Current:Home > FinanceChainkeen|DNA sample from suspect in Gilgo Beach murders matches pizza crust, prosecutors say -EverVision Finance
Chainkeen|DNA sample from suspect in Gilgo Beach murders matches pizza crust, prosecutors say
Chainkeen View
Date:2025-04-09 05:11:31
A DNA sample taken from Rex Heuermann,Chainkeen charged with three of the so-called "Gilgo four" murders on Long Island in New York matched DNA previously used to link him to one of the killings, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Heuermann, 60, was arrested in July after investigators matched DNA from a pizza crust he had tossed with DNA from a male hair found in the burlap used to wrap the body of Megan Waterman. He is charged with the murders of 22-year-old Waterman, 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy and 27-year-old Amber Costello, and is a prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
The bodies of the women, who authorities say were sex workers, were found in 2010 on Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach. A total of 10 sets of human remains have been found buried in the area, though the majority of cases remain unsolved and investigators don't think one person committed all the killings. Investigators do believe a serial killer is responsible for some of them.
Prosecutors confirmed during a short pretrial court appearance on Wednesday that a court-ordered swab taken directly from Heuermann's mouth matches the DNA from the pizza.
"The buccal swab erases all doubt,” District Attorney Ray Tierney said in court, according to CNN.
Defense attorney Michael Brown said outside court that the DNA found with the victim's body could still belong to someone else.
“It’s still a significant amount of people that could be the source of this hair,” Brown said, according to CNN.
Heuermann, who worked as an architect, said in court Wednesday that he has been reviewing evidence in his case and been averaging two or three hours a day of review time while in jail.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murders and is being held without bail.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:Missing South Carolina woman may have met with Gilgo Beach murders suspect, authorities say
What's next in the case?
Prosecutors said they will continue providing massive amounts of evidence in the case ahead of Heuermann's trial.
They have previously said they have given Heuermann’s lawyer thousands of pages of records, DNA reports and about 100 hours of surveillance video recorded outside Heuermann’s home and office before his July 13 arrest, along with crime scene photos – and warned there's a lot more coming.
“You’re talking about 13 years worth of investigation,” Tierney previously said.
He's expected back in court in November for another status hearing, CNN reported.
TIMELINE:What led to arrest of suspect Rex Heuermann in Long Island
Contributing: The Associated Press
veryGood! (795)
Related
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- Pakistan announces big crackdown on migrants in the country illegally, including 1.7 million Afghans
- McCarthy to call vote Tuesday on effort to oust him and says he won’t cut a deal with Democrats
- Conspiracy theories about FEMA’s Oct. 4 emergency alert test spread online
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- 6 big purchases that can save energy and money at home (plus budget-friendly options)
- How did we come to live extremely online? Mommy bloggers, says one writer
- Plans to accommodate transgender swimmers at a World Cup meet scrapped because of lack of entries
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- How a unitard could help keep women in gymnastics past puberty
Ranking
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- Supreme Court to hear CFPB case Tuesday, with agency's future in the balance
- Taiwan issues rain and strong wind alerts for Typhoon Koinu that’s approaching the island
- Phil Nevin out as Los Angeles Angels manager as playoff drought continues
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Missing Houston woman was witness in murder case; no-contact order was issued in June, records show
- Armenia’s parliament votes to join the International Criminal Court, straining ties with ally Russia
- Pakistan announces big crackdown on migrants in the country illegally, including 1.7 million Afghans
Recommendation
Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
5 died of exposure to chemical in central Illinois crash, preliminary autopsies find
Group behind ‘alternative Nobel’ is concerned that Cambodia barred activists from going to Sweden
Making cities 'spongy' could help fight flooding — by steering the water underground
Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
95-year-old painter threatened with eviction from Cape Cod dune shack wins five-year reprieve
Secura issues recall on air fryers after reports of products catching fire
John Legend Doppelgänger Has The Voice Judges Doing a Double Take After His Moving Performance