Crime & Safety
What We Know About The Evidence In The Gilgo Beach Killings Arrest
Pizza crust with DNA, burner phones, a Chevrolet, and Google all helped law enforcement in their investigation, a court doc shows.
YAPHANK, NY — Investigators on Long Island have been embroiled in the Gilgo Beach slayings since 2010, when the first of 11 sets of remains were found along Ocean Parkway.
In the 12 years since the multi-agency investigation began, there have been five police commissioners and three district attorneys in Suffolk County, as well as the involvement of the New York Police Department, state police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Over 300 subpoenas were issued in the case — thousands of hours of work, that all lead up to Thursday night when a 59-year-old Massapequa Park architect, Rex Heuermann, was arrested in New York City.
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He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of three of the Gilgo Four, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, and Megan Waterman. No charges were filed in relation to the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
All of the women who worked in the sex trade that were found with their hands bound by duct tape or a belt buried on the desolate stretch of parkway. Three were found in camouflage burlap used in hunting, prosecutors said.
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No charges were filed in connection with the eight other victims who included other women, as well as a man and a young child.
Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison referred to Heuermann as a demon when addressing reporters at a news conference Friday afternoon.
Here's what we know about key evidence that investigators say led them to Heuermann in his bail application:
1. Pizza crust: The crust of a pizza tossed into a Manhattan garbage near his consulting firm in Manhattan helped provide DNA that matched male hair found on Waterman.
2. Burner phones: Cellphone records were used to tie burner cellphones used to arrange meetings with three of the four victims, the taunting calls made to a relative of Barthelemy, a call made by a detective to Barthelemy’s cellphone while looking into her disappearance, and calls checking voicemail on Brainard-Barnes’ cellphone after her disappearance.
The phones were pinged to Manhattan near his job and Massapequa Park.
On the night that Barthelemy disappeared, one of the burners was traced from Massapequa Park to midtown Manhattan, and her phone from midtown Manhattan to Freeport. Her cellphone was later used to make a taunting call to Barthelemy's sister, with the caller admitting that they sexually assaulted and killed her.
The cell phone of Waterman, who was last seen alive at a Hauppauge hotel, was contacted by the burner phone and then her phone was used to access her voicemail in Massapequa Park.
The burner phone was traced to near Costello's home and Massapequa Park.
3. First-generation Chevrolet Avalanche: One witness who is believed to have seen Heuermann told police how Costello had tricked him out of money and that they saw him get into a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche, which was later traced to him by its car registration. Heuermann is believed to have picked up Costello the second and final time in the Chevy.
4. Google searches: Heuermann used the search engine obsessively. He searched for sadomasochistic pornography involving women and young girls. The porn centered on rape and other forms of violence. His searches were not limited to that topic. He also searched for the victims' families and for more information in news articles, documentaries, and podcasts on the Gilgo case.
5. Family trip: The absence of his family from New York during the disappearances of three victims.
6. His wife's hair: Heuermann's wife's DNA from her hair cannot be excluded from hair found on Waterman and Costello, though believed transferred by his clothing.
7. Selfies: Photographs of himself that he took to solicit sexual favors were linked to a fictitious email account and the burner phone.
8. Video Surveillance: Images from a store in Manhattan showed Heuermann purchasing cards for more time on the burner phone.
The first piece of evidence in connection with the Gilgo Beach case released by police in 2020, was a photograph of a black belt embossed belt with 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch letters, "HM" or "WH."
Last year, Suffolk police released videotape evidence of victim Megan Waterman, 22, and 911 audio of Shannan Gilbert from the night she disappeared, in hopes of enlisting the public’s assistance in solving the murders.
On May 5, police released more information about the Gilgo Four.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Allen Bode wrote that his request for no bail was based on "the serious, heinous nature of these serial murders," as well as "the planning and forethought that went into these crimes, the strength of the people’s case, the length of incarceration the defendant faces upon conviction, and the extended period of time that Heuermann was able to avoid apprehension. "
Heuermann's "recent searches for sadistic materials, child pornography, images of the victims and their relatives, counter-surveillance conducted online as to the criminal investigation, his use of fictitious names, burner email and cellphone accounts, and his access to and history of possessing firearms" also were taken into consideration.
"The only means to ensure defendant Rex A. Heuermann’s return to court is to remand him without bail," Bode wrote.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty to murder charges in connection with the deaths of Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello on Friday, and will be held in detention pending the outcome of his case.
His attorney, Michael Brown of Central Islip, told Patch that his client told him that he was innocent.
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