Victim: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, missing July 2007, found Gilgo Beach Dec 2010 *POI Rex Heuermann*

[wcasewatch]

I presume that they were able to establish where he was on the night of the crime.

Bear in mind that Maureen would have been contacted by many different men from all walks of life. A police officer visiting sex workers isn't really surprising at all. The sex trade is huge.

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

Was he cleared as a suspect during the initial missing persons investigation (NYPD IA and Norwich PD)? Or was he cleared as a suspect during initial LISK investigation following discovery of bodies on Ocean Pkwy, including Maureen’s?

 

[hafom8840]

Just wanted to bump this thread to rekindle discussion. Norwich police (detectives) travelled to NYC after missing report was filed (in CT), and discovery of info obtained from Maureen’s laptop that an i dividual identified as then a current member of NYPD had responded to her craigslist listing. The detectives notified NYPD Internal affairs, and that same day NYPD IA detectives showed up, took laptop and ‘took over investigation’…

That officer was never named, and was ultimately ‘cleared’ as a suspect. I would LOVE to know how he was cleared as a suspect. And did NYPD ever even acknowledge that he was, at the very least, a POI?

There goes a meme: "we investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing." I imagine it's a case of that during James Burke and the like's reign of terror.

 

[DrQ]

IMHO it seems likely that the killer would pick up the escorts in the city. Busy, certain type of area, appears to know his way around. Some one usually sees something but some one would have had to be paying attention to what was going on in the area. In the escort business, time = $. It would be timely to rail to LI and some of the escorts were not familiar with the area. I've wondered about the LE connection especially with the corruption earlier in the case. It can be particularly dangerous if some one has EVERYTHING to lose or if they have NOTHING to lose. Possibilities could be off duty LE, landscaper, construction, fisherman, or clean non threatening mild spoken man who turns ugly when he gets them alone.

I still find it strange about evidence gathered. Who knows how deeply the police chief manipulated and harmed the investigation. Not much coming from LE for what 10+ years now? I wonder if they found anything relevant with the burlap.

Dirt, leaves, fiber, bugs can all can provide locations and time of year. No one knows how long any of the victims were with the killer before being murdered. I hope they gathered everything.

Some one always knows something but many don't want to talk. This case is up in my top ten list of most baffling. I hope it gets solved like the Golden State Killer.

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

And here is another article (also from 2011) on two NYPD officers that were being looked at in relation to LISK.

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

And then there is this article, also from 2011. I’m assuming that the officer referenced in this articl—as having lived on Staten Island—is one of the two officers referenced in the previous articles that I linked to in my two previous posts.

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

And then there is this article, also from 2011. I’m assuming that the officer referenced in this articl—as having lived on Staten Island—is one of the two officers referenced in the previous articles that I linked to in my two previous posts.

This article (in previous post) quotes then NYPD Spokesperson Browne declaring that no one from NYPD was being looked at as a suspect (presumably referencing SCPD). But he doesn’t acknowledge whether or not they were being looked at as persons of interest; and he also doesn’t reference whether or not NYPD IAB was looking into…

 

[Catchinglisk]

And here is another article (also from 2011) on two NYPD officers that were being looked at in relation to LISK.

Michael Murphy is one the other I think first name is ned

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

Michael Murphy is one the other I think first name is ned

I guess I’m just really confused how a police officer who was identified as being one of the last known people to respond to MBB Craigslist ad before she went missing was NOT considered a suspect? Umm… hello?

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

I guess I’m just really confused how a police officer who was identified as being one of the last known people to respond to MBB Craigslist ad before she went missing was NOT considered a suspect? Umm… hello?

At the very least, how was this officer—at the very least a “person of interest”—ruled out as a suspect, and also ruled out as having any potential involvement in disappearance of MBB? And the other girls as well? Has Rodney Harrison and FBI revisited how he was ruled out?

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

Michael Murphy is one the other I think first name is ned

Murphy was suffolk county officer. The unnamed individual who was one of last to respond to MBB’s craigslist ad was an active NYPD officer at the time.

 

[Kikimora11]

I guess I’m just really confused how a police officer who was identified as being one of the last known people to respond to MBB Craigslist ad before she went missing was NOT considered a suspect? Umm… hello?

