Authorities in New York recently announced the arrest of the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer who took the lives of several women. The man was identified as Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect who has two children.
Heuermann was arrested in Manhattan Thursday night, more than ten years after several women's remains were discovered on a suburban Long Island beach road.
Heuermann is now being charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder, which could lead to being sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted.
Who is Rex Heuermann?
According to an interview Heuermann did last year, he is a consulting architect born and raised on Long Island and works in Manhattan for his firm, RH Consultants & Associates. Reports indicate that the alleged killer is a married man with two children, one with special needs.
Heuermann's neighbors found him to be a "regular family man" and quiet. "I used to see him on the train 'cause I take the train to the city every morning, as well. He would walk past my house. I would see his wife driving a beat-up, green Dodge Charger. I never really thought they were involved in something crazy like this," said Michael Musto, a neighbor of the suspect.
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
Calling victims' families
As "quiet" as Heuermann appeared, reports indicate that the suspect was calling the victims' families to "hear the fear" in their voices.
The man reportedly used the cell phone of one of the victims to call their loved ones and inform them of what he had done. "I think he found that to be sexually arousing. Part of what we're seeing here is someone that wasn't trying to ease her pain, not trying to apologize, not trying to explain away his behavior, he wanted to hear the fear, the anxiety, the horror, the heartache in her voice," said Mary Ellen O'Toole, an FBI profiler.
Possibility of more victims
Although Heuermann is currently charged with killing three women (Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello), O'Toole reported that investigators are operating under the belief that the Gilgo Beach serial killer ended more people's lives.
"It's more likely these serial sexual killers start to act out, if they're going to, they start to act out in their early to mid-twenties. So they (investigators) are going to go back in time and they're going to timeline him. They'll go back to when he was in college and go back beyond," she said.
Defense attorney comments on the case
Michael Brown, Heuermann's defense attorney, said his client cried that he is not responsible for the women's deaths and that the evidence against him is "extremely circumstantial." Brown stressed that his client remains innocent until proven guilty and that he will fight in court.
