Rex A. Heuermann, the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer, now faces charges in the killings of seven women after he was charged with murder in the 2000 slaying of Valerie Mack, court papers show.

Heuermann, 60, of Massapequa Park, was already facing charges in the killings of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor.

The Gilgo investigation has spanned 13 years, starting in 2010 with the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert in Oak Beach. In their search for Gilbert, whose body was eventually found more than a year after she went missing, police uncovered the remains of 10 other people, including a toddler, pointing to a possible serial killer.

Over the years, many of the victims have been identified and officials have shared some evidence but no arrests had been made — until recently.

Here is a timeline of key moments in the investigation starting with the latest updates.

July 1: Items owned by Heuermann listed for sale on eBay

A 1972 jeep belonging to alleged Gilgo Serial killer Rex Heuermann, seen in an undisclosed location in Suffolk County on Tuesday, June. 17, 2025.

A Vietnam-era Army jeep owned by Heuermann is being sold in an online auction.

The vehicle and a military cargo trailer are being sold on the auction site eBay by a family representative with proceeds going to Heuermann’s former wife, Asa Ellerup. The starting bid for the sale is $1,000, according to the listing.

Heuermann, who was also an avid collector of historic military style guns, drove the jeep to go hunting, said the representative, who is selling the item anonymously.

June 10: In new documentary, Heuermann's daughter says she believes her father is 'most likely' the Gilgo Beach killer

THE GILGO BEACH KILLER: HOUSE OF SECRETS -- Episode 103 -- Pictured: Victoria Heuermann -- (Photo by: Peacock)

Victoria Heuermann says her father "most likely" committed the killings in an explosive new documentary that premiered on Peacock on Tuesday morning.

Victoria Heuermann, 28, who along with her mother, Asa Ellerup, was reportedly paid more than $1 million to tell their story in "Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets," shared the startling allegation with the filmmakers last week, they reveal in the closing moments of the three-part series.

"A week before the series release, Victoria Heuermann told the producers that based on publicly available facts that have been presented and explained to her, she now believes her father is most likely the Gilgo Beach killer," reads a slide that appears in the closing montage.

June 2: Gilgo Beach victims memorialized on park benches near where their remains were found

The Town of Babylon has set up three memorial benches on Ocean Parkway to honor the memory of the Gilgo Beach homicide victims.

The Gilgo Beach homicide victims will be permanently remembered on park benches that bear their names, alongside a quiet seaside stretch of Ocean Parkway that once served as a graveyard for their remains.

Three memorial benches are perched along the 13.7-mile-long Ocean Parkway Coastal Greenway bike path on the barrier island near Gilgo Beach. The roughly $6,300 effort completed last fall was funded by the Town of Babylon, said Thomas Stay, the town’s chief of staff.

"It hopefully sends a message to the family that ‘you're not alone,’ ” Stay said, adding that the town also collaborated with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. "It's a simple thing, but we hope it goes a long way for those families and anyone else that has been affected by these crimes."

May 29: Prosecutors urge judge not to toss Bittrolff conviction over unproven Gilgo connection

John Bittrolff appears in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on July 31, 2014.

Suffolk prosecutors are urging a judge to deny a motion by twice-convicted murderer John Bittrolff to vacate his conviction, arguing the Manorville carpenter’s latest attempt to clear his name is based on misconceptions about previous theories on the case and a misguided attempt to connect alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann to the killings.

Attorneys with the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County filed the motion on behalf of Bittrolff in January after they said reanalyzed DNA evidence in the 1994 killing of Colleen McNamee revealed a profile of another man whose genetic material was found on a pair of “men’s jeans” discovered at the Shirley crime scene, a pair of black stretch pants, and on the victim. Bittrolff sought to have that profile compared with the FBI’s CODIS database and a profile of Heuermann, who is currently charged in the 1993 killing of Sandra Costilla, a case Bittrolff was previously a suspect in.

Prosecutors told Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro the motion should be denied

May 8: Suspect's vault disassembled, door removed from home

Workers struggle with moving a vault door out the home of Rex Heuermann in Massapequa Park on Thursday.

A basement vault belonging to Rex A. Heuermann was disassembled as his family prepares to sell the Massapequa Park home where he lived during what prosecutors have alleged was a decades-long killing spree.

The large Pentagon door to the walk-in vault featured Heuermann’s initials "RAH" on it. It was pulled through Bilco doors by a team of five movers and hauled away on a trailer hitched to a Ford Super Duty 350 shortly before noon Thursday.

The heavy lift came as Heuermann’s former wife has been clearing the First Avenue house to prepare the property for sale, her attorney said. Heuermann’s stepson, Christopher Sheridan, observed the door being removed from the yard by a team of movers.

April 17: Heuermann's lawyer zeroes in on lab's software to attack credibility of DNA evidence

The defense for the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer attempted to discredit the nuclear DNA methods a California laboratory used to link him to the killings, questioning the veracity by which the lab's software has been scrutinized and the impact the technology has had in the world of forensics.

Lead defense attorney Michael J. Brown, noting a mathematical error in the formula published in papers supporting the software used by Astrea Forensics, asked the founder of the lab how his software can be widely accepted in the scientific community if the published formula is incorrect.

"There's a typo in the paper," Astrea co-founder Richard Green acknowledged, downplaying the significance of the mistake, which was repeated in patent filings related to the software, IBDGem.

