Gilgo Beach murders: Rex Heuermann’s potential ties to Atlantic City probed as sister-in-law speaks out

Follow the latest news on the Long Island serial killer case as police continue to search for evidence implicating the Manhattan architect over string of escort deaths

Gilgo Beach: Police remove evidence from home of Long Island serial killer suspect

Law enforcement in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is investigating potential ties between local unsolved cases and Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told ABC News that his task force is looking into possible connections between Mr Heuermann and the murders of four female sex workers whose bodies were found in a ditch just over the Atlantic City border in 2006.

“Shame on us if we don’t look into Las Vegas, South Carolina, even Atlantic City, we’ve got to make sure if anyone has any information,” Mr Harrison said.

It comes amid comments from Mr Heuermann’s sister-in-law that she is in complete disbelief following his arrest over the deaths of Amber Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy.

“I vacillate between desperately wanting my niece and nephew’s life returned to its previous state, intact, without a father accused of being a serial killer to being pleased and secure in knowing that someone is in custody,” Dr Johanna Ellerup told NBC News.

“My ego has great difficulty processing the idea that I looked Rex in the eye and was unable to discern any murderous intentions.”

Key points

• Investigators believe suspect Rex Heuermann killed victims in family home
• Suspect’s wife files for divorce from accused serial killer
• Gilgo Beach murder suspect’s company was hired for work at Trump Building
• Las Vegas and South Carolina police probe suspect’s possible ties to unsolved cases
• Evidence that led Long Island police to catch suspect
• Police ‘confident’ Heuermann will soon be charged with fourth murder

[21 July 2023 10:00 · Andrea Blanco]

Gilgo Beach murders suspect’s firm carried out work at Trump Building

The Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect’s architecture business was hired for a 2018 project at the Trump Building in New York City, according to unearthed records.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp and Andrea Blanco report:

[21 July 2023 11:00 · Andrea Blanco]

Officials are ‘confident’ that Mr Heuermann will soon be charged with the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes

Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann is now expected to be charged with a fourth murder – as tips and evidence pour in following his shock arrest last week.

The 59-year-old married father-of-two – who has lived on Long Island his entire life and runs an architecture firm in Manhattan – was arrested on 13 July and charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello.

He is also the prime suspect in the murder of a fourth woman Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was last seen alive in New York City in early June 2007.

All four women – known as the “Gilgo Beach Four” – worked as sex workers and vanished after going to meet clients.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said on Monday that officials are “confident” that Mr Heuermann will soon be charged with the murder of Brainard-Barnes.

“We feel we can prove these three murders,” Mr Tierney told CNN.

“We’re also confident that we’re going to be able to eventually charge that fourth murder.”

[21 July 2023 12:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Investigators believe suspect Rex Heuermann killed victims in family home

Law enforcement sources investigating the Long Island serial killings have told CNN and CBS that they believe at least one of the murders took place at the family home of suspect Rex Heuermann in Massapequa Park, where he lived with his wife - who has just filed for divorce - and two adult children.

They note that the disappearances of the victims coincide with periods when Heurmann’s family were out of town, which would have given the alleged killer a controlled environment in which to carry out his atrocities.

[21 July 2023 13:00 · Andrea Blanco]

South Carolina police probe potential ties between Rex Heuermann and teen who vanished in 2014

Aaliyah Hill, 18, was reported missing in 2014 in Rock Hill, South Carolina, near an area where Mr Heuermann bought a plot of land.

The Independent reports:

[21 July 2023 14:00 · Andrea Blanco]

‘Large doll in a glass case and portrait of a woman with a bruised face’ seized from Mr Heuermann’s home

Police carted more boxes of potential evidence Tuesday out of the Long Island home of Rex Heuermann, who has been charged with killing at least three women and leaving their remains alongside a remote stretch of beach highway.

Items pulled out of Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park in recent days have included more than 200 firearms, a large doll in a glass case, a large portrait of a woman with a bruised face and a filing cabinet, according to the Associated Press.

