July 14, 2023 - New York architect arrested in Long Island serial killings

A New York architect was charged by a grand jury Friday with six counts of murder in connection with the deaths of three of four women who in death became known as the “Gilgo Four,” according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.

Rex Heuermann, 59, is also the "prime suspect" in the death of the fourth woman, authorities said. After his court appearance in Long Island, he was remanded without bail.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said authorities, fearing the suspect might be tipped off they were closing in, moved to arrest him Thursday night.

Tierney declined to comment on potential connections between the "Gilgo Four" murder victims and any of the other human remains found in the same area of Long Island in 2010.

Here's what else we learned about the case today:

Court appearance in Long Island: Heuermann was in tears after his arrest, telling his attorney he did not commit the murders he is accused of, his court-appointed attorney, Michael Brown, said Friday. He was remanded without bail after entering a not-guilty plea through his attorney. Heuerman's next court date is scheduled for August 1. He wore a gray short-sleeved polo shirt with a collar and tan pants in the courtroom. He stood largely expressionless, conferring with his lawyer a couple of times.

Prime suspect in fourth death: He was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in each of the three killings – Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello in 2010 – according to the indictment. Heuermann is also the prime suspect in the disappearance and death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, the district attorney said in a bail application. Heuermann has not been charged with that murder but the investigation “is expected to be resolved soon,” according to a bail application from prosecutors.

Background on suspect: Heuermann, who a source familiar with the case said is a father of two, is a registered architect who has owned the New York City-based architecture and consulting firm, RH Consultants & Associates, since 1994, according to his company’s website. In a civil court hearing in 2018, Heuermann described his work as “general architecture” and said he works for clients to resolve issues with the state Department of Buildings.

Tax troubles: Heuermann has been years late in paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and repeatedly filed lawsuits accusing drivers of injuring him in car accidents, according to a review of public records and court documents. He lived in the same house in Massapequa Park he was raised in — a few miles across the bay from the beach where bodies were unearthed more than a decade ago — according to a 2018 deposition.

New investigation launched in 2022: A task force to investigate the Gilgo Beach killings was formed in February 2022, shortly after Tierney took office as Suffolk County district attorney, he said at a news conference Friday. Tierney said he made the Gilgo Beach murders — an unsolved case tied to at least 10 sets of remains discovered since 2010 in suburban Long Island — a priority “before he took office.”

Burner phones and DNA: Investigators went backward through phone records collected from both Midtown Manhattan and the Massapequa Park area – two areas where a “burner phone” used by the alleged killer were detected. After narrowing down the pool, they searched for a connection to a green pickup truck a witness had seen the suspect driving, sources told CNN. Investigators found Heuermann, who matched a witness’ physical description, lived close to the Long Island cell site and worked near the New York City cell sites where other calls were captured. They then also obtained DNA from an immediate family member and connected it to DNA discovered on the body of one victim. Read more on the investigation here.

Gilgo Beach serial killings suspect Rex Heuermann has permits for 92 guns, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a news conference Friday.

“He has a very large safe in which guns are kept,” he said.

When asked if investigators have found all 92 guns, Tierney said, “We are continuing to execute search warrants, so I’m sure we will have that answer shortly.”

Heuermann, 59, has pleaded not guilty in connection with the murders of three women.

The architect accused in a string of Long Island killings has been years late in paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, repeatedly filed lawsuits accusing drivers of injuring him in car accidents, and still lives in his childhood home, according to a review of public records and court documents. 

Rex Heuermann, who police say murdered at least three women, lived in the same house he was raised in — a few miles across the bay from the beach where bodies were unearthed more than a decade ago — he said in a 2018 deposition.

Between 2014 and 2022, Heuermann filed four lawsuits in New York courts against drivers who he said hit him with their cars. Heuermann claimed “serious and permanent personal injuries,” court records show. Three of the cases were settled or discontinued, while the most recent one is ongoing. 

In an April 2018 deposition in one of the cases, Heuermann discussed his life and work, saying he lived at his childhood home in the Long Island suburb of Massapequa Park with his wife of then 22 years, daughter and a stepson. 

At one point in the deposition, when asked if he played sports, he said, “really only thing I competed in was competition rifle." 

Heuermann appears to have had issues paying his taxes going back more than a decade. Nassau County records show Heuermann was subject to six tax liens filed by the IRS in Nassau County between 2010 and 2021. According to the liens, Heuermann owed a total of more than $425,000 for taxes he had failed to pay going back to 2005.  

The IRS later filed tax lien releases showing that Heuermann repaid or no longer owed about $215,078 of that debt, with the most recent documents being filed in October 2022. 

According to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Heuermann and his wife, Asa Ellerup, also currently owe a total of more than $81,500 in personal income tax to the state, with the tax bills having accrued since November 2020. 

Other court records shed light on the technical and at times mundane work Heuermann has done as an architect.

In a civil court hearing in 2018, Heuermann described his work as “general architecture” and said he works for clients to resolve issues with the state Department of Buildings. An associate described the work as, “not a pleasant process. I don’t want to be Mr. Heuermann in that respect for a minute.”  

In September 2007, a Harlem apartment building that Heuermann had been hired to renovate was declared unsafe by fire officials, who ordered two dozen families to evacuate, the New York Daily News reported at the time. The New York City Buildings Department commissioner said the agency was investigating whether Heuermann falsely identified the building as vacant, according to the Daily News. 

