Gilgo Beach murders investigators linked serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann to two new victims thanks to DNA evidence and their recent search of his Long Island home.
Heuermann, 60, was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday for the murders of 20-year-old Jessica Taylor in 2003 and 28-year-old Sandra Costilla in 1993.
Investigators said they were able to use new forensic testing methods to match hairs found on or near the vicinity of both victims to a DNA profile that is a likely match to Heuermann.
The new charges came just days after police finished extensive searches of Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home and a wooded area on Long Island tied to the investigation of a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach serial killings.
Prosecutors say they found a ‘planning document’ in his home that Heuermann allegedly used to ‘methodically blueprint’ his killings in a hard drive found during the search.
In the document, Heuermann allegedly laid out a set of tasks to complete before, during and after killings, including checking the weather and setting up a staging area. It also has a place to note practical lessons for ‘next time.’
One section, titled ‘BODY PREP,’ included guidance to ‘REMOVE HEAD AND HANDS,’ as well as tattoos and ‘marks of torture.’ Heuermann allegedly also left a reminder for himself to wash the ‘inside and all cavities’ of his victims.
Another section, ‘THINGS TO REMEMBER,’ appears to highlight lessons from previous killings that should be heeded, according to prosecutors.
The entries describe the importance of sleeping properly ‘BEFORE HUNT,’ using thick rope, and limiting noise to increase ‘PLAY TIME.’
In a section titled ‘POST EVENT,’ there were reminders such as ‘change tires,’ ‘burn gloves,’ ‘dispose of pics,’ and ‘have story set.’
Heuermann also allegedly listed potential and past dumping sites as well as the supplies he had at hand.
In a section titled ‘PROBLEMS,’ he allegedly listed potential ways he could get caught, including blood stands, witness identification and hair and fiber evidence.
Investigators now believe the torture happened inside Heuermann’s home, as the document includes concerns about how sound travels.
‘With Heuermann’s family vacationing out of state, Defendant would have had unfettered time and exclusive access to [his house] allowing Defendant Heuermann ample opportunity to execute, and clean up after, these crimes,’ prosecutors said.
The alleged killer pleaded not guilty at the court hearing and was ordered held without bail.
In addition to the hard drive, prosecutors say they found a book in Heuermann’s possession by the retired FBI agent John Douglas, The Cases That Haunt Us.
They say the planning document also referenced specific pages in another work by Douglas, Mind Hunter, that allude to the personality types of serial killers and personality profiles of those who use mutilation and sexual violence.
Jessica Taylor vanished in 2003 while working as an escort in New York City. Some of her remains were discovered in Manorville that year. Other remains were found in a 2011 search of the beach scrub by the side of Ocean Parkway, the road where the other Gilgo Beach victims were found.
She had been decapitated and both of her arms were severed. Moreover, a tattoo on her torso had been ‘severely obliterated by a sharp object,’ per officials.
Police say they found evidence that Heuermann searched online for a new vehicle that was identical to his own, except for the color, after witnesses said they saw a blue vehicle matching his in the area where Taylor’s body was found.
Investigators in April also spent days searching a property in the eastern Long Island hamlet of North Sea, where Costilla’s body was discovered in 1993. Costilla, originally from Trinidad & Tobago, had lived in New York City.
Forensic examiners found two unidentified male and female hairs on her remains, which in February were determined to match Heuerrmann and an unnamed woman he had been living him at the time, per court documents.
The charges involving Costilla, who was killed 30 years ago, indicate that prosecutors believe Heuermann was killing victims for much longer longer than previously thought.
Prosecutors say one entry in the planning documents suggested he was involved in the death of another woman, Valerie Mack, who was found dismembered in the same vicinity as Taylor. Heuermann has not been charged in the death of Mack, who disappeared in 2000.
Since late 2010, police have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people — mostly female sex workers — whose remains were discovered along an isolated highway not far from Gilgo Beach on Long Island’s south shore.
The victims had disappeared over a span of at least 14 years. Vexed police officers made only halting progress in identifying possible suspects.
Investigators long said it was likely that not all of the deaths were the work of the same killer.
Some of the victims disappeared in the mid-1990s. Investigators concluded that an 11th person who disappeared in 2010 from the barrier island community of Oak Beach had accidentally drowned.
The Gilgo women’s remains were discovered during the search for 23-year-old Shannan Gilbert, an escort from New Jersey who had vanished in May 2010 after making a frantic 911 call.
Her remains were found along the same stretch of coast in December 2011 – and it was her body that led police to the discovery of the ‘Gilgo Four’.
No one has ever been charged in Gilbert’s death and police said it may have been accidental – but her family believe she was murdered.
Heuermann was linked to the killings by DNA on the burlap used to transport the bodied which was compared to samples taken from a pizza crust and napkin that were discarded outside his Manhattan architectural firm, police said.
The samples boasted a 99.96 percent match, according to law enforcement officials.
Cops said they were alerted to Heuermann as a potential suspect after a witness linked Heuermann’s Chevrolet Avalanche to Costello’s murder.
The car was then tied to Heuermann’s cellphone records, which allegedly linked him to locations related to the murders.
The indictment stated that Heuermann had used different burner phones to contact each of his victims.
Cops also accused Heuermann of using Barthelemy’s phone to make taunting phone calls to her family from the comfort of his office.
Her sister Melissa told how she was bombarded with threatening phone calls from the killer who boasted of the killing and was keeping tabs on her movements.
Vess Mitev, a lawyer for Heuermann’s two adult children, said the family was closely monitoring the developments.
‘The hearing is yet another mile marker in this macabre saga, where they continue to be unfortunate bystanders,’ he said.