Gilgo Beach LISK Serial Killer, Rex Heuermann, charged with 3 murders, July 2023

[iamshadow21]

I am still thinking about the poor cat. I wonder if it's been terrified and hiding since LE started searching the place.

IMO, if the cat was there when the police arrived, one of the first things that would have been done is LE or animal control would have removed it. The proper processing of the scene would have required the cat and any other animals be taken out of the environment. You can relax. The cat is fine, and is either with the rest of the family or in a facility being taken care of.

MOO

 

[citizen_sleuth]

I am still thinking about the poor cat. I wonder if it's been terrified and hiding since LE started searching the place.

Considering the cat was in a trap, I'm assuming it's been hiding the entire time and they had to lure it into the trap with food. Poor kitty!

 

[Lex141]

Joel Rifkin. He cracked pretty quickly, and he drew a map and led LE to all of his victims that hadn’t been found yet.

Joel Rifkin. He cracked pretty quickly, and he drew a map and led LE to all of his victims that hadn’t been found yet.

Joel was a very disorganized serial killer. His kills were not always planned out. Some days he’d patronize multiple sex workers and spare some and kill the last. He was a literal mess emotionally and lived in constant fear of being caught and even tried to “curb” his urges but obviously that didn’t work out. I fear RH is much more dangerous of a killer and don’t know if he will be as cooperative w LE as Joel.

 

[crhedBngr]

IMO, if the cat was there when the police arrived, one of the first things that would have been done is LE or animal control would have removed it. The proper processing of the scene would have required the cat and any other animals be taken out of the environment. You can relax. The cat is fine, and is either with the rest of the family or in a facility being taken care of.

MOO

I work with an Animal Rescue person, and our PD calls her anytime there are issues such as these.

JMVHO.

 

[iamshadow21]

I work with an Animal Rescue person, and our PD calls her anytime there are issues such as these.

JMVHO.

Yeah, I also have family who have worked in that side of things, but I am in a different country. My mother-in-law worked for the RSPCA for twenty years. So I was going off my knowledge of her organisation, and from what I've seen on tv. LE don't just leave animals wandering around a crime scene. They call in folks to remove them so that they can work safely and so that the animals aren't disturbing evidence at the scene. It's about the safety of everyone involved, animal and human alike.

MOO

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Yeah, I also have family who have worked in that side of things, but I am in a different country. My mother-in-law worked for the RSPCA for twenty years. So I was going off my knowledge of her organisation, and from what I've seen on tv. LE don't just leave animals wandering around a crime scene. They call in folks to remove them so that they can work safely and so that the animals aren't disturbing evidence at the scene. It's about the safety of everyone involved, animal and human alike.

MOO

That is true, but at the same time, if the house is really as bad as a "packrat" (as has been stated in the media), it is very possible a cat could go unnoticed by LE. Cats are excellent at hiding, especially when scared, so IMO it's very possible they didn't even know there was a cat still in the house until days after the search began.

ETA: I worked at a no-kill cat rescue for 2 years which frequently was called in to rescue cats from hoarder/packrat homes (typically after their owner died) and it was not at all uncommon for it to take days to trap a cat in those situations.

 

[Glimma0927]

[snipped for focus]

It’s confusing to think that he kept visiting sex workers but hadn’t killed again, at least that we know of in the last year or so he was under surveillance. Definitely open to the possibility he killed between the discovery of the first set of victims and when surveillance started.

But still, to me it’s like an addict sitting at the table with their drug of choice right in from of them. It’s hard to imagine he could resist. I suppose if he needed to take them home (ugh) he couldn’t if these visits happened while wife was home, but I don’t know. Does what I’m trying to say make sense? I am 100% they’ve got their guy as far as the GB4 go, and think he’s likely responsible for some of the other victims. I just don’t understand how he could consistently meet these women and keep from harming them.

It's possible that he's able to have transactions with sex workers without feeling the compulsion to kill them. Maybe the murdered victims insulted him or pissed him off somehow (i.e., Amber Costello), triggering violence. At some point, I would imagine that it would have been hard for him to keep the sex transaction and violence separate, but he does seem to be adept at compartmentalization.

 

[iamshadow21]

That is true, but at the same time, if the house is really as bad as a "packrat" (as has been stated in the media), it is very possible a cat could go unnoticed by LE. Cats are excellent at hiding, especially when scared, so IMO it's very possible they didn't even know there was a cat still in the house until days after the search began.

We know there was cat paraphernalia removed from the house, and no doubt they would have been told by RH and/or his wife there was a cat when they got the keys for the home.

