Gilgo Beach serial killings suspect ‘a demon’, top investigator says

Suffolk County Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Carter advised CNN: “The acts that (the suspect) committed were the worst I’ve ever seen.”

“He’s a demon, and it’s really hard to get into the mind of somebody that’s capable of committing the crimes that he committed,” Carter stated.

“This person intended to do what he did to these victims. And that is why I say that’s one of the worst, if not the worst.”

Rex A. Heuermann, an architect in his late 50s who lived a 20-minute drive from Gilgo Beach in Massapequa Park, seems in what investigators decribe as “selfie” pictures taken from the fictional Springfieldman9 AOL account, as a part of a bail software by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s workplace July 14, 2023. Suffolk County Court/Handout by way of REUTERS NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. (by way of REUTERS)

The unsolved killings confounded authorities on Long Island’s South Shore after a girl’s 2010 disappearance led investigators to seek out not less than 10 units of human stays along with hers and launched the hunt for a potential serial killer.

The New York architect’s arrest got here greater than a yr after the duty pressure explored his potential connection to the chilly case named for the seaside the place the stays have been found.

Photos provided by the Suffolk County Police Department show Melissa Barthelemy, top left, Amber Costello, top right, Megan Waterman, bottom left, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Rex Heuermann, 59, is accused of killing Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello and Megan Waterman over a decade ago. He is also considered the prime suspect in the death of another woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Photos offered by the Suffolk County Police Department present Melissa Barthelemy, high left, Amber Costello, high proper, Megan Waterman, backside left, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Rex Heuermann, 59, is accused of killing Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello and Megan Waterman over a decade in the past. He can be thought-about the prime suspect within the demise of one other lady, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. (AP)

Heuermann has pleaded not responsible and was remanded in custody Friday. He is the “prime suspect” in a fourth homicide, prosecutors stated.

When requested if there could also be extra victims, Carter stated: “I think in the coming days, as we continue to gather evidence, anything is possible.”

“There are still things that we have to do. There are still human remains that have to be investigated further in Gilgo,” he stated.

“I can’t begin to imagine the pain that these families have had to endure over the last decade and to know that this demon was capable of doing such an evil act to these families, it is just, you know, beyond comprehension.”

Detectives on Long Island are looking for recent clues in regards to the architect.

They’re combing by means of storage items linked to Heuermann and utilizing DNA proof to see if he’s related to different chilly circumstances.

The ongoing work marks an vital new part in a multi-agency investigation that — after years of lifeless ends and frustrations — led prosecutors to cost Heuermann.

New York State cops transfer a steel cupboard as legislation enforcement searches the house of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with homicide within the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings referred to as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon) (AP)

Heuermann, who has lived for many years throughout a bay from the place the stays have been discovered, can be thought-about the prime suspect within the killing of a fourth sufferer.

He has pleaded not responsible. His lawyer stated Heuermann denied committing the crimes.

Investigators have stated it’s unlikely only one particular person killed the entire victims, and so they insist the probe is way from over after the watershed second of Heuermann’s arrest.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, who spearheaded the creation of an interagency activity pressure final yr to resolve the Gilgo Beach killings, has vowed that authorities will “work tirelessly until we bring justice to all the families involved.”

“We’re just in the infancy of the work that needs to be done going forward,” Deputy Commissioner Anthony Carter advised The Associated Press on Monday.

This reserving picture offered by Suffolk County Sheriffs Office, reveals Rex Heuermann, a Long Island architect who was charged Friday, July 14, 2023, with homicide within the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings referred to as the Gilgo Beach murders. (Suffolk County Sheriffs Office by way of AP0 (AP)

Detectives executed a search warrant at Omega Self Storage in Amityville on Sunday and searched one other close by storage facility on Monday. Both are lower than a 10-minute drive from Heuermann’s dwelling.

This adopted a multi-day search at Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park, a few 25-minute drive throughout a causeway spanning South Oyster Bay to the sandy stretch referred to as Gilgo Beach the place the ladies’s stays have been discovered.

Investigators have been additionally checking to see if Heuermann’s DNA — obtained from pizza crust he disposed and linked to genetic materials discovered on a Gilgo Beach sufferer’s stays — related him to different unsolved circumstances.

Heuermann, 59, is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Authorities are persevering with to work towards charging him within the demise of a fourth sufferer, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, stated Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.

Most of the victims have been younger girls who had been intercourse staff. Their deaths lengthy stumped investigators, and the thriller fueled immense public consideration and led to a 2020 Netflix movie, “Lost Girls.”

Harrison, a longtime high-ranking New York City police official, made fixing the Gilgo Beach killings one in all his high precedence when Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone appointed him as police commissioner in January 2022.

A pizza box which was tested for DNA evidence appears as part of a bail application regarding Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann.
A pizza field which was examined for DNA proof seems as a part of a bail software relating to Gilgo Beach homicide suspect Rex Heuermann. (Suffolk County Court/Handout by way of REUTERS)

Harrison, the NYPD’s former chief of detectives and chief of division, quickly shaped the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force, convincing the FBI, state police and native departments to commit their high investigators full time to the trouble.

The multi-jurisdictional activity pressure was shaped in early 2022, three days after Carter took on the function of deputy commissioner. It consists of investigators from Suffolk County Police, New York State Police, the Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s Office, the FBI and others.

“The detectives in this case… they never quit,” Carter stated. “They’ve been working this case for over a decade and they never quit.”

“There was a lot of persistence and a lot of detailed planning that went into all of that.”

Carter stated of the duty pressure’s makes an attempt to get a viable testing pattern of their suspect’s DNA.

“Between our undercovers and really the full power of the task force, we were able to finally get that abandonment sample.”

Carter stated he was out exercising on a run Thursday when the decision got here by means of from Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison that the group was shifting in to apprehend their suspect in Midtown Manhattan.

“When that arrest finally came, that was the first thing that came into my head was – we got him,” Carter stated.

He stated the duty pressure feared for public security and the chance their suspect could have set his sights on one other potential sufferer.

In this December 8, 2011 photo, investigators use a backhoe to dig while searching for Shannan Gilbert's body in different sectors of a marsh area just east of Oak Beach, N.Y.
In this December 8, 2011 photograph, investigators use a backhoe to dig whereas trying to find Shannan Gilbert’s physique in several sectors of a marsh space simply east of Oak Beach, N.Y. (Kevin P. Coughlin by way of AP)

“There was always a concern and that was the reason why the arrest was made that Thursday evening,” Carter stated, noting it was a “very dangerous and delicate balance that we had to navigate through.”

Carter stated investigators are nonetheless wanting into the suspect’s whereabouts and conduct up from when the ladies’s stays have been found in December 2010 up till Thursday.

Investigators are additionally persevering with to comb by means of particulars coming in on tip strains and are lining up interviews with witnesses, he stated.

Heuermann’s spouse and two kids are cooperating with the investigation, Carter stated.

“These victims were mothers, daughters and people in the community that nobody deserves what happened to them. Nobody and, you know, to bring their families and bring the victims themselves justice. It is long overdue but I am very glad that we are where we are today,” Carter stated.

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Source: www.9news.com.au