MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Days after an arrest was made for the murders of multiple women in connection with the decade-old Gilgo Beach serial killings case, investigators continued to scour for clues Monday as visitors flocked to the Nassau County home of suspect Rex Heuermann, the 59-year-old architect who remains jailed on multiple first-degree murder counts.
MONDAY, JULY 17
2 p.m. -- DA says suspect's 'weaponry' influenced arrest location
Police arrested Rex Heuermann outside of his architectural firm on busy Fifth Avenue in Midtown instead of at his Nassau County home because of his permits for nearly 100 handguns, Suffolk County D.A. Raymond Tierney told WCBS 880 on Monday. Listen to the full interview here:
Asked about the guns, Tierney told Newsline with Brigitte Quinn that Heuermann's permit to possess 92 separate handguns played a role in last Thursday night's arrest.
"So, you know, really the way it factored to us is given the amount of weapons potentially at that house, we didn’t want to arrest him at his house where he could potentially have access to that amount of weaponry," Tierney said.
Asked if he believes Heuermann is linked to the remains of about a half-dozen other people found in the Gilgo Beach area in addition to the four women he's suspected of killing, the district attorney said an investigation into all of those killings continues.
"It doesn't really matter what I think, it matters what I can prove in court," Tierney said.
"Right now, we've started the task force, we've started this case and this is where we are at this point," he continued. "There's going to be a transition from the investigation to the court case, but we're going to continue not only the four cases we have been investigating, but we're going to investigate those other cases, as well."
Amid reports that officials elsewhere in New York State are looking into the possibility that the suspect may be linked to other missing persons cases outside Suffolk County, Tierney said it's a common approach for law enforcement in cases like this.
"All the various jurisdictions are going to do their due diligence, and I applaud them for that," he said. "Certainly, if they need any assistance from us, they can count on that."
12:45 p.m. -- Suspect's home becomes a tourist attraction, to the ire of neighbors
Visitors have been coming from all over to get a look at the Nassau County house of accused serial killer Rex Heuermann—and now neighbors are pushing for the home to be torn down so it doesn't go the way of the "Amityville Horror" house.
Gawkers descended from across Long Island and beyond to catch a glimpse of the red, one-story house on First Avenue, near Michigan Avenue, in Massapequa Park where Heuermann lived for decades before he was arrested in the murders of three women linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killings.
The rush of out-of-towners and sudden notoriety has already led to a push by neighbors on social media to have the house torn down. The rubberneckers are cramming streets and taking parking spots, they said.
They fear it will become like the "Amityville Horror" house, where decades later people still drive by and take photos, interrupting the lives of neighbors.
"The Amityville house, they did renovations, they changed the look of it," a neighbor of Heuermann said Monday. "They don't have those windows that were made very popular by the movie."
"You don't want to attract any attention, this is a quiet neighborhood," he added. "Probably should just get knocked down, razed over and rebuilt like a lot of the houses in this area."
Coincidentally, investigators were in nearby Amityville on Monday to search a storage unit in connection with the Heuermann case. The search warrant was being executed at Omega Self-Storage on Sunrise Highway.
The home was already known as an eyesore in the neighborhood because of its unkempt state.
Another resident said she's been inside the house several times, as her son was friends with Heuermann's son.
"I saw him a few times, he used to come to bowling parties that the kids had, and they were in Challenger baseball," she said. "Nothing strange."
"It's hard for someone to buy it with that stigma attached," she said of the home, adding that she'd tear it down if she owned it.
Heuermann's family was living in the house until last Thursday night, when investigators took over the home to collect evidence. They were spotted removing items—including a child-size doll—all throughout the weekend and continued to investigate there on Monday.
Heuermann's wife and two children, at least one of whom is an adult, are currently staying at an unknown location as the investigation continues.
Heuermann, 59, was charged last Friday with first-degree murder in the killings of three women in the Gilgo Beach murders. He's also the "prime suspect" in the killing of a fourth woman, prosecutors said.
Heuermann, who commuted to his Midtown job from his home in Massapequa Park, was charged in the decade-old murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. He's also the "prime suspect" in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, but he hasn't been charged with her death, according to authorities.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty in court Friday. His attorney Michael Brown said a teary-eyed Heuermann told him, "I didn't do this."
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