Riverhead, New York – A year after New York City architect Rex Heuerman was arrested for living a double life in the family-friendly suburb of Massapequa Park, special agents are digging up new evidence from the trove of items seized during a 12-day search of his home.
On July 13, 2023, Suffolk County Police arrested Heurman, now 60, outside his Manhattan office on suspicion of three unsolved murders in 2010 of Melissa Barthelemy (24), Megan Waterman (22), and Amber Costello (27).
Over the next 12 months, prosecutors added four more murder charges, first for the murder of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard Barnes, whose body was found near three others, and then for the 2003 murders of Jessica Taylor and the 1993 murders of Sandra Costilla.
The suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer allegedly has more victims and search locations than police originally thought.
Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heurman (center) inside the Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead on June 6, 2024. At left is his attorney, Michael J. Brown. (James Carbone/Newsday via The Associated Press, Pool)
He is the prime suspect in at least one other murder, that of Valerie Mack, whose body was also found dismembered and scattered in two locations, in brush east of Gilgo Beach and in the woods in Manorville. Investigators in at least three other states with ties to Heurman are also looking into possible connections between cold cases in their jurisdictions.
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All of Heuermann’s alleged victims were extremely small, many under five feet tall. “Small is good,” he allegedly wrote in a gruesome note to himself found by forensic investigators on one of Heuermann’s computers.
The computer file, known as “HK2002-04,” had been deleted but was still accessible to law enforcement, and it is said Heuerman kept lists of “problems,” “supplies,” targets and dumping locations.
Evidence photos show Rex Heurman’s personal copy of “The Cases That Haunt Us,” a book detailing famous serial killer cases, in his home office. The book was found when authorities executed a search warrant in July 2023, according to court documents. (Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office)
Prosecutors allege that when he wasn’t designing buildings or attacking women, Heuerman read up on other serial killers and studied the work of former FBI profiler John Douglas, who wrote the influential book “Mindhunter.”
Rex Heurman’s family kept brutal evidence, sources say
He even included page numbers from the book in the HK document, as well as a list of traffic cameras along the two highways that connect his home to two known dump sites in Manorville and North Sea on the eastern end of Long Island.
Rex Heuerman’s home on July 26, 2023 in Massapequa Park, New York. (MEGA by Fox News Digital)
The file prompted police to search those locations, combing through them for nearly two weeks over the course of several months, before searching Heuermann’s home again.
Heuerman’s four alleged victims became known as the Gilgo Four, and their bodies were found near each other in Long Island’s Great South Bay, just east of Gilgo Beach.
An undated photo of Sandra Costilla. Prosecutors announced June 6, 2024 that Rex Heurman had been charged with the murder of Costilla, whose body was discovered in November 1993.
Both Taylor and Costilla were found dismembered, and police found body parts near Gilgo Beach and on eastern Long Island.
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In 2010 and 2011, police discovered 11 bodies along Ocean Parkway east of Gilgo Beach after Shanann Gilbert called 911 in a panic for help in her Oak Beach neighborhood.
A sign welcoming visitors to Gilgo Beach outside the tunnel that connects the beach to the parking lot under Ocean Parkway. (Michael Lewis/Fox News)
While most of the deaths remain under investigation, Ms Gilbert’s cause of death was ruled accidental drowning – but a private autopsy performed by Dr Michael Baden challenged this verdict, finding evidence of strangulation.
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According to the filing, police have received reports of Heuerman’s old Chevrolet Avalanche from two witnesses in two separate murder cases, they have decades’ worth of phone records and internet searches. His DNA.
The Gilgo Four, clockwise from top left: Maureen Brainard Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, with a wooden cross in the background in the marsh next to Gilgo Beach, New York. Their bodies were found in brush just a few metres from Ocean Parkway. (Suffolk County Police Department/Mega via Fox News Digital)
As the case against Heuermann has progressed, his family has struggled to make ends meet.
His wife, Asa Elerap, filed for divorce shortly after his arrest and later revealed that she was battling cancer.
Her lawyer, Bob Macedonio, told Fox News Digital this week that her life remains in turmoil.
Jessica Taylor (left) and Valerie Mack (right) were murdered and dismembered. Suffolk County Police found the remains of each victim along Ocean Parkway near Manorville and Gilgo Beach, New York. (Suffolk County Police Department/Handout)
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“Since July 13, 2023, every day has become a new normal,” he said. “She is now in remission. She and her children are adapting to life as best they can.”
Elelap, who has previously said she does not believe her estranged husband committed the horrific crimes he has been accused of, continues to visit him in prison but is reserving judgment pending the outcome of the trial.
