Investigators have announced they have arrested the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer over fears he might strike again.
Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested in dramatic fashion Thursday night in midtown Manhattan outside his Fifth Avenue architectural practice, 13 years after the victims’ bodies were found on a remote Long Island beach.
Police had had Heuermann under surveillance since last year and had planned to continue pursuing him as they worked out their case, but decided to step in and make the arrest in the interest of “public safety,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters.
Tierney cited a series of warnings, saying that Heuermann “continues to patronize sex workers,” uses false IDs and burner cell phones, and has permits for a staggering 92 firearms.
“Which of course made us very nervous,” said Tierney, who has headed a secret investigation team focused on Heuermann since spring 2022.
Flanked by family members of the victims, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, while addressing reporters, gave a somber assessment of the suspect, saying: “Rex Heuermann is a demon walking among us, a predator who has ruined families. ”
Manhattan architect Rex Heuermann, 59, is charged with three murders attributed to the Gilgo Beach serial killer and is the prime suspect in the murder of a fourth victim
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Heuermann had been under surveillance since last year and police had moved in to arrest him, fearing he would strike again
At a prosecution hearing on Friday, Tierney told the court his teams had been tracking Heuermann since last year and planned to continue doing so while they worked the case, but feared he was about to flee the country flee.
He and other police officers later expressed fears at a press conference that Heuermann could target other victims if he stayed free.
“The FBI monitored the defendant … this individual who continued to attend sex workers 24/7 and continued to use fictitious emails, identities and burner phones,” Tierney said.
“As we worked the case and got closer and closer, the balance suddenly tipped in favor of public safety,” he said.
“As a task force, we wanted to continue with that, but as a task force, we collectively felt it was time to find that balance and get it off the streets.”
Tierney said Heuermann has permits for 92 firearms that are not yet recorded, but added that they may be found in a large safe at Heurmann’s home.
“He has a very large safe that stores guns,” he said. “We’re still conducting search warrants, so I’m sure we’ll get the answer shortly.”
It’s not clear if investigators believe firearms were used in any of the murders. The victims’ remains were discovered in a decomposed state, making it difficult to determine their injuries.
“Forensically, there wasn’t much that could be done with the remains,” Tierney said.
Heuermann, who has lived across the bay from where the remains were found for decades, is accused of killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello.
He is also a prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose body was tied up and hidden in thick undergrowth along a secluded beach road, authorities said.
A total of eleven bodies were found over the course of several months in 2010 and 2011 on an abandoned section of the Ocean Parkway. Most of the victims were young women who had worked as sex workers.
Tierney declined to say whether Heurmann is a suspect in the other murders, saying his task force focused on the four victims linked to Heurmann, adding that those four cases had clear “common points.” had.
He cited the need to maintain investigative secrecy in the investigation of the other murders, but pledged to continue seeking justice for all victims.
He is also considered the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose body was tied up and hidden in thick undergrowth along a remote beach road
Heuermann’s attorney entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf in Riverhead State Court on Friday. Judge Richard Ambro ordered his detention without bail, citing the “utter depravity” of his alleged crimes.
On his first appearance in court, Heuermann looked smug, puffed out his cheeks and nodded as some of the charges were read out. He wore khaki pants and a gray collared shirt and did not speak in court.
He pleaded not guilty to all six counts — three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.
After the hearing, his attorney, Michael Brown, said his client yelled at him, saying, “I didn’t do that.”
Prosecutors say a wealth of evidence links him to the murders, including DNA recovered from a pizza crust discarded by Heuermann that matched genetic material found on the women’s remains.
Prosecutors allege that Heuermann is linked to the murders, among other things:
- 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
- Calls made to the victims from a burner phone were traced back to his office
- A call made to one of the victim’s sisters after her death was traced to his office
- His Tinder profile with photos of him was linked to Brenner’s phone number
- His private phones always rang in the same areas as the suspect burners
- His Chevrolet pickup matched the suspect vehicle that a witness spotted
- He fits the physical description of an “ogre,” like a man seen with a victim
- Heuermann conducted graphic research into child pornography and sexual torture
- He also scoured Google for updates on the case and asked, “Why couldn’t law enforcement trace the Long Island serial killer’s calls?”
Speaking to reporters, DA Tierney addressed the long delay between discovering the bodies and identifying a suspect.
Tierney said he called a grand jury investigation after Heuermann’s name first became known to investigators as a possible suspect in March 2022.
The prosecutor said he used the investigative powers of the grand jury to issue more than 300 subpoenas and subpoena witnesses, while maintaining strict secrecy not to update the suspect of the investigation’s progress.