I have three cats, and they hide from strangers sometimes. But if someone came in my home, they'd see the water bowls filled with fresh water, the food bowls, the litter trays, the cat beds and pillows on the floor and on top of furniture, the tins of cat food and bags of cat biscuits and bags of cat litter in the laundry, the scratching posts in various rooms and the scratch damage on the soft furnishings, the cat hair on everything despite my best efforts... they'd figure out I had at least one cat in a very short space of time. I also live in a cluttered house with a lot of stuff, but that wouldn't hide the cats' existence, even if they were hiding.

MOO

 

[White_Rabbit]

From reading the court documents I believe the case against Rex Heuermann is very strong. I’m not sure why they are not able to tie him to Maureen though. I have a strong feeling that Rex Heuermann is also responsible for the murder of unidentified Asian male in addition to the Gilgo Beach 4. The timeline and the modus operandi match, except that the unidentified Asian male’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. My theory in this instance is that the killer, who I believe to be Rex Heuermann, upon discovering that he may have just had sexual contact, in this case oral sexual contact, <modsnip> became enraged and literally beat the victim to death.

I do not believe that Shannan Gilbert was a victim of Rex Heuermann based on the circumstances surrounding her death.

As for the dismembered victims, I believe them to be victims of John Bittrolff. At least one of the dismembered victims had body parts that were discovered along Ocean Parkway and Manorville where John Bittrolff resided.

 

[Deleted member 117884]

From reading the court documents I believe the case against Rex Heuermann is very strong. I’m not sure why they are not able to tie him to Maureen though. I have a strong feeling that Rex Heuermann is also responsible for the murder of unidentified Asian male in addition to the Gilgo Beach 4. The timeline and the modus operandi match, except that the unidentified Asian male’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. My theory in this instance is that the killer, who I believe to be Rex Heuermann, upon discovering that he may have just had sexual contact, in this case oral sexual contact, <modsnip> became enraged and literally beat the victim to death.

I do not believe that Shannan Gilbert was a victim of Rex Heuermann based on the circumstances surrounding her death.

As for the dismembered victims, I believe them to be victims of John Bittrolff. At least one of the dismembered victims had body parts that were discovered along Ocean Parkway and Manorville where John Bittrolff resided.

Please correct me if I have this wrong, but my understanding is the DNA in Maureen's case was degraded more than with the other cases and is taking longer to process. I think we will see charges against RH for Maureen's death soon enough.

jmo

 

[TheHighestPriestess]

It's possible that he's able to have transactions with sex workers without feeling the compulsion to kill them. Maybe the murdered victims insulted him or pissed him off somehow (i.e., Amber Costello), triggering violence. At some point, I would imagine that it would have been hard for him to keep the sex transaction and violence separate, but he does seem to be adept at compartmentalization.

It could also be that his family did not leave as often as before. In the press conference the DA said that based on travel records his family was out of town during the murders, which makes me think he waited for those opportunities. I don't think it's unrealistic that he killed again but he may not have had as many opportunities as before.

 

[airportwoman]

New article in The NY Times — I gifted the article so it shouldn’t be behind a paywall

Apparently the family paid for groceries with food stamps, which is interesting considering RH had his own pretty successful architecture firm.

In Gilgo Beach Slayings, a Wife Nearby but Apparently Unknowing - NY Times​

<snipped & BBM>
Cashiers at the supermarket knew them as a quiet, cheerless family that shopped several times a week. Ms. Salmeri said she watched their children grow up over the past 25 years. One thing remained constant, she said: Mr. Heuermann never accompanied them.

“He never came with them,” she said. “I’m not sure what that says about them.”

[RH’s wife] looked depressed, Ms. Salmeri said, and the family often paid with food stamps, unusual at this store.

[…]

The Mustos, like other neighbors, called Mr. Heuermann’s family reclusive and enigmatic. On a tight-knit block, they did not socialize. Their unkempt house stood out almost as an extension of their nature.

To Ms. Musto, [RH’s wife] did not seem concerned with appearances either. “It could be middle of the afternoon and she looked like she just rolled out of bed,” she said.

“I’m friendly with everybody around here but she didn’t talk to anyone,” Ms. Musto said.

Where I live, food stamps are no longer paper coupons; the money is loaded onto an EBT card, which does require a PIN. (It's also not uncommon for people to write PINs on cards, BTW.) Anyway, if his wife was on disability and her son was special-needs, they may have been eligible because of this. I'm not sure how New York rules work.

 

[White_Rabbit]

Please correct me if I have this wrong, but my understanding is the DNA in Maureen's case was degraded more than with the other cases and is taking longer to process. I think we will see charges against RH for Maureen's death soon enough.

jmo

It would make sense because Maureen went missing in 2007, at least two and three years before the other three victims. I would have to read the court documents again, but I believe it also stated that they were unable to analyze phone records for her case because the records were no longer available.

