After more than a decade of investigation, the Gilgo Beach murders could be a step closer to being resolved as police arrested a suspect in the case last week.
Rex Heuermann, notoriously known as the Long Island serial killer, appeared in court last Friday, a day after his arrest. During the trial, he pleaded not guilty to the six initial counts of three murders laid against him. Prosecutors are looking to bring more charges against the suspect.
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Here is everything else we know so far about the alleged Long Island serial killer and his case.
Who is Rex Heuermann?
Despite allegedly committing several murders, Heuermann was adept at apparently living a double life. Working as an architect and architectural consultant in Manhattan, he lived in Massapequa, New York, with his wife and two children for several years before his arrest.
Although respected in his field, Heuermann tended to intimidate people due to his 6’4” heavyset stature, and neighbors said they could find him unsettling. For the most part, however, he appeared quite normal to strangers.
How many people died in the 'Gilgo Beach murders'?
There are a total of 11 deaths tied to the Gilgo Beach murders. However, Heuermann has only been charged with the murders of three people, with a fourth indictment possibly on the way.
These victims are commonly known as the “Gilgo Four.”
Who are the Gilgo Four?
Police said they connected Heuermann to the deaths of four women named Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello, all of whom worked as prostitutes before their deaths.
Costello was the victim whose death has not yet brought a charge against Heuermann.
Where were the bodies found?
Between 2010 and 2011, a string of bodies were found alongside a remote highway next to Gilgo Beach. The remains of Brainard-Barnes, Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello were found nearby each other on the highway by local police.
This is the map showing the locations of the bodies found at Gilgo Beach in the LISK case. #truecrime #notyourgrammaspodcast #podcast #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #listenonspotify #applepodcasts pic.twitter.com/SSkMY8eDXZ
— The Midnight Train Podcast (@themidnight_pod) June 5, 2021
How did authorities find him?
The investigation into Heuermann was revived in February 2022 upon the announcement of a special task force specifically designed to catch the Long Island serial killer. Before then, the case was riddled with dysfunction and effectively halted due to a police corruption scandal.
As a result, the case went cold for several years before getting picked up again over a year ago.
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Upon formation, the task force made substantial progress by first checking cellphone records of the four victims and triangulating the location from which Heuermann called them. From there, law enforcement took 11 bottles and discarded crusts in a pizza box from his trash can to compare his DNA to the DNA of the respective crime scenes.
Authorities then arrested Heuermann at his Massapequa home last Thursday night, sending him to court. The criminal investigation remains open as law enforcement seeks to connect him to more murders.