Authorities on Tuesday announced new charges against a man accused of murder in a series of killings more than a decade ago on New York’s Long Island known as the Gilgo Beach murders.
In a court filing obtained by WABC-TV, prosecutors said a grand jury indicted Rex Heuermann on second-degree murder in the 2007 death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25. He had previously been considered a “prime suspect” in her death.
He pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Tuesday, WNBC reported.
Heuermann is already facing murder charges in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and Megan Waterman, 22. The women, known as the “Gilgo Four,” are among the 11 people found dead near Ocean Parkway on Long Island in 2010 and 2011, sparking fears of a serial killer and prompting years of investigations.
In earlier court filings, authorities said they found hair on the bodies of Brainard-Barnes, Waterman and Costello that matched Huermann’s wife’s DNA, though records showed she was out of the state at the time of at least two of the deaths.
In a bail application obtained by WCBS-TV, prosecutors said, “It is likely that the burlap, tape, vehicles(s) or other instrumentalities utilized in furtherance of these murders came from ... Heuermann’s residence, where his wife also resides, or was transferred from his clothing.”
Investigators also found a hair on the bottom of burlap used to wrap Waterman after her death. It was matched last year to Heurmann based on a DNA profile created from pizza crust that Heuermann had thrown away, officials said.
In Tuesday’s filing, prosecutors said Brainard-Barnes, Barthelemy, Costello and Waterman were killed “at times when Defendant Heuermann’s wife and children were traveling out of state, which allowed Defendant Heuermann unfettered time to execute his plans for each victim without any fear that his family would uncover or learn of his involvement in these crimes,” according to WABC-TV.
Brainard-Barnes was last seen in 2007, shortly after she traveled from her home in Connecticut to Manhattan in New York, where she worked as an escort for days at at time. Her body was found on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, on Dec. 13, 2010.
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