Gilgo Beach case bombshell as judge issues ruling on using DNA evidence at accused serial killer’s trial
Damning DNA evidence tying Rex Heuermann to the murders of multiple women whose remains were found close to Gilgo Beach will be allowed at his trial.
In a brief court hearing in Riverhead Wednesday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei ruled that critical evidence using new DNA technology is admissible in the case, marking a major blow to the suspected serial killer’s defense.
The judge gave no reason for his decision but it comes following a string of Frye hearings where the prosecution and the defense sparred over the new method which was used to link the 61-year-old architect and married father to the murders of seven women between 1993 and 2011.
The advanced DNA testing identified hairs on several of the victims as belonging to Heuermann’s now ex-wife Asa Ellerup, their daughter Victoria Heuermann and another individual connected to the suspected serial killer.
The defense argued the technique should be excluded because it has never been used before in a New York court, while the prosecution argued it is accepted by the scientific community.
Heuermann, who was handcuffed and sporting a newly-shaved hairstyle, gave no visible reaction to Wednesday’s ruling inside the courtroom.
Ellerup was sat in the public gallery flanked by her attorneys. She quickly left the courtroom after the minutes-long hearing.
The defense plans to file a motion appealing the decision.
Rex Heuermann, a 61-year-old architect, returned to a courtroom in Riverhead, Long Island, Tuesday
The accused serial killer is currently charged with seven murders over a two-decade reign of horror running from 1993 to 2011.
The Gilgo Beach serial killer case had haunted the Long Island community for more than a decade, ever since the first of multiple bodies were discovered along Ocean Parkway in December 2010.
More than a decade later, in July 2023, the Massapequa Park local was then dramatically arrested as he left his office in midtown Manhattan.
Heuermann was initially charged with the murders of three women: Amber Costello, Melissa Barthelemy and Megan Waterman.
Since then, he has been charged with the murders of four more victims: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack.
All the victims were working as sex workers when they vanished after going to meet a client.
Their bodies were found dumped along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach and other remote spots on Long Island.
Some of the victims had been bound, others had been dismembered and their remains discarded in multiple locations.
The 61-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