A spokesperson for the buildings department told CNN that in 2007, the department conducted audits of multiple jobs where Heuermann was the architect of record, but did not find “any pattern of false filings nor significant disregard for DOB regulations,” and no disciplinary actions were taken. 

The website of Heuermann’s firm, RH Architecture, listed his daughter as an employee there. The page listing employees has since been taken offline. 

The Suffolk County district attorney declined to comment on potential connections between the "Gilgo Four" murder victims at the center of this week's arrest and any of the other human remains found in the same area of Long Island in 2010.

District Attorney Ray Tierney said the portion of the investigation being made public Friday "had to do with the deaths of these four young women," referring to three victims that suspect Rex Heuermann has been charged with killing, and a fourth murder for which he is considered the "prime suspect."

In a news conference following Heuermann's first court appearance, Tierney emphasized the similarities between the "Gilgo Four." They include the fact that they were all sex workers, had been linked to some form of contact with Heuermann and had been bound in similar ways.

What are the other cases? Authorities first found human remains related to the Gilgo Beach case while searching a remote stretch of Long Island for a different woman, Shannan Gilbert, in 2010.

Gilbert's remains were ultimately found in 2011. While authorities said her death appeared to be more consistent with "an unfortunate accident" rather than an act of violence, they had also turned up 10 other sets of human remains across two Long Island counties by the time the search concluded. That left investigators to determine which (if any) of the cases were connected to a potential serial killer.

Tierney, the district attorney, said a task force will continue to investigate the remains' discovery and "try to get a small measure of closure for all the victims' families."

But for now, Tierney said all he could share was that the defendant in custody is tied to the four women named in connection with his arrest.

Pressed further by reporters, the district attorney said he needs to "maintain investigative secrecy."

"I'm here to talk about what we did with regard to these four victims," he repeated.

The arrest of a suspect in some of the Gilgo Beach murders was a “long time coming,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Friday.

People in the community should be able to sleep easier tonight, the governor said, after a New York architect was arrested in connection with three murders on Long Island.  

Authorities were able to obtain a search warrant for Long Island serial killings suspect Rex Heuermann's Google results and watch as he tried to keep up with the investigation, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Friday.

"In a 14-month period, he had over 200 searches pertaining to the Gilgo (Beach serial killings) investigation," Tierney said.

"He was looking at investigative insight. He was looking, trying to figure out, 'How is the task force using cell phones to try to figure out what is happening? What are the developments with regard to the task force?''" he continued.

Tierney said that emphasized the importance of keeping the investigation and grand jury proceedings secret, "because we knew that this one person would be watching, and we didn't want to give him any insight."

The warrant also revealed Heuermann was "compulsively" searching for images of the victims and their families, "and he was trying to locate those individuals."

Tierney said investigators found other disturbing content in Heuermann's browsing history, as well.

“There was a lot of torture porn and what you would consider depictions of women being abused, being raped and being killed,” Tierney said.

In their bail application, prosecutors also said Heuermann had searched for child pornography.

Authorities decided to charge the man accused of murdering at least three of the four "Gilgo Four" when the need to keep the public safe outweighed the need for investigators to collect evidence, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

There was a "good tension" among the task force formed to investigate the long unsolved Gilgo Beach murders since its formation in 2022, Tierney said. On one hand, authorities wanted to build the strongest case they could against suspect Rex Heuermann. On the other, they also needed to keep the public safe, he said.

Heuermann, who authorities were closely monitoring as they were investigating him, was continuing to patronize sex workers and also using fake IDs and burner phones, Tierney said. Those factors led authorities to decide to arrest him Thursday.

"As we work through the case ... suddenly the balance tips in factor of public safety," he said.

Heuermann has been charged with six counts of murder in connection with the deaths of three of the four women known as the “Gilgo Four.”

Hair believed to be from Rex Heuermann’s wife was found on or near three of the Gilgo Beach murder victims, prosecutors alleged, citing DNA testing.

Forensic labs were able to match with near 100% certainty the hairs in July, prosecutors say, after investigators recovered 11 bottles from a garbage can outside Heuermann’s house. They took swabs of the bottles and subsequently matched with close to 100% certainty that DNA to the four female human hairs, according to the bail application.

One female human hair was found on one of the buckles of the three belts used to tie Maureen Brainard-Barnes’ feet, ankle and legs together, prosecutors say.

Heuermann is the prime suspect in the disappearance and death of Brainard-Barnes, the district attorney said in its bail application Friday. However, he has not yet been charged in connection with her murder.

Heuermann was charged in connection with the murder of the other three women, known together with Brainard-Barnes as the "Gilgo Four."

Two female hairs were found on a piece of tape and “outside the head area” of Megan Waterman’s body, prosecutors say. 

Another female hair was also found on a piece of tape that bound Amber Costello’s body, prosecutors say.

A task force to investigate the Gilgo Beach killings was formed in February 2022, shortly after Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney took office in January, 2022, he said at a news conference Friday.

Tierney said he made the Gilgo Beach murders — an unsolved case tied to at least 10 sets of remains discovered since 2010 in suburban Long Island — a priority “before he took office”.

“I met with the victims’ families, some of whom I’m proud to have standing with us today, and I told them that we were gonna handle this case differently,” Tierney said.

The task force consisted of the Suffolk County Police Department, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police and the FBI, Tierney said. 

The work of the task force led to the arrest of Rex Heuermann on Thursday. He has pleaded not guilty in connection with the murders of three women, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, and Megan Waterman.

He is the “prime suspect” in the disappearance and death of a fourth woman, officials said, but he is yet to be charged in that case.