Current:Home > NewsPredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:Gilgo Beach Murders Case: Authorities Detail Suspect Rex Heuermann's "Concerning" Internet History -ProfitLogic
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:Gilgo Beach Murders Case: Authorities Detail Suspect Rex Heuermann's "Concerning" Internet History
SafeX Pro Exchange View
Date:2025-04-07 19:55:12
Authorities say they've unearthed chilling evidence in the case of the Long Island serial killer—including his alarming search history.
Days after suspect Rex Heuermann was arrested and PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Centercharged in connection to the murders of three women found in Gilgo Beach over a decade ago, the prosecuting attorney on the case has given insight into their investigation.
According to authorities, once Heuermann was identified as a suspect, they say that investigators were able to trace his burner phones, which led to the discovery of additional burner phones, fake email accounts and false identities he had used in the process of "gathering a massive amount of digital evidence and trace evidence."
"We saw all this, really sort of concerning searches that he was undergoing," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told People July 19. "In a 14-month period, over 200 times, he's searching for information about the Gilgo investigation. He's trying to figure out what we're up to."
According to NBC New York, prosecutors said questions included in his search history included, "Why could law enforcement not trace the calls made by the long island serial killer" and "Why hasn't the long island serial killer been caught." Additionally, investigators also allege they found hundreds of internet searches about sexual abuse toward women and child pornography, as well as searches for victims and their families.
"He was obsessively looking at the victims," Tierney noted. "But he's also looking at the victim's siblings."
Heuermann was also seemingly captivated by other serial killers, per authorities, with his online history featuring searches for "11 currently active serial killers," and "8 Terrifying Active Serial Killers (We Can't Find)."
According to Tierney, Heuermann, a 59-year-old man from Massapequa Park, was "pretty surprised" when he was arrested July 13.
"I think he lived this double life, and he used the anonymity of phones and computers to shield himself from the rest of society," the district attorney said. "Unfortunately for him—and fortunately for the rest of us—he wasn't successful."
Upon his arrest, Heuermann was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27. He pleaded not guilty to all counts at an arraignment on July 14, per his defense attorney Michael J. Brown.
"There is nothing about Mr. Heuermann that would suggest that he is involved in these incidents," Brown said in a July 14 statement to E! News. "And while the government has decided to focus on him despite more significant and stronger leads, we are looking forward to defending him in a court of law before a fair and impartial jury of his peers."
According to NBC News, he is also suspected in the disappearance and death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, whose remains were also found near Gilgo Beach.
The women were among the remains of 11 people who were discovered after the 2010 disappearance of Shannan Gilbert kickstarted an investigation. (Her remains were found by police on Oak Beach in December 2011.)
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison previously described Heuermann as "a demon that walks amongst us, a predator that ruined families."
"However, even with this arrest, we're not done," Harrison said during a July 14 press conference. "There's more work to do in the investigation in regards to the other victims of the Gilgo Beach bodies that were discovered."
(E! and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
For more true crime updates on your need-to-know cases, head to Oxygen.com.veryGood! (7751)
Related
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- X Factor's Tom Mann Honors Late Fiancée One Year After She Died on Their Wedding Day
- Bank of America created bogus accounts and double-charged customers, regulators say
- U.S. files second antitrust suit against Google's ad empire, seeks to break it up
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- A big bank's big mistake, explained
- The Essential Advocate, Philippe Sands Makes the Case for a New International Crime Called Ecocide
- And Just Like That Costume Designer Molly Rogers Teases More Details on Kim Cattrall's Cameo
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Sarah Jessica Parker Breaks Silence on Kim Cattrall's “Sentimental” And Just Like That Cameo
Ranking
- Trump's 'stop
- These formerly conjoined twins spent 134 days in the hospital in Texas. Now they're finally home.
- 2 Birmingham firefighters shot, seriously wounded at fire station; suspect at large
- Maya Rudolph is the new face of M&M's ad campaign
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- A Plea to Make Widespread Environmental Damage an International Crime Takes Center Stage at The Hague
- Climate-Driven Changes in Clouds are Likely to Amplify Global Warming
- San Francisco Becomes the Latest City to Ban Natural Gas in New Buildings, Citing Climate Effects
Recommendation
Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
Ginny & Georgia's Brianne Howey Gives Birth, Welcomes First Baby With Husband Matt Ziering
Congress tightens U.S. manufacturing rules after battery technology ends up in China
Five Climate Moves by the Biden Administration You May Have Missed
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
UN Report: Despite Falling Energy Demand, Governments Set on Increasing Fossil Fuel Production
Microsoft applications like Outlook and Teams were down for thousands of users
Jan. 6 defendant accused of carrying firearms into Obama's D.C. neighborhood to be jailed pending trial