1 00:00:01,034 --> 00:00:04,482 [TENSE MUSIC] 2 00:00:08,586 --> 00:00:11,000 It is a case that has haunted the public 3 00:00:11,034 --> 00:00:13,137 for more than 13 years. 4 00:00:13,172 --> 00:00:16,862 And many feared that the Gilgo Beach murders may never 5 00:00:16,896 --> 00:00:17,379 be solved. 6 00:00:20,724 --> 00:00:23,931 The officer located a body. 7 00:00:23,965 --> 00:00:26,172 And it seemed to be wrapped in burlap, 8 00:00:26,206 --> 00:00:29,551 which didn't make any sense. 9 00:00:29,586 --> 00:00:32,931 The crime scene gets expanded. 10 00:00:32,965 --> 00:00:36,965 I'm called and, "Chief we found another set of remains." 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,034 They find another one and another one. 12 00:00:40,068 --> 00:00:43,172 We were dealing with a serial killer. 13 00:00:43,206 --> 00:00:46,482 They're available, they're vulnerable, and very petite. 14 00:00:46,517 --> 00:00:48,241 This killer has a type. 15 00:00:48,275 --> 00:00:49,137 Right. 16 00:00:49,172 --> 00:00:52,034 Does he want the petite body because he 17 00:00:52,068 --> 00:00:55,517 wants to feel more empowered and more in control? 18 00:00:55,551 --> 00:00:58,793 I want the world to know my sister mattered. 19 00:00:58,827 --> 00:01:00,655 I want answers. 20 00:01:00,689 --> 00:01:03,517 I just want answers. 21 00:01:03,551 --> 00:01:07,586 An arrest more than a decade in the making in a serial killer 22 00:01:07,620 --> 00:01:10,655 case that's baffled law enforcement and the public. 23 00:01:10,689 --> 00:01:14,137 59-year-old Rex Heuermann pled not guilty. 24 00:01:14,172 --> 00:01:15,344 I dropped my phone. 25 00:01:15,379 --> 00:01:16,862 I couldn't believe it. 26 00:01:16,896 --> 00:01:18,862 So just who is Rex Heuermann? 27 00:01:18,896 --> 00:01:21,965 An architect who ran a company called RH Consultants 28 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:23,137 and Associates. 29 00:01:23,172 --> 00:01:23,724 Rex. 30 00:01:23,758 --> 00:01:24,206 Hello. 31 00:01:24,241 --> 00:01:24,724 Hi. 32 00:01:24,758 --> 00:01:25,448 How are you doing? 33 00:01:25,482 --> 00:01:26,551 Good to see you. 34 00:01:26,586 --> 00:01:29,931 When a job that should have been routine suddenly 35 00:01:29,965 --> 00:01:32,000 becomes not routine-- 36 00:01:32,033 --> 00:01:32,586 Yeah. 37 00:01:32,620 --> 00:01:34,378 I get the phone call. 38 00:01:34,413 --> 00:01:36,793 Rex Heuermann is a mystery man. 39 00:01:36,827 --> 00:01:40,068 Rex is capable of presenting himself 40 00:01:40,103 --> 00:01:44,068 one way to one person, one way to another person. 41 00:01:44,103 --> 00:01:48,931 My first memory of Rex was that he was very big, imposing, 42 00:01:48,965 --> 00:01:51,689 scary, angry. 43 00:01:51,723 --> 00:01:52,862 He was bullied. 44 00:01:52,896 --> 00:01:55,551 He was bigger than everyone else. 45 00:01:55,586 --> 00:01:57,413 The kids would gang up on him. 46 00:01:57,448 --> 00:01:59,931 And Rex was very smart too. 47 00:01:59,965 --> 00:02:03,172 He is a smart person, very smart. 48 00:02:03,206 --> 00:02:05,379 He liked to shock people. 49 00:02:05,413 --> 00:02:08,310 He was interested in power games. 50 00:02:08,344 --> 00:02:12,586 Rex loved hunting and he loved guns. 51 00:02:12,620 --> 00:02:15,379 Going out, shooting, hunting, that was his passion. 52 00:02:15,413 --> 00:02:18,724 All petite, all bound in burlap bags. 53 00:02:18,758 --> 00:02:23,724 The burlap on the bodies, that points right at a hunter. 54 00:02:23,758 --> 00:02:27,000 It was DNA collected from a pizza slice 55 00:02:27,034 --> 00:02:29,103 he tossed in a Manhattan trash can 56 00:02:29,137 --> 00:02:33,067 that came back as a match with hair found on the victims. 57 00:02:33,103 --> 00:02:36,344 That's where we obtained his full profile from the pizza 58 00:02:36,379 --> 00:02:38,067 crust left in the box. 59 00:02:38,103 --> 00:02:40,206 In terms of speaking to my client, the only thing 60 00:02:40,241 --> 00:02:43,758 I can tell you that he did say as he was in tears was, 61 00:02:43,793 --> 00:02:45,930 "I didn't do this." 62 00:02:45,965 --> 00:02:48,103 Everyone's just trying to put the pieces together. 63 00:02:48,137 --> 00:02:49,896 I want to know what I missed. 64 00:02:49,930 --> 00:02:51,896 I think we all want to know what we missed. 65 00:02:57,689 --> 00:03:01,724 [MUSIC PLAYING] 66 00:03:39,344 --> 00:03:42,586 Not far from this quiet stretch of Gilgo Beach 67 00:03:42,620 --> 00:03:45,482 on Long Island, New York, investigators 68 00:03:45,517 --> 00:03:50,241 uncovered the hidden remains of four young women. 69 00:03:50,275 --> 00:03:53,758 The mystery of who they were and how they got here 70 00:03:53,793 --> 00:03:57,241 might have stayed a secret, if not for a woman named 71 00:03:57,275 --> 00:03:58,172 Shannan Gilbert. 72 00:04:03,068 --> 00:04:06,689 In the early morning hours of May 1, 2010, 73 00:04:06,724 --> 00:04:11,862 23-year-old Shannan, working as an escort, called 911. 74 00:04:11,896 --> 00:04:12,896 State police. 75 00:04:12,931 --> 00:04:14,517 Yeah, there's somebody after me. 76 00:04:17,103 --> 00:04:18,930 The call came from a neighborhood 77 00:04:18,964 --> 00:04:21,344 not far from Gilgo Beach. 78 00:04:21,379 --> 00:04:24,448 These people are plotting to kill me. 79 00:04:24,482 --> 00:04:26,137 Shannan starts running-- 80 00:04:26,172 --> 00:04:27,448 [RUNNING AND PANTING] 81 00:04:27,482 --> 00:04:29,068 --knocking on doors. 82 00:04:29,103 --> 00:04:30,413 [KNOCKING] 83 00:04:30,448 --> 00:04:31,793 Where are you, Shannan? 84 00:04:31,827 --> 00:04:33,586 She screams. 85 00:04:33,620 --> 00:04:37,034 [SCREAMING] 86 00:04:37,068 --> 00:04:38,344 And then nothing. 87 00:04:42,103 --> 00:04:45,068 Shannan was gone. 88 00:04:45,103 --> 00:04:45,931 Hello? 89 00:04:45,965 --> 00:04:48,000 [HEAVY BREATHING] 90 00:04:48,034 --> 00:04:48,517 Hello? 91 00:04:54,655 --> 00:04:57,551 K-9 searched the area exhaustively 92 00:04:57,586 --> 00:04:59,034 for Shannan Gilbert. 93 00:04:59,068 --> 00:05:02,137 Dominick Varone was chief of detectives at the Suffolk 94 00:05:02,172 --> 00:05:04,068 County Police Department. 95 00:05:04,103 --> 00:05:07,517 Months passed without a sign of the missing woman. 96 00:05:07,551 --> 00:05:12,827 And then in December of 2010, near Gilgo Beach, a police 97 00:05:12,862 --> 00:05:18,896 officer and his K-9 named Blue found human remains. 98 00:05:18,931 --> 00:05:22,793 Everyone assumed it was Shannan Gilbert. 99 00:05:22,827 --> 00:05:24,827 But it wasn't Shannan. 100 00:05:24,862 --> 00:05:28,965 Stunned searchers would go on to discover the remains of four 101 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:30,172 other women. 102 00:05:30,206 --> 00:05:33,517 The women were identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 103 00:05:33,551 --> 00:05:38,172 Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. 104 00:05:38,206 --> 00:05:43,310 Like Shannan, all were in their 20's, all were online escorts, 105 00:05:43,344 --> 00:05:44,724 all petite. 106 00:05:44,758 --> 00:05:48,310 Three of the four were wrapped in burlap, the kind 107 00:05:48,344 --> 00:05:50,586 you can find in hunting stores. 108 00:05:50,620 --> 00:05:54,310 They became known as the Gilgo Four. 109 00:05:54,344 --> 00:05:59,482 It's really, really hard because I miss her so much. 110 00:05:59,517 --> 00:06:04,137 48 Hours has reported on this case, since 2010. 