Gilgo Beach murders: Burner phones. Pizza crust. DNA on burlap. A New York architect was charged with killing 3 women in Gilgo Beach serial killings cold case

CNN
 — 

A New York architect was charged with homicide in connection to the killings of 3 of the women who become referred to as the “Gilgo Four,” in line with the Suffolk County District Attorney, in a case that baffled government for greater than a decade in suburban Long Island.

Rex Heuermann – who instructed his lawyer he isn’t the killer – was taken into custody for one of the most Gilgo Beach murders, an unsolved case tied to a minimum of 10 units of human stays found out since 2010 in suburban Long Island, government stated.

Heuermann was charged with one rely of first-degree homicide and one rely of second-degree homicide in 3 killings – Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello in 2010 – in line with the indictment. He was charged in the indictment via a grand jury, in line with the Suffolk County District Attorney.

He may be the high suspect in the 2007 disappearance and demise of a fourth girl, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, in line with a bail utility from prosecutors. Heuermann has now not been charged with that murder however the investigation “is expected to be resolved soon,” the record says.

This is the primary arrest in the long-dormant case, which terrorized citizens and sparked conflicting theories about whether or not a serial killer was accountable.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney stated government, fearing the suspect could be tipped off they have been ultimate in, moved to arrest him Thursday evening.

“We were playing before a party of one,” he instructed journalists. “We knew the person responsible for these murders would be looking at us.”

See our live coverage here

Authorities stated as soon as Heuermann was known in early 2022 as a suspect, they watched him and his circle of relatives and were given DNA samples from pieces that have been thrown away.

Hair believed to be from Rex Heuermann’s spouse was discovered on or close to 3 of the homicide sufferers, prosecutors allege in the bail utility, bringing up DNA checking out. The DNA got here from 11 bottles inside of a rubbish can outdoor the Heuermann house, the courtroom record says.

During the preliminary exam of probably the most sufferers’ skeletal stays and fabrics found out in the grave, the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory recovered a male hair from the “bottom of the burlap” the killer used to wrap her frame, in line with the bail utility.

A surveillance staff later amassed a swab of Heuermann’s DNA from leftover crust in a pizza field he threw in the trash, the district lawyer stated.

Heuermann was in tears after his arrest, his courtroom appointed lawyer, Michael Brown, stated Friday.

“I did not do this,” Brown stated Heuermann instructed him throughout their dialog after his arrest.

Heuermann was remanded with out bail. He entered a now not accountable plea via his lawyer. His subsequent courtroom date is scheduled for August 1.

Heuermann, who a supply acquainted with the case stated is a father of 2, is a registered architect who has owned the New York City-based structure and consulting company, RH Consultants & Associates, since 1994, in line with his corporate’s web site.

In 2022, Heuermann was interviewed for the YouTube channel “Bonjour Realty.” He spoke about his occupation in structure, and stated he was born and raised in Long Island. He started operating in Manhattan in 1987.

CNN has reached out to Heuermann’s corporate for remark.

The case towards Heuermann got here in combination in the 2 years for the reason that restart of the investigation via Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, government stated.

Harrison put in combination a job power together with county police detectives, investigators from the sheriff’s administrative center, state police and the FBI.

Tierney stated the duty power held its first assembly in February 2022.

“Six weeks later, on March 14, 2022, the name Rex Heuermann was first mentioned as a suspect in the Gilgo case,” Tierney stated. “A New York state investigator was able to identify him in a database.”

Investigators had long gone backward via telephone information amassed from each midtown Manhattan and the Massapequa Park house – two spaces the place a “burner phone” utilized by the alleged killer have been detected, in line with courtroom paperwork.

Authorities then narrowed information amassed via cellular towers to hundreds, then all the way down to masses, and in the end all the way down to a handful of people that may just fit a suspect.

From there, government labored to center of attention on individuals who lived in the world of the cellular tower who additionally matched a bodily description given via a witness who had noticed the suspected killer.

In the narrowed pool, they looked for a connection to a inexperienced pickup truck a witness had noticed the suspect using, the resources stated.

Investigators discovered Heuermann, who matched a witness’s bodily description, lived as regards to the Long Island cellular web page and labored close to the New York City cellular websites the place different calls have been captured.

They additionally discovered he had frequently pushed a inexperienced pickup, registered to his brother. But they wanted greater than circumstantial proof.

The homicide thriller had confounded county officers for years. In 2020, they discovered a belt with initials that can were treated via the suspect and introduced a web site to assemble new guidelines in the investigation.

Police stated some sufferers known had marketed prostitution services and products on internet sites comparable to Craigslist.

The thriller started in 2010 when police found out the primary set of feminine stays some of the trees alongside an remoted strip of waterfront belongings on Gilgo Beach whilst in search of Shannan Gilbert, a lacking 23-year-old girl from Jersey City, New Jersey.

By the time Gilbert’s frame was discovered three hundred and sixty five days later on neighboring Oak Beach, investigators had unearthed 10 units of human remains strewn throughout two Long Island counties.

The grim discoveries generated fashionable consideration in the area and despatched waves of worry throughout some communities on Long Island’s South Shore.

Authorities later stated they imagine Gilbert’s demise will have been unintentional and now not associated with the Gilgo Beach slayings.

Still, Gilbert’s disappearance ended in the invention of the our bodies of 4 women who have been discovered in trees alongside a quarter-mile stretch of Ocean Parkway in Oak Beach.

Additional stays have been exposed in neighboring Gilgo Beach and in Nassau County, about 40 miles east of New York City. They integrated a feminine infant, an Asian male and a lady first of all known as “Jane Doe #6,” investigators stated.

In 2020, police (*3*) “Jane Doe #6” was as Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old Philadelphia mom who went lacking twenty years previous.

Mack’s partial stays have been first found out close to Gilgo Beach in 2000, with further dismembered stays discovered in 2011, in line with the Suffolk County police.

John Ray, a attorney who represents the circle of relatives of Shannon Gilbert – whose disappearance and seek ended in the invention of “Gilgo Four” and different stays – stated Friday he does now not know if Heuermann may be accountable for her demise.

“We breathe a great sigh of relief,” Ray stated. “We’re happy the police are finally taking a positive step in this respect, but this is just the beginning … This is just the edge of a bigger body of water, shall we say, of murder that has taken place.”

Ray additionally represents the circle of relatives Gilgo Beach sufferer Jessica Taylor.

“We don’t know if he is connected to Jessica Taylor’s murder,” he stated.

Jasmine Robinson, a circle of relatives consultant for Taylor, stated she’s “hopeful for the future and hopeful that a connection is made” to get to the bottom of the opposite instances.