'Come Hell Or High Water': Judge Firmly Sets Trial Start Timeline For Accused Gilgo Beach Serial Killer

LONG ISLAND, NY — Accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann appeared in court on Tuesday as the defense filed an 175-page explosive omnibus motion that asked that one murder charge be dropped — and that the possibility of another potential killer be investigated.

Judge Timothy Mazzei said the omnibus motion was discussed in chambers; the prosecution was given until March 3 to answer the motion and Heuermann will not be in court on that date. The defense will have until March 17 to respond; Heuermann will appear in court that day and a discussion will be held on scheduling as well as any hearings, if necessary, the judge said.

And, Mazzei continued: "Make it clear: The trial will begin right after Labor Day — come hell or high water."

Speaking to the media after the court appearance, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who is prosecuting the case, said, when asked if ready for the trial to begin after Labor Day: "We have no choice. And we are ready. But the judge was very explicit with that and we will obviously comply with that request."

When asked about the defense's motion to seek dismissal of the murder charge regarding the death of Sandra Costilla, Tierney said he believes the prosecution is "on good footing, and certainly, we will oppose that, as we will probably oppose the vast majority of the motions."

Some of the issues raised in the motions, Tierney said, include controverting the search warrants; seeking discovery on the John Bittrolff file; controverting an identification made by a witness; statements made by Heuermann when he was arrested; issues regarding the DNA evidence and abandonment samples, including the pizza crust, from which DNA was taken.

Regarding Bittrolff, Tierney said his position has long been that Bittrolff was "not tied" to Costilla's death.

Also at issue in the motion is a witness who said, when shown Heuermann's photo, that it was "100,000 percent," him.

Tierney also said that there was "absolutely no" plea deal on the table.

Also speaking with the media, Michael Brown, Heuermann's defense attorney, and attorney Danielle Coysh, who was integral in crafting the omnibus motion, spoke about the issues of suppression. The motions challenges 20 search warrants, she said.

In addition, Coysh said, the motion addresses the "novel" issue of taking DNA from a pizza crust in the garbage can. Individuals abandon garbage all the time, she said. "Rex Heuermann may have abandoned his pizza crust — but not all that personal information in his DNA,"" she said. "DNA tells us everything about us — who we are, what we are, and what we are going to become. It's an incredible amount of private information." To that end, she said, the defense has asked the court to expand the 4th Amendment protections to cover DNA. "The science is outpacing the courts," she said. "We're not aware of anyone doing this in New York. Everyone has the right to privacy in their genetic makeup."

She also explained that the defense had moved to dismiss the Costilla charge because Heuermann had been indicted because of "a single hair on a shirt," she said; the shirt was on the outer shirt out of two shirts that she was wearing, she added.

The defense also asked why they wanted to suppress Heuermann's statements when arrested. According to the motion, he said, "What is this about?" "It's a mistake." "What did I do."

Brown said the statements were, for the most part, "self-serving" in terms of Heuermann but he countered that the defense might want to introduce those statements themselves. "We're entitled to a hearing," he said.

And, when asked about the judge saying the trial would begin by Labor Day, Brown said the defense was prepared for the trial, despite the fact that the magnitude of the case had not been seen "in New York or across the country."

When asked how the arrest of Andrew Dykes would impact the defense, Brown responded.

In December, a Florida man and 20-year Army veteran was arraigned on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the 1997 killing of Tanya Denise Jackson, known as "Peaches" — and long believed to have been a possible victim of the Gilgo Beach serial killer, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

Andrew Dykes was arrested at his home on December 3; he was linked to the killing through DNA evidence, Donnelly said.

"It's going to play into the defense," Brown said. "Because although he has not been accused, let's call it what it is — every time you see the big map of where the Gilgo Beach victims were found, you see Peaches and her child, along with the unidentified Asian male — and it goes back to the saying, 'Where there's smoke there's fire.'"

Coysh, he said, "hit upon an important point," when talking about the Costilla case, the single strand of hair. "Each case has to stand or fall on its own — and that was insufficient" evidence, he said.

The Dykes arrest was "important, because law enforcement have all insinuated that Mr. Heuermann was responsible for all of this — and now we find out that Mr. Dykes has been indicted for that other crime."

Similarly, he said, the John Bittrolff case is "another perfect example of what we are talking about in the motion," Brown said.

Former prosecutor Robert Biancavilla made a statement saying, in past years, that the "handiwork of Mr. Bittrolff was probably responsible for the murder of Ms. Costilla," Brown said.

According to the New York Post, in November, DNA testing determined that Heuermann was not tied to the 1994 death of Colleen McNamee," Bittrolff's victim, "who was beaten, strangled and dumped near the William Floyd Parkway in Shirley."

Heuermann had never been charged with her slaying; according to the Post, Bittrolff attempted to tie Heuermann with the death but the DNA cleared Heuermann of that death.

On Tuesday, Brown said: "We're entitled to the prosecution's files" on Bittrolff, "because we think that Mr. Bittrolff may be responsible for some of these," murders. The "Sandra Costilla murder," Brown said, "is similar in nature to how the bodies" in the Bittrolff case were found.

The motion, filed Monday by the defense, asks for court inspection of grand jury minutes; an order dismissing Count 10, involving victim Sandra Costilla on the grounds that the "evidence before the grand jury was not legally sufficient to establish the offense charged or any lesser included offense and that the integrity of the grand jury was impaired so as to warrant dismissal."

The motion also asks that the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office should make available to the defense all discovery pertaining to the prosecution of John Bittrolff, "as well as any and all reports documenting the investigation by law enforcement into the connection between Mr. Bittrolff and the murders of any of the victims attributed to attributed to the person colloquially referred to ask the Long Island Serial Killer within 30 days of this court directing disclosure."

Also according to the omnibus motions, the defense has asked that any evidence gleaned from an unlawful search be deemed inadmissible or that a hearing be held for the purpose of making findings of fact necessary to decide instant application.

In addition, the omnibus motions ask that any evidence consisting of statements made by Heuermann to a public servant or agents thereof "as such statements were obtained in violation of Heuermann's rights as protected by United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New York, for the purpose of making the findings of fact necessary to decide the instant application."

In the motion, it was recorded that Heuermann, upon arrest, asked about his $6,000 watch. When told it was with his personal property, the motion said, Heuermann responded, "I guess I won't be needing that."

The omnibus motions also ask for suppression at trial of the introduction of "testimony concerning an observation" of Heuermann "either at the time and place of the commission of the offense, or upon some other occasion relevant to the case as such observation was unduly suggestive; and to suppress at trial any testimony regarding an in-court identification such as such testimony is tainted by the unduly suggestive out-of-court observation" or that, as an alternative, a hearing be held.

The motion also asks for all evidence favorable to Heuermann to be handed over by the prosecution.
Heuermann will be present in court Monday, the DA's office said.

In September, despite another attempt by the defense attorney for Heuermann to render critical DNA evidence inadmissible at trial — the judge ruled for a second time to allow the DNA.

And in a second defeat for defense attorney Michael Brown, Judge Timothy Mazzei denied a motion to sever the cases, paving the way for only a single trial.

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

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.