Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann continued his ‘disturbing activity’ up until his arrest, a top Long Island cop has revealed.
Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told
‘That’s something I was very, very passionate about, regarding “we need to see what his lifestyle is.”‘
Heuermann, 59, is accused of killing Megan Waterman, 22, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27, whose bodies were discovered on a stretch of the Long Island beach in December 2010.
He is the prime suspect in a fourth murder.
Harrison said he was confident that Heuermann was the culprit but didn’t rule out the possibility that there could be other ‘predators’ in the neighborhood. The bodies of up to two dozen people have been discovered at Gilgo Beach since 1996.
Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison (pictured last month outside the alleged killer’s home on Long Island) told Newsday on Wednesday: ‘He’s somebody that was still engaging in activity that was disturbing, be it his internet searches, be it engaging in other activities that he shouldn’t be engaging in’
Rex Heuermann, 59, is accused of killing Megan Waterman, 22, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27, whose bodies were discovered near Gilgo Beach in 2010
Harrison had previously referred to Heuermann as a ‘demon that walks among us, a predator that ruined families’ and expressed his confidence in the case on Wednesday.
He said: ‘I’m very confident that Mr.
Heuermann’s our subject. Because of my confidence, I’m gonna call him what I wanna call him — somebody that ruined families, somebody who’s a predator, somebody who shattered lives.
‘And not just one, several, and there may be more.
I didn’t say that there is, but there may be more. If the family members have a problem with me calling him a demon, then I’ll apologize.’
In the wide ranging interview, Harrison also said he formulated a task force to crack the long unsolved killings.
When asked if Long Islanders should be worried that a serial killer responsible for some or all of the killing is still at large, Harrison said: ‘I wish I could give you an answer.
‘I can’t tell you at this time.
Is Rex Heuermann going to be held accountable for the other bodies on Ocean Parkway? Time will tell.’
The bodies of the women had been bound with belts or red tape and wrapped in burlap, which had DNA that matched samples taken from a discarded pizza box retrieved from Heuermann’s Manhattan office.
Taken during cops’ secret surveillance of Heuermann this past year, DNA is set to be a key factor in the case, due to the time between the murders and the architect’s arrest.
Heuermann was linked to one of the killings through mitochondrial DNA profile from a pizza crust and a used napkin that he discarded from his Midtown office.
Heuermann was linked to one of the killings through mitochondrial DNA profile from a pizza crust and a used napkin that he discarded from his Midtown Manhattan office
Aired by Judge Timothy Mazzei Wednesday, the ruling serves as a win for prosecutors who had fought for the motion – based on the belief the DNA found on the discarded meal will yield more evidence.
The jurist and Heuermann are seen in sketch from a hearing this past week
A judge ruled earlier this week that Heuermann will have to submit a cheek swab for analysis.
Judge Timothy Mazzei issued the ruling on Wednesday, which is a win for prosecutors who had fought for domino4d the motion – based on the belief the DNA found on the pizza will yield more material evidence.
The judge also revealed that one of Heuermann’s attorneys will be present during the swab process – after fighting to avoid such an analysis due to a supposed lack of evidence their client committed the crimes he’s accused of.
That said, prosecutors on Tuesday revealed some of the evidence that’s been mounted against the suspected killer – which includes some 2,500 pages of documents, crime scene photographs, autopsy reports and hundreds of hours of video footage taken at Heuermann’s home and office.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to first-degree and second-degree murders.
He was arrested on July 13 and remains in jail ahead of his trial
A forensic photographer is seen bending over the tray of objects excavated from the back yard of Heuermann’s house in Massapequa Park.
Prosecutors say ‘nothing of note’ was discovered in the back yard, but on Tuesday said they have a trove of evidence against the suspect
For more than a week following his July 14 arrest, investigators had been conducting an exhaustive search of the house
That trove was laid bare in a brief preliminary hearing where prosecutors turned over four hard drives holding the evidence to the Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice and Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown, following weeks of uncertainty as to how strong their case is.
The judge scheduled the next pre-trial conference hearing for September 27, at which point the results from the swab will be in.
Danielle Coysh, who is representing Heuermann, had argued the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is a ‘far cry’ from the legal benchmark needed to force the architect to give in the swab, but was shot down Tuesday with Mazzei’s order.
It remains unclear which of victims the DNA was uncovered – a fact prosecutors will wait to reveal until the results of the swab are in.
Brown, meanwhile, recently maintained that his client still says he is innocent – and is ready to fight the charges against him in court.
He remains incarcerated without bail in a single cell at Suffolk County Correctional Facility – somewhere his kids and now ex-wife have so far refused to visit.
Both adults, the offspring of the suspected serial killer, Victoria Heuermann and step-son Christopher Sheridan, are aged 26 and 33, respectively.
Victoria Heuermann, 26, and step-brother, Christopher Sheridan, 33, said they are ‘not foreclosing on’ seeing their father in his Suffolk County incarceration, but will also not rush into making a decision