Gilgo Beach murder investigators linked serial murder 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 Thursday for the murders of Jessica Taylor, 20, in 2003, and Sandra Costilla, 28, in 1993.
Investigators said they were able to use new forensic testing methods to match hairs found on or near both victims to a DNA profile likely matching Heuermann.
The new charges came just days after police completed extensive searches of Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park and a wooded area on Long Island linked to the investigation into a series of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach serial murders.
Prosecutors say they found a “planning document” in his home that Heuermann allegedly used to “methodically plan” his murders on a hard drive found during the search.
Gilgo Beach murder investigators linked serial murder suspect Rex Heuremann to two new victims thanks to their recent search of his Long Island home.
In the document, Heuermann allegedly laid out a series of tasks to complete before, during and after the murders, including checking the weather and establishing a staging area. He also has a place to jot down practical lessons for “next time.”
One section, titled ‘BODY PREPARATION’, includes guidance on ‘REMOVING THE HEAD AND HANDS’, as well as tattooing, DNA tracing and washing the bodies.
Another section, ‘THINGS TO REMEMBER,’ appears to highlight lessons from previous murders that should be heeded, according to prosecutors.
Entries describe the importance of getting adequate sleep ‘BEFORE HUNTING’, using thick ropes, and limiting noise to increase ‘PLAY TIME’.
In a section titled ‘POST EVENT’, there were reminders such as ‘change tires’, ‘burn gloves’, ‘get rid of photographs’ and ‘prepare story’.
Heuermann also listed potential and past dumping locations, as well as supplies he had on hand.
The alleged murderer pleaded not guilty at the court hearing and was ordered detained without bail.
In April, investigators spent days searching a property in the eastern North Sea village of Long Island where Sandra Costilla’s body was discovered in 1993.
Jessica Taylor disappeared in 2003 while working as an escort in New York City. Some of her remains were discovered in Manorville that year.
In addition to the hard drive, prosecutors say they found in Heuermann’s possession a book written by retired FBI agent John Douglas, The Cases That Haunt Us.
They say the planning document also referenced specific pages from Douglas’s other work, Mind Hunter, that allude to the personality types of serial killers and the personality profiles of those who use mutilation and sexual violence.
Jessica Taylor disappeared 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 in beach brush next to Ocean Parkway, the road where the other Gilgo Beach victims were found.
She had been decapitated and both her arms had been amputated. Additionally, a tattoo on her torso had been “severely obliterated by a sharp object,” according to officials.
The Heuermann family home in Massapequa Park was vandalized by authorities as they combed the property for evidence.
Search teams removing items from the basement of Rex Heuermann’s home
In April, investigators also spent days searching a property in the eastern North Sea village of Long Island, where Costilla’s body was discovered in 1993. Costilla, originally from Trinidad and Tobago, had lived in New York City .
The charges involving Costilla, who was murdered 30 years ago, indicate that prosecutors believe Heuermann was killing victims for much longer than previously thought.
Prosecutors say an entry in 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.
The first victim, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was discovered by Suffolk County police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, of Maine, was found two days later.
Heuermann is also accused of killing Amber Costello (left) and Maureen Brainard-Barnes (right).
Since late 2010, police have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people, mostly sex workers, whose remains were discovered along an isolated road not far from Gilgo Beach on Long Island’s south shore.
The victims had disappeared over a period of at least 14 years. Irritated police officers made only halting progress in identifying potential suspects.
Investigators have long said it was likely that not all of the deaths were the work of the same killer.
Some of the victims went missing 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.
