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A suspect has been arrested in reference to three of the ten victims linked to the Gilgo Seashore, New York, murders, authorities mentioned.
New York architect Rex Heuermann is charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose our bodies have been discovered coated in burlap in December 2010 alongside Ocean Parkway on Lengthy Island’s south coast, in accordance with court docket paperwork unsealed Friday in Suffolk County Legal. Court docket.
Barthelemy disappeared in July 2009, Waterman disappeared in June 2010 and Costello was final seen in September 2010. The three girls have been aged between 22 and 27 and all labored as intercourse staff, the court docket mentioned.
“Rex Heuermann is a demon that walks amongst us,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison mentioned Friday. “A predator that ruined households.”
Rex Heuermann is proven in an undated file photograph from his firm’s web site.
RH Consultants & Associates, Inc.
Shortly earlier than every lady disappeared, she interacted with an individual utilizing a “burner” cellular phone with no verified identification, in accordance with court docket paperwork. In accordance with data, the cell telephones of two victims have been utilized by the killer after their deaths.
5 occasions in the summertime of 2009, somebody in midtown Manhattan — the place Heuermann’s workplace is situated — used Barthelemy’s cellphone to “make ridiculous calls to Ms. Barthelemy’s kin,” in accordance with court docket paperwork. Among the calls “resulted in a dialog between the caller, who was male, and a relative of Melissa Barthelemy, wherein the male caller admitted to killing and sexually assaulting Ms. Barthelemy,” in accordance with paperwork.
In accordance with court docket paperwork, paperwork present that Heuermann’s spouse was out of city when Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello disappeared.
A fourth sufferer, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who disappeared in July 2007, was additionally linked to the three girls. Whereas Heuermann will not be being charged with Brainard-Barnes’ loss of life, the court docket doc states that he’s the “prime suspect in her loss of life.” The investigation into Brainard-Barnes’ loss of life is ongoing, officers mentioned Friday.
Images of ladies whose our bodies have been recognized from the ten our bodies discovered close to Gilgo Seashore since December 2010 might be seen on this Suffolk County Police Division picture launched to Reuters on September 20, 2011.
Handout ./Courtesy of the Suffolk County Police Division through Reuters, FILE
“Every of the 4 victims was discovered equally tied with belts or tape in the identical method,” court docket paperwork mentioned.
In accordance with court docket paperwork, male hair was recovered from the burlap used to wrap Waterman’s physique, and that DNA was discovered to match the leftover pizza crust that Heuermann dumped in a Manhattan rubbish can in January 2023.
Heuermann, 59, a married father of two, used certainly one of his burner telephones “to conduct 1000’s of searches associated to intercourse staff, sadistic, torture-related pornography and youngster pornography,” in accordance with court docket data.
Different searches included “associated to energetic and identified serial killers” and the disappearances of the Gilgo Seashore victims. One search, in accordance with court docket paperwork, was “Why hasn’t the Lengthy Island serial killer been caught.”
He additionally allegedly looked for pictures of the Gilgo Seashore victims and their kin, Tierney mentioned.
Heuermann additionally searched and reviewed articles in regards to the authorities investigating him, paperwork present.
The suspect was arrested Thursday night time in Manhattan, authorities mentioned, and legislation enforcement officers have been seen outdoors his house in Massapequa Park on Lengthy Island Friday morning.
Law enforcement officials arrive on the home the place a suspect has been taken into custody on New York’s Lengthy Island in reference to a long-unsolved string of murders, July 14, 2023, in Massapequa, New York.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP
Heuermann first emerged as a suspect within the March 2022 investigation, Suffolk County District Legal professional Ray Tierney mentioned Friday.
Heuermann was tracked by his automobile, a Chevrolet Avalanche, which was found in 2022. A witness to Costello’s disappearance reported seeing a Chevrolet Avalanche, court docket data mentioned.
Detectives additionally tracked Heuermann by cellular phone data, in accordance with court docket paperwork. Tierney mentioned cellular phone mapping led researchers to concentrate on areas in Massapequa Park and Midtown Manhattan.
Law enforcement officials stand guard on the house the place a suspect has been taken into custody on New York’s Lengthy Island in reference to a long-unsolved string of murders, July 14, 2023, in Massapequa, New York.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP
The concern of a serial killer on Lengthy Island’s south coast started in 2010 with the invention of a lady’s physique alongside Ocean Parkway.
The our bodies of seven extra girls, a person and a toddler have been found in the identical basic space the next yr.
The places the place eight of the ten our bodies have been discovered close to Gilgo Seashore since December 2010 might be seen on this Suffolk County Police Division picture launched to Reuters on Sept. 20, 2011.
Courtesy of the Suffolk County Police Division through Reuters, FILE
Investigators have lengthy thought it was potential there was multiple killer because of the various states of the victims. As well as, the wooded stretches alongside Ocean Parkway have lengthy been often known as physique dumps.
Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of sufferer Jessica Taylor, instructed reporters she was “shell shocked” by the arrest.
Taylor disappeared in 2003 on the age of 20. Partial stays have been present in 2003, and extra stays have been found alongside Ocean Parkway in 2011.
“I hope she is remembered as a gorgeous younger lady” and never a intercourse employee, Robinson mentioned Friday.
Neighbors collect outdoors the house of the Gilgo Seashore suspect in Massapequa Park on Lengthy Island July 14, 2023.
Victor Ordonez/ABC Information
Heuermann is charged with three counts of first-degree homicide and three counts of first-degree homicide.
Protection lawyer Michael Brown pleaded not responsible on behalf of Heuermann throughout his arraignment on Friday. Heuermann solely spoke his identify in court docket. He was ordered to be held with out bail.
After the efficiency, his lawyer instructed reporters that Heuermann tearfully instructed him, “I did not do that.”
“In the present day is an effective day,” Harrison mentioned at a information convention Friday, earlier than hugging kin of the victims.
“There may be extra work to be accomplished on this investigation concerning the opposite victims of the Gilgo Seashore our bodies,” he added, encouraging anybody with info to return ahead.
ABC Information’ Mark Crudele contributed to this report.
Gilgo Seashore Murders: Suspect recognized as Rex Heuermann, charged with the deaths of three girls
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