Rex Heuermann, accused Long Island Serial Killer, in court Wednesday, October 16. (Photo: James Carbone)
The accused Long Island Serial Killer (LISK), Rex Heuermann, stood tall in Riverhead court Wednesday, October 16th, with hands cuffed behind his back, as his defense attorney, Michael Brown, announced he will challenge the nuclear DNA evidence that allegedly ties Heuermann, 60, directly to three crime scenes, one of them dating back to 1993.
"The crime lab in Suffolk County indicated, not just in their paperwork but under oath to a grand jury, that these hairs that we're talking about were unsuitable for DNA nuclear analysis," Brown said at a press conference afterwards.
Brown said that after he'd spent a number of months challenging mitochondrial DNA early in the case, "we then were told that, magically, (because of) this company from the West Coast, we now have nuclear DNA."
Heuermann’s defense attorney, Michael Brown, will challenge mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence.
Brown claimed the West Coast lab was not accredited here in New York.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney, who is personally prosecuting the Heuermann case, explained to reporters the meaning of a Frye hearing, which will likely be held in the spring of 2025 to determine which scientific evidence in the serial killer case will be admissible as evidence.
The D.A. seemed frustrated with the amount of work required, in a compressed period of time, to get all the discovery material to the defense team by December 17th.
"I think the timeline right now is very ambitious," Tierney said in a 4th floor hallway outside Judge Timothy Mazzei's courtroom, "given the ridiculous nature of our discovery laws, where I have to provide every single piece of paper that was generated in a case that started in 1993, that's what we have to do."
DA Ray Tierney says he needs time and money to move the LISK case along, due to legal requirements.
Heuermann, a married architect and father, has remained behind bars since his arrest near his midtown office on July 13, 2023. Shocking court papers released in June alleged Heuermann had a 'planning document' on his home laptop for his "kills," which often involved torture. He's pleaded not guilty to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard Barnes, Amber Costello, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor and Megan Waterman, a number of the victims found in the bramble of Gilgo Beach. Prosecutors say publicly Costilla is Heuermann's earliest known victim, her mutilated body discovered near Southampton in 1993. Jessica Taylor was dismembered, her torso found in Manorville in 2003. Taylor's other body parts turned up along Ocean Parkway in 2011, several months after the Gilgo Four victims were discovered.
Heuermann's wife, Asa Ellerup, is in the final stages of divorcing him, even as she insists she wants him to have his day in court.
Asa Ellerup, estranged wife of accused LI serial killer. Photo was taken for GoFundMe assistance page in 2023.
Ellerup did not attend the hearing Wednesday. Her attorney, Robert Macedonio, told reporters Ellerup has been staying in a trailer on Heuermann family property in South Carolina with her son, Christopher, and support dog, Stewie. Heuermann also has an adult, biological daughter with Ellerup. Her attorney issued a statement on Ellerup's behalf, which noted:
"She wanted me to thank the public that have shown her and her children support and grace over the past year," the statement said. "Rex's arrest and the allegations have shattered their world as they knew it. After spending close to three decades with her husband, it's hard for her to imagine that he would commit the heinous acts he is accused of. The reality is, while she hopes for the best, she must prepare for the worst, and she continues to reserve judgment until the trial is concluded."
The District Attorney's team said it's now turned over "99.9 percent of all the raw data from every electronic device" that was seized from Heuermann's home in Massapequa Park, his midtown Manhattan office, and storage lockers in Amityville. More than four hundred such devices, including phones and laptops, were taken during two, different, lengthy searches nearly a year apart.
Rex Heuermann, accused Long Island Serial Killer, in court Wednesday, October 16. (Photo: James Carbone)
D.A. Tierney is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to free up about $13 million dollars that his office could use to move the discovery process along.
The money came from "forfeiture" proceeds, funds often confiscated from criminals that engage in illicit activity like drug dealing. The Department of Justice froze the forfeiture assets in Suffolk County during an investigation of a previous district attorney.
"We're moving in the right direction," Judge Mazzei had said earlier in court, acknowledging the enormous amount of discovery material involved in this case, which stretches across a thirty year period.
Prosecutors said Heuermann met the six, murdered women when he hired them for sex work, either on the street or online. Some of them were mothers of young children. Their families have waited years for an arrest and trial.
"I implore the D.A.'s office to complete the discovery process," Judge Mazzei said.
Heuermann's lawyer is a court-appointed attorney, and Michael Brown noted at his press conference that Heuermann is not paying any money for his defense.
"It's not coming out of his pocket," Brown reiterated to a reporter who asked about legal fees.
Brown has also indicated he will request a 'change of venue' for the trial, because of enormous publicity in the case, "I don't know where it is where we're going to get a fair and impartial jury," Brown remarked. "Mars?"
And Brown pointed to public officials in the sheriff's office and police department who made remarks about Heuermann.
"They're talking about 'devil eyes' and the way he stares," Brown said. "That's improper."
Rex Heuermann, accused Long Island Serial Killer, in court Wednesday, October 16. (Photo: James Carbone)