Gilgo Beach murders: Court papers disclose new details about alleged killer Rex Heuermann's first 24 hours in custody

Court papers filed by attorneys for Rex A. Heuermann disclose new details on the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer’s first 24 hours in custody, including statements he made to law enforcement that the defense is seeking to keep out at trial.

The 178-page filing, which contains requests to dismiss one of the charges in the indictment and for prosecutors to turn over records regarding two men the defense may seek to introduce as alternate suspects, was submitted to the court Monday on the eve of Heuermann’s appearance in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead Tuesday. 

The defense challenges, made in the form of an omnibus motion  — a single filing seeking to satisfy multiple outstanding legal issues, usually related to evidence suppression, discovery challenges and constitutional concerns — are likely to be the subject of future pretrial hearings.

"There are some real significant issues that we're bringing to the court's attention," lead defense attorney Michael J. Brown, of Central Islip, said Tuesday.

Heuermann, 62, of Massapequa Park, was arrested in July 2023 and indicted on murder charges in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello and Megan Waterman, who were killed between 2009 and 2010. He was later indicted in the 2007 killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor in 2003, Sandra Costilla in 1993 and Valerie Mack in 2000.

He has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of first- and second-degree murder in seven killings.

Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei gave the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office until March 3 to respond to the defense motion. Heuermann will next appear March 17, when the judge will set a deadline for his decision and schedule hearings if he deems them necessary.

"I want to make everyone clear, that this case, the trial will begin right after Labor Day come hell or high water," Mazzei told both sides during the brief public portion of the conference.

'I won't be needing that'

The omnibus motion reveals prosecutors intend to disclose at trial that Heuermann told Suffolk County court officers escorting him to his initial arraignment in July 2023, "I guess I won’t be needing that" after they informed him a $6,000 watch he inquired about was not among his personal property at the courthouse. The defense is seeking a hearing to prevent the jury from being told about the statement, arguing it was obtained in violation of Heuermann’s constitutional rights.

"Said statements were involuntarily made and may not be used in evidence against the defendant," attorney Danielle Coysh wrote in supporting documents filed Monday.

Prosecutors also notified the defense that Heuermann asked members of the Suffolk County Police Department and FBI who arrested him outside of his Manhattan architectural office "What is this about?" and "What did I do?"

"It’s a mistake," Heuermann told arresting officers the evening of July 13, 2023, according to a disclosure notice first filed by prosecutors two weeks after his arrest.

Video and audio of Heuermann’s drive with detectives from Manhattan to Suffolk police headquarters have also been turned over as evidence, the filing reveals.

Suspect appeared 'calm'

Heuermann, who has denied involvement in the seven killings, appeared "calm" after being taken to police headquarters in Yaphank, officers noted on a prisoner log included in Monday’s filing. He was given french fries, onion rings, peanut butter crackers and Coca-Cola as he went through the process of being searched, photographed and fingerprinted by investigators. Heuermann, who the log shows had $153 cash on him at the time of his arrest, slept in a chair for more than five hours after being transferred to the Seventh Precinct at 4:20 a.m. the day of his arraignment.

He declined to take medication after disclosing to officers he is diabetic, the log states.

Costilla charge dismissal effort

Heuermann’s attorneys are seeking a dismissal of a second-degree murder charge in the 1993 death of Costilla, arguing prosecutors lacked evidence to charge him in her killing and relied on a "cumulative effect" to secure an indictment. The defense alleges the only evidence prosecutors presented to a grand jury linking Heuermann to Costilla’s death was hair found on a striped rugby-style shirt wrapped around her arms and pulled over her head when her body was discovered by a pair of hunters in the Southampton hamlet of North Sea on Nov. 20, 1993.

"The presence of a single hair on a shirt fails to establish that Mr. Heuermann caused Ms. Costilla’s death or that he acted with the requisite intent," Coysh wrote.

Prosecutors have alleged a second hair found at the crime scene was likely to have come from Heuermann’s former wife.

The defense argues the grand jury was further prejudiced by more than 10 months of hearing evidence from 47 witnesses in the six other killings and was presented "unrelated and inflammatory materials" from prosecutors, including thousands of alleged searches for violent pornography and an alleged planning document investigators say he kept to carry out the killings and avoid detection by law enforcement.

