An architect charged in a string of slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings was accused Tuesday in the death of a fourth woman, a Connecticut mother of two who vanished in 2007 and whose remains were found more than three years later along a coastal highway in New York.
Quick Read
- Architect Charged in Gilgo Beach Killings: Rex Heuermann has been accused in the Gilgo Beach slayings, specifically charged with the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
- Previous Charges: Heuermann was previously arrested and charged with the killings of three other women: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello. He denied these charges.
- Victim Details: Brainard-Barnes, a mother of two and former casino dealer, disappeared in 2007. Her remains were found in 2010 along a highway in New York.
- Court Proceedings: In his latest court appearance, Heuermann wore a dark suit and remained silent. He is being held without bail, with the next court date set for February 6.
- Investigation Details: The victims were all linked to sex work and their remains were found along a stretch of parkway in the Gilgo Beach area. Additional remains were found in the area, but Heuermann is not believed to be responsible for all the deaths.
- Investigative Breakthrough: A tip about a Chevy Avalanche pickup led to Heuermann. His DNA matched evidence from the crime scenes, and other evidence, such as burner cellphones, linked him to the victims.
- Search of Heuermann’s Home: After his arrest, investigators thoroughly searched his home, including excavating the yard and analyzing various items for evidence.
The Associated Press has the story:
Suspect in Long Island’s Gilgo Beach serial killings is charged with death of a 4th woman
Newslooks- RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) —
An architect charged in a string of slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings was accused Tuesday in the death of a fourth woman, a Connecticut mother of two who vanished in 2007 and whose remains were found more than three years later along a coastal highway in New York.
Rex Heuermann was formally charged in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, months after having been labeled the prime suspect in her death when he was arrested in July in the deaths of three other women.
In court, Heuermann wore a dark suit and did not say anything during the proceedings. He will continue to be held without bail. The judge set the next court date for Feb. 6.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney and other law enforcement officials planned a news conference following Tuesday’s court hearing.
Brainard-Barnes, 25, who was once employed as a dealer at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, left her hometown of Norwich, Connecticut, on July 9, 2007, and headed to Manhattan for sex work, with plans to return the following day, according to friends who became concerned when she uncharacteristically stopped using her phone.
She never came back.
Heuermann was arrested July 14 and charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, three women who authorities say also were sex workers. Heuermann’s lawyer said he has denied committing the crimes. He previously pleaded not guilty to killing Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello.
Brainard-Barnes was the first of the four women to disappear. Their remains were found along the same quarter-mile (400-meter) stretch of parkway in the Gilgo Beach area of Jones Beach Island in 2010. Additional searching turned up the remains of six more adults and a toddler who was the child of one of the victims.
Police concluded that an 11th person found dead in a tidal marsh on the same barrier island accidentally drowned.
Investigators have said Heuermann, who lived in Massapequa Park across the bay from where the bodies were found, was probably not responsible for all the deaths. Some of the victims disappeared in the mid 1990s.
Investigators zeroed in on Heuermann when a new task force ran an old tip about a Chevy Avalanche pickup through a vehicle records database. A hit came back identifying one of those make and models belonging to Heuermann, who lived in a neighborhood police had been focusing on because of cellphone location data and call records, authorities said.
With the tip breathing new life into the investigation, authorities charted the calls and travels of multiple cellphones, picked apart email aliases, delved into search histories and collected discarded bottles — and even a pizza crust — for advanced DNA testing, according to court papers. Detectives said Heuermann’s DNA on the pizza crust matched a hair found on a restraint used in the killings.
Police said other evidence linked Heuermann to the victims, including burner cellphones used to arrange meetings with the slain women.
After the arrest, investigators spent nearly two weeks combing through Heuermann’s home, including digging up the yard, dismantling a porch and a greenhouse and removing many contents of the house for testing.
