NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Rex Heuermann's attorney said in court Wednesday that the DNA technique used by a lab to allegedly link Heuermann to the Gilgo Beach serial killings is essentially “magic” and should be thrown out as evidence in the Long Island case.
The Gilgo case would be the first in New York state to include the specific DNA method used by Astrea Forensics, a California laboratory that uses "proprietary methods" to identify human remains, including in decades-old cases.
The evidence will be the subject of an upcoming Frye hearing in which the prosecution and defense will present their cases to include, or not include, evidence from the novel DNA technique.
A date for the Frye hearing is expected to be set when Heuermann's case returns to court on Feb. 18.
Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown, said that in the history of New York criminal trials, a non-accredited lab was never allowed to present DNA evidence.
“In New York state, it’s called the public health law,” Brown said. “You have to be an accredited lab. Astrea is not an accredited New York state lab.”
“This is somebody who has yet to be challenged or tested in any courtroom on a criminal level,” Brown said of the lab. “And my experts have indicated that this is magic.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney believes the new DNA technology is reliable and led to breakthroughs in the case.
“I would submit that this is the next generation of the evolution of the technology,” Tierney said. “It’s exciting to be at the forefront of this.”
Tierney said earlier this month that his office is ready to present the nuclear DNA evidence from Astrea Forensics in court and said prosecutors wouldn't have introduced it if they didn't believe in its "efficacy and admissibility."
Brown also wants the cases to be separated into different trials, saying his client risks being improperly convicted because of the “cumulative effect” of the evidence put forward by prosecutors. He also argued there’s a “substantial disparity” in the evidence in the some of the deaths.
“The danger of having count after count, victim after victim in the same trial is that 'If there's smoke, there’s fire' mentality," Brown said. “They shouldn’t be tried together. One issue has nothing to do with the other.”
Prosecutors on Wednesday filed a written response to the DNA challenge and said they will respond to the motion for separate trials later.
Heuermann, 61, has pleaded not guilty to murdering seven women whose remains were found on Long Island between the early 1990s and 2011—Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla, and Valerie Mack.
DNA has played a major role in the cold case since it was revived by the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force in 2022; it’s been used to both identify victims and allegedly link Heuermann to the killings.
For example, authorities have said a breakthrough in the case of Brainard-Barnes came when DNA extracted from hair at the scene was determined to be genetically similar to a DNA sample taken from Heuermann’s ex-wife, who prosecutors have said is not a suspect.
Last year, when Heuermann was charged with murdering Brainard-Barnes, Brown suggested the new DNA analysis connecting Heuermann to the killing was “problematic” since it was being introduced some 13 years after Brainard-Barnes’ body was discovered.
Tierney contended in response that the more sophisticated DNA testing was what allowed investigators to more conclusively determine that the hair found with her remains belonged to Heuermann’s ex-wife.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.