April 16: Expert says DNA analysis used to tie Heuermann to killings becoming prevalent in criminal cases

Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann attends a pretrial hearing in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Wednesday.

The method of nuclear DNA analysis that linked Heuermann to the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killings will soon be the primary method for generating forensic genetic data, a founder of the lab that performed the work testified at a hearing to determine the admissibility of the evidence.

Richard Green, co-founder of Astrea Forensics in Santa Cruz, California, said whole genome sequencing has become prevalent in criminal cases and his lab’s proprietary technology applying the science has begun to assist law enforcement across the country even if the work hasn’t made its way into many courtrooms.

"This new technology has so many advantages that it will be what people do in the near future," Green said of whole genome sequencing.

April 15: Heuermann's ex-wife wants to know how her hair ended up on bodies, attorney says

Asa Ellerup, former wife of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer, speaks exclusively to Newsday in Riverhead on Tuesday.

The former wife of Heuermann wants to know how her hair ended up on the bodies of women he is accused of killing, her attorney said as she attended a hearing about the admissibility of DNA evidence extracted from those hairs.

Attorney Robert Macedonio, of Islip Terrace, said that question is what's driving his client Asa Ellerup to return to court after finalizing her divorce from Heuermann.

"She has to live the rest of her life knowing that her hair was found on dead bodies," Macedonio told Newsday with Ellerup and her daughter, Victoria Heuermann, at his side before the start of testimony Tuesday. "How did the hair get there? And how do they know it's their hair?"

March 28: Geneticist says techniques for analyzing DNA in Gilgo case are 'widely accepted'

A top population geneticist told a Suffolk judge the nuclear DNA techniques and likelihood ratios linking degraded hair samples found at the Gilgo Beach crime scenes to Heuermann are "widely accepted" in the scientific community, as testimony in the first pre-trial hearing in the high profile case began in Riverhead.

"It's embarrassing for our criminal justice system that a method like this wasn't the state of the art years ago," witness Kelley Harris testified, as she read from her peer review of the methodology used by the outside laboratory working with investigators on the cases.

Harris, an associate professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington, testified that in the review, she had described the tool, known as IBDGem, as "elegant and powerful."

March 27: Heuermann and estranged wife reach divorce settlement

Heuermann and his estranged wife have reached a settlement in their divorce proceeding, according to court records.

The divorce paperwork, signed by both Heuermann and Asa Ellerup, was filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court. A judge will review the settlement and if deemed appropriate, sign off on the divorce, making it final.

The terms of the divorce settlement, like all divorces in New York State, are not public.

March 12: Judge sets hearing on DNA evidence

A pretrial hearing to determine whether DNA evidence allegedly linking Heuermann to multiple victims will be admissible at trial is scheduled to take place later this month, a Suffolk judge said.

Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei set the first day of the Frye hearing for March 28 during a brief court conference in Riverhead.

The prosecution and defense are both expected to call expert witnesses in the area of nuclear DNA testing.

March 10: Heuermann's lawsuit over 2022 car accident dismissed

A lawsuit filed by Heuermann in Brooklyn Supreme Court over a 2022 car accident was dismissed, according to court records.

The lawsuit sought $5 million in damages from Suffolk County residents Lindsay Fenimore and C.D. Fenimore for "severe and permanent personal injuries," physical pain, mental anguish and financial loss Heuermann claims he suffered as a result of the Feb. 23, 2022, crash in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

The lawsuit said Lindsay Fenimore was driving a 2017 Volkswagen when it made "violent contact" with Heuermann’s 2012 Chevrolet at the intersection of Union Avenue and Devoe Street.

Feb. 25: Heuermann was 'extremely familiar' with Ocean Parkway, court papers say

An aerial view of the Ocean Parkway onTuesday.

Heuermann worked at Jones Beach for about three years when he was in his early 20s and became "extremely familiar with Ocean Parkway," which was the burial site for six of the seven women Heuermann is charged with killing, Suffolk prosecutors said in court documents.

"The investigation to date has established the defendant worked at Jones Beach from approximately 1981-1984," prosecutors said in the court documents. "Part of defendant’s work at the beach entailed the defendant getting on All-Terrain Vehicle and going from field to field to ensure beachgoers were off the property once the beach was closed, a role that made the defendant extremely familiar with Ocean Parkway at night."

The new details of Heuermann's alleged familiarity with the site appears in a 34-page document from prosecutors opposing a defense motion that seeks to separate the charges into multiple trials. Prosecutors are advocating for Heuermann to be prosecuted in a single trial that includes all the cases.

Jan. 29: Nuclear DNA evidence should be admissible at trial, DA's office says

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office says the nuclear DNA evidence in the case against Heuermann is rooted in science long accepted in New York courts and should be admissible at trial, according to a filing opposing a defense motion to exclude the evidence.

Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Andrew Lee, a prosecutor working with the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force, argued that while the specific whole genome sequencing techniques used by an outside lab in the case have never been the subject of an admissibility hearing in New York, the science itself is generally accepted within the scientific community and is "based upon technology that has been implemented for decades."

