New DNA evidence has tied Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann to a discarded pizza crust – and, in turn, one of the three women he is accused of murdering.
The 59-year-old architect and married father-of-two appeared in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Wednesday morning for a pre-trial conference in the case that has rocked Long Island for more than a decade.
Sporting a new shorter haircut, the suspected killer looked on as prosecutors unveiled further damning evidence linking him to the murders since his arrest in July.
A cheek swab had been taken from Mr Heuermann following a court order last month.
Now, prosecutors say that this DNA sample matches DNA found on a discarded pizza crust – and the body of Megan Waterman.
Waterman was 22 years old when she was last seen alive in the early hours of 6 June 2010.
She had been working as a sex worker advertising on Craigslist and Backpage and was seen leaving a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge to meet a client.
She was reported missing two days later.
Her body was found on 13 December 2010 during a search that uncovered the remains of 11 bodies along the Long Island shores.
According to court documents released following Mr Heuermann’s 13 July arrest, prosecutors said that a male hair had been found on the burlap used to wrap Waterman’s body before she was dumped along Gilgo Beach.
Rex Heuermann appears with his lawyer Michael J. Brown, left, at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead— (AP)
When the hair was first retrieved in 2010, it was unsuitable for DNA analysis, according to the court documents.
But that hair was kept safely locked away and was submitted for analysis in 2020, with a DNA profile coming back then.
After investigators zeroed in on Mr Heuermann as a possible suspect in the killings, they sought his DNA to compare the samples.
This January, a surveillance team watching the suspect saw him chuck a pizza box into a trash can close to the office of his architecture firm in Midtown Manhattan.
They seized the box and found a leftover pizza crust inside, which was tested for DNA.
Forensic testing then proved that the DNA on the pizza crust was a match to the hair found on Waterman’s body.
Following his arrest, prosecutors sought a DNA sample directly from Mr Heuermann and a judge ordered the accused killer to have a cheek swab taken last month.
The swab was then tested and compared to the DNA evidence.
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors confirmed it came back a match – that the hair found on Waterman’s body belongs to Mr Heuermann.
Megan Waterman— (Suffolk County)
Mr Heuermann, a married father-of-two, was arrested on 13 July and charged with the murders of Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello.
He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
All four women – known as the “Gilgo Four” – worked as sex workers and disappeared after going to meet a client.
They were all found in December 2010 along Gilgo Beach, their bodies bound by belts or tape and some wrapped in burlap.
The discovery came during the search for Shannan Gilbert – who vanished in the area one night in May 2010 after leaving a client’s house on foot near Gilgo Beach, making a final chilling 911 call saying she feared for her life.
During a search for Gilbert in dense thicket close to the beach, police discovered the remains of the Gilgo Four.
By spring 2011, the remains of a total of 10 victims had been found including eight women, a man, and a toddler. Gilbert’s body was then found in December 2011.
Mr Heuermann has not been charged over the seven other victims – some of whom have not yet been identified.
Gilbert’s cause of death is widely contested with authorities long claiming that it is not connected to the serial killer or killers but that she died from accidental drowning as she fled from the client’s home.
Rex Heuermann appears with his lawyer Michael J. Brown— (AP)
However, an independent autopsy commissioned by her family ruled that she died by strangulation and her mother believes she was murdered.
As well as DNA evidence, court records show that Mr Heuermann was linked to the “Gilgo Four” murders through a tip about his pickup truck, a stash of burner phones, “sadistic” online searches, phone calls taunting victims’ families and also his wife’s hair found on the victims’ bodies.
The first piece of the puzzle came when a witness in the Costello case revealed details about a vehicle that a client was driving when she was last seen alive.
Costello was seen alive on the evening of 2 September 2010 when she left her home in West Babylon. A witness said she had gone to meet a client who was driving a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche.
Last year, a registration search showed that local man Mr Heuermann owned a first-generation model of the truck at the time of Costello’s disappearance. He also matched the witness’ description of the man believed to be the killer: a large, white “ogre”-like male in his mid-40s, around 6’4’ to 6’6” tall, with “dark bushy hair,” and “big oval style 1970’s type eyeglasses”.
The discovery of the car led investigators to hone in on Mr Heuermann including executing 300 subpoenas, search warrants and other legal processes to obtain evidence to determine his potential involvement in the killings.
Among this was Mr Heuermann’s alleged use of burner phones, with prosecutors saying that he used burner phones to contact the three women and arrange to meet them at the time when they went missing.
He also allegedly took two of the victims’ cellphones – and used one to make taunting phone calls to one of their families where he boasted about her murder, court documents state.
