Rex Heuermann, who last year was charged with three murders in the Gilgo Beach case, has now been implicated in the death of a fourth woman.
On Tuesday, Heuermann was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, a 25-year-old mother of two from Connecticut who went missing in 2007. The bodies of Brainard-Barnes and three other women, sometimes referred to collectively as the “Gilgo Four,” were discovered in 2010 wrapped in burlap sacks near Gilgo Beach on Long Island.
In July, Long Island officials finally announced a break in the long-cold cases with the arrest of Heuermann, an architect from Massapequa Park. He was charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Amber Lynn Costello, 27 and Megan Waterman, 22. At the time of his arrest, Heuermann was believed to be the prime suspect in Brainard-Barnes’s death. All four of the women were working as escorts at the time of their disappearances.
In court papers, prosecutors said they were able to determine that Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, and their children were out of town during the time of Brainard-Barnes’s murder, a fact consistent with the other deaths he’s been charged with. Forensics were also able to connect Heuermann to Brainard-Barnes’s remains through DNA. Testing of samples provided by Heuermann’s wife and their daughter found a match between Ellerup’s genotype and a female hair found on Brainard-Barnes’s body, suggesting that Heuermann likely transferred the hair. A similar result was also found in the three other cases.
DNA evidence plays a significant role in the prosecution’s case. In addition to the female hairs found on the women’s bodies, a male hair found on Waterman’s remains was linked to Heuermann through an unlikely source: a discarded pizza crust. Prior to his arrest, investigators had trailed Heuermann in downtown Manhattan and retrieved a pizza box from the trash after witnessing him throw it out. A cheek swab from Heuermann taken after he was in custody was reportedly a match for the hair and the DNA on the crust.
Heuermann was also previously connected to the case through his internet footprint, with investigators unearthing web searches about the Gilgo Beach case and the victims as well as graphic inquiries about sex workers and sadistic pornography.
Heuermann’s legal team entered a “not guilty” plea on the new charge, and the next court hearing is slated for February 6, per the Associated Press. Herumann has been held without bail since his arrest last year. Michael Brown, Heuermann’s lawyer, said Tuesday that his client continues to deny the allegations against him.
“He has maintained his innocence from day one,” he said, per the New York Times. “He’s looking forward to fighting these charges and we’re doing that.”
