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Major development expected in Gilgo Beach case, could involve 4th murder indictment, attorneys say

Updated  January 15, 2024 11:41am EST
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 5 NY

Gilgo Beach Murders Investigation: The Tape Room

The Tape Room podcast, hosted by Dan Bowens, delves into the Gilgo Beach murders and Rex Heuermann's arrest. This episode features Fox 5 NY's Jodi Goldberg, who has extensively reported on every aspect of this long-unfolding mystery.

NEW YORK - Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann will make a surprise return to court Tuesday, weeks before his next scheduled hearing, and investigators on a task force dedicated to cracking the case are expected to announce a "significant development."


Attorneys tell FOX 5 NY Heuermann could face a fourth murder indictment at the 9:15 a.m. hearing, as he was originally expected to return to court in February.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's office said the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force will hold a press conference immediately following the hearing, with speakers including the DA, Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. and acting Police Commissioner Robert Waring.


Police arrested Heuermann outside his Manhattan office in July in the cold case murders of three other women, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27.

Gilgo Beach murders: Timeline of events

FOX 5 New York's Teresa Priolo looks at a timeline of events in the Gilgo Beach murders case, from the first victim's disappearance to Friday's arrest.

Hair DNA found in the burlap sack containing Waterman's remains matched a sample that police collected from a discarded pizza box outside Heuermann's Manhattan office, according to prosecutors.

Tierney said after the arrest that Heuermann was investigators' "prime suspect" in at least one more murder, the slaying of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, whose remains were found near the others.

Charges were expected eventually as investigators continued to work the case.

What are the Gilgo Beach murders?

The Gilgo Beach murders – the deaths of 11 people whose remains were found in 2010 and 2011 – have long stumped investigators. 

Most of the victims were young women who had been sex workers. Several of the bodies were found near the remote town of Gilgo Beach on the southern shore of Long Island.

Police dig in backyard of Gilgo Beach suspect

Investigators have been digging in the yard at the Long Island home of Rex Heuermann. The New York architect was charged earlier this month with killing at least three women and burying their remains on a remote stretch of beach highway.

Determining who killed them, and why, has vexed a slew of seasoned homicide detectives through several changes in police leadership. Last year, an interagency task force was formed with investigators from the FBI, as well as state and local police departments, aimed at solving the case.

The formation of the Gilgo Beach task force represented a renewed commitment to investigating the unsolved killings, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said at the time. 

The 'Gilgo Four'

The bodies of the "Gilgo Four" were located within a quarter-mile of one another near Gilgo Beach in December 2010.

In 2022, Suffolk County Police released new information on victims – Brainard-Barnes, Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello, including personal information and their last known whereabouts.

Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker, vanished on May 1, 2010. A police officer and his cadaver dog were looking for her body in the thicket along nearby Ocean Parkway when they happened upon the remains of a different woman. Within days, three other bodies were found, all within a short walk of one another.

Gilbert's disappearance and search is what ultimately led to the discovery of several remains in the area.


 

Fox News contributed to this report.