Gilgo Beach Murders: Serial Murder Suspect Identified

NEW YORK — A Long Island architect has been charged with the murder of three of his 11 victims. A series of long-unsolved murders Known as the Gilgo Beach Murders.

Rex Heuermann, 59, has lived across the bay where the bodies were found for decades. He has been charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of three victims: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Authorities say he is also the “prime suspect” in another murder.

Heuermann was taken into custody in Massapequa late Thursday and was seen near his home Friday as investigators searched it. He is due to be arraigned in Riverhead State Court on Friday afternoon.

A message was left with his attorney for comment. On Friday, voice and email messages were left at Mr. Heuermann’s Manhattan office and a number that may have been addressed to his home or family.

Suffolk County prosecutors attributed Houermann’s recent searches to “the heinous nature of these serial killings” as well as sadistic material, including sexually exploitative images of children and photographs of victims and their relatives. , seeking detention without bail.

“This day has been long overdue and I hope it will bring peace to our communities and families, the peace we’ve been waiting for for so long,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. , New York Governor Kathy Hochul said during an unrelated appearance on the show “Long.” small island.

The news of the arrest came as a shock to some relatives who had waited years for the case to end. One victim’s sister said in a text message that her family wasn’t ready to speak publicly because they “didn’t have a chance to really process the news today.”

Heuermann has identified both Massapequa Park, just north of South Oyster Bay, and Gilgo Beach, where skeletal remains were found along a remote seafront highway in 2010 and 2011. I live on a known sandy beach. Investigators have been baffled by the death for years. Most of the victims were young women who were sex workers.

The incident received a great deal of public attention. The mystery made national headlines for years, and the unsolved murder case was the subject of the 2020 Netflix movie Lost Girls.

With several changes in police leadership, figuring out who killed them and why has plagued many seasoned homicide detectives. Last year, an interagency task force was formed with investigators from the FBI, state and local police to try to solve the case.

Law enforcement officers gathered early Friday morning at a small red house in the suburbs about 40 miles (64 km) east of midtown Manhattan. Dozens of residents, along with police and media, watched six agents in hazmat suits being handed out outside a dilapidated porch with a two-by-four roof.

Neighbors said the home belonged to a long-hidden family, who said the dilapidated property looked out of place among the single-family homes and manicured lawns in the cramped community.

“This house sticks out like a thumb. It was overgrown with shrubs and there was always wood in front of the house,” said Gabriela Ribaldi, a 24-year-old teacher. “It was very creepy. I don’t want my kids to go there.”

Another neighbor, Barry Auslander, said the man who lived in the house wore a suit and tie and had a briefcase and took the train to New York City every morning.

“It was strange. He looked like a businessman,” said Auslander. “But his house is a dump.”

Mr. Heuermann, who is married with two children, is a chartered architect for a small Manhattan-based firm that builds storefronts and other renovations for major retail stores, offices and apartments, according to its website. It is said that there is

Last year, Long Island law enforcement formed the Gilgo Beach Task Force, signaling a renewed commitment by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison to solve the murder.

“We’re happy to see the police finally moving aggressively to achieve something. Let’s see what happens,” said Shannan, the two women whose bodies were found. Gilbert and Jessica Taylor’s family attorney, John Ray, said:

Gilbert’s disappearance in 2010 triggered a search that uncovered a larger mystery. The 24-year-old sex worker disappeared into a swamp after leaving her client’s home and walking out of the oceanfront community of Oak Beach.

Months later, police officers and their dog’s corpse found another woman’s body while searching for her body in the bushes along nearby Ocean Parkway. Within days, three more bodies were found, all within walking distance of each other.

By the spring of 2011, that number had grown to ten sets of bodies: eight women, one man, and one infant. Some were later linked to mutilated body parts found elsewhere on Long Island, with mysterious crime scenes stretching from parks near the New York City borders to the resort community of Fire Island to the Far East of Long Island. became.

Gilbert’s body was found in December 2011, about five kilometers east of where the other 10 were found.

Investigators have said several times over the years about the bodies near Gilgo Beach that it is unlikely that one person killed all the victims.

Balsamo reports from Washington. Associated Press contributors include Jennifer Peltz of New York City and Sarah Brumfield of Silver Spring, Maryland.