Who is Rex Heuermann, the Massapequa man arrested in connection to Gilgo Beach murders?

The suspect who was detained in connection with the unsolved serial murders of women discovered on the New York beach highway has been identified as Rex Heuermann, of Massapequa, Long Island.

Court documents indicate that Rex Heuermann who is 59 years old, is charged with three counts of murder in the first degree along with three other counts of second degree murder for victims of the murders Amber Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello — in the years 2009 and 2010. They were among at most 10, victims’ bodies discovered in the region in a case that has slowed investigators for a long time.

Heuermann who was an architect’s consultant in Manhattan Heuermann, who was an architect in Manhattan, was arrested in the presence of Suffolk County Police and state police late on Thursday night. There was a huge police presence on Friday morning at his residence within the town of Massapequa Park.

Heuermann was brought before a judge Friday afternoon and pleaded guilty. He was ordered to be detained by the judge without bail.

The arrest comes nearly a decade since finding the bodies of a number of victims of the Long Island’s Gilgo Beach. The long-unsolved murders were the focus of a number of CBS “48 Hours” reports as well as the 2020 Netflix documentary “Lost Girls.”

In the court papers that were filed by the prosecutors, investigators started the “comprehensive investigation of each piece of evidence” during the investigation in 2022. The authorities said this caused them to take more closely at the vehicle Chevrolet Avalanche registered to Heuermann during when the killings occurred. It was like the one that was reported by an eyewitness. The investigation also revealed connections to burner phones and other data from phones that could be connected to the suspect.

Additionally the court’s filing states hairs discovered on burlap which was wrapped around one of the victims was found as a DNA match with Heuermann according to the DNA samples taken from pizza crusts found in a box that he dumped.

Heuermann was an architect and established his own firm, the New York City firm RH Consultants and Associates RH Consultants and Associates around 1994 According to the firm’s website. His clients include Target, Foot Locker, Catholic Charities and American Airlines according to the website.

An “Meet our team” hyperlink on the company’s website that features Heuermann’s picture was taken down, however CBS News obtained a screenshot before it was taken down.

“Throughout the decades, Rex Heuermann has provided services to city agencies, non-for profit organizations as well as builders, developers, and individuals who own buildings with respect the ADA, NYC and NY State Codes, as also Zoning Consultation,” according to the website of the company.

“We’ve lived here for around 30 years and he’s been quiet, and never really is a problem for anyone else,” next-door neighbor Etienne DeVilliers told the news station. “We were a bit shocked, to tell that’s the fact.”

DeVilliers stated that Heuermann is married and has two children. He also said that a neighbour told him that he is an architect.

“Like I mentioned”we’re stunned. Since this is a quiet and peaceful neighborhood. Everyone knows one another as do our neighbors are very friendly. This has never been a issue,” DeVilliers said.

In a 2022 chat with Bonjour Realty that was uploaded on YouTube, Heuermann says that he was “born and was raised at Long Island”

actor Billy Baldwin tweetedon Friday that he attended High School with Heuermann.

“Woke awake this morning and learned that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school friend Rex Heuermann,” Baldwin tweeted and said that they attended the Massapequa’s Berner High School and graduated in 1981.

Heuermann said in Bonjour Realty last year that worked in Manhattan since 1987.

“I’m an architect I’m an architect, a consultant, and I’m also a troubleshooter” the architect says, noting that he’s proficient in interpreting complex building codes, and is able to handle numerous discussions with the department of buildings.

“At home, I’ve got an the largest collection of outdated books” regarding building codes dating back to the previous century, he added.

On Friday, police converged on a tiny red home that was raided earlier in the day in a suburb that is 40 miles to the east of midtown Manhattan The Associated Press reported. Investigators were visible in the house and it was in a state of decay.

“This home sticks out like an unruly thumb. There were overgrown trees There was always a tree at the front of the home,” neighbor Gabriella Libardi said to the AP. “It was quite disturbing. I wouldn’t take my kid there.”

Barry Auslander, another neighbor said to the AP the person living in the home commuted by trains to New York City each morning dressed in a tie and suit.

“It was a bit bizarre. He appeared to be a businessman,” added Auslander. “But his home is a deplorable place.”

In the interview in 2022 with Bonjour Realty, Heuermann was asked what kind of tool he could use to boost his business. He responded that he would be the Hammer.

“I have a tool that is commonly used in almost every task. It’s actually a hammer for cabinet makers,” he said. “It is effective enough to convince something and always produces great results.”

Who is Rex Heuermann?

Authorities have blocked off Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home Friday. Security personnel in hazmat suits could enter the single-story home, which is located within a block of bigger maintained homes. Investigators were searching the house and Heuermann’s office located in the middle of Manhattan.

A few neighbors claimed that they had brief interactions between Heuermann along with his wife and family throughout many years but they generally kept to themselves.

Heuermann was a standout as Heuermann was a “tall large, tall man. Always stylish,” said Patrica Maressa 64, who lived right next to his house for over two decades.