111 00:06:04,172 --> 00:06:07,448 Over the years, we've secured exclusive interviews 112 00:06:07,482 --> 00:06:10,551 with the family and friends of the Gilgo Four. 113 00:06:10,586 --> 00:06:14,068 Missy Cann will never forget the wintry day 114 00:06:14,103 --> 00:06:16,793 when she got the devastating news. 115 00:06:16,827 --> 00:06:19,586 The detectives came to my house and just said 116 00:06:19,620 --> 00:06:23,103 that Maureen has been positively identified 117 00:06:23,137 --> 00:06:27,000 as one of the victims on Ocean Parkway. 118 00:06:27,034 --> 00:06:29,344 Her sister, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 119 00:06:29,379 --> 00:06:35,620 a mother of two, was the first to disappear on July 9, 2007. 120 00:06:35,655 --> 00:06:40,206 She was very smart and very creative. 121 00:06:40,241 --> 00:06:41,344 She liked being a mom? 122 00:06:41,379 --> 00:06:42,586 She loved being a mom. 123 00:06:42,620 --> 00:06:45,620 But life as a single mom living in Norwich, 124 00:06:45,655 --> 00:06:49,034 Connecticut was difficult. Missy didn't know it, 125 00:06:49,068 --> 00:06:51,758 but Maureen had turned to escort work 126 00:06:51,793 --> 00:06:55,034 and that July, went to New York City for a weekend 127 00:06:55,068 --> 00:06:56,241 to make money. 128 00:06:56,275 --> 00:06:58,344 [SIREN] 129 00:06:58,379 --> 00:07:01,586 On her way home, she called Missy from Penn Station 130 00:07:01,620 --> 00:07:03,620 in Midtown Manhattan. 131 00:07:03,655 --> 00:07:05,172 [PA ANNOUNCEMENT] 132 00:07:05,206 --> 00:07:08,310 I could hear the commotion from the train station. 133 00:07:08,344 --> 00:07:12,517 From the time that she called me, it was, poof, she was gone. 134 00:07:12,551 --> 00:07:14,689 She reported Maureen missing. 135 00:07:14,724 --> 00:07:17,206 Eventually, officers would tell Missy 136 00:07:17,241 --> 00:07:19,896 that after her sister's disappearance, 137 00:07:19,931 --> 00:07:23,241 someone had used Maureen's cell phone to make 138 00:07:23,275 --> 00:07:26,827 a call from Long Island. 139 00:07:26,862 --> 00:07:30,758 It wasn't known then, but those two locations, 140 00:07:30,793 --> 00:07:33,517 Long Island and Midtown Manhattan, 141 00:07:33,551 --> 00:07:37,758 would become important clues in the hunt for a serial killer. 142 00:07:40,965 --> 00:07:44,793 Nearly two years to the day that Maureen vanished, 143 00:07:44,827 --> 00:07:50,413 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy went missing in July of 2009, 144 00:07:50,448 --> 00:07:53,241 also from Midtown Manhattan. 145 00:07:53,275 --> 00:07:56,551 Lynne Barthelemy is Melissa's mother. 146 00:07:56,586 --> 00:07:58,586 How often do you think about Melissa? 147 00:07:58,620 --> 00:08:00,620 Every single minute of the day. 148 00:08:00,655 --> 00:08:02,068 It just didn't happen to the girls. 149 00:08:02,103 --> 00:08:04,689 I mean, it destroyed all of our families. 150 00:08:04,724 --> 00:08:07,517 Melissa moved from Buffalo to New York City 151 00:08:07,551 --> 00:08:09,344 to work as a hairdresser. 152 00:08:09,379 --> 00:08:13,103 At some point, she also began working as an escort 153 00:08:13,137 --> 00:08:14,965 and then disappeared. 154 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,379 About a week after she went missing, 155 00:08:17,413 --> 00:08:20,896 Melissa's then 15-year-old sister Amanda 156 00:08:20,931 --> 00:08:24,793 started getting calls from Melissa's phone. 157 00:08:24,827 --> 00:08:28,103 We agreed not to show Amanda's face. 158 00:08:28,137 --> 00:08:32,517 She answers, you know, Melissa, where have you been? 159 00:08:32,551 --> 00:08:36,688 And this voice is saying, oh, this isn't Melissa. 160 00:08:36,724 --> 00:08:40,724 Steven Cohen was the family's lawyer at the time. 161 00:08:40,758 --> 00:08:43,344 He was taunting Amanda. 162 00:08:43,379 --> 00:08:46,724 And he said, do you know what I did to your sister? 163 00:08:46,758 --> 00:08:49,965 I killed Melissa. 164 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,379 All I can say is he's sick. 165 00:08:52,413 --> 00:08:56,103 And he's going to make a mistake and we're going to catch him. 166 00:08:56,137 --> 00:08:59,206 Those calls from Melissa's own phone 167 00:08:59,241 --> 00:09:02,241 may very well have been that mistake. 168 00:09:02,275 --> 00:09:04,896 When police traced them, the calls 169 00:09:04,931 --> 00:09:07,551 placed the person they believe to be Melissa's 170 00:09:07,586 --> 00:09:10,137 killer in Midtown Manhattan. 171 00:09:13,689 --> 00:09:16,034 The following year, Megan Waterman, 172 00:09:16,068 --> 00:09:19,724 the mother of a three-year-old girl, disappeared from a hotel 173 00:09:19,758 --> 00:09:22,551 on Long Island. 174 00:09:22,586 --> 00:09:25,379 And part of you is, like, missing 175 00:09:25,413 --> 00:09:28,827 or it's just like something's always off. 176 00:09:28,862 --> 00:09:33,551 We spoke with Megan's daughter Liliana in 2020. 177 00:09:33,586 --> 00:09:36,517 I would do anything to bring her back, but I can't. 178 00:09:36,551 --> 00:09:39,620 And it just, like, frustrates me so bad. 179 00:09:39,655 --> 00:09:42,413 Megan's family says the 22-year-old 180 00:09:42,448 --> 00:09:45,448 was a creative, but troubled young woman who 181 00:09:45,482 --> 00:09:49,034 loved fashion and was devoted to her daughter. 182 00:09:49,068 --> 00:09:51,586 What would you say to your mom if you could? 183 00:09:51,620 --> 00:09:55,379 I would just want to tell her that, like, I love her. 184 00:09:55,413 --> 00:09:57,896 I just want her to know she has a special place in my heart. 185 00:09:57,931 --> 00:10:00,034 And no one can ever replace her. 186 00:10:00,068 --> 00:10:03,931 Like the other two women, Megan disappeared in the summer. 187 00:10:03,965 --> 00:10:10,344 On June 6, 2010, she was working as an escort on Long Island. 188 00:10:10,379 --> 00:10:15,034 No matter what her job was, she was a person 189 00:10:15,068 --> 00:10:17,034 and she needs justice. 190 00:10:17,068 --> 00:10:20,517 This haunting video from a Holiday Inn Express 191 00:10:20,551 --> 00:10:24,862 is the last time she was seen alive, moments before she 192 00:10:24,896 --> 00:10:26,517 went to meet a client. 193 00:10:26,551 --> 00:10:29,275 Cell phone records later placed her phone 194 00:10:29,310 --> 00:10:32,793 in a Long Island neighborhood called Massapequa Park. 195 00:10:38,758 --> 00:10:42,896 Amber Costello was the last of the Gilgo Four to disappear. 196 00:10:42,931 --> 00:10:47,344 She lived here, just 7 and 1/2 miles from Massapequa Park. 197 00:10:47,379 --> 00:10:49,344 She used to say she was 4' 11", but she wasn't. 198 00:10:49,379 --> 00:10:50,827 She was, like, 4' 9". 199 00:10:50,862 --> 00:10:52,000 I mean, she was small. 200 00:10:52,034 --> 00:10:55,137 Amber's friend and former roommate, Dave Schaller, 201 00:10:55,172 --> 00:10:58,034 spoke with us in 2011. 202 00:10:58,068 --> 00:10:59,448 She was an amazing person. 203 00:10:59,482 --> 00:11:00,344 She really was. 204 00:11:00,379 --> 00:11:03,103 He says Amber was addicted to drugs 205 00:11:03,137 --> 00:11:06,206 and used sex work to support her habit. 206 00:11:06,241 --> 00:11:10,724 But as amazing as she was, was as tormented as she was. 207 00:11:10,758 --> 00:11:14,172 After Amber disappeared, police say Schaller told them 208 00:11:14,206 --> 00:11:15,586 about her clients. 