SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: BTK serial killer Dennis Rader who murdered ten people has shared his thoughts on why he thinks Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann is similar to him. The notorious killer who gave himself the name as he preferred the 'bind, torture, kill' method said the New York-based architect who was arrested on July 13 is " a clone of me" with both having an almost similar profile in their personal life and the crimes they have committed.
Heuermann was taken into custody after he was accused of killing Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, and Megan Waterman. The 59-year-old architect who is from Massapequa Park, Long Island is also considered a main suspect in the death of another young woman named Maureen Brainard-Barnes. He is currently held at the Suffolk County Detention Center and has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the first degree and three counts of murder in the second degree.
How similar is Rex Heuermann to Dennis Rader?
In a letter to Fox News, Rader wrote about the similarities between himself and Heuermann. "I was arrested at age 59. Married, two kids. Husband, dad longtime a serial killer, stalker, used electronic devices, lives in a neighborhood undetected,’" he wrote.
The sadistic killer who is currently serving his life sentence for the serial murders said that Heuermann's arrest resulted from the advancements in science and technology. "Heuermann was taken down [by] DNA and electronics, his downfall much like me," stated Rader. "I was correct," said Rader claiming that years ago when the Gilgo Beach murders were a cold case, he predicted the similitude between himself and the alleged Long Island killer.
How was Rader arrested?
Decades after torturing and killing his victims, Rader was arrested on February 25, 2005. The Christ Lutheran Church higher-up and former Cub Scout leader committed his crimes between 1974 and 1991 in the Wichita and Park City areas.
Investigators who collected semen from the scene of a quadruple murder in 1974 matched the DNA from one of his relatives. Many years after he committed the crimes, Rader sent letters to media outlets explaining the horrifying killings which later led to his arrest.
Similar to the life of Heuermann's wife Asa Ellerup and two children, who had their world "turned upside down," after his arrest as stated by Ellerup's attorney Bob Macedonio, Rader's family was also gobsmacked. Talking to Fox News, his daughter Kerri Rawson said, "My first question when a long-sought suspect in multiple murders is caught, is, 'Does he have a family?' ", and added, "My family’s life was upended 18 years ago, February 2005, when we got the noonday knocks and simple notification from the FBI, ‘Your father is BTK.' "