The DNA results obtained by Astrea Forensics have also been corroborated through mitochondrial DNA analysis performed by another outside lab, Lee wrote in a filing

Jan. 22: Heuermann asks judge to try cases separately, court papers show

Attorneys for Heuermann have asked a Suffolk judge to try charges related to three of the women whose bodies were found at Gilgo Beach separately from the remaining four alleged victims in the case, court records show.

The motion argues that a "substantial disparity" exists between the evidence in the first indictment — charging Heuermann with first- and second-degree murder in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello and Megan Waterman — and the allegations in three superseding indictments, which could lead to an improper conviction based on "cumulative effect."

"Much of the evidence will involve lengthy testimony, multiple exhibits and be of a technical nature," wrote attorney Sabato Caponi, of Bohemia, a member of the team appointed to represent Heuermann. "A trial encompassing all 10 counts would unjustifiably create a strong risk that the jury will be unable to segregate the evidence by its separate and distinct relevance to each individual incident."

Dec. 17: Heuermann charged with murder in death of Valerie Mack

Valerie Mack, who also used the name Melissa Taylor, went missing in 2000 at the age of 24. She was working as an escort in Philadelphia at the time of her disappearance and family members last saw her in the spring or summer of 2000 in the area of Port Republic, New Jersey. Mack�s partial remains were found in a wooded area off Halsey-Manor Road in Manorville the same year she went missing and more than a decade later, her dismembered remains were found along Ocean Parkway.

Heuermann is been charged with murder in the 2000 slaying of Valerie Mack, sources say.

He is expected to be arraigned on a superseding indictment adding a new charge of second-degree murder when he makes his previously scheduled appearance before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in Riverhead Tuesday, a source familiar with the case told Newsday.

Mack, a New Jersey woman who for two decades was known as Jane Doe No. 6 after her torso was discovered in a wooded lot off Mill Road west of Halsey Manor Road in Manorville in November 2000, was identified by police through DNA four years ago.

Nov. 20: Heuermann's family moving out of Massapequa Park home, attorney says

Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home is about to be vacant.

Heuermann’s estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, and her two adult children are packing up and moving out of the home, Ellerup’s attorney said. The home was the subject of extensive searches by law enforcement following Heuermann’s July 13, 2023, arrest on murder charges.

"Asa does not feel the connection to the home she once had after the execution of the two search warrants and the violation of her property rights," Robert Macedonio, Ellerup’s divorce attorney, said.

Oct. 22: Efforts to ID victim using facial reconstruction sketch have failed, DA says

Facial reconstruction images released by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office show "John Doe," an unidentified male whose skeletal remains were found along Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach.

Efforts by the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force to publicize a facial reconstruction sketch of an Asian male considered to be a one of the victims have so far not yet yielded useful leads, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told Newsday.

Tierney said recently the information provided to his office has not been "profound" and included one lead that investigators have already discounted.

The district attorney also acknowledged that his office is considering additional forensics techniques to identify the victim known as "Asian Doe," whose ancestry has been traced through genetic analysis to southern China, in addition to distributing the sketches to other police departments.

Oct. 16: Defense says it wants to exclude DNA evidence

The admissibility of the DNA methods used to charge Heuermann in the killings will be the subject of a hearing next spring, as his defense looks to exclude the evidence at trial, attorneys and the judge presiding over the case said.

Defense attorney Michael J. Brown, of Central Islip, is alleging the DNA expert prosecutors intend to call to testify will speak to unproven methods of genetic testing that do not meet the Frye Standard, which requires an expert's opinion to be "generally accepted" within their scientific community. The testing, conducted by Astrea Forensics of Scotts Valley, California, used proprietary DNA methods to recover data from degraded hair samples — methods never before presented in a New York court.

"These [DNA] results are not fair," Brown said following Heuermann's appearance before State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei. "They shouldn't come into evidence because [Astrea] is not accredited [in New York State]; they're not a forensic-accredited crime lab. There's no science behind it, in the sense that it has not been peer reviewed."

July 3: Jail investigators turn over 15 'credible' reports of sex workers' possible encounters with Heuermann

Investigators have forwarded 15 "credible" reports from sex workers who may have had encounters with suspected serial killer Rex A. Heuermann to the Gilgo Beach task force after speaking with nearly 300 Long Island women living behind bars.

Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. told Newsday on Monday his investigators spoke to 298 sex workers in Suffolk and Nassau correctional facilities since Heuermann was arrested in July 2023. The investigators are planning to interview sex workers at New York City’s Rikers Island about Heuermann later this month, he added.

“My staff has been deemed as subject matter experts,” Toulon said. “That is why Nassau and New York City want them to come in and speak to these sex workers.”

June 6: Heuermann facing new murder charges in two more killings, court papers show

Heuermann will be arraigned for the November 1993 death of Sandra Costilla, whose killing Suffolk police and prosecutors had long associated with a different suspect, and the July 2003 dismemberment death of Jessica Taylor.

Heuermann has been indicted on two counts of second-degree murder in the killings of two additional women, including a Queens resident whose remains were found in Southampton Town more than 30 years ago and who had only recently been connected to the Gilgo Beach investigation, court papers show.

He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment before State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in Riverhead in the July 2003 dismemberment death of Jessica Taylor and the November 1993 death of Sandra Costilla, whose killing Suffolk police and prosecutors had long associated with a different suspect. Prosecutors for the first time also linked the killing of Gilgo Beach victim Valerie Mack to Heuermann in court documents.

