Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A 2011 profile on the potential serial murderer of Gilgo Beach was surprisingly accurate in describing the characteristics of the man who was recently apprehended for at least three of the killings. According to forensic profilers and serial killer specialists, the killer who murdered at least four young women and dumped their bodies along Ocean Parkway close to Gilgo State Park between 2007 and 2010 was likely a knowledgeable, successful white male with a family residing on the South Shore of Long Island, as per the New York Times.
All of those classifications apply to Rex Heuermann, the Massapequa Park architect, who was detained for the murders of three of the so-called "Gilgo Four" on Thursday, July 13. In a stunning development in the Gilgo Beach serial murder investigation, renowned New York City architect Heuermann was detained and made to appear in court on Friday, July 14. The tragic case from 2010 involved the murder of four young sex workers, whose bodies were then dumped in burlap sacks on the Gilgo beach.
'Someone who can walk into a room and seem like your average Joe'
Scott Bonn, an assistant professor of sociology at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, described the killer of four women as "someone who can walk into a room and seem like your average Joe. He has to be persuasive enough and rational enough that he is able to convince these women to meet him on these terms. He has demonstrated social skills. He may even be charming." During interviews with criminologists and serial-killer specialists in 2011, including a former FBI profiler, a picture of the man who Long Island police believed was responsible for several of the victims they have found in the brush off Ocean Parkway since December began to take shape. The analysts determined that the suspected perpetrator could have been anywhere from 20 to 40 years old. Heuermann, who is now 59, was about 46 when Costello, the final victim of Gilgo, was murdered in September 2010, according to New York Post.
Gilgo Beach killer bundled victims in camouflaged burlaps
Over the course of two days in 2010, the bodies of the four victims were discovered in bushes along a quarter-mile section of Ocean Parkway in Oak Beach. Experts believed the killer had a thorough understanding of Jones Beach Island in general and Ocean Parkway in particular based on his attraction to a specific remote location, during the 2011 investigation. Jim Clemente, a former profiler for the FBI and a senior supervisory special agent in Quantico, claimed at the time, "He did not stumble upon that location. He has some familiarity with it."
The Gilgo Beach killings soon rose to prominence as one of the most troubling and horrifying serial killer cases. Heuermann is charged with the murder of four women who were all strangled and bundled in camouflaged burlap sacks. They were identified as Amber Lynn Costello, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. During the search for Shannan Gilbert, 23, who went missing in May of that year, officials came across all four Gilgo Beach victims in December 2010. Though he has not been conclusively linked to Brainard-Barnes' disappearance in 2007, Heuermann continues to be the major suspect in her death. Like Shanann, the other victims, advertised themselves as sex workers and disappeared during or shortly after supposed client encounters.
'We knew something was odd about him'
By mid-morning on Friday, July 14, a sizable crowd of neighbors had gathered in front of Heuermann's modest 1st Avenue house, where detectives had spent hours searching for more evidence. According to a previous professional contact, Heuermann was regarded as "a big talker" in the field. "He was always odd. He’d mosey around. We knew something was odd about him. I feel like it makes sense he’s a serial killer. He’s a weirdo," the person stated,
The 1981 Berner High School Class had random, conflicting memories of their now-infamous classmate, including actor Billy Baldwin. One other graduate who was in Heuermann's homeroom class expressed, "He flew under the radar," to The Post and remarked, "[I’m] sick to my stomach," after his arrest. On the other hand, Massapequa resident Barbara Gaulrapp-Cox stated, "Omg I hope he goes to hell."
