A New York architect has been charged with the murder of a fourth woman, with police revealing how DNA evidence taken from his daughter's drink could help find a link.
Rex Heuerman, 59, was formally charged with the murder of Maureen Brainard Barnes, after he was implicated in the murder. He has already been accused of killing three other women He left near Gilgo Beach, on Long Island.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murder of all the women – known collectively as the Gilgo Four, who were part of the group. Netflix Lost Girls movie.
He did not speak at a brief court hearing on Tuesday, and remains jailed without bail, local media reported.
Officials said Heuerman was connected to the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello — who investigators say were sex workers — in part through his wife's hair, which was found at the crime scene.
Court documents unsealed Tuesday revealed that undercover agents followed Heuerman's 26-year-old daughter on the Long Island Railroad and used a discarded can of Monster Java to connect him to the killings.
Mobile phone data and DNA taken from a pizza slice have also been used to link it to the deaths.
In all, 11 sets of human remains were found in 2010 and 2011 along an isolated area of beach, about 30 miles (50 km) east of New York City, attracting national attention.
Rex Heuerman in court
The four accused of murder were last seen between July 2007 and September 2010.
Heuerman used a cell phone to contact sex workers who advertised their services online, according to prosecutors.
Police concluded that an 11th person found dead in a tidal marsh on the same barrier island had drowned accidentally.
Investigators said Heuerman, who lived in Massapequa Park across the bay from where the bodies were found, may not have been responsible for all the deaths.
Prosecutors also said in a court filing Tuesday that Heuerman feared he would be arrested in the months leading up to his arrest in July.
They said he obtained data wiping software to try to remove evidence on his electronic devices.
Investigators seized hundreds of devices from Heuerman's home, which prosecutors say contained pornography related to slavery and torture.
Authorities conduct an investigation at Rex Heuerman's home in Massapequa Park, New York. Photo: AP
Internet search terms also included “how does cell site analysis work,” “Gilgo News” and “how cell phone tracking is increasingly being used to solve crimes.”
Heuerman's attorney, Michael Brown, said his client maintains his innocence and looks forward to defending himself in court.
He also questioned some of the evidence, noting that the new DNA analysis was “problematic” because it had been submitted nearly 13 years after Ms Brainard Barnes' body was discovered.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in response that more sophisticated DNA testing allowed investigators to more conclusively identify the hair found on Ms. Brainard Barnes as belonging to Heuerman's ex-wife and daughter.