209 00:11:15,620 --> 00:11:18,827 He described one of them as looking like an ogre 210 00:11:18,862 --> 00:11:23,413 and having a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche. 211 00:11:23,448 --> 00:11:26,965 On the night she went missing, Schaller says, a client 212 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,310 offered Amber $1,500 for the night, 213 00:11:30,344 --> 00:11:33,172 six times her hourly rate. 214 00:11:33,206 --> 00:11:36,413 This guy was so relentless. 215 00:11:36,448 --> 00:11:37,655 He called several times. 216 00:11:37,689 --> 00:11:40,172 He was on the phone with her for quite a while each time. 217 00:11:40,206 --> 00:11:44,034 He says the client got Amber, an experienced escort, 218 00:11:44,068 --> 00:11:48,310 to do something she never did, leave without her purse or cell 219 00:11:48,344 --> 00:11:50,379 phone and meet him in his car. 220 00:11:50,413 --> 00:11:51,931 I walked out the front door with her. 221 00:11:51,965 --> 00:11:53,137 She gave me a hug. 222 00:11:53,172 --> 00:11:54,172 She was like, I love you. 223 00:11:54,206 --> 00:11:57,724 And she left. 224 00:11:57,758 --> 00:11:59,344 It was nearly midnight. 225 00:11:59,379 --> 00:12:02,379 Schaller says that when Amber left this house, 226 00:12:02,413 --> 00:12:06,448 she walked down this street and he never saw her again. 227 00:12:06,482 --> 00:12:09,758 Schaller told us that he didn't see the client's face 228 00:12:09,793 --> 00:12:14,517 that night, but suspects he had seen him before. 229 00:12:14,551 --> 00:12:16,620 So this is a guy you might have seen? 230 00:12:16,655 --> 00:12:17,344 Yeah. 231 00:12:17,379 --> 00:12:18,689 This is somebody that I seen. 232 00:12:18,724 --> 00:12:22,655 I might be one of the only people who knows who he is. 233 00:12:22,689 --> 00:12:26,413 It would be more than a decade before Schaller's description 234 00:12:26,448 --> 00:12:31,068 would lead to a break in the case and a prime suspect. 235 00:12:35,068 --> 00:12:37,482 To see a timeline of how the case unfolded, 236 00:12:37,517 --> 00:12:38,758 go to 48hours.com. 237 00:12:43,068 --> 00:12:45,586 [SEAGULLS] 238 00:12:50,586 --> 00:12:54,241 The shocking developments in a murder case gone cold. 239 00:12:54,275 --> 00:12:57,034 My coworker called me and she said, 240 00:12:57,068 --> 00:12:58,482 did you hear what happened to Rex? 241 00:12:58,517 --> 00:12:59,758 And I'm like, no. 242 00:12:59,793 --> 00:13:02,379 A husband, a father, an architect 243 00:13:02,413 --> 00:13:06,068 stood before a judge, charged as a serial killer. 244 00:13:06,103 --> 00:13:07,862 She says it's Rex. 245 00:13:07,896 --> 00:13:09,206 I said, no way. 246 00:13:09,241 --> 00:13:12,413 This house was a main focus and they brought out 247 00:13:12,448 --> 00:13:14,206 a lot of evidence. 248 00:13:14,241 --> 00:13:16,206 I just didn't think it was real. 249 00:13:16,241 --> 00:13:19,586 A Long Island community is still a crime scene tonight. 250 00:13:19,620 --> 00:13:21,931 I even thought to myself, it's crazy 251 00:13:21,965 --> 00:13:23,793 that there's two Rex Heuermanns out there. 252 00:13:26,413 --> 00:13:31,241 Mary Shell and Muriel Henriquez worked with Rex Heuermann 253 00:13:31,275 --> 00:13:34,551 and couldn't wrap their heads around the news. 254 00:13:34,586 --> 00:13:37,551 We never thought he would be that kind of person. 255 00:13:37,586 --> 00:13:39,379 It's shocking. 256 00:13:39,413 --> 00:13:44,275 In July of 2023, nearly 13 years after the Gilgo Four 257 00:13:44,310 --> 00:13:47,862 were discovered, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney 258 00:13:47,896 --> 00:13:50,000 Harrison made the announcement. 259 00:13:50,034 --> 00:13:53,517 Authorities believe Rex Heuermann is the Long Island 260 00:13:53,551 --> 00:13:55,034 serial killer. 261 00:13:55,068 --> 00:14:01,586 Rex Heuermann is a demon that walks among us, a predator that 262 00:14:01,620 --> 00:14:02,862 ruined families. 263 00:14:02,896 --> 00:14:07,241 The man he calls a demon is a 6 foot 4 architect. 264 00:14:07,275 --> 00:14:10,758 He's charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan 265 00:14:10,793 --> 00:14:15,551 Waterman, Amber Costello, and is the prime suspect in the death 266 00:14:15,586 --> 00:14:17,655 of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. 267 00:14:17,689 --> 00:14:18,931 What has my client told me? 268 00:14:18,965 --> 00:14:21,965 He told me he didn't do this. 269 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,137 Heuermann was living about 20 minutes 270 00:14:24,172 --> 00:14:26,862 from Gilgo Beach in Massapequa Park. 271 00:14:26,896 --> 00:14:29,827 The very same town where Megan's phone last 272 00:14:29,862 --> 00:14:31,758 connected with the cell tower. 273 00:14:31,793 --> 00:14:35,689 And Heuermann worked here at his architectural firm 274 00:14:35,724 --> 00:14:38,379 in Midtown Manhattan, just blocks 275 00:14:38,413 --> 00:14:40,379 from where Maureen disappeared. 276 00:14:40,413 --> 00:14:43,137 The same area where several of the threatening 277 00:14:43,172 --> 00:14:46,655 calls to Melissa's little sister were made. 278 00:14:46,689 --> 00:14:49,206 The cause of death with regard to the three victims 279 00:14:49,241 --> 00:14:50,413 is homicidal violence. 280 00:14:54,206 --> 00:14:57,896 A married man, Heuermann lived in this rundown house 281 00:14:57,931 --> 00:15:02,137 and has a daughter and stepson with his second wife, Asa. 282 00:15:02,172 --> 00:15:07,034 Asa, who was born in Iceland, would 283 00:15:07,068 --> 00:15:10,413 take the children to see her family there in the summers. 284 00:15:10,448 --> 00:15:13,000 It was during these trips and others, 285 00:15:13,034 --> 00:15:16,206 police believe, that Heuermann killed the women. 286 00:15:16,241 --> 00:15:18,068 You never got any kind of hint-- 287 00:15:18,103 --> 00:15:18,586 No. 288 00:15:18,620 --> 00:15:19,482 --of another life? 289 00:15:19,517 --> 00:15:20,827 No. 290 00:15:20,862 --> 00:15:24,000 Muriel Henriquez worked at Heuermann's company, 291 00:15:24,034 --> 00:15:28,310 RH Consultants and Associates, and spoke exclusively 292 00:15:28,344 --> 00:15:29,862 to 48 Hours. 293 00:15:29,896 --> 00:15:34,551 She recalled a gift he gave her in the summer of 2007. 294 00:15:34,586 --> 00:15:38,413 This is a sweater he asked his wife to bring back 295 00:15:38,448 --> 00:15:40,379 from a trip to Iceland. 296 00:15:40,413 --> 00:15:43,034 Muriel, who says she was touched at the time 297 00:15:43,068 --> 00:15:45,448 by Heuermann's thoughtful gesture, 298 00:15:45,482 --> 00:15:48,965 now wonders if his wife's absence that summer 299 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,344 gave him an opportunity to kill Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who 300 00:15:53,379 --> 00:15:56,965 disappeared on July 9, 2007. 301 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,103 How do you feel about this sweater now? 302 00:15:59,137 --> 00:16:01,413 No, I'm definitely not going to wear this sweater now. 303 00:16:01,448 --> 00:16:05,000 Still, she says she saw nothing alarming about the Rex 304 00:16:05,034 --> 00:16:07,344 Heuermann she saw daily. 