Accused Gilgo Beach Killer's Lawyer Raises Possibility Of New Suspect

LONG ISLAND, NY— The attorney for accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann said that he'd requested records recently that he said could shed light on a possible new suspect — and provide insight into former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who he said had shown a "lack of cooperation" in the Gilgo investigation.

Also on Wednesday, the judge in the case said he'd like to see discovery completed by July.

Heuermann, the Massapequa Park man originally charged in three of the Gilgo Beach murders, was also charged with the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, in January. New DNA evidence helped connect Heuermann to all four of the deaths, said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who is prosecuting the case.

Heuermann was charged with second-degree murder, an A-1 violent felony, in the death of Brainard-Barnes on July 9, 2007.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty.

Last July, 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 also pleaded not guilty to those charges.

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.

Wearing a gray suit and staring straight ahead, Heuermann appeared before Judge Timothy Mazzei at the Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex in Riverhead.

Asa Ellerup, Heurmann's estranged wife, also appeared at court, wearing sunglasses and walking alongside her attorney Robert Macedonia.

At the appearance, the prosecution said they have continued to provide information to Michael Brown, Heuermann's attorney, including 388 complete leads, lab reports and more. On Friday, Brown asked the prosecution to focus on disclosure and that was provided Wednesday, the prosecution said , with additional leads to be provided going forward.

Mazzei said while he understands the "complexity and volume" of discovery, he'd like to get the discovery portion wrapped up by July so that Heuermann's trial can commence. Mazzei said some of the discovery Brown requested recently was thought to be "irrelevant" by the District Attorney's office.

Mazzei said Heuermann's next trial date was set for June 18. If subpoenas were needed by Brown, he said he would facilitate that.

Tierney said more discovery was turned over Wednesday. "It's voluminous," he said. "Today we provided a tremendous amount of discovery, including all the underlying DNA data from our DNA analysis in this case, our nuclear DNA analysis in this case— that took up an entire hard drive by itself."

When asked about the discovery deemed "irrelevant," Tierney said the prosecution is obligated under statute to provide "every single piece of paper that comes across our desk, which we will continue to do."

However, he said, federal agencies are exempt from the statute. He said Brown was specifically asking for information from the FBI. "I don't speak for the FBI. I'm going to let the FBI speak for itself. I don't control the FBI."

Discussing the leads, Tierney said the "tough part" is that phone calls are made and then there is a tremendous amount of work that's done behind the scenes "which we need to collect and provide to the defense, much of which is not necessarily already in our files —so we have to go out and get it."

Just since the last court date, Tierney said, there have been at least 15 disclosures; the prosecution has provided the defense with victim Maureen Brainard-Barnes' missing person's investigation and thousands of pages of documentation, including 7,000 pages with regard to "other persons of interest," and 12 terabytes on a hard drive with regard to nuclear DNA.

Digital evidence extractions came from about 422 digital devices, recovered from the locations associated with Heuermann, including phones, smart devices, Palm pilots and more.

When asked if it's "typical" for the discovery process to last a full year— Heuermann was arrested last July — Tierney said, "Is it typical for a case that's 12 years old and involves this much scrutiny? I would say yes. But this case sort of stands alone."

He added: "When you're talking about terabytes upon terabytes upon terabytes of information, it doesn't hapen overnight, it can't. It's impossible."

When asked if the DA's office is investigating the other women murdered, Tierney said the investigation was ongoing. "If the DA's office speaks about that, it will be through an indictment," he said.

Heuermann's attorney wants information on former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke

Speaking with the media after Heuermann's appearance, Brown explained what he'd asked for from the prosecution, including any FBI information on Burke's role in the Gilgo investigation.

Burke pleaded not guilty in September after being arrested and charged in August with public lewdness and indecent exposure, court records indicated. Burke was represented by Smithtown attorney James O'Rourke; O'Rourke could not immediately be reached for comment.

Earlier, two charges were dropped against Burke, who was arrested on August 22 and initially accused of soliciting a male undercover officer, Suffolk County officials said.

Burke also served prison time for assaulting a man arrested for stealing his duffel bag — which contained porn and sex toys.

In August, the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, upheld the convictions of the former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and his former principal Deputy Christopher McPartland, federal officials said. In August, 2021, Spota, 81, and McPartland, found guilty of obstruction by a jury in 2019— for covering up an incident during which a man was beaten after he stole a duffel bag from Burke filled with sex toys and pornography — were each sentenced to five years in prison, federal officials said.

Spota and McPartland were represented by attorneys Alan Vinegrad and Larry Krantz; neither immediately responded to a request for comment.

Speaking with the media, Brown said, "I'm looking forward to seeing those records in regard to Chief Burke."

A new suspect?

Brown said last week, his team demanded information about "this other suspect, with the initials 'WH'," he said. "We hadn't received anything up to that point so we sent a letter saying that we really want this information, it's really vital to the defense." The information requested was provided Wednesday, he said. "We're very anxious to look at that documentation," Brown said.

All Brown said about the possible new suspect was that they, too, were from Massapequa Park.

Brown also said despite the judge's request that discovery be complete by July, the prosecution has the case since 2010 and made an arrest in 2023; he has had the case since July of 2023.

"I'm not going to be rushed to go to trial," Brown said. "Rex needs the ability to have effective and competent counsel to defend this case. We want to look through everything."

He added that he did think the prosecution was acting in "good faith" in providing the documentation. "I'm sure they are doing their best," Brown said.

Brown said his client was "doing his best," in an isolated cell with no access to other inmates. "He wants to go to trial," he said. "He maintains from the beginning, and still maintains, that he is not the guy. He's said that over and over. He wants to get to trial yesterday. But he's being patient; he understands what we have to do and he's doing the best he can."

It's not the first time Brown has introduced the idea of another suspect: In November, Brown said, in fact, that under former Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini, another man was a suspect slated for possible arrest. "His name is not Rex Heuermann," he said, declining to name the individual.

In 202o, for the first time, police released what they said was a "significant piece of evidence," in the Gilgo Beach murders — a black belt embossed with the letters "HM" or "WH." The letters were 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. The belt was found at the initial stages of the investigation at a crime scene and is believed to have been handled by the suspect and did not belong to the victims, then- Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said at a press conference at the time.

When asked about Brown's request for information on Burke, the DA's office said they could not comment on pending litigation. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine's office said he had no comment. The FBI declined comment. Burke's attorney James O'Rourke did not immediately return a request for comment.