Heuermann, who was 30 when Costilla’s remains were found on Cove Road in North Sea on Nov. 20, 1993, had previously not been charged in a killing committed earlier than 2007. He was arrested in July and charged in the deaths of three women whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach in 2010. He was charged with an additional death in January.

Taylor and Costilla also represent the first alleged victims tied to Heuermann whose remains were discovered somewhere other than Ocean Parkway, expanding the area to which he allegedly dumped bodies by more than 40 miles.

May 20: Police search Heuermann's house again, lawyers say

Investigators executed a search warrant at the Massapequa Park home of the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer, attorneys for Heuermann and his family told Newsday.

Neither Heuermann's defense attorney Michael J. Brown, nor Robert Macedonio, who represents estranged wife Asa Ellerup, could say specifically what law enforcement is searching for.

Through a spokesperson, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney declined to comment.

“As District Attorney Tierney has previously stated, the work of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task force is continuing,” communications director Tania Lopez said. “We do not comment on investigative steps while ongoing.”

The search was launched while the house was empty, Macedonio said, with his client and her son currently in South Carolina. The couple's daughter, Victoria Heuermann, is also staying elsewhere, he added.

May 10: Gilgo Beach task force expanding scope to look into other Suffolk unsolved homicides, DA says

The Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force has expanded its scope to take a “fresh look” at other unsolved cases involving human remains found elsewhere in the county, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

The revelation follows a report issued by the district attorney’s office that stated the work of the task force is “far from complete” regarding Gilgo Four suspect Rex A. Heuermann and other defendants “yet to be named.”

“We’re looking at other dead bodies,” Tierney told Newsday in an interview Thursday. “We’re using the same methodology that we used before, but we’re taking a fresh approach to each body.”

April 26: Police expand search of human remains from Manorville to North Sea

Police expanded their K-9 search for body parts in the Gilgo Beach homicides investigation that began in Manorville to the site of a decades old unsolved murder in North Sea on Friday, a source told Newsday.

A Suffolk Police K-9 unit arrived in the Southampton town hamlet with cadaver dogs at 5 a.m., a source said. The North Sea site is about 19 miles from where cadaver dogs from three police agencies continue to search the woods in Manorville.

The latest development in the search comes as the K-9 police search of Manorville woodlands continued into a fourth day Friday and officers headed south of the Long Island Expressway for the first time. New York State Police were spotted combing the woods west of Halsey Manor Road from County Road 111 to the Expressway, just south of where two sets of partial remains related to Gilgo Beach were found more than 20 years ago.

April 25: Investigators search wooded area in Manorville, officials say

Police launched a massive search in wooded areas in Manorville in connection with the Gilgo Beach homicide investigation, officials and a source told Newsday.

The search marked the latest development in the investigation following the July arrest of Heuermann in connection with the killings of three women. The former Manhattan architect was later charged with a fourth killing. He has pleaded not guilty.

The Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force is actively investigating the unsolved cases.

More than 20 police vehicles, including over a dozen K-9 units, gathered at the Manorville firehouse, as the search of the vast woodlands continued to grow.

April 17: Heuermann's lawyers want James Burke's FBI files

The attorneys for Heuermann are seeking FBI files relating to former Suffolk County Chief of Police James Burke, whose own attorney said was previously cleared as a suspect in the case he once oversaw after meeting with Gilgo investigators.

Michael J. Brown, of Central Islip, the lead attorney for the former Manhattan architect, said he has not yet seen any discovery related to Burke as he prepares for Heuermann's trial, but is requesting that “FBI documents and notes” regarding an investigation into the disgraced former chief of department be turned over.

“Our information and belief is the Suffolk County Police Department — especially with Chief Burke in charge — and the FBI were butting heads,” Brown told reporters following an appearance by Heuermann in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead. “To some extent, I think, Chief Burke was suppressing the investigation and wouldn't allow the FBI to participate in it with their expertise. What we are looking for, in particular, are the FBI documents and notes in regards to what they were investigating in regards to Chief Burke.”

March 13: Heuermann's estranged wife says she has given him 'benefit of the doubt'

The estranged wife of Heuermann declared in a statement that she visits her husband in jail weekly and still maintains the defendant is not capable of the crimes he is accused of.

Asa Ellerup, who filed for divorce from her husband of 27 years in the days following his July 13 arrest in connection with the case, also expressed sympathy for the victims in a statement released by her Islip Terrace-based attorney, Robert Macedonio. The divorce is pending.

“I will listen to all of the evidence and withhold judgment until the end of trial,” Ellerup said in the statement. “I have given Rex the benefit of the doubt, as we all deserve.”

Feb.6: Prosecutors turn over almost 3,000 police tips to defense team

Suffolk County prosecutors handed over a trove of documents to the defense for Heuermann — including nearly 3,000 police tips — as the former Manhattan architect appeared briefly in a Riverhead courtroom.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Santomartino told the court it had provided to the defense — at its request — the police department's “lead log” containing 2,944 tips received by the public since the beginning of the case in 2010 until Jan. 2. Prosecutors provided the log as well as the full file on the first 25 tips.

Heuermann, dressed in a dark suit and tie and handcuffed, did not address the court. State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei set Heuermann's next court appearance for April 17.