"None of this evidence is alleged to have been in existence in November 1993, the time of Sandra Costilla’s murder," the defense argued. "None of this evidence related to the Sandra Costilla allegation."

Heuermann’s attorneys also said a print copy of a November 1993 issue of Newsday reporting the discovery of Costilla’s body found during a search warrant at his home was not evidence of his involvement in her killing, for which he was charged nearly a year after his initial arrest.

Alternative suspects defense

Heuermann’s attorneys have also asked Mazzei to order prosecutors to turn over evidence in their investigation of convicted killer John Bittrolff, once described as a suspect in the Costilla killing, and documents related to the prosecution of former disgraced Suffolk Police Chief James Burke.

Burke, who was Suffolk’s highest-ranking uniformed officer for four years, was arrested by federal authorities in December 2015 for beating a handcuffed suspect and helping to cover it up. He pleaded guilty in the obstruction case and served time in federal prison before his release in November 2018.

Burke's efforts to prevent those same federal authorities from assisting in the Gilgo Beach investigation loomed heavily over the case in the decade leading up to Heuermann's arrest.

The requests suggest the defense intends to introduce both men as alternative suspects at trial.

The defense is asking for evidence of a proffer agreement between Burke and investigators regarding subject matter related to Heuermann’s case and for information related to the county’s ongoing prosecution of Burke, who was also arrested on a public indecency charge in 2023.

Burke’s attorney, James O’Rourke, of Smithtown, told a Suffolk judge at Burke’s Oct. 30 conference that after discussions with prosecutors he believes the former chief’s case can be resolved at his next appearance Jan. 22. O’Rourke and Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney declined to comment on Burke’s case or any possible connection to the Heuermann prosecution immediately following that October conference. 

The defense filing also makes reference to statements prosecutors made in the past identifying Bittrolff as a possible suspect in Costilla’s killing. The attorneys note Heuermann was recently excluded as a contributor of DNA found at the scenes of the two murders for which Bittrolff, a carpenter from Manorville, was convicted in 2017.

Court records show the defense requested of prosecutors an opportunity to review any discovery related to the police investigation into Bittrolff in connection with any victims related to "the Long Island Serial Killer," but they did not receive a response. Heuermann’s attorneys argue prosecutors are legally required to turn over those records and any other evidence that could negate their client’s guilt.

"The items sought in this motion are material and necessary for Mr. Heuermann to prepare an adequate defense," Coysh wrote.

On Tuesday,  Tierney said prosecutors will sit down with the defense to see what it is they are looking for and turn over any necessary paperwork related to Bittrolff, who is yet to file an appeal of his conviction. 

Brown also said the recent arrest of Andrew Dykes, of Florida, in another killing around Gilgo Beach, a case often associated with the others, will also be a factor at trial, suggesting a third alternate suspect for the defense.

ID, DNA and other suppression motions

The defense is also seeking to suppress an alleged identification made by a witness hours before Heuermann’s July 2023 arraignment, after evidence turned over in the case shows the witness was asked in a text message from an unnamed civilian if Heuermann’s mug shot being shared in media reports was "the guy you saw years ago."

"Yes 100000%," wrote the witness, who is not identified by name in court papers.

The defense said any trial testimony regarding the identification of Heuermann by that witness would be "tainted by the unduly suggestive out-of-court observation."

"A suggestive or otherwise improper identification must be suppressed," the defense wrote.

Monday’s filing also seeks to suppress the evidence obtained from search warrants prosecutors obtained for Heuermann’s home, office, vehicles and a storage unit he rented in Amityville, and to inspect cellphone, email and social media accounts associated with the accused killer and his alleged victims. The court papers also reveal investigators searched a safe-deposit box Heuermann held at a Webster Bank branch in Massapequa.

The defense, having already sought to preclude DNA evidence allegedly linking Heuermann to the killings, is also now seeking to have the evidence tossed under privacy grounds, arguing pizza crust, water bottles and napkins investigators harvested from garbage cans to obtain an initial sample of their client’s DNA constitutes an unreasonable search and seizure.

Coysh said Tuesday she believes it's the first attempt in New York State to preclude DNA evidence from a search of someone's garbage under Fourth Amendment grounds.

"Every individual has the right to privacy," Coysh said.