MASSAPEQUA PARK, Long Island (WABC) — Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann had “over 200 guns” in his Massapequa Park home, more than double the number for which he had permits, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said.
In court on Friday, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said Heuermann had permits for 92 firearms.
Police on Monday were searching a second storage facility after they looked through one Sunday, expanding their search for physical evidence that could tie Heuermann to the three women he’s charged with killing.
Investigators have carried out a mountain of evidence from his cluttered home in Massapequa Park. Sources say officials are also looking for victim “trophies,” such as earrings or locks of hair, at the 59-year-old architect’s house.
Investigators began honing in on Heuermann after a big break in the case that came from revisiting an old clue.
Heuermann was tied to the murders in part through DNA extracted from a discarded pizza crust he ate and a male hair found on a victim, as well as his activity on a series of burner phones used to arrange meetings with the slain women.
The married father of two is behind bars, charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, according to an indictment unsealed in Suffolk County Criminal Court.
He is also considered the prime suspect in the death of another woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
“So it’s going to take a little time, I’m not sure exactly what the timeframe is. But because the hair follicle was somewhat damaged, and trying to match the DNA connected to the hair, it may take longer than we anticipate. But, if it does come back as a match, then we’ll definitely charge him with the murder to Mrs. Barnes,” said Rodney Harrison, Suffolk County Police Commissioner.
Harrison believes Heuermann’s wife and adult daughter had no idea.
“They were shocked. They were disgusted. They were embarrassed. So if you ask me, I don’t believe that the new about this double life that Mr. Herman was was was living,” he said.
The victims in the case — 11 sets of remains were discovered — were mostly young women who were sex workers. Authorities have said that more than one person may have been responsible for the murders.
“We’re going to continue to work, investigate, and try to get a small measure of closure for all the victims’ families,” Tierney said.
Heuermann was first eyed in the cases in March 2022. At the time, he was connected to a Chevy pickup truck a witness had seen where a victim disappeared in 2010.
“They never stopped working and will continue to work tirelessly until we bring justice to all the families involved,” Harrison said.
Heuermann was arrested around 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Midtown Manhattan, outside the office building where he works as an architect. Exclusive video obtained by Eyewitness News shows authorities surrounding Heuermann to take him into custody.
He was arraigned Friday afternoon in Suffolk County. He pleaded not guilty.
Tierney, personally appearing before the judge, called Heuermann an “ongoing danger.” He implored the judge not to allow bail as Heuermann owns houses in South Carolina and Las Vegas and is a flight risk.
He said Heuermann used seven burner phones to make more than 200 searches about the Gilgo Beach investigation and family members of the victims.
“Some of the searches that we saw that he was doing is alarming. It’s very, very concerning. And once again, is I have to make sure that everybody understands that it’s a very good thing that we got this animal off the streets,” Harrison said..
Allie Pertel, the sister of one of the victims, Megan Waterman, spoke out after the arrest of Heuermann.
“I was honestly very shocked because he doesn’t look like the monster that he is,” Pertel said. “But hearing details from the day, I guess he really was a monster.”
Defense attorney Michael J. Brown called the case against Heuermann “extremely circumstantial in nature” and released the following statement:
“Rex Heuermann is 59 years old with no prior criminal history. He is a college graduate and is a hardworking licensed architect who has his own NYC firm. He is a loving husband to his wife of over 25 years and an involved and dedicated father to his daughter and step son. He has entered a not guilty plea and has insisted he did not commit these crimes. There is nothing about Mr. Heuermann that would suggest that he is involved in these incidents. And while the government has decided to focus on him despite more significant and stronger leads, we are looking forward to defending him in a court of law before a fair and impartial jury of his peers.”
Heuermann was ordered held on no bail pending a bail application based on what the judge called the “extreme depravity of the allegations.”
The four women Heuermann is linked to were all found covered in burlap along a half-mile stretch of Ocean Parkway on Long Island’s South Shore in late 2010.
The group has been referred to as the “Gilgo Four” after investigators determined their killings were connected.
MORE: Who are the ‘Gilgo Four?’
Early Friday morning, crime laboratory officers were seen entering his home in Massapequa Park as a large police presence, led by Suffolk County Police, NY State Police, and other law enforcement partners kept a perimeter.
The home belonged to a family that had long kept to themselves, neighbors said, noting that the dilapidated property seemed out of place among rows of single-family homes and well-kept lawns in the small community.
“You never saw anybody coming in or out of that house,” said Richard Harmon, a neighbor. “You would say, ‘Who lives there?’ You never see anybody.”
MORE: What we know about the suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders
As for the victims, their murders, along with the deaths of seven other people, have long gone unsolved.
Shannan Gilbert’s disappearance in 2010 triggered the hunt that exposed the larger mystery. A 24-year-old sex worker, she vanished after leaving a client’s house on foot in the seafront community of Oak Beach, disappearing into the marsh.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Rex Heuermann is a demon that walks among us – a predator that ruined families,” Harrison said on Friday. “If not for the members of this task force, he would still be out on the streets today.”
MORE: How investigators tracked down the Gilgo Beach murders suspect
This story includes information from the Associated Press.
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