305 00:16:07,379 --> 00:16:09,275 A little bit of a nerd, in a way. 306 00:16:09,310 --> 00:16:12,551 He liked to talk about himself, what he knew. 307 00:16:12,586 --> 00:16:14,310 I mean, not a narcissist, but a little bit 308 00:16:14,344 --> 00:16:16,689 of a "I know everything" kind of guy. 309 00:16:16,724 --> 00:16:17,275 Pompous. 310 00:16:17,310 --> 00:16:18,344 Pompous. 311 00:16:18,379 --> 00:16:21,724 She remembers him running to and from job sites, 312 00:16:21,758 --> 00:16:24,172 eating fast food on the run. 313 00:16:24,206 --> 00:16:27,448 Pizza, that was his number one thing. 314 00:16:27,482 --> 00:16:31,310 Police say they found nearly 300 guns in a basement vault. 315 00:16:31,344 --> 00:16:35,862 When she heard that police had recovered almost 300 firearms 316 00:16:35,896 --> 00:16:38,206 from a vault in Heuermann's basement, 317 00:16:38,241 --> 00:16:41,034 she was surprised only by the number. 318 00:16:41,068 --> 00:16:44,000 She knew him as an avid hunter. 319 00:16:44,034 --> 00:16:46,448 Going out, shooting, hunting, that was his passion. 320 00:16:46,482 --> 00:16:48,827 What was it about hunting he liked? 321 00:16:48,862 --> 00:16:49,827 I don't know. 322 00:16:49,862 --> 00:16:52,931 I guess he liked the idea of having a prize? 323 00:16:52,965 --> 00:16:54,344 Stalking prey? 324 00:16:54,379 --> 00:16:57,758 Stalking prey and winning. 325 00:16:57,793 --> 00:16:59,620 He liked to win. 326 00:16:59,655 --> 00:17:02,655 And while she says it never occurred to her that Heuermann 327 00:17:02,689 --> 00:17:06,034 could be dangerous, she does remember a time 328 00:17:06,068 --> 00:17:09,241 when his tracking skills unnerved her. 329 00:17:09,275 --> 00:17:12,068 It was her 40th birthday, and she 330 00:17:12,103 --> 00:17:14,655 had booked a cruise vacation. 331 00:17:14,689 --> 00:17:15,655 Where are you going? 332 00:17:15,689 --> 00:17:17,241 I'm going to be in the middle of the ocean. 333 00:17:17,275 --> 00:17:19,689 You're not going to find me in the middle of the ocean. 334 00:17:19,723 --> 00:17:23,205 He said, oh, yes I can. 335 00:17:23,241 --> 00:17:25,413 Muriel didn't think much of the comment 336 00:17:25,448 --> 00:17:27,827 until the second day of her trip. 337 00:17:27,862 --> 00:17:29,862 There was a white envelope under my door. 338 00:17:29,896 --> 00:17:32,379 It was a note from him. 339 00:17:32,413 --> 00:17:37,034 The note said, I told you I could find you anywhere. 340 00:17:37,068 --> 00:17:40,689 He had photos from hunting trips. 341 00:17:40,724 --> 00:17:44,931 Mary Shell worked with Heuermann in the summer of 2010. 342 00:17:44,965 --> 00:17:49,000 It was the same summer that both Amber Costello and Megan 343 00:17:49,034 --> 00:17:50,517 Waterman vanished. 344 00:17:50,551 --> 00:17:54,034 He would talk about the meat, in particular, 345 00:17:54,068 --> 00:17:57,068 that bear meet could keep in the freezer for months. 346 00:17:57,103 --> 00:18:00,517 Hearing authorities now say that some of the victims 347 00:18:00,551 --> 00:18:06,034 were wrapped in a burlap that hunters often use was chilling. 348 00:18:06,068 --> 00:18:08,275 The burlap really got to me. 349 00:18:08,310 --> 00:18:11,241 Since Heuermann's arrest, Mary has written 350 00:18:11,275 --> 00:18:13,206 about her experience with him. 351 00:18:13,241 --> 00:18:17,034 She's also talked to other former female employees 352 00:18:17,068 --> 00:18:20,586 who said they weren't always treated with respect. 353 00:18:20,620 --> 00:18:24,206 He would have one of them clean the toilet, 354 00:18:24,241 --> 00:18:25,896 if he thought the cleaning person hadn't 355 00:18:25,931 --> 00:18:27,344 done a good enough job. 356 00:18:27,379 --> 00:18:28,551 A woman in the office? 357 00:18:28,586 --> 00:18:29,655 Yes. 358 00:18:29,689 --> 00:18:33,379 He, more than once, commented on women's bodies. 359 00:18:33,413 --> 00:18:37,034 If someone, perhaps, had gained some weight, 360 00:18:37,068 --> 00:18:41,310 that kind of thing, 361 00:18:41,344 --> 00:18:43,896 John Parise grew up with Heuermann. 362 00:18:43,931 --> 00:18:47,551 He says Heuermann was bullied as a child. 363 00:18:47,586 --> 00:18:50,827 I remember meeting Rex when I was in first or second grade. 364 00:18:50,862 --> 00:18:52,965 He was a loner. 365 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,103 Not many friends. 366 00:18:55,137 --> 00:18:59,275 The children were super mean to him, made fun of him 367 00:18:59,310 --> 00:19:00,758 and teased him. 368 00:19:00,793 --> 00:19:04,379 But John says he never saw Heuermann fight back. 369 00:19:04,413 --> 00:19:08,862 He was big enough that if he got upset and started swinging, 370 00:19:08,896 --> 00:19:10,551 he would hurt somebody. 371 00:19:10,586 --> 00:19:13,448 But he never did. 372 00:19:13,482 --> 00:19:16,172 As Heuermann got older, John points out 373 00:19:16,206 --> 00:19:18,206 things didn't get much better. 374 00:19:18,241 --> 00:19:20,724 He was rejected by many girls. 375 00:19:20,758 --> 00:19:24,172 We all go through that awkward stage, growing up. 376 00:19:24,206 --> 00:19:30,034 And it seemed like that awkward stage stayed with him 377 00:19:30,068 --> 00:19:32,862 longer than usual. 378 00:19:32,896 --> 00:19:35,413 Still, he says many in the community 379 00:19:35,448 --> 00:19:37,517 find it hard to believe that Heuermann 380 00:19:37,551 --> 00:19:42,172 is the notorious serial killer, living a double life for more 381 00:19:42,206 --> 00:19:43,896 than a decade. 382 00:19:43,931 --> 00:19:45,586 People were saying, oh, my god, I 383 00:19:45,620 --> 00:19:49,344 can't believe we have a serial killer in our town 384 00:19:49,379 --> 00:19:53,344 and we grew up with and we walked amongst the killer. 385 00:19:53,379 --> 00:19:56,172 Another classmate of Heuermann's, actor Billy 386 00:19:56,206 --> 00:20:00,586 Baldwin, took to social media when the news broke, tweeting, 387 00:20:00,620 --> 00:20:03,241 it was "mind boggling." 388 00:20:03,275 --> 00:20:04,275 Rex, hello. 389 00:20:04,310 --> 00:20:04,827 Hi. 390 00:20:04,862 --> 00:20:05,758 How are you doing? 391 00:20:05,793 --> 00:20:08,379 The awkward Long Island teenager grew up 392 00:20:08,413 --> 00:20:12,379 to be a confident and seemingly successful architect. 393 00:20:12,413 --> 00:20:17,482 Antoine Amira met and interviewed him in 2022. 394 00:20:17,517 --> 00:20:19,379 Born and raised on Long Island. 395 00:20:19,413 --> 00:20:20,275 OK. 396 00:20:20,310 --> 00:20:23,034 Been working in Manhattan since 1987. 397 00:20:23,068 --> 00:20:26,689 There's nothing in my interview that 398 00:20:26,724 --> 00:20:29,965 made me think that this person in front of me 399 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,931 is a dangerous person. 400 00:20:32,965 --> 00:20:35,620 Antoine is a hotel food and beverage 401 00:20:35,655 --> 00:20:38,793 manager in New York, who loves real estate. 402 00:20:38,827 --> 00:20:41,379 He has a YouTube interview show, where 403 00:20:41,413 --> 00:20:43,931 he handpicks guests whom he thinks 404 00:20:43,965 --> 00:20:46,275 are interesting and accomplished. 405 00:20:46,310 --> 00:20:47,448 I'm an architect. 406 00:20:47,482 --> 00:20:49,000 I'm an architectural consultant. 407 00:20:49,034 --> 00:20:50,137 I'm a troubleshooter. 408 00:20:50,172 --> 00:20:53,724 Antoine says Heuermann was well known for his skill 409 00:20:53,758 --> 00:20:56,551 at helping companies and individuals get 410 00:20:56,586 --> 00:20:58,034 building permits. 