Jan. 16: Heuermann indicted with murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes

Nicolette Brainard-Barnes holds a photo of her mom Maureen Brainard-Barnes on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 in Riverhead

A superseding indictment was unsealed charging alleged Heuermann with second-degree murder in the killing of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, six months after the Massapequa Park resident was charged with killing three other women whose remains were found alongside Ocean Parkway in 2010.

Heuermann, 60, pleaded not guilty. Investigators believe Brainard-Barnes was the first of the “Gilgo Four” to be killed sometime after she disappeared in the summer of 2007.

Prosecutors said they linked Heuermann to Brainard-Barnes’ killing through nuclear DNA analysis.

A hair found on a belt buckle used to bind the feet, ankles and legs of Brainard-Barnes contained a hair that DNA analysis shows is “7.9 trillion more times likely to have come from a person genetically identical to Asa Ellerup’s SNP Genotype file than from an unrelated individual,” prosecutors said in a bail letter.

Nov. 30: Cheek swab samples from estranged wife match DNA on victims' remains

Asa Ellerup, wife of accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex A. Heuermann arrives at the Riverhead courthouse on Nov 15, 2023

Cheek swab samples collected from Heuermann's estranged wife match her DNA material found on the remains of some of the homicide victims, according to a law-enforcement official.

The DNA sample from Asa Ellerup was taken on July 13, the night her husband was arrested on charges he killed three of the women whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach in 2010. The samples were taken to confirm earlier DNA tests Suffolk prosecutors said pointed to Ellerup as a source of hairs found with the remains. Ellerup has not been accused of wrongdoing in the case.

Nov. 15: Defense attorney says another suspect was almost arrested

Heuermann's defense attorney says another suspect in the 13-year-old case was nearly arrested under the previous district attorney and that prosecutors have not yet turned over detectives' notes that could help the defendant.

Defense attorney Michael J. Brown of Central Islip said those notes would have the names of other suspects in the multiple homicide investigation.

“It's important for us to defend my client to get all the investigation notes from all the detectives and police officers involved in this case,” Brown told state Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei during Heuermann’s brief appearance in court.

Nov. 9: Heuermann's estranged wife visits him in jail

Heuermann received a visit from his estranged wife at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead, an attorney confirmed to Newsday.

It was the first time that Ellerup, who filed for divorce from Heuermann six days after his July 13 arrest on first- and second-degree murder charges in the killings of three women, visited Heuermann. Since Heuermann's incarceration, the pair have communicated by telephone.

Nov. 3: Judge clears the way for potential gun charges

A Suffolk County judge clears the way for Nassau prosecutors to press potential gun charges against accused Heuermann in connection with the cache of weapons police found at his house.

Suffolk County Police seized more than 280 firearms from Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home in the days following his July 13 arrest on murder charges in the killing of three women.

Suffolk prosecutors have said some of the weapons may have been possessed in violation of state guns laws — at least 26 unregistered handguns, 15 unregistered assault weapons and 10 high-capacity magazines — and the “proper jurisdiction” for potential charges would be Nassau County, the location of his home.

Nov. 2: Ruling reinstates use of genetic familial searching by police

A recent state Court of Appeals ruling reinstating use of genetic familial searching by police opens the door to efforts by investigators to identify three remaining unidentified victims in the Gilgo Beach killings investigation, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

The court’s decision overturned a lower appeals court ruling which had effectively canceled use of the DNA search method, a process that allows investigators to compare unidentified DNA of a suspect with the genetic material of convicted offenders whose genetic profiles are stored in the state’s DNA database. The hope of investigators is that the comparison might lead to a potential suspect.

Oct. 18: Commissioner: Witness statements may connect suspect to other victims

Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison, right, speaks at a press conference alongside attorney John Ray outside Ray’s law office in Miller Place on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. Ray announced that new witnesses have come forward in the Gilgo Beach murder investigation.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison says the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force is looking into new witness statements claiming to connect Heuermann to other victims, assertions that caught Suffolk District Attorney Tierney off guard.

The statements, two of which were provided through sworn affidavits, purportedly connect Heuermann to homicide victim Karen Vergata and Shannan Gilbert, the woman whose disappearance led to the discovery of 10 sets of remains along Ocean Parkway in the Gilgo Beach area.

“We have the information,” said Harrison, who appeared at a news conference at the office of Miller Place-based criminal defense attorney John Ray, and said he personally sat in on the interview of one of the witnesses. “We’re working on it and we’ll see where it leads us down the road.”

Oct. 16: Investigators looking into additional victims' lives, travel history

Gilgo Beach investigators are doing an intense, deep dive into the personal lives and travels of additional victims in the serial killer case to determine if they are connected to Heuermann, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison says.

Harrison says he assigned two additional investigators to the Gilgo Beach killings task force to prioritize work on the backgrounds of suspected victims Valerie Mack and Karen Vergata, the two latest victims authorities identified in the Gilgo probe.

Oct. 3: Heuermann served with divorce papers

Heuermann is served with divorce papers inside the Suffolk County Jail and is not contesting the end of his marriage, a document obtained by Newsday shows.

Heuermann signed the admission of service on Sept. 22, when he was served the summons and complaint in his pending divorce from his estranged wife, according to the document and online court records.

Ellerup filed for divorce six days after Heuermann was arrested July 13 on murder charges in the killings of three women whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach 13 years ago. The couple has been married for 27 years.

