The Gilgo Beach Serial Killings | Full Episode | Forensic Files

foreign it is a case that has haunted the public for more than 13 years that many feared
that the Gilgo Beach murders may never be solved [Music] sir located a body they don't seem to be wrapped in burlap
which didn't make any sense the crime scene gets expanded I'm cold and chief we found another set
of remains they find another one and another one we were dealing with a serial killer are they available they're
vulnerable and very petite this killer has a type right does he want the petite body because he wants to feel more
empowered and More in control I just want answers and arrest more than a decade in the
making in a serial killer case that's baffled law enforcement and the public 59-year-old Rex heuerman pled not guilty
I dropped my phone I couldn't believe it so just who is Rex humerman an architect
who ran a company called RH consultants and Associates Rex hello how are you doing good to see you when a job that
should have been routine suddenly becomes not routine yeah I get the phone call Rex heermann is a mystery man Rex
is capable of presenting himself one way to one person one way to another person
my first memory of Rex was that he was very big imposing scary angry he was bullied he was bigger than
everyone else the kids would gang up on him and Rex was very smart too he's a smart person very smart
he liked to shock people he was interested in power games Rex loved hunting and he loved guns
going out shooting hunting that was his passion all petite all bound in burlap bags the burlap on the bodies that's
points right at a hunter it was DNA collected from a pizza slice he tossed in a Manhattan trash can that
came back as a match with hair found on the victims that's where we obtained you
know his full profile from from the pizza crust left in the Box in terms of speaking to my client the
only thing I can tell you that he did say as he was in tears was I didn't do this
everyone's just trying to put the pieces together I want to know what I missed I
think we all want to know what we missed [Music] [Music] foreign T far from this quiet stretch of Gilgo
Beach on Long Island New York investigators uncovered the hidden remains of four young women
the mystery of who they were and how they got here might have stayed a secret if not for a woman named Shannon Gilbert
[Music] in the early morning hours of May 1st 2010 23 year old Shannon working as an
escort call 9-1-1 State Police yeah [Music] the call came from a neighborhood not
far from Gilgo Beach Shannon starts running knocking on doors she screams and then nothing
Shannon was gone hello hello [Applause] canine search the area exhaustively for Sean and Gilbert Dominic verone was
chief of detectives at the Suffolk County Police Department months passed without a sign of the
missing woman and then in December 2010 near Gilgo Beach a police officer and his canine named Blue found human
remains everyone assumed it was Shannon Gilbert but it wasn't Shannon stun Searchers
would go on to discover the remains of four other women the women were identified as Maureen Brainerd Barnes
Melissa barthelemy Megan Waterman and Amber Costello like Shannon all were in their 20s all were online escorts all
petite three of the four were wrapped in burlap the kind you can find in hunting
stores they became known as the Gilgo 4. it's really really hard because I miss her so much
48 Hours has reported on this case since 2010. over the years we've secured exclusive interviews with the family and
friends of the Gilgo 4. Missy Cann will never forget the wintry day when she got
the devastating news the detectives came to my house and just said that Maureen has been positively identified as one of
the victims on Ocean Parkway her sister Maureen Brainerd Barnes a mother of two was the first to disappear
on July 9 2007. she was very smart and very creative she liked being a mom she loved being Mom but life is a single mom
living in Norwich Connecticut was difficult Missy didn't know it but Maureen had turned to escort work and
that July went to New York City for a weekend to make money [Applause] on her way home she called Missy from
Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan I could hear the commotions from the train station from the time that she
called me it was poof she was gone she reported Maureen missing eventually officers would tell Missy that after her
sister's disappearance someone had used Maureen's cell phone to make a call from
Long Island wasn't known then but those two locations Long Island and Midtown Manhattan would become important clues
in the hunt for a serial killer nearly two years to the day that Maureen vanished 24 year old Melissa Bartholomew
went missing in July of 2009 also from Midtown Manhattan Lynn Bartholomew is Melissa's mother how often do you think
about Melissa every single minute of the day it just didn't happen to the girls I
mean it destroyed all of our families Melissa moved from Buffalo to New York City to work as a hairdresser at some
point she also began working as an escort and then disappeared about a week after she went missing Melissa's then 15
year old sister Amanda started getting calls from Melissa's phone we agreed not to show Amanda's face
