Gilgo Case Update: Hearing Date Set To Determine DNA Admissibility

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Frye hearing to determine the admissibility of nuclear DNA evidence in the trial involving accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann has been scheduled for Friday, March 28.

Judge Timothy Mazzei said after discussion in chambers Wednesday, it was determined that the Frye hearing would begin with one witness on March 28; the prosecution said that witness will have a Powerpoint presentation.

Next, Mazzei said, the prosecution will bring remaining witnesses and the defense will have their own.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said the dates regarding witnesses availability need to "mesh" with the availability of the court. Both sides, he said, have proposed expert witnesses from around the country.

"It's going to take time and there will be adjournments more to do with scheduling than volume," he said.

On the first day, there will be one witness, who has not yet been identified, and the defense will then cross-examine that witness, Tierney said. The prosecution has four witnesses so far, he said.

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

The defense filed a motion to sever the cases, the prosecution filed a motion in opposition, and then, the defense also filed a reply to the DA's affirmation in opposition to sever the cases, which has been submitted.

The DA said he anticipates the judge may make a decision on the issue of severing the cases shortly.

"We felt there were good grounds to join the case. We think the case should be tried as one case, for a whole host of reasons," the DA said.

Tierney said the reasons include not only expense — it would cost less to have one trial rather than the five the defense requested, he said —but also, he added, the prosecution believes that Heuermann "had specific intent to locate, lure, obtain control over, and kill multiple victims. So the evidence would be the same," he said.

Defense attorney Michael Brown, however, said on Wednesday that he believes the evidence is "cumulative in nature and that some of the allegations have nothing to do with the other allegations." If there is a "piling on of evidence, the danger is that a jury will consider unrelated charges to establish guilt. Each charge must fall or rise on its own," he said. "You never want to use evidence that's unrelated, which would prejudice the jury's determination."

On Wednesday, Tierney said also that the Department of Justice has now freed up $13 million in Suffolk County's forfeiture money, which will be used to pay for equipment, overtime, and other expenses in the case.

Regarding the Frye hearing, Brown, speaking with the media, once again said 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."

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.