Accused Gilgo Killer Back In Court Tuesday For Critical DNA Hearing

RIVERHEAD, NY — A Frye hearing — held to determine the admissibility of nuclear DNA evidence in the trial involving accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann — is set to continue Tuesday.

The Frye hearing will continue at 10 a.m. in Justice Timothy Mazzei’s courtroom in the Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex in Riverhead.

During past proceedings, Mazzei has said that on Tuesday, Astrea Forensics co-founder Richard Green is set to testify. Defense attorney Michael Brown has repeatedly questioned whether the nuclear DNA evidence put forth by Astrea should be admissible in the proceedings.

Witnesses so far have included Dr. Kelly Harris, a genome science professor and Nicole Novroski, a forensic genetics expert.

After all witnesses have been brought forward and cross-examined, the court will render a decision regarding the admissibility of the DNA, he said.

Regarding the Frye hearing, Brown, speaking with the media, has said multiple times that he did not believe the nuclear DNA evidence put forth by the prosecution and produced by Astrea 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 that Astrea, the California company 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."

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

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.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 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 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 to all charges.