411 00:20:58,068 --> 00:21:01,724 When a job that should have been routine suddenly 412 00:21:01,758 --> 00:21:03,724 becomes not routine-- 413 00:21:03,758 --> 00:21:04,310 Yeah. 414 00:21:04,344 --> 00:21:05,758 I get the phone call. 415 00:21:05,793 --> 00:21:06,413 Gotcha. 416 00:21:06,448 --> 00:21:07,724 Correct. 417 00:21:07,758 --> 00:21:12,620 What really stood out for me was he was very, very, very smart. 418 00:21:12,655 --> 00:21:15,896 And known, says Antoine, for his ability 419 00:21:15,931 --> 00:21:18,862 to find loopholes in the rules. 420 00:21:18,896 --> 00:21:22,517 He was pleased when he was doing it. 421 00:21:22,551 --> 00:21:23,758 That he could-- 422 00:21:23,793 --> 00:21:26,793 That he could outwit the system. 423 00:21:26,827 --> 00:21:27,758 That's it, folks. 424 00:21:27,793 --> 00:21:29,034 That was Rex. 425 00:21:29,068 --> 00:21:32,620 But Antoine says he remembers it was hard to get Heuermann 426 00:21:32,655 --> 00:21:34,620 to crack a smile. 427 00:21:34,655 --> 00:21:35,448 It's-- 428 00:21:35,482 --> 00:21:36,275 Selfie time. 429 00:21:36,310 --> 00:21:37,379 Selfie time. 430 00:21:37,413 --> 00:21:40,137 Not even during the signature sunglasses 431 00:21:40,172 --> 00:21:42,862 selfies he takes with every guest. 432 00:21:42,896 --> 00:21:44,000 One, two, three. 433 00:21:44,034 --> 00:21:46,275 Ah! 434 00:21:46,310 --> 00:21:47,344 Can you smile? 435 00:21:47,379 --> 00:21:48,034 That is. 436 00:21:51,862 --> 00:21:54,206 If police are right, Rex Heuermann 437 00:21:54,241 --> 00:21:58,862 was able to hide a life as a serial killer. 438 00:21:58,896 --> 00:22:03,206 And if he did, his habit of eating pizza on the go 439 00:22:03,241 --> 00:22:06,034 would turn out to be his undoing. 440 00:22:06,068 --> 00:22:10,448 [RAIN FALLING] 441 00:22:13,379 --> 00:22:16,310 [MUSIC PLAYING] 442 00:22:23,172 --> 00:22:26,034 For more than a decade, after the discovery 443 00:22:26,068 --> 00:22:30,172 of the Gilgo Four, Rex Heuermann's name never 444 00:22:30,206 --> 00:22:34,103 appeared on a suspect list until a new task force 445 00:22:34,137 --> 00:22:37,793 was formed with Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney 446 00:22:37,827 --> 00:22:42,206 Harrison and Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney. 447 00:22:42,241 --> 00:22:45,172 [INDISTINCT CHATTER] 448 00:22:45,206 --> 00:22:48,206 In February of 2022, we formed the task force. 449 00:22:48,241 --> 00:22:51,344 And then a mere six weeks later, Rex Heuermann 450 00:22:51,379 --> 00:22:55,103 was identified for the first time. 451 00:22:55,137 --> 00:22:57,551 A suspect in six weeks? 452 00:22:57,586 --> 00:22:59,413 So how did they do it? 453 00:22:59,448 --> 00:23:03,448 It turns out that buried in the original case files 454 00:23:03,482 --> 00:23:08,000 were a number of critical clues that the new task force was 455 00:23:08,034 --> 00:23:09,862 finally able to connect. 456 00:23:09,896 --> 00:23:12,896 Remember Amber's roommate, Dave Schaller? 457 00:23:12,931 --> 00:23:14,137 She's like, I love you. 458 00:23:14,172 --> 00:23:16,068 She gave me a hug. 459 00:23:16,103 --> 00:23:18,758 And she left. 460 00:23:18,793 --> 00:23:21,655 He had told police about one of Amber's clients 461 00:23:21,689 --> 00:23:24,034 and his vehicle. 462 00:23:24,068 --> 00:23:27,620 Just a large, built man and that he 463 00:23:27,655 --> 00:23:29,931 was driving this first-generation Chevy 464 00:23:29,965 --> 00:23:30,965 Avalanche. 465 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,137 A first generation Chevy Avalanche 466 00:23:34,172 --> 00:23:37,482 with a description of an ogre-like man 467 00:23:37,517 --> 00:23:40,000 and the make and model of his truck. 468 00:23:40,034 --> 00:23:43,448 Police took a closer look at Amber's phone records 469 00:23:43,482 --> 00:23:45,517 from 2010. 470 00:23:45,551 --> 00:23:48,965 Schaller had told them that before Amber disappeared, 471 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,931 there was one particular client calling incessantly. 472 00:23:52,965 --> 00:23:54,206 He called several times. 473 00:23:54,241 --> 00:23:56,965 He was on the phone with her for quite a while each time. 474 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,000 Police back then knew the client was using a burner phone. 475 00:24:01,034 --> 00:24:04,689 That's a prepaid phone that anyone can buy and use 476 00:24:04,724 --> 00:24:06,034 anonymously. 477 00:24:06,068 --> 00:24:09,862 And they knew that Maureen, Melissa, and Megan had all 478 00:24:09,896 --> 00:24:12,172 been in contact with burner numbers 479 00:24:12,206 --> 00:24:15,172 right before they disappeared. 480 00:24:15,206 --> 00:24:18,689 In 2012, with the help of the FBI, 481 00:24:18,724 --> 00:24:21,000 they determined that most of those 482 00:24:21,034 --> 00:24:25,379 calls connected to cell towers inside a small area 483 00:24:25,413 --> 00:24:27,241 of Massapequa Park. 484 00:24:27,275 --> 00:24:29,482 They called it The Box. 485 00:24:29,517 --> 00:24:32,000 So how large an area is that box? 486 00:24:32,034 --> 00:24:36,344 It's a couple of blocks within Massapequa Park. 487 00:24:36,379 --> 00:24:38,551 The new task force began the search 488 00:24:38,586 --> 00:24:42,862 for a large, built man who also lived in that small area 489 00:24:42,896 --> 00:24:47,620 and owned a Chevy Avalanche at the time of the disappearances. 490 00:24:47,655 --> 00:24:51,758 Was there a a-ha moment, when all of a sudden 491 00:24:51,793 --> 00:24:52,965 his name came up? 492 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:57,137 Once we were able to attach the Avalanche inside 493 00:24:57,172 --> 00:24:59,758 of that Massapequa box, which then attached 494 00:24:59,793 --> 00:25:02,068 to Rex Heuermann, that was a moment where we said, 495 00:25:02,103 --> 00:25:04,034 OK, there's something here. 496 00:25:04,068 --> 00:25:06,896 The task force now had a prime suspect. 497 00:25:06,931 --> 00:25:09,931 And when they looked at Heuermann's personal cell phone 498 00:25:09,965 --> 00:25:12,344 records, they found that his phone 499 00:25:12,379 --> 00:25:15,241 was in the same area as those burner phones 500 00:25:15,275 --> 00:25:20,551 when they were used to contact a victim in Massapequa Park 501 00:25:20,586 --> 00:25:22,965 or in Midtown Manhattan. 502 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,068 It was always consistent. 503 00:25:26,103 --> 00:25:29,724 Tierney says this was also true for those awful calls 504 00:25:29,758 --> 00:25:31,862 Melissa's family got from that man 505 00:25:31,896 --> 00:25:35,655 using her phone back in 2009. 506 00:25:35,689 --> 00:25:38,724 He said, do you know what I did to your sister? 507 00:25:38,758 --> 00:25:42,724 And he said, well, I killed Melissa. 508 00:25:42,758 --> 00:25:46,344 The task force says that it confirmed that Heuermann does, 509 00:25:46,379 --> 00:25:48,620 in fact, use burner phones. 510 00:25:48,655 --> 00:25:52,034 Investigators say he had two different burner 511 00:25:52,068 --> 00:25:54,172 numbers in 2022. 