she answers you know Melissa where have you been and this voice is saying oh this isn't
Melissa Stephen Cohen was a family's lawyer at the time he was taunting Amanda and he said do you know what I
did to your sister I killed Melissa and he's going to make a mistake and we're gonna catch him those calls from
Melissa's own phone may very well have been that mistake when police Trace them the cause placed the person they
believed to be Melissa's killer in Midtown Manhattan following year Megan Waterman the mother
of a three-year-old girl disappeared from a hotel on Long Island part of you is like missing
it's just like something's always off we spoke with Megan's daughter Liliana in 2020. I would do anything to bring
her back but I can't and it just like frustrates me so bad Megan's family says the 22 year old was a creative but
troubled young woman who loved fashion and was devoted to her daughter what would you say to your mom if you could
I would just want to tell her that like I love her I just want her to know like she has a special place in my heart no
one can ever replace her like the other two women Megan disappeared in the summer on June 6 2010 she was working as
an escort on Long Island no matter what her job was she was a person and she needs Justice this haunting
video from a Holiday Inn Express is the last time she was seen alive moments before she went to meet a client cell
phone records later placed her phone in a Long Island neighborhood called Massapequa Park
Amber Costello was the last of the Gilgo 4 to disappear she lived here just seven
and a half miles from Massapequa Park she used to say she was 411 but she wasn't she was like four nine you know I
mean she was small Amber's friend and former roommate Dave Schaller spoke with us in 2011. she was an amazing person
she really was he says Amber was addicted to drugs and used sex work to support her habit but as amazing as she
was was as tormented as she was after Amber disappeared police say Schaller told them about her clients he described
one of them as looking like an ogre and having a first generation Chevrolet Avalanche
on the night she went missing Schaller says a client offered Amber fifteen hundred dollars for the night six times
her hourly rate this guy was so relentless he called several times he was on the phone with her for quite a
while each time he says the client got Amber an experienced escort to do something she never did leave without
her purse or cell phone and meet him in his car I walked out the front door without she she gave me a hug she's like
I love you and she left it was nearly midnight Schaller says that when Amber left this house she
walked down the street and he never saw her again Schaller told us that he didn't see the
client's face that night but suspects he had seen him before so this is a guy you might have seen
yeah this is somebody that I seen I might be the one of the only people who knows who he is
it would be more than a decade before schaller's description would lead to a break in the case
and a prime suspect to see a timeline of how the case unfolded go to 48hours.com
the shocking developments at a murder case gone cold my co-worker called me and she said did you know what happened
to Rex and I'm like no a husband a father an architect stood before a judge charged as a serial killer she says it's
Rex I said no way this house was a main focus and they brought out a lot of evidence I just didn't think it was real
a Long Island community is still a crime scene tonight I even thought to myself it's crazy that there's two Rex humans
out there Mary shell and Muriel henriquez worked with Rex heuerman and couldn't wrap
their heads around the news we never thought he would be that kind of person it's shocking in
July of 2023 nearly 13 years after the Gil go forward were discovered Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney
Harrison made the announcement authorities believe Rex shuerman is the Long Island serial killer Rick Sherman
is a demon that walks Among Us a predator that ruined families the man he calls a
demon is a six foot four architect he's charged with killing Melissa Bartholomew
Megan Waterman Amber Costello and is the prime suspect in the death of Maureen Brainerd Barnes what is my client told
me he told me he didn't do this I was living about 20 minutes from Gilgo Beach in Massapequa Park the very same
town where Megan's phone last connected with the cell tower and you were meant worked here at his architectural firm in
Midtown Manhattan just blocks from where Maureen disappeared the same area where
several of the threatening calls to Melissa's little sister were made the cause of death with regard to the three
victims is homicidal violence a married man huerman lived in this run-down house and has a daughter and
stepson with his second wife ASA ASA who was born in Iceland would take the children to see her
family there in the Summers it was during these trips and others police believed that heuermann killed
the women you never got any kind of hint of another life no Muriel henriquez worked a humor men's company RH
consultants and Associates and spoke exclusively to 48 Hours she recalled a gift he gave her in the summer of 2007.