 

[airportwoman]

This is his 1990 wedding announcement to the first wife that took place at St Peter's Church. I've cropped the photo to only show the top of her forehead, hair and bridal veil in order to provide a comparison in their heights.

https://heavy.com/news/asa-ellerup-rex-heuermann-wife/
Newspapers.com
View attachment 435493

Wait. Mrs 1990 is his SECOND wife? What happened to the first one, if this is true?

 

[fred&edna]

These are likely complicated questions but... what makes a human a sexual sadist? Is this a nature/nurture type of quandary... or is there clear and distinct evidence of how monsters like this come to be? I mean, BDSM is one thing... but RH (and the like) are completely another. imo.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

That is true, but at the same time, if the house is really as bad as a "packrat" (as has been stated in the media), it is very possible a cat could go unnoticed by LE. Cats are excellent at hiding, especially when scared, so IMO it's very possible they didn't even know there was a cat still in the house until days after the search began.

Also, the cat was only removed from the home today. The search has been going on for days now.

Link: Cat and creepy pictures seized from Gilgo Beach suspect's home

 

[Teche]

The stepson would be eligible because of his disability.

You would think the household income is taken into consideration. My adult nephew receives SSI, lives at home, and receives total care from his mom and a part-time LPN. He doesn't qualify for SNAP/ Food Stamps. Maybe New York has different guidelines.

 

[Curious Me]

New article in The NY Times — I gifted the article so it shouldn’t be behind a paywall

Apparently the family paid for groceries with food stamps, which is interesting considering RH had his own pretty successful architecture firm.

In Gilgo Beach Slayings, a Wife Nearby but Apparently Unknowing - NY Times​

<snipped & BBM>
Cashiers at the supermarket knew them as a quiet, cheerless family that shopped several times a week. Ms. Salmeri said she watched their children grow up over the past 25 years. One thing remained constant, she said: Mr. Heuermann never accompanied them.

“He never came with them,” she said. “I’m not sure what that says about them.”

[RH’s wife] looked depressed, Ms. Salmeri said, and the family often paid with food stamps, unusual at this store.

[…]

The Mustos, like other neighbors, called Mr. Heuermann’s family reclusive and enigmatic. On a tight-knit block, they did not socialize. Their unkempt house stood out almost as an extension of their nature.

To Ms. Musto, [RH’s wife] did not seem concerned with appearances either. “It could be middle of the afternoon and she looked like she just rolled out of bed,” she said.

“I’m friendly with everybody around here but she didn’t talk to anyone,” Ms. Musto said.

Thank You so much, @citizen_sleuth for gifting us all this article. Food stamps? That really bothers me if it's cheating the system. He boasts he knows and follows code so closely, and yet he is a big rule breaker, to say the least. So full of himself from what I could tell watching that realty firm interview he did, living with him would make me sick. Gosh, JMO, wife sounds like she may suffer from depression. She sounds very glum and guarded. Hard to say, as many depressed people tend to push people away, but then again, that's what people do when trying to keep their life and secrets private. All MOO.

In Gilgo Beach Case, a Wife Nearby but Apparently Unknowing (Published 2023)

Asa Ellerup, married to Rex Heuermann, who has been charged with murder, cut a glum figure. She was away when the killings happened, yet became central to the investigation.

www.nytimes.com

​

 

[citizen_sleuth]

You would think the household income is taken into consideration. My adult nephew receives SSI, lives at home, and receives total care from his mom and a part-time LPN. He doesn't qualify for SNAP/ Food Stamps. Maybe New York has different guidelines.

No, NY State has similar guidelines -- if you are a dependent adult living in a household that makes above the maximum annual income to qualify for food stamps, you will not qualify for SNAP.

 

[Glimma0927]

Watching the killing season. In episode 2, a man (cannot remember his name but he provides insight) says of the GB4, the killer is a collector.

Just… wild knowing he seemingly collects guns. “Collecting” just gets me even if it wasn’t meant the way I’m taking it.

Also, did not know Maureen’s friend may have gotten a call from LISK. Highly recommend watching this for those who haven’t yet. Thanks to those who mentioned it in these threads.

This is part of the reason I don't think he would have disposed of bodies in properties where he wouldn't be able to visit later. I haven't seen any indication that he was into necrophilia, but he put camouflage burlap on them for a reason. He was hoping they wouldn't be found, but placed them in locations accessible to him.

I watched a show about Gary Ridgway recently (Green River Killer: Mind of a Monster) and we got to see a lot of videos asking Ridgway about his MO and psychological processes. He was not happy about his victims being discovered. He wanted them left where they were, undiscovered. He considered them his property. Of course, GR was into necrophilia, so his motivation for collecting victims might be a bit different from RH's. Maybe RH's victims were "trophies" from situations where he exerted the ultimate control over someone, and he wanted to be able to look upon those trophies from time to time.