Arrest of suspect in Gilgo Beach murders draws national media to Riverhead

A maelstrom of local and national media descended on Riverhead Friday afternoon to witness the arraignment of a suspect charged in connection with the notorious Gilgo Beach murders, a Long Island mystery that has vexed investigators since the first of nearly a dozen bodies was discovered in 2010.

Longtime Massapequa Park resident Rex A. Heuermann, 59, was charged with the murders of three sex workers whose bodies were discovered along Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach in December, 2010.

He was arraigned on six murders counts: three first degree and three second degree murder charges, and remanded without bail.

With scores of reporters and television producers lined up outside the second floor Suffolk County Criminal courtroom, somber family members of the victims, detectives and other investigators involved in the massive, 13-year investigation were allowed to file into the courtroom first and take seats in the front rows and in the jury box.

Collectively known as the “Gilgo Beach murders,” investigators have discovered the remains of ten suspected victims of crimes which authorities believe may be related — eight women, an Asian male, and a female toddler.

Mr. Heuermann was charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Officials said he is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

Partial remains of another of the victims, Jessica Taylor, were discovered in Manorville in 2003.

With 20 court officers surrounding the galley filled to capacity with reporters, police and prosecutors, Mr. Heuermann was led into the courtroom in handcuffs, wearing tan pants and a light-green, collared shirt. He showed no expression as he stood facing State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro and his attorney entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf to all six murder counts.

“Based on the serious, heinous nature of these serial murders, the planning and forethought that went into these crimes, the strength of the People’s case, the length of incarceration the defendant faces upon conviction, the extended period of time that this defendant was able to avoid apprehension, his recent searches for sadistic materials, child pornography, images of the victims and their relatives, counter surveillance conducted online as to the criminal investigation, his use of fictitious names, burner email and cell phone accounts, and his access to and history of possessing firearms, the only means to ensure [the defendant’s] return to court is remand him without bail,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in court, reading from a bail application submitted by his office.

Mr. Tierney, who personally handled the arraignment, told the judge that prior to his arrest Mr. Heuermann was actively searching for child pornography online and continuing to solicit sex workers using a total of seven, prepaid “burner” phones and “obsessively” scouring the internet from these devices for information about the investigation. Mr. Heuermann was carrying one of these burner phones when he was arrested, officials said.

Calls from the burner phones used to contact the three victims were picked up by cell towers surrounding the Massapequa Park neighborhood where Mr. Heuermann lived with his wife and children, and the Manhattan office where he worked as an architect, Mr. Tierney said. Travel records for the suspect’s family members showed that they were out of state at the time of the three murders, leaving Mr. Heuermann home alone, according to the district attorney.

In March, 2022, investigators were able to match witness descriptions of a vehicle present prior to the murder of Ms. Costello to a “first generation” Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck registered to the suspect in South Carolina, Mr. Tierney said at a press conference after the arraignment. From that point until his arrest Thursday evening, Mr. Heuermann was under constant surveillance, the prosecutor said.  

Outside the courthouse, Mr. Heuermann’s attorney, Michael J. Brown, told reporters, “I can tell you what he did say as he was in tears was, ‘I didn’t do this.’ Everyone is presumed innocent in our country.”

Asked about the strength of the district attorney’s case, Mr. Brown said, “to me it was very circumstantial.”