this is a sweater he asked his wife to bring back from a trip to Iceland Muriel who says she was touched at the time by
huerman's thoughtful gesture now wonders if his wife's absence that summer gave him an opportunity to kill Maureen
Brainerd Barnes who disappeared on July 9 2007. how do you feel about this sweater now no I'm definitely not gonna
wear this sweater now still she says she saw nothing alarming about the Rex ureman she saw daily a little bit of a
nerd in a way he'd like to talk about him self what he knew I mean not a narcissist but a little bit of a you
know I know everything kind of guy pompous pompous she remembers him running to and from job sites eating
fast food on the Run Pizza that was the number one thing police say they found nearly 300 guns in
a basement vault when she heard that police had recovered almost 300 firearms from a vault in human's basement she was
surprised only by the number she knew him as an avid Hunter going out shooting hunting that was his passion what was it
about hunting he liked I don't know I guess he liked the idea of having a prize stalking prey stalking prey and
winning he liked to win and while she says it never occurred to her that you or men could be dangerous
she does remember a time when his tracking skills unnerved her it was her 40th birthday and she had booked a
cruise vacation where are you going you know I'm going to be in the middle of the ocean you're not gonna find me in
the middle of the ocean he said oh yes I can Muriel didn't think much of the comment
until the second day of her trip there was a white envelope under my door it was a note from him
the note said I told you I could find you anywhere he had photos from hunting trips
Mary shell worked with huerman in the summer of 2010. it was the same summer that both Amber Costello and Megan
Waterman vanished he would talk about you know the meat in particular that bear meat could keep in the freezer for
months hearing authorities now say that some of the victims were wrapped in a burlap that Hunters often use was
chilling the burlap really got to me since human's arrest Mary has written about her experience with him she's also
talked to other former female employees who said they weren't always treated with respect he would have one of them
clean the toilet if he thought the cleaning person hadn't done a good enough job a woman in the office yes he
more than once commented on women's bodies if someone perhaps had gained some weight you know that kind of that
kind of thing John Parisi grew up with your men he says he or meme was bullied as a child I
remember meeting Rex when I was in first or second grade he was a loner not many friends
the children were super mean to him made fun of him and teased him but John says he never saw human fight
back he was big enough that if he got upset and started swinging he would hurt somebody
but he never did as human got older John points out things didn't get much better it was
rejected by many girls we all go through that awkward stage growing up and it seemed like that awkward stage
stayed with him longer than usual no he says many in the community find it hard to believe that heuerman is the
notorious serial killer living a double life for more than a decade people were saying oh my God I can't
believe we have a serial killer in our town and we grew up with and we walked amongst the killer another class made of
fewer men's actor Billy Baldwin took to social media when the news broke tweeting it was mind-boggling Rex hello
how are you doing the awkward Long Island teenager grew up to be a confident and seemingly successful
architect Antoine Amira met and interviewed him in 2022 Born and Raised on Long Island okay been working in
Manhattan since 1987. there's nothing in my interview that made me think that this person in front
of me is a dangerous person Antoine is a hotel food and beverage manager in New York who loves real
estate he has a YouTube Interview show where he hand picks guests whom he thinks are interesting and accomplished
um an architect I'm an architectural consultant I'm a troubleshooter Antoine says humor meant was well known for his
skill at helping companies and individuals get building permits when a job that should have been routine
suddenly becomes not routine yeah I get the phone call gotcha correct what radiates stood out for me was it was
very very very smart and known says Antoine for his ability to find loopholes in the rules
he was pleased when he was doing it that he could that he that he could outweet the system
that's it folks that was Rex but Antoine says he remembers it was hard to get humor men to crack a smile it's selfie
time selfie time not even during the signature sunglasses selfies he takes with every guest two three
Can you spot him that ish [Music] if police are right Rex yerman was able to hide a life as a serial killer
and if he did his habit of eating pizza on the go would turn out to be his undoing
[Applause] for more than a decade after the discovery of the Gilgo 4. Rex heuerman's name never appeared on a
