Suspect In Gilgo Beach Killings Charged With Murders Of 2 More Women
The man suspected of serial killings on New York’s Long Island was charged with two more counts of murder, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced on Thursday.
Rex Heuermann, 60, was charged in connection to the deaths of Jessica Taylor, 20, and Sandra Costilla, 28. The charges come after authorities expanded their search for possible human remains on Long Island, WABC reported in April.
Speaking at a press conference following Thursday’s court hearing, Tierney said DNA evidence found with Taylor and Costilla’s remains most likely matched Heuermann.
The victims’ killings spanned more than 30 years, with the discovery of Costilla’s body in 1993, Taylor’s in 2003 and the four other victims in 2010.
Costilla’s body was found in a wooded area of Southampton by two hunters, according to a recently filed bail application obtained by HuffPost. Prosecutors said that the victim had a number of sharp force injures over her body, face and vaginal area.
Remains belonging to Taylor were first discovered in 2003, with her body decapitated and both arms severed below her elbow, according to the bail application. Prosecutors said a tattoo on her torso was also “obliterated by a sharp object.”
Her skull, hands, and forearms were discovered years later in 2011, according to the bail application.
Before her disappearance, she had worked as a sex worker in Midtown Manhattan, near where Heuermann worked, the document said.
One witness also told detectives they observed a dark-colored Chevrolet pickup truck in the same wooded area where Taylor’s body was found, according to the bail application. Prosecutors noted that Heuermann owned a dark-colored 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck.
The new charges come almost a year after Heuermann’s bombshell arrest in the case. For years, remains had been found along Long Island’s Gilgo Beach with no suspect, sparking fear in the community. Heuermann was initially charged in the deaths of Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Melissa Barthelemy, 24. He was then charged in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes; the four women had been known as the Gilgo Four.
Heuermann, a longtime Long Island resident, was arrested outside his Manhattan architecture firm’s office in July of last year after detectives obtained DNA evidence from a pizza box he had thrown out in Midtown that linked him to Waterman’s case, according to a bail applicationobtained by HuffPost.
Detectives also reviewed Heuermann’s cellphone data, which revealed he allegedly used burner phones to arrange meetings with his victims before killing them, according to the bail application. Prosecutors also alleged that Heuermann used Brainard-Barnes’ and Barthelemy’s cellphones after their deaths.
According to the filing, Heuermann allegedly killed the women while his wife and children were traveling out of state or out of the country so they would not “uncover or learn of his involvement in these crimes.”
Heuermann’s now ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, filed for divorce last year shortly after his arrest. She has come out publicly to say her family’s life was “turned upside down by the enormous police presence, in addition to the spectators, and news crews.” The family’s home became the center of a massive search effort as police sought evidence, including potential “trophies” that belonged to the victims.
Detectives found over 350 electronic devices inside Heuermann’s home following his arrest, which contained a “significant collection of violent, bondage, and torture pornography, currently dating back to 1994,” according to the newly filed bail application.
Prosecutors said the explicit content found on Heuermann’s hard drive coincided with how some of the victims’ remains were found.
Additionally, detectives located a Microsoft Word document labeled “HK2002-04,” which prosecutors called a planning document, according to the bail application.
The detailed document allegedly blueprints aspects of the killings, including how to avoid being caught, supplies, targets and dump sites, according to the bail application. Notes and checklists within the document include items such as “remove head and hands” before preparing a body for transport, disposing of tools, clothing and “toys,” and reminders for “next time” such as “get sleep before hunt.”
