Does Rex Heuermann have anger issues? Gilgo Beach murders suspect stalked ex-cop after argument on train days before arrest
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: Rex Heuermann, who has been arrested and faces charges in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders, was allegedly furious with an ex-police officer and stalked him following a minor verbal altercation just days before his arrest. The Manhattan architect, 59, was arrested on July 13 as a primary suspect in the murder of the "Gilgo Four," whose remains were discovered on a remote Long Island beach in December 2010.
The former officer, who wished to remain anonymous, appeared on 'The Ops Desk' podcast on Monday, July 17, when he claimed that his encounter with Heuermann was "like a road rage without the car." He recalled that the 59-year-old behaved as if he owned the train and anyone who disagreed would hear it from him "loudly." "It was my impression he felt it was almost his kind of right to be able to confront people and voice his opinion on whatever was going on around him — unsolicited," the ex-cop said, per FOX News.
'I kind of thought he was a bully'
The former officer recounted that around two weeks ago, Heuermann began jawing at him on the train for no apparent reason and when he refused to back down, things got worse, leading to a minor verbal altercation. He believed the argument ended right there but when their train from Massapequa Park arrived at Penn Station in Manhattan, he saw the 6.4ft-tall man waiting for him at the top of the escalator to continue his rant. The ex-cop did not go into specifics about what Heuermann said but claimed it was "off-color."
"I kind of thought he was a bully and seemed to be the kind of person who felt he could get away with doing things because he was big, and people weren’t going to say anything," he said. The officer claimed that the argument had nothing to do with the Gilgo Beach murder case. He added, "It would give you an insight into a mindset. He’s actually missing his left front tooth, so that was pretty obvious. His voice is very distinctive, and when I saw the picture in the media today I immediately recognized him as the person I had this confrontation with two weeks ago." The ex-officer claimed he chose to leave the argument because "discretion [is] the better part of valor." "It was a bit odd. But listen, this is New York," the ex-officer concluded.
Does Rex Heuermann have anger issues?
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison described Heuermann as both a "demon" and an "ogre." The architect is currently facing three counts of first-degree murder and second-degree murder for allegedly killing Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27. He is also named the prime suspect in the death of a fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25. Police have been tracking him for months and finally nabbed him on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue Thursday night, around 8.39 p.m.
Following Heuermann’s arrest, one of his former co-workers described him as a "blank cipher" who lacked empathy and had a penchant for getting on the wrong side of his coworkers. "He was socially awkward in many ways. I guess the word for it is, he just didn't seem to have empathy. He was sort of like a cipher, like, what is this person? I didn't get angry, kind, or sad from him. I just got blank. I didn't get his deal," the suspect's ex-colleague, Niv Miyasota, said. One of his neighbors also said that they were not surprised by Heuermann’s arrest as he was "not a very nice person." "Most people don't knock on his door. During Halloween, the kids are told to stay away,” Barry Auslander, a 72-year-old neighbor, said.