suspect list until a new task force was formed with Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison and Suffolk
County D.A Ray Tierney in February of 2022 we formed the task force and then a mere six weeks later
Rex yerman was identified for the first time a suspect in six weeks so how did they
do it it turns out that buried in the original case files were a number of critical clues that the new task force
was finally able to connect remember Amber's roommate Dave Schaller she's like I love you you know she gave me a
hug and she left he had told police about one of Amber's clients and his vehicle
large built man and that he was driving this this first generation Chevy Avalanche a first generation Chevy
Avalanche with a description of an ogre-like man and the make and model of his truck police took a closer look at
Amber's phone records from 2010. shower had told them that before Amber disappeared there was one particular
client calling incessantly he called several times he was on the phone with her for quite a while each time police
back then knew the client was using a burner phone that's a prepaid phone that anyone can buy and use anonymously and
they knew that Maureen Melissa and Megan had all been in contact with Burner numbers right before they disappeared
in 2012 with the help of the FBI they determined that most of those calls connected to cell towers inside a small
area of Massapequa Park they called it the box so how large an area is that box you know a couple of blocks within
within Massapequa Park the new task force began the search for a large built man who also lived in that
small area and owned a Chevy Avalanche at the time of the disappearances was there a aha moment when all of a
sudden his name came up once we were able to attach the Avalanche inside of that Massapequa box which then attached
to Rex Sherman that was a moment where we said okay there's something here the task force now had a prime suspect
and when they looked at humans personal cell phone records They found that his phone was in the same area as those
burner phones when they were used to contact a victim in Massapequa Park or in Midtown Manhattan it was always
consistent Tierney says this was also true for those awful calls Melissa's family got
from that man using her phone back in 2009. he said do you know what I did to your sister and he said well I killed
Melissa the task force says that it confirmed that human does in fact use burner
phones investigators say he had two different burner numbers in 2022 and they say they watched and put money on
one of those accounts here and according to court papers the team also documented
three email accounts using fake names including John Springfield Thomas Hawk and Hunter 1903 and all linked to those
burner numbers and prosecutors say that heuermann was using a burner phone to send these selfies to solicit and
arrange for sexual activity one of those accounts linked to huerman prosecutors wrote was used to conduct
quote thousands of searches related to sex workers sadistic torture-related pornography and child pornography there
was a lot of torture porn and depictions of women being abused being raped and being killed
investigators also say that while they were busy watching humor men humor men was trying to watch them conducting
searches on the task force and the Gilgo victims not only pictures of the victims
pictures of their relatives their their their sisters their children and he was trying to locate those individuals the
circumstantial evidence was building but investigators also had physical evidence
from the Gilgo IV including one male hair that was found in the burlap used to quote restrain and transport Megan
Waterman's body and they wanted to see if they could link it to huerman police tailed humor men and when he
threw out this pizza box in this trash can here in Midtown Manhattan they pounced the pizza which was you know
obviously very significant Tierney says that human's DNA that was found on that pizza crust was consistent with a DNA
profile from the hair found with Megan Waterman's body and that DNA profile is only found in .04 percent of the
population that was a remarkable day it was you know the weekend and you know you read you get the report and you read
it and then you read it again and then you read it a third time and then you read it a fourth time and then you start
making calls with the DNA the search histories and the burner phone evidence the team felt
it was time when we decided to take down the case we you know it was a sudden decision we did see him contacting a
number of sex workers using a burner phone which obviously is concerning plain clothes officers arrested him
around the corner from his office I don't think he had any clue I don't think he had any clue that we
were on to him do Hugh your basement and digging in the backyard they say it will take some time
to comb through what they have now and they were tight-lipped about what they found has the sir Smith truthful
great question and answers yes can you elaborate on Google you said yes there have been items that we have taken
into our possession that makes it fruitful and one more big piece of evidence taken