512 00:25:54,206 --> 00:25:56,724 And they say they watched him put money 513 00:25:56,758 --> 00:25:58,965 on one of those accounts here. 514 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:03,068 And according to court papers, the team also documented 515 00:26:03,103 --> 00:26:07,310 three email accounts using fake names, including 516 00:26:07,344 --> 00:26:13,103 John Springfield, Thomas Hawk, and Hunter1903. 517 00:26:13,137 --> 00:26:16,172 And all linked to those burner numbers. 518 00:26:16,206 --> 00:26:19,620 And prosecutors say that Heuermann was using a burner 519 00:26:19,655 --> 00:26:24,344 phone to send these selfies to solicit and arrange 520 00:26:24,379 --> 00:26:26,448 for sexual activity. 521 00:26:26,482 --> 00:26:30,689 One of those accounts linked to Heuermann, prosecutors wrote, 522 00:26:30,724 --> 00:26:34,620 was used to conduct quote, "thousands of searches 523 00:26:34,655 --> 00:26:38,655 related to sex workers, sadistic, torture-related 524 00:26:38,689 --> 00:26:42,172 pornography, and child pornography." 525 00:26:42,206 --> 00:26:49,482 There was a lot of torture porn and depictions of women 526 00:26:49,517 --> 00:26:53,275 being abused, being raped, and being killed. 527 00:26:53,310 --> 00:26:55,689 Investigators also say that while they 528 00:26:55,724 --> 00:26:58,517 were busy watching Heuermann, Heuermann 529 00:26:58,551 --> 00:27:02,482 was trying to watch them, conducting searches on the task 530 00:27:02,517 --> 00:27:05,448 force and the Gilgo victims. 531 00:27:05,482 --> 00:27:07,275 Not only pictures of the victims, 532 00:27:07,310 --> 00:27:12,724 pictures of their relatives, their sisters, their children. 533 00:27:12,758 --> 00:27:15,689 And he was trying to locate those individuals. 534 00:27:15,724 --> 00:27:18,827 The circumstantial evidence was building. 535 00:27:18,862 --> 00:27:22,068 But investigators also had physical evidence 536 00:27:22,103 --> 00:27:26,137 from the Gilgo Four, including one male hair 537 00:27:26,172 --> 00:27:28,206 that was found in the burlap used 538 00:27:28,241 --> 00:27:32,586 to quote, "restrain and transport Megan Waterman's 539 00:27:32,620 --> 00:27:33,862 body." 540 00:27:33,896 --> 00:27:38,241 and they wanted to see if they could link it to Heuermann. 541 00:27:38,275 --> 00:27:40,172 Police tailed Heuermann. 542 00:27:40,206 --> 00:27:44,275 And when he threw out this pizza box in this trash can 543 00:27:44,310 --> 00:27:47,862 here in Midtown Manhattan, they pounced. 544 00:27:47,896 --> 00:27:51,620 The pizza, which was obviously very significant-- 545 00:27:51,655 --> 00:27:54,103 Tierney says that Heuermann's DNA 546 00:27:54,137 --> 00:27:56,310 that was found on that pizza crust 547 00:27:56,344 --> 00:27:59,068 was consistent with a DNA profile 548 00:27:59,103 --> 00:28:02,862 from the hair found with Megan Waterman's body. 549 00:28:02,896 --> 00:28:09,172 And that DNA profile is only found in 0.04 percent 550 00:28:09,206 --> 00:28:11,000 of the population. 551 00:28:11,034 --> 00:28:12,517 That was a remarkable day. 552 00:28:12,551 --> 00:28:16,103 It was the weekend and you get the report and you read it. 553 00:28:16,137 --> 00:28:18,689 And then you read it again and then you read it a third time. 554 00:28:18,724 --> 00:28:20,620 And then you read it a fourth time. 555 00:28:20,655 --> 00:28:22,551 And then you start making calls. 556 00:28:22,586 --> 00:28:27,310 With the DNA, the search histories, and the burner phone 557 00:28:27,344 --> 00:28:30,275 evidence, the team felt it was time. 558 00:28:30,310 --> 00:28:33,793 When we decided to take down the case, it was a sudden decision 559 00:28:33,827 --> 00:28:38,000 and we did see him contacting a number of sex workers using 560 00:28:38,034 --> 00:28:40,275 a burner phone, which obviously is concerning. 561 00:28:45,896 --> 00:28:49,413 Plainclothes officers arrested him around the corner 562 00:28:49,448 --> 00:28:50,793 from his office. 563 00:28:50,827 --> 00:28:54,413 I don't think he had any clue. 564 00:28:54,448 --> 00:28:58,655 I don't think he had any clue that we were on to him. 565 00:28:58,689 --> 00:29:02,517 Police spent 12 days looking through Heuermann's home, 566 00:29:02,551 --> 00:29:04,965 pulling those guns out of the basement, 567 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,275 and digging in the backyard. 568 00:29:07,310 --> 00:29:10,137 They say it will take some time to comb 569 00:29:10,172 --> 00:29:11,931 through what they have now. 570 00:29:11,965 --> 00:29:16,000 And they were tight lipped about what they found. 571 00:29:16,034 --> 00:29:19,034 Has the search been fruitful? 572 00:29:19,068 --> 00:29:20,896 Great question and the answer's yes. 573 00:29:20,931 --> 00:29:22,758 Can you elaborate on fruitful? 574 00:29:22,793 --> 00:29:25,586 You said yes, it's fruitful? 575 00:29:25,620 --> 00:29:28,137 There have been items that we have taken into our possession. 576 00:29:28,172 --> 00:29:29,931 That makes it fruitful. 577 00:29:29,965 --> 00:29:32,275 And one more big piece of evidence 578 00:29:32,310 --> 00:29:36,000 taken into possession, a first-generation Chevy 579 00:29:36,034 --> 00:29:39,034 Avalanche Heuermann once used. 580 00:29:39,068 --> 00:29:43,586 And it was sitting on property he owns in South Carolina when 581 00:29:43,620 --> 00:29:45,103 they recovered it. 582 00:29:45,137 --> 00:29:48,413 We were able to seize that Chevy Avalanche pursuant to a search 583 00:29:48,448 --> 00:29:50,827 warrant, and we're certainly going to analyze that. 584 00:29:50,862 --> 00:29:53,034 But there were female hairs found 585 00:29:53,068 --> 00:29:55,482 on some of the victims' bodies that 586 00:29:55,517 --> 00:29:59,241 don't belong to the victims. 587 00:29:59,275 --> 00:30:02,206 So who do they belong to? 588 00:30:02,241 --> 00:30:05,482 [MUSIC PLAYING] 589 00:30:07,827 --> 00:30:10,344 What do you make of the evidence against Rex Heuermann? 590 00:30:10,379 --> 00:30:12,896 Join the conversation now on social media. 591 00:30:17,068 --> 00:30:20,482 [MUSIC PLAYING] 592 00:30:27,310 --> 00:30:30,586 After Rex Heuermann's arrest, his quiet neighborhood 593 00:30:30,620 --> 00:30:35,413 in Massapequa Park was overrun by investigators and media, 594 00:30:35,448 --> 00:30:39,103 focusing intense scrutiny on the ramshackle home 595 00:30:39,137 --> 00:30:43,793 and its remaining residents, his stepson, Christopher Sheridan, 596 00:30:43,827 --> 00:30:47,413 daughter, Victoria Heuermann, and his wife of more 597 00:30:47,448 --> 00:30:50,862 than 25 years, Asa Ellerup. 598 00:30:50,896 --> 00:30:52,310 Their life, going forward, is always 599 00:30:52,344 --> 00:30:56,068 going to be the wife or the children of suspected 600 00:30:56,103 --> 00:30:57,103 serial killer. 601 00:30:57,137 --> 00:30:59,103 That's what it's going to be from now on. 602 00:30:59,137 --> 00:31:03,000 Attorney Bob Macedonia represents Asa Ellerup, 603 00:31:03,034 --> 00:31:06,103 who has since filed for divorce from Heuermann. 604 00:31:06,137 --> 00:31:12,000 He says she was as stunned as anyone by the accusations. 605 00:31:12,034 --> 00:31:13,827 She had no idea any of this was going on. 606 00:31:13,862 --> 00:31:15,034 The allegations are shocking. 607 00:31:15,068 --> 00:31:16,344 Nobody wants to think that they've 608 00:31:16,379 --> 00:31:18,551 been living with and sleeping next to a serial killer 609 00:31:18,586 --> 00:31:19,965 for the past 25 years. 