He pointed out that previous efforts to resolve the case were too public and influenced by external factors.
“The reason these investigations have failed in the past is because there was a lot of outside influence, a lot of people who had nothing to do with the investigation or any of the authorities, but who still exerted pressure,” he said.
“That didn’t happen with our task force.” Ours was led by our members and we did what we felt was in the best interests of the investigation.’
Heuermann lives in Massapequa Park, a community north of South Oyster Bay and the sandy beach known as Gilgo Beach, where the victims’ remains were found.
The evidence against Heuermann was set out in a 32-page letter from the Suffolk County prosecutor, which explained why he should not be granted bail.
It details how a new task force set up by the Suffolk County District Attorney last year came across his name within months of the investigation, raising questions as to why previous investigative units failed to apprehend him.
Heuermann’s first connection to the case is through the Chevrolet Avalanche truck he owned in 2009 and 2010 when the women were murdered.
The vehicle was seen with at least one of the victims the day before they disappeared.
Heuermann also fits the description of an “inhuman,” like a man who visited one of the victims the night before they died.
In this case, he is said to have arranged a meeting with Amber Costello for sex at her home.
Costello and a male friend performed a “trick” in which the male friend pretended to interrupt their affair and claimed he was an angry friend.
The man who paid for the sex had to leave with his money on the table.
Rex Heuermann can be seen in one of his Tinder profile pictures. Police have traced the fictional email account he used in the profile and his burner’s phone number to the case
Heurmann in another photo he used on the dating app. He is said to have sent the photos to women who asked him for sex
In January of this year, after investigators had been monitoring Heuermann and his family since last March, they confiscated a pizza box he had thrown in the trash outside his Manhattan office
The pizza box from a garbage can in front of Heuermann’s downtown office
These are some of the searches performed on Heuermann’s computer
These are the nasty Google searches performed on Heuermann’s computer
Heuermann buys additional minutes for another Brenner cell phone in May of this year. He paid cash
He then texted Costello saying, “That wasn’t very nice,” and requested a “credit” toward his next service.
Costello met with the client again the following evening, but she insisted on doing so outside of her home.
The witness said the customer was between 1.80m and 1.80m tall, had a broad build and wore glasses.
He lived nearby in Massapequa Park, where he still resides with his family, but his Icelandic wife was out of town when the killings happened.
Not only were police able to determine that the car matched the vehicle seen at the victim’s home, but they also traced calls made to the victim from a burner phone to arrange a rendezvous in the area around his Manhattan home and office agree.
New York architect Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders on Long Island, leading to a groundbreaking breakthrough in one of the country’s most notorious unsolved serial killer cases
After her disappearance, another call was made to one of the victim’s relatives. This call was traced to his office.
He also used fictitious email accounts and other 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 also conducted incriminating research on the internet.
Among them were search terms like ”
He also conducted vile Google searches for child pornography and violent sexual images of tortured women.
In January of this year, after investigators had been monitoring Heuermann and his family since last March, they confiscated a pizza box he had thrown in the trash outside his Manhattan office.
His DNA from one of the crusts was a 99.6 percent match for a male hair found at the bottom of the burlap sack in which one of the victims was found.
Prosecutors also found unidentified female hair on three of the victims.
They were initially able to link 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 disappeared on September 2, 2010.
The street in Massapequa Park, Long Island, where a suspect in connection with the Gilgo Beach killings was arrested this morning
Heuermann’s truck was removed from the home this afternoon
Representatives from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner for the City of New York exit Rex Heuermann’s office building
Representatives from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner for the City of New York exit and re-enter the Rex Heuermann office building at 385 5th Avenue in New York City on July 14, 2023 with additional supplies and gloves
There are striking similarities between Heuermann, a married father of two, and the unknown suspect described in a 2011 FBI profile of the Gilgo Beach killer.
This profile described a “sadistic but charming average person” who could blend in unnoticed with any environment.
Heuermann was living a seemingly normal, “average Joe” life up until his dramatic arrest.
The profilers told the New York Times that the suspect is likely financially stable and intelligent.
“He may have been treated at a hospital for a poison ivy infection.” “As part of his work or interests, he has access to or a supply of burlap sacks,” the profile reads.
Heuermann grew up in Massapequa Park, attended high school with Billy Baldwin, and began working in Manhattan in 1987.
Heuermann was married once in 1990 and again years later to his current wife Asa Ellerup, who is of Icelandic 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.
His responsibilities included negotiating between the New York City Building Authority and private architects.
In a 2022 video, Heuermann boasted about his career as an architect with the New York City Building Authority.
“I was born and raised on Long Island and have worked in Manhattan since 1987. A very long time!” he told Bonjour Realty.