New York’s Riverhead. On Tuesday, the New York architect who is accused of murder in the Gilgo Beach crimes was charged with the murder of a seventh lady.
Valerie Mack’s remains were discovered on Long Island in 2000, and Rex Heuermann entered a not guilty plea to her murder. Mack, 24, was last seen by her family in New Jersey that year while working as an escort in Philadelphia.
More than ten years after the initial discovery of some of Mack’s skeletal remains in Manorville, New York, officials uncovered more of her remains in Gilgo Beach, almost fifty miles to the west. Until 2020, when genetic testing identified her, they were unknown.
Prosecutors stated in court documents that the human hair discovered with Mack’s remains was tested earlier this year and was determined to be a likely match with Heuermann’s daughter’s genetic profile. His daughter, who would have been three or four years old when Mack passed away, is not charged with any crimes.
Heuermann, 61, is accused of murdering six additional women, the bodies of whom were discovered on Long Island. He has entered a not guilty plea to every accusation.
At a press conference with Mack’s parents and other victims’ families, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney stated that these women’s lives are important. The families are the only ones who truly comprehend that.
Mack’s parents remained silent. The Macks received hugs and roses from the families of four other victims, who also sent their condolences and solidarity through a lawyer.
They were liked and still are. According to lawyer Gloria Allred, who works for the families of Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, and Megan Waterman, “those who knew them and had a strong bond with them miss them every day.”
The DNA technology used to link Mack and other victims to Heuermann has never been found to be trustworthy in a New York case, according to Heuermann’s attorney Michael Brown, who contested the evidence presented in Mack’s killing outside of court.
Additionally, he contended that Tierney’s office has not yet provided evidence that any victims’ DNA was discovered in Heuermann’s house, despite the fact that numerous weapons and tools were recovered there during recent searches.
According to Brown, these accusations have a slightly strange quality. Something isn’t quite right.
The Gilgo Beach homicides investigation began in 2010 after police investigating a missing lady discovered ten sets of human remains in the brush along a barrier island parkway, raising suspicions of a serial killer.
Many of the victims were sex workers, and police identified them over the years using DNA analysis and other hints. On Long Island, police also started looking into other unsolved female homicides.
Despite five police commissioners, over 1,000 tips, and questions about whether a serial killer ever existed, the case has continued to drag on.
On July 13, 2023, Heuermann, who commuted to an architecture office in Manhattan and resided in Massapequa Park, Long Island, with his wife and two kids, was arrested. He was then accused of killing Amber Lynn Costello, Waterman, and Barthelemy.
He was accused of being responsible for the murders of three additional women earlier this year: Sandra Costilla, Taylor, and Brainard-Barnes.
Prosecutors claimed in a June court filing that they had found a file on a hard drive in Heuermann’s basement that he used to meticulously plan out his murders. The file contained checklists with chores for before, during, and after the killings as well as lessons for the future.
Prosecutors claimed in court documents on Tuesday that the document, which was produced the same year Mack was murdered, contains information that supports her claim.
For instance, under the heading DS, which investigators suspect means for dump site, it references Mill Road, a road close to where Mack’s first bones were discovered.
Additionally, foam drain cleaner is included under Supplies in the text. According to the prosecution, Heuermann made two calls to a plumbing business in Long Island on October 3, 2000, and the following month he paid another company to inspect his mainline drain.
Authorities said they discovered old magazines and newspapers containing articles about the Gilgo Beach deaths and inquiry during recent searches of Heuermann’s home and workplace. Prosecutors think he saved these items as memories or souvenirs. A copy of the New York Post from July 29, 2003, which featured an article regarding the inquiry into Mack and Taylor’s remains, was one of them.
Tierney stated on Tuesday that the majority of the time, when Heuermann’s family was out of town, the evidence suggests that the killings took place in his house.
Asa Ellerup, Heuermann’s estranged wife, stated in a statement that she continues to doubt her husband’s ability to carry out the alleged crimes.
In a separate statement, the couple’s now-adult children stated that they are unwavering in their commitment to watching the legal process unfold, regardless of how drawn out or challenging it may be.
Regarding the deaths of some other victims whose bones were discovered on Long Island, authorities have yet to file charges against anyone.
These include Karen Vergata, whose remains were found in 1996 but were only identified in 2022 by new DNA analysis, and an unnamed male victim who died in 2006 and most likely seemed to be a female.
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