610 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,862 As it turns out, Asa may have inadvertently 611 00:31:22,896 --> 00:31:26,034 helped focus the investigation on her husband. 612 00:31:26,068 --> 00:31:28,482 Investigators say they've identified 613 00:31:28,517 --> 00:31:33,000 strands of female hair that were found on two of the victims. 614 00:31:33,034 --> 00:31:35,862 One hair on Waterman comes back to his wife-- 615 00:31:35,896 --> 00:31:38,206 or the DNA profiles are consistent. 616 00:31:38,241 --> 00:31:41,206 And then the DNA profile from Costello 617 00:31:41,241 --> 00:31:43,655 is consistent with the wife. 618 00:31:43,689 --> 00:31:46,896 Although prosecutors have evidence that Asa was out 619 00:31:46,931 --> 00:31:49,172 of town when those murders occurred, 620 00:31:49,206 --> 00:31:53,137 they will have to explain how those hairs got on the victims. 621 00:31:53,172 --> 00:31:55,965 Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney says 622 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,275 it could be as simple as transfer. 623 00:31:59,310 --> 00:32:02,655 You live at home with a spouse, a little bit of your hair falls 624 00:32:02,689 --> 00:32:05,620 on your shoulder as well as your spouse's. 625 00:32:05,655 --> 00:32:08,206 Then you go out and you interact with a third party 626 00:32:08,241 --> 00:32:10,241 and that hair gets on them. 627 00:32:10,275 --> 00:32:13,379 Asa Ellerup has not been charged or named 628 00:32:13,413 --> 00:32:16,034 a suspect in any of the murders. 629 00:32:16,068 --> 00:32:19,482 You don't believe that Rex Heuermann's wife was 630 00:32:19,517 --> 00:32:21,172 involved in this in any way? 631 00:32:21,206 --> 00:32:23,551 There's no evidence to indicate that, no. 632 00:32:23,586 --> 00:32:25,965 Along with the public scrutiny of Asa, 633 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,068 there's also been support from people 634 00:32:28,103 --> 00:32:32,344 that perhaps know all too well what she's going through. 635 00:32:32,379 --> 00:32:37,068 Kerri Rawson, the daughter of serial killer Dennis Rader, who 636 00:32:37,103 --> 00:32:43,793 named himself BTK, tweeted "Asa and her kids are also victims." 637 00:32:43,827 --> 00:32:47,379 I can tell that they are going through hell. 638 00:32:47,413 --> 00:32:49,896 And from Melissa Moore, the daughter 639 00:32:49,931 --> 00:32:52,862 of Keith Jesperson, a serial killer known 640 00:32:52,896 --> 00:32:56,206 as the Happy Face Killer for taunting authorities 641 00:32:56,241 --> 00:32:59,655 with letters signed with a happy face. 642 00:32:59,689 --> 00:33:01,620 She reached out immediately to myself 643 00:33:01,655 --> 00:33:03,862 and we put her in contact with Asa. 644 00:33:03,896 --> 00:33:06,586 At a press conference, Macedonia announced 645 00:33:06,620 --> 00:33:12,448 Moore set up a GoFundMe page for Asa, which raised over $50,000. 646 00:33:12,482 --> 00:33:16,034 Money he says will largely go to medical bills. 647 00:33:16,068 --> 00:33:19,137 Asa is battling breast and skin cancer. 648 00:33:19,172 --> 00:33:22,068 And because Rex Heuermann was the sole provider 649 00:33:22,103 --> 00:33:25,655 for the family, Macedonia says she will soon 650 00:33:25,689 --> 00:33:28,103 lose her health insurance. 651 00:33:28,137 --> 00:33:30,034 Asa would like me to express her thanks 652 00:33:30,068 --> 00:33:31,827 for the support she's received. 653 00:33:31,862 --> 00:33:34,586 She's going through a very difficult time. 654 00:33:34,620 --> 00:33:37,862 Asa's children have also paid a heavy price. 655 00:33:37,896 --> 00:33:40,620 Her daughter Victoria, who worked for her father 656 00:33:40,655 --> 00:33:44,862 at the architectural consulting firm, and her son Christopher 657 00:33:44,896 --> 00:33:47,034 are both now unemployed. 658 00:33:47,068 --> 00:33:49,551 Asa struggles to support them, says 659 00:33:49,586 --> 00:33:52,896 Macedonia, while she's also trying to figure out 660 00:33:52,931 --> 00:33:54,310 how to start over. 661 00:33:54,344 --> 00:33:56,862 How is she getting through every day? 662 00:33:56,896 --> 00:33:57,448 Honestly? 663 00:33:57,482 --> 00:33:58,000 Yeah. 664 00:33:58,034 --> 00:33:59,034 Minute by minute. 665 00:33:59,068 --> 00:34:02,448 She has no one else to turn to at this time. 666 00:34:02,482 --> 00:34:05,000 Family and friends have been hesitant to have her come over 667 00:34:05,034 --> 00:34:06,827 because they don't want the media attention. 668 00:34:06,862 --> 00:34:10,896 She gets followed wherever she goes. 669 00:34:10,931 --> 00:34:12,724 For the moment, she and her children 670 00:34:12,757 --> 00:34:16,241 continue to live in the house in Massapequa Park, which 671 00:34:16,275 --> 00:34:19,931 the family says was excessively damaged during the police 672 00:34:19,965 --> 00:34:24,516 search, seen in these photos provided by Asa's attorney. 673 00:34:24,551 --> 00:34:28,344 It's a daily reminder of the unimaginable crimes 674 00:34:28,379 --> 00:34:31,137 her estranged husband is charged with 675 00:34:31,172 --> 00:34:34,931 and the investigation that continues into what else 676 00:34:34,965 --> 00:34:36,103 he may have done. 677 00:34:36,137 --> 00:34:39,585 [MUSIC PLAYING] 678 00:34:44,447 --> 00:34:48,344 [BIRDS CHIRPING] 679 00:34:48,379 --> 00:34:52,275 [MUSIC PLAYING] 680 00:34:54,241 --> 00:34:56,688 Rex Heuermann, awaiting trial, is 681 00:34:56,724 --> 00:35:01,310 locked inside a Suffolk County Jail in a 60 square foot cell. 682 00:35:04,103 --> 00:35:11,379 He denies killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, 683 00:35:11,413 --> 00:35:12,413 and Amber Costello. 684 00:35:16,206 --> 00:35:18,965 Their voices now silent as the sand 685 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,448 where they have been ruthlessly discarded. 686 00:35:24,413 --> 00:35:26,586 How sure are you, as you're sitting here now, 687 00:35:26,620 --> 00:35:30,275 that Rex Heuermann is the Long Island serial killer? 688 00:35:30,310 --> 00:35:33,206 So we're just at the beginning stages of this case, 689 00:35:33,241 --> 00:35:35,862 but we would not have brought this indictment if we 690 00:35:35,896 --> 00:35:37,310 weren't confident in our case. 691 00:35:37,344 --> 00:35:42,689 He took away somebody's mother, somebody's daughter, 692 00:35:42,724 --> 00:35:44,172 somebody's sister. 693 00:35:44,206 --> 00:35:49,413 And not just one person, multiple individuals. 694 00:35:49,448 --> 00:35:52,137 Heuermann is currently the prime suspect 695 00:35:52,172 --> 00:35:54,965 for the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. 696 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,931 And for investigators, an obvious question 697 00:35:57,965 --> 00:36:00,103 still hangs heavy. 698 00:36:00,137 --> 00:36:04,862 If Heuermann is a killer, are there other victims? 699 00:36:04,896 --> 00:36:06,793 I mean, isn't there a real concern 700 00:36:06,827 --> 00:36:09,896 that there may be other victims out there? 701 00:36:09,931 --> 00:36:11,068 Always. 702 00:36:11,103 --> 00:36:13,310 Who's to say that there's not more bodies out there 703 00:36:13,344 --> 00:36:16,931 that we need to investigate? 704 00:36:16,965 --> 00:36:22,448 In 2011, police did find other bodies along Ocean Parkway 705 00:36:22,482 --> 00:36:25,241 after finding the Gilgo Four. 706 00:36:25,275 --> 00:36:29,655 There is victim number 5, Jessica Taylor, an escort 707 00:36:29,689 --> 00:36:33,137 who went missing in 2003. 