Can a pizza crust be considered evidence? Alleged Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann refuses to get DNA swab test
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: The defense team for alleged Gilgo Beach murderer Rex A Heuermann is contesting a Suffolk County prosecutor's request for a cheek swab for DNA testing. Heuermann, 59, has entered a not-guilty plea to multiple murder counts associated with the murders of three women whose remains were found close to Long Island's Gilgo Beach in 2010, as per The US Sun.
In the nine-page Monday brief, defense attorney Danielle Coysh argued that the abandoned pizza crust and napkin found by an FBI agent in January were never linked to his client, and she objected to the request for a cheek swab from the defendant.
According to Suffolk County court documents, DNA from a discarded pizza crust was used to identify Rex Heuermann as the suspect in these horrific murders. A male hair was recovered from burlap used to wrap the remains of his victims. It was a match. #LISK pic.twitter.com/1eaTasSlgk
— Rose (@901Lulu) July 14, 2023
Can a pizza crust be considered evidence in Rex Heuermann's trial?
According to court records cited by Newsday on Tuesday, August 8, the debate between the prosecution's office and the defense team centered on the authorities' claimed use of a pizza crust and a napkin thrown in the trash as evidence linking Heuermann to one of the three Gilgo Beach murders.
In court records, assistant Suffolk County district attorney Michelle Haddad stated that the prosecution's ability to mention the pizza crust and napkins at trial would be constrained without a fresh DNA sample.
Haddad stated in the documents that without additional testing, prosecutors would only be able to refer to the things as "purported to be used/touched" by Heuermann.
Haddad made the following case for the cheek swab: "Should the defendant’s DNA from the [cheek swab] not match the DNA profile from the pizza crusts and napkin submitted for Rex Heuermann … the defense would be presented with a potential trial defense. Thus, there is a clear indication that material and relevant evidence will be found and is crucial for trial."
Rex Heuermann refuses to get DNA swab test done
On the other hand, the triple-murder suspect's attorney, Coysh claimed the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office is "far" from meeting the legal standard that would compel the architect to submit the swab.
As stated in Coysh's response to Suffolk County prosecutors: "The assertions contained in the people’s moving papers might be construed as rising to the level of a reasonable suspicion, but that is a far cry from the standard of probable cause required to justify granting the order sought by the people."
Coysh further declared: "The people essentially concede they have no evidence establishing that defendant Rex A Heuermann actually ever came into contact with the pizza crust or the used napkin found in a discarded pizza box."
She added: "Thus, by the people’s own admission, the nexus between the partially eaten pizza crust and used napkin and the defendant Rex A Heuermann is at best a matter of conjecture and assumption, not fact."
If the judge orders the cheek swab, Coysh claimed that a member of the defense team ought to be present to "ensure that the post-arraignment interaction between the defendant, Rex A. Heuermann, and members of law enforcement does not escalate, intentionally or otherwise, to an impermissible infringement of his constitutional rights."
'99.96% mitochondrial match'
Heuermann is suspected of killing Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Megan Waterman, 22, whose remains were discovered close to Gilgo Beach in December 2010. He was detained on July 13 and continues to remain in custody as a trial is eagerly awaited.
Using the pizza box that was found in the garbage, officials were able to collect the architect's DNA "from the pizza crust abandoned" by him. The DNA was then compared to a male hair strand discovered in the burlap that had been used to wrap Waterman's body.
According to reports, the male hair found in the burlap sack holding Waterman's remains matched Heuermann's hair "99.96%" mitochondrially.
"While 99.96% of the North American population can be excluded from the male hair on 31 Waterman, it is significant that Defendant Heuermann cannot be excluded from the male hair recovered near the “bottom of the burlap” utilized to restrain and transport Megan Waterman’s naked and deceased body," read the court documents, as per reports.