A next-door neighbour of the Gilgo Beach murders suspect claims he heard Rex Heuermann digging in his garden in the early hours of the morning and that he would often burn garbage.
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 Mr Heuermann in Massapequa Park, where he lived with his wife — who has just filed for divorce — and two adult children.
Mr Heuermann was arrested and charged with the murder of three of four women — Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello — whose bodies were found on the Long Island beach in 2010.
Police 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. They have also said that they believe at least one victim was killed at the house.
Dominick Cancellieri, who lived next to the Heuermanns for 15 years, told Chris Cuomo on NewsNation that “every few weeks, I would smell garbage burning at his house”, and one night he heard Mr Heuermann digging in his backyard in the early hours of the morning.
“When I was around 18 or 19 years old, I was watching TV in my basement,” he said, “I went outside at about one or two in the morning and heard digging in the backyard next door.
“Now I really wanted to go and check out what it was and look through the fence but something stopped me from doing it,” he added.
“I was nervous. I wasn’t too sure what I was doing at the time. But now, with everything coming to fruition, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest bit,” Mr Cancellieri said.
He also recalled a confrontation over a parking space when Mr Heuermann parked a truck halfway across his driveway.
“I went out of my car and told him he had to move his car,” Mr Cancellieri added that his neighbour “got a little loud, and I got a little loud back, and he ended up moving his car”.
“Every incident, even the way he looked, made me think this guy is a weirdo, and with everything that’s come up this all makes sense to me now.”
Another longtime neighbour, Etienne Devilliers, has revealed that he had “bizarre and strange” interactions with Mr Heuermann. The one that jumps out to him the most, Mr Devilliers recalled on Fox & Friends, was the time nearly three decades ago when he confronted the disgraced architect for allegedly leering over the fence as his wife sunbathed.
“My wife would sunbathe in the backyard occasionally ... but he would stand over the fence because he was a tall guy. … He would constantly say he was 6’4’’, 250 pounds, and he would try to start conversations with her,” Mr Devilliers recounted. “My wife finally told me a few times that she was getting creeped out a bit by him.”
Mr Devilliers said that he had a heated conversation with the accused serial killer, but the latter ultimately stopped trying to make conversation with his wife.
Mr Heuermann had made a similar impression on other neighbours, Mr Devilliers claimed on Fox & Friends.
“People would stay away from his house. I mean, they would literally cross the street because the house was such a mess,” he said. “He tried to buddy up because he wanted some friends. Nobody in the neighbourhood ever talked to the guy.
“The house was a mess, but he stayed to himself, pretty much. So, he asked me to play cards and tried to buddy up a couple of times, but I kind of stayed away from him.”
But despite his “strange” interactions with Mr Heuermann, Mr Devilliers said he wasn’t expecting his neighbour to be linked to crimes of such a violent nature. Even during that confrontation so many years ago, Mr Devilliers said, Mr Heuermann did not come off as aggressive.
Mr Devilliers said he felt very sorry for Mr Heuermann’s family, describing the suspect’s daughter as a “nice young girl” and his stepson as a “sweet kid.”
He also claims he was interviewed by detectives, who confided in him that Mr Heuermann had kept a metal safe in his basement in which he stored his guns.
A trove of 200 to 300 firearms was seized from the suspect’s home located just a 20-minute drive from Gilgo Beach where the killer dumped the bodies of his victims.
Mr Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all the murder charges against him.