Sept. 28: Prosecutors: DNA from pizza box allegedly discarded by Heuermann matches cheek swab

Suffolk prosecutors revealed in court that Heuermann's DNA matches an earlier sample derived from a pizza crust and "used napkin" that prosecutors have said links Heuermann to the remains of one of three women he is charged with killing.

The new DNA evidence was part of a trove of more than 5,000 documents that prosecutors turned over to Heuermann's defense team, when the Massapequa Park architect appeared briefly in a Riverhead courtroom for the third time since his July 13 arrest in the slayings of three women whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach beginning in 2010.

The buccal swab, or cheek swab, obtained from Heuermann last month matched a mitochondrial DNA profile developed from a pizza crust and “used napkin” Heuermann — who was being secretly surveilled by law enforcement at the time — allegedly discarded in Manhattan, which prosecutors have said could not be excluded as a match to a hair found at the bottom of burlap used to “restrain and transport” the remains of one of the victims, Megan Waterman.

Sept. 12: Heuermann's wife wants guns seized during home search returned, lawyer says

The attorney for Heuermann's estranged wife seeks to have his legally owned guns returned to the family’s Massapequa Park home, saying it’s marital property worth “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Robert Macedonio said his client, Asa Ellerup, who filed for divorce six days after the arrest of her husband of 27 years, has a right to retain ownership of any firearms that were possessed legally. He said he intends to file a notice of claim on the property after it is transferred to law enforcement in Nassau County for consideration of gun charges against Heuermann.

Sept.

Sept. 8: Prosecutors seek to turn over hundreds of Heuermann's guns to Nassau, court filings say

Suffolk County prosecutors are seeking to turn over more than 280 firearms seized from Heuermann's home to Nassau County, where he could face gun possession charges, court filings in Suffolk County Criminal Court show.

Investigators in Suffolk County have concluded their analysis of the weapons and ammunition taken from Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home and determined some of the items may have been possessed in violation of state gun laws, the filing states.

“Proper jurisdiction for any charges related to unlawful possession of the items … would reside with Nassau County,” Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Opisso wrote in the motion filed with state Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazze.

Sept. 6: Labor judgment filed against Heuermann, court filings show

The state commissioner of labor filed a $68,560 judgment against Heuermann for wages and penalties owed to a former executive assistant.

The judgment, filed in State Supreme Court in Albany by Commissioner Roberta Reardon, states that Heuermann had agreed in 2021 to pay the former employee of his Manhattan architecture firm nearly $20,000 in underpaid wages and vacation pay from February 2017 to March 2018 plus interest, liquidated damages and civil penalties amounting to nearly $85,000.

To date, Heuermann, owner of RH Consultants and Associates, has paid just $16,385 of what is owed, according to the filing.

Sept. 1: Investigators find no link between Heuermann and missing South Carolina woman, officials say

Officials in South Carolina said they have no information linking Heuermann to the disappearance of a local woman who went missing there in 2017.

In a statement, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said that after several weeks of investigation police have come up with no evidence so far connecting missing person Julia Bean with Heuermann, or that the two may have been together, as some reports suggested.

"There is currently no evidence connecting Bean with Heuermann," the statement from the sheriff's office said.

Aug. 16: Heuermann submits to DNA test, sources say

Heuermann submitted to a cheek swab for Suffolk County prosecutors looking to bolster the DNA case against him, sources familiar with the case said.

The test took place on Aug. 16 at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead, where Heuermann has been held since his arrest on July 13.

Aug. 14: Heuermann taken off suicide watch, Suffolk sheriff says

Heuermann has been removed from suicide watch at the Suffolk County jail in Riverhead as he awaits trial on charges he killed three women whose remains were found near the beach 13 years ago, the top jail official said.

“Mental health staff at the jail have made the determination to remove Rex Heuermann from suicide watch at this time,” Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. said in a statement. “He will continue to be evaluated periodically. His housing and security protocols have not changed.”

Aug. 9: Judge rules Heuermann must submit to cheek swab

A Suffolk judge ruled that Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex A. Heuermann must submit to a cheek swab as prosecutors seek to bolster their case through stronger DNA evidence.

State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei, the presiding judge in the case of the Massapequa Park architect accused of killing three women, ruled prosecutors have enough probable cause to obtain the sample from Heuermann. Defense attorneys had sought to prevent prosecutors from obtaining the cheek swab.

Aug. 4: Investigators identify 'Fire Island Jane Doe'

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney, center, speaks at a news conference to announce the identity of a victim investigators had called the "Jane Doe No. 7," as Karen Vergata, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, in Hauppauge, New York. Law enforcement authorities said Friday they have identified a woman whose remains were found as far back as 1996 in different spots along the Long Island coast, some of them near the Gilgo Beach locations of bodies investigators believe were left by a serial killer. Aug. 4, 2023

The FBI positively identified the Gilgo Beach victim previously known as “Jane Doe No. 7” as Karen Vergata, a former Glen Head resident whose partial remains were found on Fire Island in 1996, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced.

“Today, we are here to announce that as part of the Gilgo Task Force re-examination of all the evidence in the case, we were able to identify 'Fire Island Jane Doe' as Karen Vergata, who was 34 years old at the time of her disappearance,” Tierney said.

