Rex Heuermann, the Long Island architect, who is accused of being one of New York state's most infamous serial killers, might have had a female accomplice involved in the crimes, a lawyer of his victims has claimed. John Ray, an attorney representing the families of Shannan Gilbert and Jessica Taylor, believes that Heuermann did not act alone.
Shannan Gilbert and Jessica Taylor are believed to be the victims of Rex Heuermann but have not yet been officially connected to the suspected serial killer. Ray claims that there is a possibility that a woman played a major role in the crimes and may have lured some of the victims to Heuermann.
Partner in Crime
Ray referred to the unnamed 10-month-old baby girl whose body was discovered wrapped in a blanket on Long Island in 2011 and claimed that an evil killer would not have thought to do so, the Daily Mail reported.
"It's that kind of thing that, if you're such a depraved murderer, you don't take time to do. That to me seems like an act of a mother, Ray told the outlet.
"We also believe that some of the victims could've been lured by a woman."
The unidentified 10-month-old baby girl's remains were discovered seven miles away from the body of her mother, who is also another unidentified victim known as 'Jane Doe 3'.
This comes as police were seen removing several items from Rex Heuermann's home in Massapequa Park, which included a Playboy magazine, film negatives, a 'MAS*H' TV show poster, and a painting depicting a battered woman.
Ray also claimed that he started receiving distressing phone calls from both a man and a woman in January of this year. These calls were made to his home, his family members, and his law office. The disturbing calls continued until last week and shared similarities in their nature.
"The same language is used, the same tape recordings are used, it's the same eerie voices and crazy sounds that are used in every one of those calls," he said.
"They play news reports from the Shannon Gilbert case from sometime around 2011 or 2012 and make noises in the background at the same time.
"Then they say some nasty things or weird things to let us know that, whoever it was, they wanted to make sure we connected the call to the Gilgo situation."
According to Ray, the callers appeared to be monitoring or watching his house.
"One time they called us, and I had just got home at nine o'clock and we were eating a later dinner, and the phone rang and they said, 'I hope you're enjoying dinner.'
"Then this person, a few seconds later, said, 'I hope you enjoy your pizza.'
"Within seconds, our doorbell rang, and - we live up in a dark area up on a hill - there was the guy delivering three pizzas. And we didn't order the pizzas. So, we call the Pizza Hut where they were coming from. We called the police, and the Pizza Hut person who took the order said it was a woman with a man in the background pretending to choose toppings that had made the call."
Not As Simple as It Looks
Ray expects that additional arrests will be made in connection with the series of murders, but the exact number of potential arrests remains uncertain. "I don't even think the police know," he said.
"Right now we have seven victims, besides the four, and there are likely more that haven't been found yet.
"So while the news of the arrest came as a great sigh of relief for me and these families [...] we're also concerned, to make sure that the other potential murderer or murderers are still going to be actively sought after."
Heuermann, the owner of RH Consultants & Associates, was taken into custody outside his Manhattan office last Thursday night, leaving his colleagues in a state of shock over his arrest in connection with the long-standing unsolved Gilgo Beach murders.
Heuermann, a married father-of-two residing in Massapequa Park on Long Island, now faces charges related to the murders of victims Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
The bodies of these three victims were found in 2010, and the recent developments in the case have brought a sense of relief and hope for justice to the families of the victims.
Over the weekend, authorities removed over 200 guns from the house, described as dungeon-like due to its rundown appearance.
The bodies of the three victims, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, were found in 2010 within a quarter-mile of one another. All three women were sex workers in their 20s.
Rex Heuermann is also believed to be the main suspect in the death of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes, collectively referred to as the 'Gilgo Four.'
Heuermann pleaded not guilty, and his attorney maintains that there is no evidence linking him to the crimes.
Heuermann lived in his Massapequa Park, Long Island property with his wife, Asa Ellerup, and their two children since the 1980s.
The breakthrough in the case came through DNA found on a hair, which was wrapped with one of the bodies.
Police started tracking Rex Heuermann last year. In March 2022, documents filed in a Suffolk County court disclosed that investigators connected a Chevrolet Avalanche to the murder of Amber Costello when a witness reported seeing the vehicle in the vicinity.
This vehicle link enabled the police to trace Heuermann through his cellphone records, connecting him to locations associated with the murders. Eventually, this led to obtaining a DNA sample from him.
