Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann is charged with murder in the deaths of all four women, who became known as the “Gilgo Four” after their bodies were found by investigators on Long Island in 2010.
Heuermann has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, prosecutors said Tuesday. Brainard-Barnes was 25 when she was last seen in July 2007.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the new charge when he appeared in court on Tuesday, dressed in a dark suit and with his hands cuffed behind his back. His daughter and his estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, were also present at the hearing.
Heuermann was taken into custody in July and charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the 2009 killings of Melissa Barthelemy and the 2010 killings of Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. He denied these accusations last year.
The remains of all four women were found within days of each other near Gilgo Beach in 2010.
“The grand jury investigation into the so-called Gilgo Four is over, concluded,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters after the hearing.
Tierney said that as the cases are heard in court, the investigation will move into its second phase, where authorities will examine “other bodies and other homicides that we think are important to the investigation.”
Heuermann continues to maintain his innocence, his lawyer Michael Brown told reporters after the hearing. “’I am not guilty of these charges,’ he said. Brown said he looks forward to fighting these charges.
Brainard-Barnes was living in Connecticut and was believed to be working as a sex worker when she disappeared. The other three victims were reportedly sex workers or escorts when they disappeared.
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents some of the victims’ family members, said at a press conference after the incident: “Failing to provide sex workers with access to justice sends a message to the men who victimize them that victims will never face the consequences of their unjust and criminal actions.” hearing. “The year is 2024; will there be justice for women who need some money to support their children or themselves?”
Nicolette Brainard-Barnes was seven years old when her mother was killed.
“His loss drastically changed the course of my life,” he told reporters at the press conference. “I needed him countless times and he wasn’t there.”
Nicolette said her mother read to her every night.
“I owe my mother so much, and I know she would want me to speak on her behalf during this time and let everyone know who she truly is.”
New DNA evidence emerges
Investigators found Ellerup’s DNA on the leather belt used to restrain Brainard-Barnes, according to the indictment.
The indictment states that Brainard-Barnes was restrained with three leather belts, one of which was used to bind her ankles together.
Brown said the nuclear DNA testing evidence prosecutors uncovered Tuesday was “problematic.”
“We were told from the beginning that the evidence was not suitable for nuclear DNA testing,” Brown said. “Miraculously, nuclear DNA tests and their results were revealed.”
The indictment stated that a hair taken from his belt buckle in 2010 was not suitable for DNA profiling and was sent to a forensic laboratory for further analysis before Heuermann was identified as a suspect.
The lab was able to produce DNA sequencing data for the hair recently found on Brainard-Barnes, confirming a link to Heuermann, the indictment said.
The indictment states that the DNA profile was “7.9 trillion times more likely to come from an individual genetically identical to Asa Ellerup’s SNP genotype file than from an unrelated individual.”
“Nuclear DNA has been present in hair since it was first discovered in 2010, and now science has caught up,” Tierney said. “I would say this is a good opportunity for justice, a good opportunity for investigation.”
Investigators also determined that DNA from female hair recovered from Waterman and Costello’s bodies was “substantially more likely” to have come from a person with a genetically identical DNA profile as Heuermann’s wife and daughter, according to the indictment.
Tierney added that the technology used to identify DNA evidence was “cutting edge” and “scientifically accepted in both the medical and forensic communities.”
Ellerup was out of town when Brainard-Barnes disappeared, according to the indictment. And all four murders allegedly occurred while Heuermann’s wife and children were traveling out of state; which gave him “unlimited time to implement his plans for each victim without fear that his family would uncover or learn of his involvement in these crimes.” to the indictment.
“This indictment … once again makes clear that Asa Ellerup and his children were not even within jurisdiction when these murders occurred,” Ellerup’s attorney, Robert Macedonio, said in a statement Tuesday.
Macedonio added that Heuermann’s arrest last year was a “surprise” for Ellerup and the children.
“They were completely unaware of this life that existed or might have existed,” the lawyer said. “He has nothing to do with this and never has.”
Authorities identified Heuermann as a suspect in early 2022 using cell phone data, eyewitness accounts and other information and obtained a sample of his DNA from the crust left on a pizza box he threw away.
Investigators also linked Heuermann by performing advanced DNA testing on a piece of male hair found near Waterman’s body and comparing it to DNA recovered from pizza leftovers, the indictment said.
More than 200 weapons were found in the house
Less than six miles from where the remains were found, Heuermann had been living quietly for years with his family in the Long Island suburb of Massapequa Park.
She married Ellerup in 1996 and lived peacefully with her daughter and stepson. Neighbors said the family mostly kept to themselves. Ellerup filed for divorce a few days after Heuermann’s arrest, her lawyer told CNN at the time.
When investigators rummaged through the house last summer, they found between 200 and 300 guns stashed in a locked, walled safe behind a metal door. Authorities also examined properties Heuermann owned in South Carolina and Nevada.
Investigators seized two junk phones used to communicate with sex workers at the time of Heuermann’s arrest, Tierney said Tuesday. He added that prosecutors were able to identify fake email accounts and aliases that Heuermann used to search for “torture porn,” information related to murder investigations and victim families.
Tierney has previously said Heuermann’s DNA was found on at least one of the bodies.
The district attorney said Heuermann’s internet history includes at least 200 internet searches for information about the status of the Gilgo investigation, as well as compulsive searches for photos of victims and their families.
The Gilgo Four are among 11 groups of human remains found scattered along Long Island’s South Shore between 2010 and 2011, kicking off what police are calling “one of the most significant murder investigations” in the island’s history.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Nicki Brown and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
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