Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann REFUSES to give DNA sample as lawyer questions pizza crust used to link him to murder

Serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann has refused to give a DNA sample as his lawyer questions the pizza crust used to link him to one of the three murders he is accused of.

Heuermann, 59, is accused of killing Megan Waterman, 22, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27, whose bodies were discovered near Gilgo Beach on Long Island in December 2010.

The bodies of the three women had been tied with sashes or red ribbons and wrapped in burlap.

Heuermann pleaded not guilty to first and second degree murder. He is also considered a prime suspect in the murder of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were also found near Gilgo Beach.

Heuermann was linked to one of the gruesome murders through the mitochondrial DNA profile of a pizza crust and a used napkin he threw from his Midtown Manhattan office, prosecutors said.

Heuermann was linked to one of the gruesome murders through the mitochondrial DNA profile of a pizza crust and a used napkin he threw from his Midtown Manhattan office, prosecutors said.

He was arrested on July 13 and remains in jail pending trial.

Heuermann’s legal team is fighting a request from Suffolk County prosecutors to obtain a cheek swab for DNA testing.

Danielle Coysh, who represents Heuermann, argued that the Suffolk County prosecutor’s office fell “far short” of the legal credential needed to compel the architect to give the swab, Newsday reported Tuesday, citing court documents.

The exchange between prosecutors and the defense team focused on authorities’ evidence of discarded pizza crusts and a used napkin that they say linked Heuermann to one of the three murders.

“The claims in the People’s Emotional Papers could be construed as rising to the level of reasonable suspicion, but this falls far short of the standard of probable cause required to justify granting the order sought by the People. “, Coysh wrote in a response to Suffolk County prosecutors, as reported by Newsday.

Heuermann pleaded not guilty to first and second degree murder. He was arrested on July 13 and remains in jail ahead of trial.

The first victim, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was discovered by Suffolk County police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, was found two days later.

Maureen Brainard-Barnes was 25 when she disappeared (left). Amber Lynn Costello was 27 years old. Their bodies were found near Barthelemy’s the same day

A “major excavation” took place at Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park. Pictured are State Police investigators collecting evidence at the scene

A forensic photographer looks at the tray of artefacts exhumed from the backyard of Heuermann’s home. Prosecutors say ‘nothing of note’ was discovered in the backyard

For more than a week after his arrest on July 14, investigators conducted an exhaustive search of the house

Gilbert’s body was found in a nearby swamp a year after the bodies of 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy were discovered; Megan Waterman, 22; Maureen Brainard Barnes, 25; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27

The response came after prosecutors filed a motion to obtain a cheek swab from Heuermann. State prosecutors are asking for more DNA testing to continue adding weight to their case against Heuermann.

Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Michelle Haddad asked the court last week to sign the cheek pad because the pizza crust and napkin can only be described as “supposed to be used/touched” by Heuermann, according to court documents, Newsday reported.

Haddad noted in court documents that if Heuermann’s DNA from the swab does not match the DNA profile from the napkin and pizza crusts, “the defense would be presented with a potential defense at trial.”

“Thus, there is a clear indication that material and relevant evidence will be found and is crucial to the trial,” she wrote.

In his filing this week, Coysh insisted that authorities “essentially concede” that they have no evidence to prove that Heuermann “actually came into contact with the pizza crust or the napkin used,” reported the newspaper.

“Thus, by people’s own admission, the connection between the partially eaten pizza crust and the used napkin and defendant Rex A. Heuermann is at best a matter of conjecture and hypothesis, not fact.”