SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: Rex Heuermann, a reputed architect from New York City, has been arrested in a sensational breakthrough on Gilgo Beach serial murder case. The father-of-two was presented in the court on Friday morning, July 14, and was charged with first-degree murder in the ‘Gilgo Four’ case. The infamous case from 2010 saw four young prostitutes murdered and their bodies thrown around the Gilgo beach in burlap sacks. The victims were identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
Cracking the decade-old case, investigators at Suffolk County formed a task force and held its first meeting on February 1, 2022. "Six weeks later, on March 14, 2022, the name Rex Heuermann was first mentioned as a suspect in the Gilgo case," District Attorney Ray Tierney said on Friday. "A New York state investigator was able to identify him in a database and from that point on, we used the power of the grand jury -- over 300 subpoenas and search warrants looking into this individual's background -- to bring us to this day."
Was Rex Heuermann plotting another murder?
Rex Heuermann, the man charged with first-degree murder in connection with Gilgo Beach serial killings, may have been looking for his new hunt. However, he has pleaded not guilty to the charges. As per investigators, the Manhattan-based architect was seeking out sex workers in 2022. The source close to the case shared that the police were keeping a close eye on Heuermann for almost a year now. It was on Thursday night, July 13, when he was finally arrested on his way home from work.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Rex Heuermann is a demon that walks among us. He is a predator that ruined families," Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said while slamming the suspect on Friday, July 14.
'...and we got closer and closer'
"There's a tension between getting the evidence necessary to charge somebody but also keeping the public safe," said county District Attorney Ray Tierney, reports New York Post.
He continued, "But this individual was a person that continued to patronize sex workers at all hours of the night. He continued to use fictitious email addresses fictitious identities, and burner phones." The chief further spilled the beans on the 59-year-old’s arrest. "As we worked through the case, and we got closer and closer, and we built the evidence, suddenly the balance tips in favor of public safety ... Collectively, we felt that it was time to strike that balance and to take him off the street. So that's what we did," he said.