into possession a first generation Chevy Avalanche humor men once used and it was sitting on property he owns
in South Carolina when they recovered it we were able to seize that Chevy Avalanche pursuant to a search warrant
and was certainly going to analyze that but there were female hairs found on some of the victims bodies that don't
belong to the victims so who do they belong to [Music] what do you make of the evidence against
Rex heuermann join the conversation now on social media foreign [Music] his quiet neighborhood in Massapequa
Park was overrun by investigators and media focusing intense scrutiny on the ramshackle home and its remaining
residents his stepson Christopher Sheridan daughter Victoria heuerman and his wife of more than 25 years ASA
elorup their life going forward is always going to be the wife or the children of suspected serial killer
that's what it's going to be from now on Bob Macedonia represents ASA alarup who
has since filed for divorce from huerman he says she was as stunned as anyone by
the accusations she had no idea how this going on the allegations are shocking nobody wants to
think that they've been living with sleeping next to a serial killer for the past 25 years as it turns out Assa may
have inadvertently helped Focus the investigation on her husband investigators say they've identified
strands of female hair that were found on two of the victims one hair on Waterman comes back to his wife or the
DNA profiles are consistent and then the DNA profile from Costello is consistent
with the wife although prosecutors have evidence that ASA was out of town when those murders
occurred they will have to explain how those hairs got on the victims Suffolk County D.A Ray Tierney says it could be
as simple as transfer you live at home with a spouse a little bit of your hair falls on your shoulder as well as your
spouses then you go out and you interact with a third party and that hair gets on
them alsa ellerup has not been charged or named a suspect in any of the murders you don't believe that Rex huerman's
wife was involved in this in any way there's no evidence to indicate that no along with the public scrutiny of Assa
there's also been support from people that perhaps know all too well what she's going through Kerry Rawson the
daughter of serial killer Dennis Rader who named himself BTK tweeted us and her kids are also victims I can
tell that they are going through hell and from Melissa Moore the daughter of Keith jesperson a serial killer known as
a Happy Face Killer for taunting authorities with letters signed with a happy face she reached out immediately
to myself and we put her in contact with Asa at a press conference Macedonia announced Moore set up a GoFundMe page
for ASA which raised over fifty thousand dollars money he says will largely go to
medical bills ASA is battling breast and skin cancer and because Rex ureman was a
Sole Provider for the family macedonio says she will soon lose her health insurance I also would like me to
express her thanks to the support she's received she's going through a very difficult time
us as children have also paid a heavy prize her daughter Victoria who worked for her father at the architectural
consulting firm and her son Christopher are both now unemployed also struggles to support them says macedonio while
she's also trying to figure out how to start over how is she getting through every day
honestly yeah minute by minute she has no one else to turn to it this time family and friends have been hesitant to
have her come over because they don't want the media attention she gets followed Wherever She Goes
for the moment she and her children continue to live in the house in Massapequa Park which the family says
was excessively damaged during the police search seen in these photos provided by asa's attorney it's a daily
reminder of the unimaginable crimes her estranged husband is charged with and the investigation that continues into
what else he may have done [Music] [Music] um Rex heuerman awaiting trial is locked
inside a Suffolk County Jail in a 60 square foot cell he denies killing Melissa Bartholomew
Megan Waterman and Amber Costello their voice is now silent as the sand where they have been ruthlessly
discarded how sure are you as you're sitting here now that Rex druerman is the Long Island
serial killer so we're just at the beginning stages of this case but we would not have brought this indictment
if we weren't confident in our case he took away Somebody's Mother Somebody's Daughter
somebody's sister and not just one person multiple individuals fewer men is currently the prime suspect
for the murder of Maureen Brainerd Barnes and for investigators and obvious question still hangs heavy
if human is a killer are there other victims I mean isn't there a real concern that
there may be other victims out there always who's to say that there's not more bodies out there that we need to
investigate in 2011 police did find other bodies along Ocean Parkway after finding the
Gilgo four there is victim number five Jessica Taylor an escort who went missing in 2003.
