2 Years After Arrest, Accused Gilgo Beach Killer Back In Court Thursday For Critical DNA Hearings

LONG ISLAND, NY — Two years after the week he was first arrested, accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann is set to head to court again Thursday as a Frye hearing is set to continue — to determine if critical DNA evidence will be allowed in the trial.

Heuermann was first arrested on Thursday, July 13, 2023 in New York City and indicted the next day in Riverhead.

Thursday's hearing is slated to begin at 10 a.m. in Justice Timothy Mazzei’s courtroom in the Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex in Riverhead. The defense is expected to call their next expert witness for the ongoing Frye hearing.

Heuermann is expected to be present for the proceeding. The hearings began with witnesses for the prosecution.

After all witnesses have been brought forward and cross-examined, the judge will adjourn the case, to give time for the court will render a written decision regarding the admissibility of the DNA, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who is prosecuting the case, said. That ruling will come at a later, as-yet unknown date.

Regarding the Frye hearing, Heuermann's attorney Michael Brown, speaking with the media in past months, has maintained that he did not believe the nuclear DNA evidence put forth by the prosecution was "science" and said it has not been accepted in criminal cases across the nation except for once in Idaho, where, he said, there were "lesser standards" than in New York State.

He also said the company in California that produced that DNA does not have a permit to enter evidence into proceedings, in the State of New York.

"If we were not confident, we would not have used" the evidence, Tierney said. "We're all intelligent people. I think we all live in the real world. We know DNA technology is used in a whole host of medical sciences. It's far from unproven; quite the opposite. So this is an application of a very reliable and well-used science that we have to litigate. We feel confident in it."

Brown also, when asked if he would concede that DNA science had advanced, said he would, but because it has not been accepted in New York or across the United States, he does not believe it should be used when it could "take someone's liberty away. This is not acceptable science that meets the standard in New York."

When asked how Heuermann felt about the Frye hearing, Brown said: "Rex wants to move forward with this case. He wants this case to progress."

Heuermann has been charged in the deaths of seven women: In July 2023, Heuermann was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder charges and three counts of second-degree murder charges in the deaths of sex workers Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway in 2010.

Heuermann was also charged with the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. New DNA evidence helped connect Heuermann to all four of the deaths, said Tierney, who is prosecuting the case.

In June of last year, Heuermann was slapped with new second-degree murder charges in the deaths of two additional women, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla. In December, Heuermann was charged with the death of a seventh victim, Valerie Mack.

A total of 11 sets of remains were found in the Gilgo Beach murders, which rocked Long Island. The remains included that of a toddler and an Asian male.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all charges.