“I’m still awed to hear this happening,” she said, noting, “It’s a very quiet neighborhood. At night, you might hear the sound of a pin falling.”

The house Heuermann lives in is included in the connection to his company, RH Consultants & Associates. He obtained his architect’s license in 1996. New York state records show there are no enforcement actions that are listed.

His clients include Catholic Charities, New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, American Airlines and other major tenants of John F. Kennedy International Airport as per his online profile.

In an interview in His Manhattan office published on YouTube through Bonjour Realty in early 2022, Heuermann said he was an architect as well as a “troubleshooter,” born and raised on Long Island and working in Manhattan since 1987. He talked about the details of his job and the way he coached municipal authorities on local architectural codes.

If asked about the qualities one would require, he responded, “I don’t like to employ the word tolerance however sometimes you need to. And this isn’t just about the city. It’s also with clients as a majority of clients they don’t know the tasks I need to complete and why I need to accomplish it, and the steps needed to get it completed.”

Heuermann also discussed his experiences how he learned to build furniture with his dad who described as an engineer in aerospace who designed satellites.

“I make furniture in my home and still construct it in the same work space,” he said. “I own a tool commonly used in almost every task and that’s an hammer for cabinet makers. It’s powerful enough to convince someone about someone to do something.”

“Something,” Heuermann said, “and it always yields great results.”

A person who is familiar with Heuermann has said that his arrest is in contrast to the man she’s met through weekly networking events.

“I was friend and colleague. It’s a total surprise,” the woman said and added that she had talked to him last the previous day via Zoom.

“He was very well-organized. He was extremely friendly,” she said. “I didn’t see this happening.”

How did police allegedly connect Rex Heuermann?

In December of 2010 in December 2010, a Suffolk County police officer conducting an exercise for training together with a K-9 dog discovered the initial set of remains on Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach according to court records.

They later confirmed that the remains belonged to Melissa Barthelemy, a 24-year-old who was declared missing back in the year 2009, after the last time she saw her was in her apartment’s basement in Bronx.

Police were able to discover three more sets of remains that were which were later identified as being Maureen brainard-barnes who was 25 years old and disappeared in 2007; Megan Waterman, a 22-year-old who disappeared in 2010 as well as Amber Costello, a 27-year-old who was also found missing in 2010. The three women were thought to be sex employees who advertised on internet sites according to the police.

After many years of an investigation which had been stale an inter-agency law enforcement review was launched in 2022. It included the state and local police forces as well as the FBI and brought attention to an Chevrolet Avalanche registered to Heuermann. This vehicle had been in the radar of investigators in the case of Costello’s disappearance based on the tip of a witness.

An investigation into Heuermann’s disappearance resulted in the discovery of phone bill records that match sites for burner phones used to set up meetings with the three victims and the phone that was used to make “taunting phone calls” to the barthelemy’s sister. Heuermann is believed to have also used Barthelemy’s and Brainard-Barnes’s phones following their deaths, police claimed.

“A study of these documents, along with the Heuermann’s American Express records, showed several instances in which Heuermann was within the exact areas as the burner phones that were used to call the victims Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello and also the use of Brainard Barnes and Barthelemy’s phones, which were used to check voicemails, and also make threatening phone calls following the women vanished,” Suffolk County prosecutors stated in court documents. “Significantly the investigators found nowhere that Heuermann had been in a different area from these other phones during the time a communications incident occurred.”

Investigators also found a link between the use of Heuermann’s cellphone in connection with his AOL account that was also accessed through a burner telephone. The phone was connected with midtown Manhattan in addition to Massapequa Park by cell sites Investigators also said they discovered additional burner phones that were “used for conducting thousands of searches that were related to sex-workers and torture-related pornography, as well as sadistic or child pornography.” These phones also connected to an email that was involved with more than 200 internet searches that specifically identified the victims as well as updates in”the “Long Island serial murderer” investigation.

Hairs that were also found in the bodies of victims have been analyzed and confirmed to be those of another female. DNA was extracted from bottles that were left for trash collection at the front of the home of Heuermann in the month of July 2022. After analyzing the hair on Waterman and found that it was a match to DNA believed to be that of Heuermann’s wife. Court documents declared.

The investigation by the police revealed that the wife of Heuermann was out of town at the time of the killings.

“As as such, it is likely that the burlap tape vehicle(s) as well as other tools used to carry out the murders were sourced from defendant Heuermann’s house which is where his wife lives, or was snatched from his clothes,” prosecutors said.

Male hair was discovered on the burlap that was used to wrap Waterman according to the investigators. Police seized a pizza that was that was thrown by Heuermann and then swabbed the pizza crust to test for DNA.

Based on laboratory results from June, investigators stated “it is important that defendant Heuermann can’t be disregarded from the male hair found close to the bottom of the burlap’ that was used to secure as well as transport Megan Waterman’s naked, deceased body.”

Heuermann was charged with his deaths in the murders of Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello. The prosecution stated in court documents that he was the primary suspect in the death of Brainard-Barnes However, there are no charges against him as the investigation “is ongoing and scheduled to conclude within the next few days.”