Investigators in Long Island, New York, said they were looking for “trace evidence, blood, DNA” and “trophies” that could further tie the suspect, Rex Heuermann, to the murders of three women and possibly other victims in the Gilgo Beach area.
“Normally people keep mementoes of significant times in their life, so that’s what we’re looking for,” the Suffolk county district attorney, Ray Tierney, told Newsday, describing as “painstaking” the search of Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park, storage lockers and vehicle.
Tierney spoke after police confirmed they were looking into a possible connection between the Long Island murders and unsolved killings including those of four women near Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2006, two years before the Gilgo Beach murders are thought to have begun.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Authorities have said he is the “prime suspect” in the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
A neighbor who lived next door to Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect, for 15 years described strange behavior including burning garbage, digging holes in the backyard and fighting over a parking spot.
“It seemed to be like once every few weeks, I would smell garbage burning at his house,” Dominick Cancellieri told Newsnation, also describing hearing digging in Heuermann’s backyard.
“I really wanted to go and check out what it was and look through the fence, but something stopped myself from doing it,” Cancellieri said. “Now, with everything coming to fruition, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest bit.”
On Wednesday, Long Island police received a dark green 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche once owned by Heuermann from South Carolina, where Heuermann also owns a home. According to a search warrant, police think the vehicle could contain evidence of murder and patronising a person for prostitution and conspiracy.
“Telephones, articles of clothing, jewelry, identification, notebooks, ledgers, Bibles, personal effects and/or photographs or recordings depicting the victims,” could be found, the warrant said.
Items listed included “cellular phones, condoms, cut distal ends of black leather belts, devices utilized to stamp letters onto leather goods such as belts, as well as knives, scissors, cutting instruments, Bounty paper towels” and burlap used to camouflage bodies.
Three years ago, Suffolk police released images of a black leather belt with a buckle stamped “WH” or “HM” that was found close to one of the Gilgo Beach victims.
The expansion of the investigation was confirmed on Thursday by Suffolk county investigators. A previous police chief, Geraldine Hart, said in 2020 investigators had found no link between the Gilgo Beach murders and the deaths of four women whose bodies were found in a watery ditch along “Black Horse Pike”.
A spokesperson for the Atlantic county prosecutors office said: “Our office continues to investigate the 2006 Black Horse Pike homicides as we do all unresolved matters, and we follow all leads. Since this remains an open investigation, we cannot comment further due to its potential to compromise the investigation. We have no comment on the Gilgo Beach investigation.”
The Suffolk county police commissioner, Rodney Harrison, told ABC investigators had taken a closer look at the Black Horse Pike homicides, to “see if it was similar to the Gilgo Beach murders”.
“What I’m being told is it’s not a connection but we want to revisit that investigation as well,” he said.
