Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann has been indicted on a new murder charge in the killing of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who investigators believe was the first of the "Gilgo Four" to be killed, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.Heuermann, 60, is appearing in court Tuesday morning before Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in Riverhead to a superseding indictment charging him with second-degree murder in Brainard-Barnes’ killing.Prosecutors proclaimed Heuermann, of Massapequa Park, the prime suspect in Brainard-Barnes’ killing when he was arrested July 13 in the slayings of three other women. The new charges against Heuermann come six months after his arrest in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty.
Tierney walked into the courtroom about 9:15 a.m. with an entourage, including Melissa Cann, sister of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Minutes later, Heuermann's estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, arrived with daughter, Victoria Heuermann, who is in court attending a proceeding in her father's criminal case for the first time.
Prosecutors said Heuermann's now-estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, and his children were out of town when Brainard-Barnes disappeared and was killed, fitting an alleged pattern of Heuermann being home alone when the other three killed…
The new filing also revealed that prosecutors seized two phones from Heuermann at the time of his arrest that they said were held by him "in fictitious names and used for illicit activities." Prosecutors said Heuermann "utilized these phones in furtherance of hundreds of contacts with sex-workers between 2020 and 2023."
Prosecutors additionally revealed Tuesday they seized hundreds of electronic devices from Rex Heuermann's Massapequa Park home and Manhattan office following his arrest.
abc7ny.com
Investigators believe Maureen Brainard-Barnes was the first of the "Gilgo Four" to be killed sometime after she disappeared in the summer of 2007.
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