Gilgo Beach murders: How a tossed pizza crust broke a case that had stumped detectives for 13 years
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: Rex Heuermann, the New York-based architect who is facing murder charges for the deaths of three women whose remains were found at Gilgo Beach over a decade ago, was identified by a piece of DNA evidence that he unwittingly left behind on a pizza box, according to court documents. Heuermann, 59, had ordered a pizza and ate it at his office on 5th Avenue in Manhattan on January 26, 2023.
He then threw away the pizza box in a trash can outside his office building, the New York Post reported. A surveillance team that had been following him as part of the investigation retrieved the pizza box and sent it to the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory for testing.
Heuermann's DNA matched a male hair that was recovered on the burlap sack of one of the victims
The results showed that Heuermann's DNA matched a male hair that was recovered on the burlap sack used to transport one of the victims, Megan Waterman, to the remote area where her body was dumped. Waterman was one of the four women whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo State Park in December 2010. The other three women were Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. They were all sex workers who had disappeared between 2007 and 2010 after advertising their services online.
He pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder
Heuermann was arrested on Thursday night in Manhattan and taken to Suffolk County where he was arraigned on Friday afternoon. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and other charges related to the deaths of Waterman, Barthelemy, and Costello. He is also considered the prime suspect in the death of Brainard-Barnes, another of the dubbed 'Gilgo Four,' but he has not been charged in that case yet. He was reportedly in "tears" following the court appearance even as he had reportedly shown no emotions during the arraignment. “[He said] ‘I did not do this,’” his lawyer Michael Brown told reporters.
Heuermann is married and has two children
Heuermann is married and has two children, according to records and neighbors. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Ryan, in 1990, but they later divorced. He is currently married to Asa Ellerup, 59, who works as a consultant. He has a daughter, Victoria, who is around 26 or 27 years old. She used to work as an employee of her father's architecture firm, RH Architects, which specializes in residential and commercial projects. The firm reportedly removed its team page from its website after news of Heuermann's arrest went public. Heuermann the publication reported showed no emotion during his court appearance and only spoke his name when asked by the judge.