another set of remains police called Jane Doe number six is now identified as Valerie Mack also working as an escort
number seven to investigators surprise they found a toddler girl number eight an Asian male dress in
women's clothing number nine a female skull belonging to Karen vergata an escort who disappeared
in 1996. number 10 female remains from a victim cops nicknamed peaches because of a
tattoo on her torso although her remains were found six miles away police say DNA
confirms peaches is the mother of that toddler none of those victims has been linked to
cure men is it that you can't connect him yet or you believe he probably isn't the person who killed these other other
individuals I don't know investigations also spread to Las Vegas and South Carolina where huermann owns property
with detectives there taking a fresh look at cases of missing women and then there's Nikki brass I
remembered him because one he's massive and how many massive like six foot five architects who work in Manhattan live in
Massapequa you're going from brown and blonde now a hairdresser Nikki claims she may be one that got away she told us
she used to work as an escort and while we could not substantiate her story Nikki claims she can't shake her memory
of the night she says she was solicited for sex by Rex jurman and says she fled the restaurant where they met I had
never gone anywhere and like felt fear my ghost so I mean I needed to get away and I've never had that before
Nikki says what she found most disturbing is that human himself brought up those bodies Bound in burlap by Gilgo
Beach he wanted to like really get into it like he asked me how I thought they could get rid of the bodies without
being caught in that area and I said I've never been over there I've never even seen Gilgo Beach
and his response was well it's really dark and desolate I'm John Ray and I'm the lawyer Nikki is
now represented by John Ray an attorney who is also representing Shannon Gilbert's family
[Music] in December of 2011 investigators finally found Shannon here in the marsh
not far from Gilgo Beach but they don't believe she was murdered it's an unfortunate incident but right now we
believe that she just ran into the marsh and unfortunately drowned our investigator told us that he
believed Shannon was high on drugs that night and says her death was an accident
something John Ray just can't believe while he doesn't think Shannon was a victim of humor men he does believe she
was murdered and points to that 9-1-1 call it absolutely makes no sense that she's
found where she is except that someone else put her there or killed her there and remain about Shannon's last hours
there's no question she's the reason so many families May finally be getting answers they have long waited for we
spoke to her sister Sheree in 2011. my sister you know didn't make that 911 call I don't think that these other
women have been recovered either now investigators hope that with an arrest they can give the victims
families who stood with them a sense of justice and of peace [Music] I've gotten to know the families and I'm
inspired by them and I'm impressed by their patience [Music] a local Legend has it that this place
Gilgo Beach was named for a skilled fisherman called Gill these silver gray Waters once his secret hunting ground
today this Beach area is better known for a Relentless Hunter of human prey a serial killer whose chilling presence
can still be felt in the Ocean Air [Music] for students connected by friendship then by tragedy zanna's family speaks
for the first time see this was always fun she was uplifting Kaylee's parents believe that killer was there before he
had to know when people are coming people were going 48 Hours next on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus
[Music]

The bound bodies of four women are found along a desolate stretch of beach. Disturbing new details about the architect police say is a serial killer. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

The episode examines the Gilgo Beach murders and Rex Heuermann's arrest as the suspected serial killer.

Key points

The Gilgo Beach Murders. A case that has haunted the public for over 13 years, with fears it may never be solved.
The Gilgo 4 Identified. The remains of four young women were discovered, leading to the identification of the Gilgo 4.
Shocking Phone Calls. Calls from Melissa's phone taunted her sister, revealing chilling details about her disappearance.
Rex Heuermann's Arrest. In July 2023, Rex Heuermann was charged as a serial killer, shocking the community.
Critical Clues Uncovered. A new task force connected critical clues leading to Rex Heuermann's identification as a suspect.
DNA Evidence Links to Suspect. Investigators find DNA on a pizza crust linked to Rex Heuermann, raising the stakes.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I couldn't believe it.

1:13WatchSep 29, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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