Investigators, some dressed in “crime lab” T-shirts and protective suits, were seen Tuesday carting away a desktop computer, a large picture frame, a mirror and many other household items.

It remains to be seen whether any of those items will help authorities build their case against Mr Heuermann, an architect who was charged with murdering three women and was said by a prosecutor to be a suspect in a fourth slaying.

Mr Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the crimes on Friday.

[21 July 2023 15:00 · Andrea Blanco]

‘They’re going through utter hell:’ BTK Killer’s daughter sympathises with Gilgo Beach suspect’s family

Kerri Rawson was just 26 when her father was unmasked in 2005 as the BTK predator who’d terrorised Kansas for more than three decades. Now a victim advocate and 45-year-old mother, she tells The Independent’s Sheila Flynn that she’s ‘heartbroken’ as another family comes to terms with a loved one’s arrest in the Long Island serial killer case.

[21 July 2023 16:00 · Andrea Blanco]

Manhattan architect, family man and accused serial killer: Who is Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann?

A Manhattan architect and father-of-two has been arrested in connection to one of the most infamous unsolved serial killer cases along the East Coast.

So who really is Rex Heuermann?

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:

[21 July 2023 17:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

‘Hundreds’ of true crime enthusiasts visit home of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann

True crime fans have clustered outside the modest Massapequa Park home in Long Island, New York, where alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann lived until his bombshell arrest last week.

Rex Heuermann, 59, was charged on 13 July with the murders of Amber Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy, who vanished between 2007 and 2010 before their bodies were found dumped in Gilgo Beach.

The suspect lived in Massapequa Park, Long Island, with his wife of 25 years, who has since filed for divorce, and two adult children. He also ran the architecture firm RH Consultants & Associates in Midtown Manhattan.

In the aftermath of the breakthrough arrest, hundreds of crime enthusiasts have gathered outside the suspect’s home, The New York Times reports.

“I couldn’t wait to see it. I’m so into this thing,” 51-year-old Long Island teacher Scarlett Fascetti, who made a 30-mile trip to see Mr Heuermann’s home, told the outlet.

Andrea Blanco has more.

[21 July 2023 18:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

More families await answers in Gilgo Beach killings – and the names of other victims

The victim names were there, finally, in black and white on charging documents, immortalised in the justice system as their alleged killer stood before a judge. Melissa Barthelemy. Amber Costello. Megan Waterman. They were names that had before been connected primarily to a cold case and a mystery – a mystery still unravelling – and their appearance on the court documents marked a step towards justice and, just maybe, some semblance of closure for families and investigators.

Long Island architect and married father-of-two Rex Heuermann, 59, was charged last Friday with three counts of first- and second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Ms Barthelemy, who went missing in 2009; Ms Costello, who vanished in June of the following year; and Ms Waterman, 22, who disappeared in September 2010.

Suffolk County district attorney Ray Tierney said this week he was “confident” that Mr Heuermann would also be charged with the murder of Maureen Brainard Barnes, 25, who went missing in 2007. Her body was discovered in December 2010 in the same vicinity and within the same week as the remains of the three other victims.

But there were other names not included in the court documents, and there are other families watching closely as the investigation progresses – wondering if their loved ones’ murders were at the hands of the alleged serial killer.

And there are other victims whose names are still unknown – other bodies found on Long Island that may or may not be linked to the same perpetrator. Their families may not even known they are dead.

Sheila Flynn has more.

[21 July 2023 19:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Ten deaths, two arrests and a person of interest: Multiple potential serial killers identified in one week

In 2019, the number of active serial killers in the US was in the single digits, according to crime researchers.

In the last week, US officials believe they may have located at least two different serial killers across New York and Texas, allegedly responsible for at least six deaths.

A third man is a person of interest in four deaths in Oregon.

Josh Marcus has this on the extraordinary developments of the last week.