Two sex workers have alleged that Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann was “violent” and “aggressive” during an encounter, authorities said this week – as it was revealed that the disgraced father of two had met a priest behind bars.
The two women were interviewed by the Suffolk County anti-trafficking unit at the Riverhead and Yaphank jails late last month, Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. told Newsday.
Each said he had one meeting with Heuermann, and they found the 6-foot-4, 240-pound architect “violent” and “aggressive,” he continued.
“Someone with a fairly aggressive size might be intimidating,” added Toulon.
No women were injured during the encounter, he said.
Toulon did not say whether the two women met Heuermann before, during or after he is believed to have strangled at least three other women and left their bodies off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach, about 20 minutes from his home in Massapequa Park.
Rex Heuermann was arrested last month for killing three women between 2009 and 2010.AP
Since his arrest for the infamous crime on July 13, Heuermann has been housed at the Suffolk County jail facility in Riverhead, where he meets with a priest once a week, Toulon told the outlet.
The South Shore native no longer watched suicides, the sheriff explained.
“I didn’t see any emotion from him, [he is] very callous,” he said.
Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. said the department is interviewing sex workers to get more information about Heuermann.Stephen Yang
“You wonder what’s going on … Is there something going on inside?”
Heuermann is in a special unit, where correctional officers keep him safe from other inmates — and himself.
“He is not just another prisoner to me, and forget about the fame of this case,” said Toulon.
Melissa Barthelemy, 24, disappeared in 2009 and was found dead in December 2010.AP
“I’m really trying to look into his soul to see what’s going on with this guy that’s not about the (900) other inmates I deal with.”
Heuermann spends 18 to 20 hours a day in a 60-square-foot cell, where he has access to books, television, newspapers and mail, the sheriff explained.
Who are the victims of Gilgo Beach?
Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann – a New York City architect and married father of two – has been arrested in connection with the long-unsolved Gilgo Beach murders. The arrests are tied to the so-called “Gilgo Four,” women who were found wrapped in burlap within days of each other in late 2010.
The years-long investigation that led to the arrests revolved around the discovery of more than 10 sets of human remains along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County between December 2010 and April 2011.
Most victims are petite female sex workers with green or hazel eyes. But there are also two exceptions: a 2-year-old girl and a young Asian boy.
Melissa Barthelemy, 24
- Barthelemy is a sex worker who lives in the Unionport section of the Bronx and dreams of one day opening her own beauty salon. He was last seen alive in his basement apartment on Underhill Avenue on July 12, 2009.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25
- Brainard-Barnes had lived in Norwich, Connecticut. He disappeared after boarding an Amtrak train from New London, Connecticut, to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on July 6, 2007.
Amber Lynn Costello, 27
- Costello, 27, was a sex worker and heroin addict who lived in West Babylon, New York, in a house with a woman and two men. He advertised on Craigslist and Backpage to support his and his roommate’s drug habit. Costello was found in December 2010 after last being seen leaving his home in September.
Megan Waterman, 22
- Waterman, a 22-year-old mother of one, was last seen on June 6, 2010. She lives in Scarborough, Maine, and makes a living as an escort. He was last seen by his family on a Concord Trailways bus bound for New York in Maine. Her body was found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach.
Jessica Taylor, 20
- The remains of Jessica Taylor, a 20-year-old woman who worked as an escort in New York City, were found in a wooded area in Manorville on July 26, 2003. Additional remains – initially labeled “Jane Doe No. 5” – were found on March 29, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.
Valerie Mack, 24
- Valerie Mack was 24 years old and living in Philadelphia when she disappeared. She works as an escort, using the alias “Melissa Taylor.” Relatives last saw Mack in the spring or summer of 2000 in Port Republic, New Jersey, but he was never reported missing to police. Her partially skeletal remains were found in Manorville in September 2000 but were initially identified as “Jane Doe No. 6.”
