NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann was back in court Wednesday on Long Island for the first time since February.
The handcuffed Heuermann was only in court for a few minutes as lawyers on each side hashed out discovery issues, including lab reports and tips that were called in during the investigation.
During the last hearing, Heuermann’s attorney, Mike Brown, told reporters he was anxious to review the nearly 3,000 tips and leads gathered by investigators over this decadeslong case. Additionally, he highlighted that the previous district attorney in this case said he almost charged another person who lived in Heuermann’s hometown of Massapequa Park on Long Island.
Prosecutors claim Heuermann led a double life, commuting daily to Manhattan for work as an architect and allegedly engaging in the killing of sex workers when his wife went out of town.
What is Rex Heuermann accused of?
In July, police arrested 60-year-old Heuermann and charged him with the murders of three women: Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27. Police considered him a suspect in the death of a fourth, 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and he was charged with murder in January in connection to her killing.
The four women were known as the Gilgo Four.
Police used familial DNA evidence to help identify Heuermann.
The Gilgo Beach task force had been investigating the deaths of 10 people whose remains were found along the New York beach in 2010 and 2011. Most of the victims were sex workers.
All four women whom Heuermann is accused of killing were sex workers. Barthelemy’s family said a man using her phone had taunted the family with graphic details of what he had done to her sexually and said he killed her.
Heuermann’s wife expected in court
Heuerman’s wife, Asa Ellerup, is expected to be in court Wednesday. She’s visited him regularly in the Suffolk County Correctional Facility, according to her attorney, who said Ellerup visited him last Friday.
Ellerup filed for divorce shortly after Heuermann’s arrest but has since said she doesn’t believe Heuermann was capable of the killings.
NewsNation’s Steph Whiteside contributed to this report.