708 00:36:33,172 --> 00:36:36,379 Another set of remains police called Jane Doe 709 00:36:36,413 --> 00:36:40,758 number 6 is now identified as Valerie Mack, 710 00:36:40,793 --> 00:36:44,310 also working as an escort. 711 00:36:44,344 --> 00:36:47,620 Number 7, to investigators surprise, 712 00:36:47,655 --> 00:36:50,793 they found a toddler girl. 713 00:36:50,827 --> 00:36:56,862 Number 8, an Asian male dressed in women's clothing. 714 00:36:56,896 --> 00:36:59,862 Number 9, a female skull belonging 715 00:36:59,896 --> 00:37:06,344 to Karen Vergata, an escort who disappeared in 1996. 716 00:37:06,379 --> 00:37:10,241 Number 10, female remains from a victim cops 717 00:37:10,275 --> 00:37:14,931 nicknamed Peaches because of a tattoo on her torso. 718 00:37:14,965 --> 00:37:18,241 Although her remains were found six miles away, 719 00:37:18,275 --> 00:37:23,000 police say DNA confirms Peaches is the mother of that toddler. 720 00:37:26,310 --> 00:37:30,000 None of those victims has been linked to Heuermann. 721 00:37:30,034 --> 00:37:32,206 Is it that you can't connect him yet 722 00:37:32,241 --> 00:37:36,586 or you believe he probably isn't the person who 723 00:37:36,620 --> 00:37:39,344 killed these other individuals? 724 00:37:39,379 --> 00:37:40,655 I don't know. 725 00:37:40,689 --> 00:37:45,000 Investigations also spread to Las Vegas and South Carolina, 726 00:37:45,034 --> 00:37:49,068 where Heuermann owns property, with detectives there 727 00:37:49,103 --> 00:37:52,034 taking a fresh look at cases of missing women. 728 00:37:55,241 --> 00:37:57,965 And then there's Nikki Brass. 729 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:01,379 I remembered him because, one, he's massive. 730 00:38:01,413 --> 00:38:05,034 And how many massive, like, 6 foot 5 architects 731 00:38:05,068 --> 00:38:07,379 work in Manhattan and live in Massapequa? 732 00:38:07,413 --> 00:38:10,034 You're going from brown and blonde. 733 00:38:10,068 --> 00:38:15,034 Now a hairdresser, Nikki claims she may be one that got away. 734 00:38:15,068 --> 00:38:17,965 She told us she used to work as an escort. 735 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:21,310 And while we could not substantiate her story, 736 00:38:21,344 --> 00:38:25,689 Nikki claims she can't shake her memory of the night she says 737 00:38:25,724 --> 00:38:29,482 she was solicited for sex by Rex Heuermann 738 00:38:29,517 --> 00:38:33,034 and says she fled the restaurant where they met. 739 00:38:33,068 --> 00:38:37,068 I had never gone anywhere and, like, felt fear. 740 00:38:37,103 --> 00:38:38,896 My gut was telling me I needed to get away 741 00:38:38,931 --> 00:38:41,724 and I've never had that before. 742 00:38:41,758 --> 00:38:44,448 Nikki says what she found most disturbing is 743 00:38:44,482 --> 00:38:47,827 that Heuermann himself brought up those bodies bound 744 00:38:47,862 --> 00:38:50,137 in burlap by Gilgo Beach. 745 00:38:50,172 --> 00:38:52,034 He wanted to, like, really get into it. 746 00:38:52,068 --> 00:38:54,448 Like, he asked me how I thought they 747 00:38:54,482 --> 00:38:56,517 could get rid of the bodies without being 748 00:38:56,551 --> 00:38:58,344 caught in that area. 749 00:38:58,379 --> 00:39:00,206 And I said, I've never been over there. 750 00:39:00,241 --> 00:39:03,172 I've never even seen Gilgo Beach. 751 00:39:03,206 --> 00:39:08,068 And his response was, well, it's really dark and desolate. 752 00:39:10,620 --> 00:39:12,827 I'm John Ray and I'm the lawyer. 753 00:39:12,862 --> 00:39:15,655 Nikki is now represented by John Ray, 754 00:39:15,689 --> 00:39:19,068 an attorney who is also representing Shannan Gilbert's 755 00:39:19,103 --> 00:39:20,034 family. 756 00:39:20,068 --> 00:39:23,896 [MUSIC PLAYING] 757 00:39:26,724 --> 00:39:30,448 In December of 2011, investigators finally 758 00:39:30,482 --> 00:39:35,620 found Shannan here in the marsh not far from Gilgo Beach. 759 00:39:35,655 --> 00:39:38,172 But they don't believe she was murdered. 760 00:39:38,206 --> 00:39:39,655 It's an unfortunate incident. 761 00:39:39,689 --> 00:39:42,137 But right now, we believe that she just ran into the marsh 762 00:39:42,172 --> 00:39:43,827 and unfortunately, drowned. 763 00:39:43,862 --> 00:39:46,724 A former investigator told us that he believes 764 00:39:46,758 --> 00:39:48,965 Shannan was high on drugs that night 765 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:51,413 and says her death was an accident, 766 00:39:51,448 --> 00:39:54,448 something John Ray just can't believe. 767 00:39:54,482 --> 00:39:58,000 While he doesn't think Shannan was a victim of Heuermann, 768 00:39:58,034 --> 00:40:03,241 he does believe she was murdered and points to that 911 call. 769 00:40:03,275 --> 00:40:05,793 [SCREAMING] 770 00:40:05,827 --> 00:40:07,896 It absolutely makes no sense that she's 771 00:40:07,931 --> 00:40:11,448 found where she is except that someone else put her there 772 00:40:11,482 --> 00:40:12,620 or killed her there. 773 00:40:15,758 --> 00:40:19,689 While questions remain about Shannan's last hours, 774 00:40:19,724 --> 00:40:22,517 there's no question she's the reason 775 00:40:22,551 --> 00:40:26,068 so many families may finally be getting answers 776 00:40:26,103 --> 00:40:28,172 they have long waited for. 777 00:40:28,206 --> 00:40:32,310 We spoke to her sister Sherre in 2011. 778 00:40:32,344 --> 00:40:35,586 If my sister didn't make that 911 call, 779 00:40:35,620 --> 00:40:37,344 I don't think that these other women would 780 00:40:37,379 --> 00:40:39,689 have been recovered either. 781 00:40:39,724 --> 00:40:42,862 Now investigators hope that with an arrest, 782 00:40:42,896 --> 00:40:46,862 they can give the victims' families, who stood with them, 783 00:40:46,896 --> 00:40:48,310 a sense of justice-- 784 00:40:48,344 --> 00:40:52,068 [SOMBER MUSIC] 785 00:40:52,103 --> 00:40:55,172 --and of peace. 786 00:40:55,206 --> 00:40:59,275 I've gotten to know the families and I'm inspired by them 787 00:40:59,310 --> 00:41:01,862 and I'm impressed by their patience. 788 00:41:01,896 --> 00:41:05,862 [MUSIC PLAYING] 789 00:41:05,896 --> 00:41:09,413 A local legend has it that this place, Gilgo Beach, 790 00:41:09,448 --> 00:41:11,482 was named for a skilled fisherman 791 00:41:11,517 --> 00:41:14,931 called Gil, these silver-gray waters once 792 00:41:14,965 --> 00:41:16,586 his secret hunting ground. 793 00:41:19,793 --> 00:41:22,551 Today, this beach area is better known 794 00:41:22,586 --> 00:41:28,137 for a relentless hunter of human prey, a serial killer whose 795 00:41:28,172 --> 00:41:32,034 chilling presence can still be felt in the ocean air. 796 00:41:38,655 --> 00:41:42,034 Four students connected by friendship, then by tragedy. 797 00:41:42,068 --> 00:41:44,379 Xana's family speaks for the first time. 798 00:41:44,413 --> 00:41:45,793 She just was always fun. 799 00:41:45,827 --> 00:41:46,931 She was uplifting. 800 00:41:46,965 --> 00:41:49,620 Kaylee's parents believe the killer was there before. 801 00:41:49,655 --> 00:41:52,758 He had to know when people were coming, people were going. 802 00:41:52,793 --> 00:41:56,482 48 Hours, next on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ Plus. 803 00:41:56,517 --> 00:41:58,965 [MUSIC PLAYING]