The younger brother of Rex Heuermann, the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer, reportedly killed a New York police captain, it has been revealed. The younger brother, Craig, was allegedly drunk and "coked up" when he crashed his car, killing the cop. The revelations add another layer of distress to the Heuermann family's circumstances.
The now-57-year-old brother was speeding as he smashed through the central median of a highway, killing cop Winnion Buskey, 51. Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested on Thursday evening from his Manhattan office, more than a decade after 11 bodies were found on Long Island and a year after he came onto officials' radar as a potential suspect.
More Murderers in the Family
Craig Heuermann, who was 22 years old in 1988, was involved in a car accident on the Southern State Parkway near his brother's Massapequa Park residence, according to court records.
He crossed the central median and collided head-on with a vehicle driven by Winnion Buskey, a 51-year-old police captain with the city Housing Authority. Buskey was pronounced dead at the scene, and Craig Heuermann suffered a facial injury for which he received medical treatment before being taken into police custody.
Heuermann later pleaded guilty to charges of criminally negligent homicide and driving while intoxicated in a lawsuit filed by Buskey's family.
Craig Heuermann was traveling at a speed of around 61 mph at 9:25 am and, according to Judge Frank Rossetti, was "intoxicated and "coked-up" at the time."
The findings of Craig Heuermann's intoxication and drug use at the time of the accident were significant in the context of a lawsuit that aimed to hold city officials responsible for the road conditions. The lawsuit, which sought to attribute blame to the city for the state of the road that locals referred to as "Blood Alley," was ultimately dismissed based on these findings.
The "argument that the State should have reasonably foreseen such a driver is simply without merit," Rossetti ruled in 1993.
"The cause of this accident was the negligent driving by an intoxicated driver," he said of the younger Heuermann brother.
"The evidence showed Mr. Heuermann had a blood alcohol level of .20, twice the legal limit ... and a blood cocaine level of .05 milligrams.
"Obviously, this was a man who should not have been driving," the judge concluded.
Buskey was on his way to a bowling alley in Howard Beach, Queens to join fellow members of the housing unit's bowling league for their scheduled activity at the time of the fatal crash.
Crime in the Family
Craig Heuermann began serving a three-year prison sentence for the charge of criminally negligent homicide. He served his sentence at a now-closed minimum-security prison located in Gabriels, upstate New York.
According to state corrections records, Heuermann was granted parole in August 1990, after his initial review was initially denied.
After being granted parole, Craig Heuermann was released from prison in time to participate in his brother's wedding. He had the honor of serving as the best man at his brother's first marriage, as indicated in a wedding announcement from 1990.
Rex Heuermann and his brother Craig grew up in a small house built in 1956 on 1st Avenue. Interestingly, this house is located directly across the bay from the area where 11 bodies were discovered between 2010 and onwards.
In 1994, Rex Heuermann bought the house from his mother, Dolores, for $170,000, as indicated by property records. That same year, he started his own company, RH Architecture Design, which is located on Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan, where he was arrested on Thursday night.
Rex Heuermann, a married father of two, pleaded not guilty on Friday to several charges, including three counts of first-degree murder. These charges are connected to the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found dumped along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo State Park in December 2010.
He led a normal life for years before he was busted on Thursday. Detectives say they matched DNA from pizza that the suspect ate to genetic material found on the women's remains. However, his arrest has left his neighbors in shock as they never saw anything suspicious about Heuermann.
Most of the neighbors described him as a reserved businessman and a "regular family man." Baldwin, 60, who graduated from Berner High School in the class of 1981, tweeted his disbelief at learning that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was a classmate of his.
"Married, two kids, architect. 'Average guy... quiet, family man.' Mind-boggling," the local-born actor wrote.
"Massapequa is in shock."
Neighbors mention that his daughter worked with him at the company, and he is believed to have also raised a son with special needs.
According to neighbors, he also raised a son with special needs while his daughter was among his staff at his office.
