A pizza box allegedly linked a Long Island man to the serial murders of three women whose remains were found on Gilgo Beach back in 2010, NBC News reported Friday.
Rex Heuermann, 59, of Massapequa Park, Long Island, was charged Friday with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, according to the NBC News report. He reportedly pleaded not guilty.
Authorities reportedly spotted Heuermann, an architect working in Manhattan, discarding a pizza box into a trash can on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in January. Analysis of DNA pooled from the pizza crust in the box allegedly matched the mitochondrial DNA profile of male hair found on burlap used to restrain and transport victim Megan Waterman, the NBC report noted. Familial DNA was reportedly also used as additional evidence pointing to Heuermann. (RELATED: Suspected 1980s Serial Killer Who Shook The Nation Dies At 76)
Heuermann also allegedly used multiple “fictitious email addresses, fictitious identities, burner phones,” including Barthelemy’s phone which he allegedly used to taunt the disappeared teen’s sister, the report noted. Heuermann allegedly solicited sex workers, some of whom were the three victims, leading authorities to believe that he could strike again. Authorities found a Chevrolet Avalanche in Heuermann’s possession. The vehicle was described by a witness and connected to one of the victims’ disappearance, per the report.
Woke up this morning to learn that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school classmate Rex Heuermann.
Berner High School
Massapequa, New York
Class of 1981Married, two kids, architect.
“Average guy… quiet, family man.”
Mind-boggling… Massapequa is in shock.… pic.twitter.com/Tms0IWVazN— Billy Baldwin (@BillyBaldwin) July 14, 2023
“Rex Heuermann is a demon that walked among us, a predator that ruined families,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said, per the report.
Heuermann reportedly broke down in tears and insisted on his innocence during his court appearance. He is held without bail, while an investigation into a fourth death in which he is allegedly a prime suspect is ongoing.
“The guy’s been quiet, never really bothers anybody,” Etienne Devillier, a neighbor of Heuermann’s, said, per the NBC report.
Heuermann allegedly also researched sadistic, torture-related pornography and conducted more than 200 online searches specifically naming the victims and looking for updates in the “Long Island serial killer” case, per a separate NBC report.
Eleven bodies were discovered between 1996 and 2011 in the Gilgo Beach homicides, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.