DA praises investigators who worked on Gilgo Beach case

Several dozen law enforcement officers, most dressed in dark suits with lapel pins for their respective agencies, gathered for a press conference Wednesday afternoon following Rex Heuermann's guilty pleas to seven murders, as well as one additional killing.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, speaking at the county's Police Training Academy in Brentwood,  thanked members of the Gilgo Beach Task Force.

"I want to say thank you to our detective investigators, our analysts," he said.

Tierney praised the investigators for the collection and retention of evidence over the decades-long investigation, especially hair samples that became important after DNA technology advanced.

He also gave a nod to New York State Trooper Tifini Atai, who connected Heuermann's Chevrolet Avalanche to the crimes — a crucial break in the case.