This individual was investigated and cleared. Dormer went on the record to explicitly say "he was vetted; he never met with that girl..." (LISK Podcast, S2:E2, 23:32)

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

This individual was investigated and cleared. Dormer went on the record to explicitly say "he was vetted; he never met with that girl..." (LISK Podcast, S2:E2, 23:32)

Thanks for posting that; I’ll have to go back and listen to that episode…

But I’m wondering…if indeed he never met with her, could he have arranged a date for her? Did he contact any of the other victims via Craigslist ads? And could he have arranged dates for them?

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

This individual was investigated and cleared. Dormer went on the record to explicitly say "he was vetted; he never met with that girl..." (LISK Podcast, S2:E2, 23:32)

…that is, could he have arranged a date WITH her, FOR someone else?

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

This individual was investigated and cleared. Dormer went on the record to explicitly say "he was vetted; he never met with that girl..." (LISK Podcast, S2:E2, 23:32)

I went back and listened to episode at segment that you mentioned. Dormer stated that SCPD determined that the NYPD officer had actually called MBB (in addition to responding via email to her Craigslist ad, which was discovered by Norwich, CT detectives and subsequently passed along to NYPD IAB).

Dormer’s remarks about officer being “vetted and cleared…he never met that girl” is an edited sound byte, apparently taken from a lengthier explanation/statement…

So the officer was vetted and cleared by who? NYPD IAB could have “vetted and cleared…” their own officer, but that doesn’t mean that SCPD was not looking at him (or still is looking at him) as a POI, or even as a suspect.

 

[wcasewatch]

The question is, what makes an NYPD officer more suspicious than all of the other men who contacted Maureen? There's nothing in LISK's playbook that the general public didn't already know. Most people are aware that phones can be traced and that bodily fluids contain DNA. Watching any crime-related TV show or movie will tell you that much. The idea that LISK must be law enforcement doesn't really make much sense to me. This was a man who had a lot of time in between kills to think about how he was going to do things. Considering his "hobby", it stands to reason that he would have been interested in true crime material and anything that showed him how investigators work. CSI, Forensic Files, detective magazines, true crime books, websites on the topic, etc.

 

[EpiVox444]

The question is, what makes an NYPD officer more suspicious than all of the other men who contacted Maureen? There's nothing in LISK's playbook that the general public didn't already know. Most people are aware that phones can be traced and that bodily fluids contain DNA. Watching any crime-related TV show or movie will tell you that much. The idea that LISK must be law enforcement doesn't really make much sense to me. This was a man who had a lot of time in between kills to think about how he was going to do things. Considering his "hobby", it stands to reason that he would have been interested in true crime material and anything that showed him how investigators work. CSI, Forensic Files, detective magazines, true crime books, websites on the topic, etc.

I've said this since day one.. well said.

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

See reply below.

 

[Sleuth_Noob]

The question is, what makes an NYPD officer more suspicious than all of the other men who contacted Maureen? There's nothing in LISK's playbook that the general public didn't already know. Most people are aware that phones can be traced and that bodily fluids contain DNA. Watching any crime-related TV show or movie will tell you that much. The idea that LISK must be law enforcement doesn't really make much sense to me. This was a man who had a lot of time in between kills to think about how he was going to do things. Considering his "hobby", it stands to reason that he would have been interested in true crime material and anything that showed him how investigators work. CSI, Forensic Files, detective magazines, true crime books, websites on the topic, etc.

In answer to your question: the initial profile of LISK being someone who COULD BE involved in LE, combined w. fact that someone in LE (NYPD officer) was possibly one of the last people known to respond to MBB’s Craigslist ad before she went missing.

 

[wcasewatch]

In answer to your question: the initial profile of LISK being someone who COULD BE involved in LE, combined w. fact that someone in LE (NYPD officer) was possibly one of the last people known to respond to MBB’s Craigslist ad before she went missing.

I have no doubt that he's aware of LE procedures. But then again, so are most of us.

This man was cautious and obviously put a lot of thought into how to go undetected. The time in between kills and the lack of evidence show us that.

I think the initial comments about him possibly being LE were a leap in logic. It doesn't take a genius to realize that making a phone call in Manhattan is going to make it difficult for the police to trace it. So far, I've seen nothing that makes me think, "Yea, this guy was definitely LE."