Unidentified Asian man
- The skeletal remains of an unidentified Asian man were found along Ocean Parkway on April 4, 2011. The man is believed to be between 17 and 23 years old at the time of his death. He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall with bad teeth.
‘Peaches’ and her daughter
- The partial body of an African American woman was found in Hempstead Lake State Park in 1997, and she was known as “Peaches” because of a peach-bitten tattoo on her left breast. On April 4, 2011, police found the body of a small child, who was about 2 years old at the time of his death. DNA testing confirmed that one of the skeletons was that of the 2-year-old girl’s mother, “Peaches.”
Karen Vergata
- A victim previously referred to as Jane Doe No. 7 has been identified as 34-year-old Manhattan woman Karen Vergata. Vergata is believed to have disappeared around February 14, 1996, two months later her foot was found in a plastic bag in a park near Blue Point Beach on Fire Island. At the time of her disappearance, Vergata was believed to be working as an escort.
Shannan Gilbert, 23 years old
- Gilbert is a Craigslist escort living in Jersey City, traveling with her driver Michael Pak from Manhattan to meet a client, Joseph Brewer, at his home in Oak Beach Association on the morning of May 1, 2010. She spoke with two neighbors before disappearing. Her body was found in a marsh near Oak Beach — about half a mile from where she was last seen alive — on December 13, 2011.
He also went for a walk alone in a small recreation area.
Megan Waterman, 22, went missing months before her body was found off Ocean Parkway.AP
Meanwhile, prison staff were instructed to monitor the suspect closely for signs of physical or emotional distress – including crying, pacing in his cell, or putting his hands on his head.
“When [inmates] seeing the four walls of their cell start to close, there’s not much else they can do,” said Toulon, who previously worked in New York City corrections.
“Three months ago, he was walking around the streets of New York City, he was eating in a diner … It starts to take a toll on someone who’s incarcerated.
Amber Lynn Costello, 27, was last seen in September 2010. She was found dead in December of that year.AP
“I don’t want them to settle for anything, for any of his demands,” he said of the corrections team at Riverhead, adding that Heuermann is “a very unique person.”
“If they feel it’s unusual, bring it to the attention of a supervisor. If he is not acting properly, make sure he gets proper medical attention.
“It is more important to me that Mr. Heuermann has his justice in court and not in prison.”
Heuermann is also the prime suspect in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who went missing in 2007. Suffolk County PD/MEGA
When Heuermann appeared in court, Toulon said, he used a “certain area” to walk from his cell to the courtroom without using a vehicle.
Toulon, who started Suffolk County’s anti-trafficking unit shortly after being appointed sheriff in 2017, added that the department is still interviewing dozens of sex workers at the Nassau County jail in hopes of turning up more evidence in the Gilgo investigation.
Officers are also ready to begin questioning known sex workers on Rikers Island, he explained.
The bodies of the “Gilgo Four” were found on Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in December 2010.AP
Heuermann, 59, was arrested near his Manhattan office on July 13.
He pleaded not guilty to the strangulation murders of Melissa Barthlemey, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, whose bodies were found hidden in burlap on Ocean Parkway in December 2010.
Heuermann was also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was the first of the so-called “Gilgo Four” to disappear.
Earlier this week, a young woman in South Carolina reportedly told police that Heuermann was the last man she saw with her mother, who disappeared from the Palmetto State in 2017.
Rex Heuermann was arrested on July 13.AP
Heuermann – who is married with two grown children – was initially linked to the infamous Gilgo case through his distinctive Chevrolet Avalanche, which was later seized at his property in South Carolina.
The architect was also tied to the arsonist’s cellphone used to contact the victims and their families, while DNA evidence taken from discarded pizza crusts and napkins later linked him to genetic material found on the burlap around Waterman’s body.
Toulon started the county’s anti-trafficking unit shortly after his appointment in 2017.Stephen Yang
Heuermann’s lawyer, Michael Brown, previously pleaded not guilty.
Before his arrest, Heuermann had no criminal record.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