Vergata, who lived on West 45th Street in Manhattan at the time she went missing on Feb. 14, 1996, worked as an escort, Tierney said. A missing persons report was not filed with police at the time, he said.

Aug. 1: Prosecutors turn over evidence at Heuermann's court appearance

Suffolk prosecutors turned over more than 2,500 pages of documents to the defense team representing alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann at a conference in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead.

Heuermann, wearing a dark blazer over a light blue shirt, made a brief appearance following a 32-minute conference in State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei’s chambers.

Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Nicholas Santomartino told the judge the evidence turned over includes photographs from the crime scenes where the bodies of the women Heuermann is accused of killing were located off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in 2020, plus autopsy reports, anthropological and DNA evidence as well as hundreds of hours of surveillance footage from around Heuermann’s home and a storage facility where he kept belongings.

The newly filed court documents also show Suffolk County prosecutors are seeking a cheek swab from Heuermann for more DNA testing to bolster their case.

Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Michelle Haddad said in court filings that prosecutors are looking to collect a cheek swab from Heuermann to test against a mitochondrial DNA profile developed from a pizza crust and “used napkin” he allegedly discarded in Manhattan, which prosecutors have said was matched to a hair sample found at the bottom of burlap used to “restrain and transport” the remains of one of the victims, Megan Waterman.

The motion by prosecutors and supporting statement, filed in criminal court in Riverhead, also sheds new light on how authorities obtained genetic material from Heuermann’s family and a shifting narrative about how each of the victims died.

July 26: Suffolk DA to prosecute case, office says

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's office says he will lead the team that will prosecute Heuermann.

Tierney had already taken a hands-on role in the case by presenting evidence to the grand jury that indicted Heuermann and leading the prosecution at the defendant’s July 14 arraignment.

The unusual move will mark the first time Tierney has personally prosecuted a case since he took office in January 2022. He previously served as a federal prosecutor, trying cases in the Eastern District of New York as recently as 2021.

July 25: Investigators end search of Heuermann’s property

Police end their search of Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home, seizing a “massive amount” of potential evidence, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Tierney declined to specify the material that investigators removed. He said any potential trace evidence that was found, which includes possible blood or DNA, has to go through a lengthy process of laboratory analysis.

Asked if investigators had found potential evidence that stuck out, Tierney said he would wait for a full accounting.

“I think everybody wanted that singular piece of evidence," Tierney said. "But we’re going to wait until we see all the evidence. But I don’t think anything jumps out at this juncture.”

July 24: Search has been 'fruitful,' Suffolk police commissioner says

The police search of Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home “has been fruitful” for investigators, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison said, as authorities continued searching the suspect’s backyard.

“There have been items that we have taken into our possession that makes it fruitful,” Harrison said, speaking at the scene. “I will say that we will go into every single crevice to make sure that there's not something that we missed and things that are beneficial to this investigation."

Harrison declined to detail any of the potential evidence authorities have seized from the home, other than a cache of firearms from inside a vault with "a big iron door."

July 23: Search of Heuermann’s home goes underground

Law enforcement used excavating equipment in the backyard of Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home, digging on and off for more than three hours as they combed for evidence.

The use of the equipment signaled an intensifying search for evidence as the focus on the tenth day of the investigation appeared to have zeroed in on the rear of the First Avenue property.

July 21: Investigators look for possible connections to killings outside LI

Law enforcement investigators are probing for possible connections between suspected Heuermann and unsolved slayings around the country, including the killings of four women in 2006 near Atlantic City.

Since Heuermann's arrest, the investigation has expanded beyond Suffolk County to South Carolina and Nevada — where Heuermann also has connections.

“Investigators are looking into him in connection with cases around the nation including Atlantic City,” a Suffolk County Police Department spokesperson said.

July 20: Heuermann's wife files for divorce

Asa Ellerup — Heuermann’s wife — files a divorce proceeding against the incarcerated architect in Suffolk County Supreme Court, her lawyer Robert Macedonio confirmed.

The divorce filing came after Heuermann's wife and children expressed “shock, disappointment and disgust" over the allegations against Heuermann when they met with investigators, Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison said earlier in the week.

July 19: Heuermann's Chevy Avalanche arrives in Suffolk

The green Chevrolet Avalanche the FBI seized in South Carolina, which investigators have referred to as a critical piece of evidence linking Gilgo suspect Rex A. Heuermann to the killings, is returned to Suffolk County.

Authorities at the Suffolk County Crime Lab said the truck transporting the vehicle arrived at about 4 a.m.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has said a witness had noticed a first-Generation Chevrolet Avalanche parked in the driveway of homicide victim Amber Costello’s residence in West Babylon.

The driver of the Avalanche contacted Costello on the night she went missing, according to court documents filed in Heuermann’s case, which state a witness also told police they observed a dark-colored truck pass the house shortly after Costello exited.

July 15-17: Heuermann's home, storage units searched

Suffolk County authorities continued to search Heuermann's Massapequa Park home for more evidence and begin searches at two storage units in nearby Amityville.

STORYWIDGET: LIGILGO_investigationmap

July 14, 2023: Heuermann arraigned on murder charges

Heuermann pleads not guilty to three counts each of first- and second-degree murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello — three of the four victims whose remains were found in December 2010 in a wooded area along Gilgo Beach — during his arraignment in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead.

