Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann, who is already facing murder charges in the deaths of six women, has been charged with the slaying of Valerie Mack, whose mutilated remains were found more than two decades ago.
The former New York architect, 61, was handcuffed and shackled as he appeared before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in Riverhead Tuesday, where he was arraigned Tuesday on a new charge of second-degree murder in Mack’s death.
“Your honor, I am not guilty of any of these charges,” Heuermann said when he was asked to enter a plea.
Mack, 24, of New Jersey, had been working as an escort in Philadelphia when she vanished in October 2000. Her torso was found in Manorville on Long Island the next month and for two decades she was known as Jane Doe No. 6. More of her remains were found in the area of Gilgo Beach in 2011.
The investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings dates back to 2010, when police searching for a missing woman, Shannan Gilbert, found 10 sets of human remains along the same 2.6-mile stretch of Ocean Parkway, prompting fears of a serial killer across Long Island. While Gilbert’s body was found in December 2011, her death is thought to be unrelated to the Long Island serial killer case.
Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify the victims, many of whom were sex workers. In some cases, they connected them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier. The first victim was found in 1993 and the last victims were found in 2010. Police also began reexamining other unsolved killings of women found dead on Long Island.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney named Heuermann as a suspect in Mack’s murder in June. Her family said at the time that they believed there would be an arrest by the end of the year.
Mack’s parents “are very grateful for the small bit of closure,” he said at the news conference on Tuesday.
According to court documents unveiled on Tuesday, hair found on Mack’s remains was linked to Heuermann’s wife and daughter through DNA testing. Heuermann’s daughter would have been between 3 and 4 years old at the time of Mack’s murder. Hair found on six of the seven victims has now been linked to Heuermann or his family members.
Prosecutors said they also linked Heuermann to Mack’s death through evidence that was recovered from the 350 electronic devices that investigators seized from a search of his home in Massapequa Park. Some of the evidence included a “significant collection of violent, bondage and torture pornography.”
Some of the images contained mutilation and women who were tied up with ropes – both consistent with injuries inflicted on Mack, officials said. It was revealed Tuesday that Mack’s breasts had been mutilated with a sharp object and her remains were tied with rope, prosecutors said.
According to the bail application, one of the documents found included a “body prep” section with a note to “remove head and hands.” Mack’s head and hands had been removed from her body when it was found.
Also revealed in the documents was a 2003 edition of the New York Post with an article titled, “Serial Killer Eyed in LI Slay” and a 1993 copy of Newsday with an article, “Body Discovered in Woods.”
“Rex A. Heuermann sought, purchased and kept these publications as souvenirs or mementos of his crimes,” prosecutors said.
It was revealed that Heuermann had a document that referenced Mill Road – where Mack’s remains were found – as a potential “dump site.” He had also visited various gun clubs in the area near where her remains were discovered. Tierney alleged that evidence found in Heuermann’s home revealed that he showed he had an interest in torture and that he took notes from books about serial killings.
The judge has given prosecutors until next month to file motions related to evidence.
Heuermann was arrested in July 2023 outside his Manhattan architecture firm and charged in the slayings of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello. The three women were killed within a year of each other between 2009 and 2010.
Then in January 2024, Heuermann was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Maureen-Brainard Barnes, who was killed in 2007.
Waterman, Barthelemy, Costello and Brainard-Barnes, are known by investigators as the Gilgo Four. They were the first sets of remains discovered near Gilgo Beach in 2010.
In June, Heuermann was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Taylor in 2003 and Sandra Costilla, whose body was discovered in the Southampton hamlet of North Sea in 1993.
Heuermann has been linked to each of the killings through DNA, according to prosecutors, who say there are also witness statements and cellphone data that connect him to the victims.
Heuermann, who lived with his wife Asa Ellerup and two children in Massapequa Park on Long Island and commuted to a Manhattan architecture office, was arrested on July 13, 2023. Ellerup has since filed for divorce.
The judge ordered Heuermann, who has been held in isolation at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead since his arrest, to remain on no bail.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Source: independent.co.uk