COLD (CASE) PIZZA
Crust DNA links Gilgo suspect
A DNA sample from accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann linked him to at least one of the women he is accused of killing 13 years ago — and to a pizza crust that helped crack the cold case, prosecutors said in court Wednesday.
Heuermann, 59, submitted the court-ordered swab last month, with Suffolk County prosecutors now saying that the sample matched DNA from a pizza crust found outside his Midtown Manhattan office in July — which matched a hair found on the body of Gilgo Beach victim Megan Waterman in 2010.
The DNA on the discarded crust had previously been tied to Heuermann’s estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, not him directly — until now, according to prosecutors.
“The surveillance team had observed the pizza box and were confident that that was the DNA, that the DNA profile would be consistent with the defendant because he left that material inside the box,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters after the hearing. “And so the buccal swab just erases all doubt.”
Macabre makeover
The hulking 6-foot-6 architect — who wore tan pants, a white shirt and a jacket, and sported a new haircut with a comb-over as he appeared in court — is charged with murder in the deaths of three women who were found dumped along Gilgo Beach in December 2010: Waterman, 22, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27.
He is also the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, 25year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes — with the victims, all former sex workers, known collectively as the “Gilgo Four.”
Heuermann only spoke once during the brief proceedings, telling Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei that he had been able to review evidence submitted by prosecutors “2 or 3 hours” at a time from behind bars.
Outside the courtroom, Heuermann’s lawyer disputed the importance of the alleged match from his client’s DNA swab.
“There is nobody on the face of the Earth that is credible is going to say that hair is my client’s hair,” defense attorney Michael Brown said.
“It’s impossible under science standards,” he said. “What they can do is say he could potentially be a donor for that hair, but so could thousands and thousands of other people just in our area, so take that for what it’s worth.”
Brown also replied to earlier comments from the county sheriff that Heuermann had shown no emotion after his arrest — saying that he had advised his client, “Don’t let anything upset you.”
“Just be stoic,” Brown told his client. “And that’s what he’s done.”
More than 10 sets of human remains were found along Ocean Parkway on Long Island’s South Shore in 2010 and 2011, with their deaths a mystery for 13 years.
In January 2022, newly appointed Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, a decorated former NYPD chief, vowed to reopen the Gilgo investigation — and identified Heuermann as a suspect within three months.