Authorities also called him the “prime suspect” in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose body was also found at the time in the same area. All of the women worked as sex workers, authorities have said.

July 13, 2023: Gilgo suspect arrested

Suffolk County Police arrest a Massapequa Park man in connection with the killings.

Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation identified the suspect as Rex A. Heuermann, 59, of Massapequa Park.

October 2022: FBI seeks help in Alabama

The FBI seeks help from residents of Mobile, Alabama, to identify Gilgo Beach murder victim Jane Doe No. 3 and her toddler, a law enforcement source told Newsday.

Spring 2022: Police release new evidence

The Suffolk County Police Department has released video that shows Gilgo Beach homicide victim Megan Waterman in a Hauppauge hotel just before she disappeared on June 6, 2010.

In April, Suffolk police release video that shows Gilgo Beach homicide victim Megan Waterman in a Hauppauge hotel just before she disappeared almost 12 years ago. Harrison said the department released the video to enlist the public’s help in solving the Gilgo killings.

The next month, police release new details about the first four Gilgo Beach victims and the chaotic 911 call made by Shannan Gilbert on the night of her disappearance.

“As the Homicide Squad continues its tireless work on this investigation, we believe now is the right time to disseminate this previously unreleased information in hopes of eliciting tips from the public and providing greater transparency about the victims,” Harrison said in a statement.

February 2022: Gilgo task force created

Harrison says he created a new task force to tackle the unsolved Gilgo Beach killings.

The multiagency Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force includes investigators from the Suffolk County Police Department and the FBI, as well as the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office and the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office. Some task force members will meet daily, he said.

"I’m very confident it’s going to help us identify a suspect going to the near future," Harrison said.

December 2021: New police commissioner focuses on Gilgo

Rodney K. Harrison becomes Suffolk's new police commissioner and says the Gilgo Beach homicide investigation is a top priority.

May 28, 2020: 'Jane Doe No. 6' is Valerie Mack

"Jane Doe No. 6" was publicly identified as Valerie Mack through genetic genealogy, a procedure in which DNA is compared to profiles uploaded by users of public genealogy websites.

Jan. 16, 2020: Evidence shared with public

An image of a black leather belt, which Hart called “a significant piece of evidence,” was made public. The belt is stamped with the letters "WH" or "HM.” A website for the public to submit tips was also released.

April 9, 2018: Hart takes over investigation

Geraldine Hart became the fourth Suffolk police commissioner to oversee the investigation, after a 20-year career with the FBI.

Dec. 13, 2011: Gilbert's remains found

Shannan Gilbert's remains were found in a marshy, mossy area in Oak Beach.

The families of the women wanted justice. And the larger community wondered if there was a killer in their midst.

Nov. 30, 2011: Police consider different theories

Six months later, then-Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said he believed there was only one killer.

Some theories that police considered: A man, maybe former law enforcement. Likely a Long Islander. Someone who solicits sex workers.

May 9, 2011: Suffolk DA says multiple killers could be responsible

Then-Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said the crimes might be the work of at least three killers.

April 11, 2011: More human remains found

April 22, 2011; Wantagh, NY: Investigators search brush where a skull was recently found along the north side of the Ocean Parkway. (Photo by James Carbone)

A woman's skull was discovered along Ocean Parkway in Nassau County near Tobay Beach. The remains were genetically matched with remains discovered in 1996 in Davis Park on Fire Island, significantly expanding the timeline and geographic reach of the Gilgo Beach homicide investigation. This victim has not been identified. Police released a sketch depicting what she may have looked like.

Another set of human remains was also found in a plastic bag at Jones Beach State Park near Zach's Bay. The remains, through DNA analysis, were confirmed to be the mother of the female toddler found in Suffolk.

The mother’s partial remains were first discovered in Hempstead Lake State Park in 1997 and she has become known as “Peaches” due to a bitten heart-shaped tattoo of a peach on her body.

Investigators developed competing theories on who could be responsible.

April 4, 2011: Remains of toddler, two others found

The remains of three more people were found: a female toddler, a man, and a woman authorities called “Jane Doe No. 6.”

March 2011: Another body found

The dismembered body of another woman who worked as an escort was found. Her name was Jessica Taylor.

Dec. 13, 2010: Three more bodies found

Police found three other bodies, identified as Maureen Brainard Barnes, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello.

Authorities knew almost immediately they were pursuing a serial killer.

Melissa Cann, 27, of New London, Conn., sister of Maureen Brainard-Barnes who's body was found on Gilgo Beach Jan. 24, 2011. Authorities believe Brainard-Barnes was a victim of a serial killer. It's good to be the strong one. But after a while it tears you up. I try to stay strong because I have my children to raise and my sisters children to mentor. I feel that people should be informed about this, because it could happen to someone else, Cann said. (June 2, 2011) (Newsday / Chris Ware)

Amber Lynn Costello, left, and Megan Waterman

Dec. 11, 2010: First human remains found

While searching for Gilbert, a Suffolk police officer and his dog found remains near Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach that were later identified as Melissa Barthelemy.

May 1, 2010: Shannan Gilbert goes missing

Shannan Gilbert, a young woman who worked as an escort, disappeared after being called to a client's home in Oak Beach.

With John Valenti, Robert Brodsky, Anthony M. DeStefano, Nicole Fuller and Michael O’Keeffe

Exploring Robert Moses State Park

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