.

The 59-year-old architect is scheduled to appear in Suffolk County Court for a pre-trial conference at 9.30am on Wednesday morning.

At the hearing, Justice Timothy Mazzei could rule on a motion seeking to return the accused killer’s stash of guns to his family.

Prosecutors and the defence will also discuss other matters surrounding evidence in the case.

Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann continued to show “disturbing” behaviour right up until his arrest for the murders of three women, according to the top investigator on the case.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told Newsday in August that he also wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Mr Heuermann may have been “preparing to kill again” at the time of the arrest.

Mr Harrison said that law enforcement saw some concerning actions from the married father-of-two while he was under surveillance before his arrest last month.

“I can’t talk about if he was preparing to kill again,” he said.

“He’s somebody that was still engaging in activity that was disturbing, be it his internet searches, be it engaging in other activities that he shouldn’t be engaging in.”

Commissioner Harrison added that he was “very, very passionate” about keeping eyes on Mr Heuermann up until his arrest because “we need to see what his lifestyle is”.

The accused killer had been on the radar of Long Island police for months – not long after the newly-appointed commissioner launched a new taskforce to crack the unsolved Gilgo Beach serial killer case back in January 2022.

After surveilling him for months, officers swooped on the architect as he left his office in Manhattan on 13 July.