Gilgo Beach murders investigators linked serial killer suspect Rex Heuremann 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 on Thursday for the murders of 20-year-old Jessica Taylor in 2003 and 28-year-old Sandra Costilla in 1993.
Charging documents say the alleged serial killer was linked to the new victims through DNA, thanks to male hair found on both of their remains.
The new charges came just days after police finished extensive searches of Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home and a wooded area on Long Island tied to the investigation of a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach serial killings.
Prosecutors say they found a ‘planning document’ that Heuermann allegedly used to ‘methodically blueprint’ his killings in a hard drive found during the search.
Gilgo Beach murders investigators linked serial killer suspect Rex Heuremann to two new victims thanks to their recent search of his Long Island home
Investigators said they were able to use new forensic testing methods to match hairs found on or near the vicinity of both victims to a DNA profile that is a likely match to Heuermann.
In the document, Heuermann allegedly laid out a set of tasks to complete before, during and after killings, including checking the weather and setting up a staging area. It also has a place to note practical lessons for ‘next time.’
One section, titled ‘BODY PREP,’ includes guidance to ‘REMOVE HEAD AND HANDS,’ as well as tattoos and trace DNA, and to wash the bodies.
Another section, ‘THINGS TO REMEMBER,’ appears to highlight lessons from previous killings that should be heeded, according to prosecutors.
The entries describe the importance of sleeping properly ‘BEFORE HUNT,’ using thick rope, and limiting noise to increase ‘PLAY TIME.’
Heuermann also allegedly listed potential and past dumping sites as well as the supplies he had at hand.
The alleged killer pleaded not guilty at the court hearing and was ordered held without bail.
Investigators in April spent days searching a property in the eastern Long Island hamlet of North Sea, where Sandra Costilla’s body was discovered in 1993
Jessica Taylor vanished 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 a book in Heuermann’s possession by the retired FBI agent John Douglas, The Cases That Haunt Us.
They say the planning document also referenced specific pages in another work by Douglas, Mind Hunter, that allude to the personality types of serial killers and personality profiles of those who use mutilation and sexual violence.
Jessica Taylor vanished 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 of the beach scrub by the side of Ocean Parkway, the road where the other Gilgo Beach victims were found.
She had been decapitated and both of her arms were severed. Moreover, a tattoo on her torso had been ‘severely obliterated by a sharp object,’ per officials.
Investigators in April also spent days searching a property in the eastern Long Island hamlet of North Sea, where Costilla’s body was discovered in 1993. Costilla, originally from Trinidad & Tobago, had lived in New York City.
The charges involving Costilla, who was killed 30 years ago, indicate that prosecutors believe Heuermann was killing victims for much longer longer than previously thought.
Prosecutors say one entry in the 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.
Since late 2010, police have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people — mostly female sex workers — whose remains were discovered along an isolated highway not far from Gilgo Beach on Long Island’s south shore.
The victims had disappeared over a span of at least 14 years. Vexed police officers made only halting progress in identifying possible suspects.
Investigators long said it was likely that not all of the deaths were the work of the same killer.
Some of the victims disappeared 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.