Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann has now been charged with murder in the deaths of all four women who became known as the "Gilgo Four" after their remains were discovered by investigators on Long Island in 2010.
Heuermann is charged with manslaughter in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, prosecutors said Tuesday. Brainard-Barnes was 25 years old when she was last seen in July 2007.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the new charges when he appeared in court Tuesday wearing a dark suit with his hands cuffed behind his back. His daughter and estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, were both present at the hearing.
Heuermann was taken into custody in July and charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello in 2010. He pleaded not guilty to those charges last year.
The remains of all four women were found within days of each other near Gilgo Beach in 2010.
"The grand jury investigation into the so-called Gilgo Four is over, it's concluded," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters after the hearing.
As the cases continue in court, the investigation will enter its second phase, Tierney said, where authorities will look at "the other bodies and the other murders, which we believe are of great importance to the investigation."
Heuermann continues to maintain his innocence, his lawyer Michael Brown told reporters after the court hearing. "He said, 'I'm not guilty of these charges.' He looks forward to fighting these charges," Brown said.
Brainard-Barnes lived in Connecticut and was believed to be working as a sex worker when she went missing. The other three victims were also reportedly sex workers or escorts when they disappeared.
"Failure to provide sex workers with access to justice sends the message to the men who victimize them that perpetrators may never face consequences for their unlawful and criminal actions," said attorney Gloria Allred, who represents some of the victims' relatives. at a press conference afterwards. the hearing. "This is 2024 - will there be justice for women who just needed some money to support their children or themselves?"
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Nicolette Brainard-Barnes was seven years old when her mother was murdered.
"Losing her has dramatically changed the trajectory of my life," she told reporters at the news conference. "There have been countless times when I needed her and she wasn't there."
Nicolette said her mother read to her every night.
"I owe so much to my mother, and I know she would want me to stand up for her in this process and let everyone know who she really was."
New DNA evidence is revealed
Investigators found Ellerup's DNA on a leather belt used to restrain Brainard-Barnes, according to a criminal complaint.
Brainard-Barnes was restrained by three leather straps, one of which was used to bind her ankles together, the complaint said.
Brown said the nuclear DNA tests that prosecutors unveiled Tuesday were "problematic."
"We've been told all along that the evidence is unsuitable for nuclear DNA testing," Brown said. "Miraculously, the nuclear DNA testing and results have emerged."
In 2010, a hair from a belt buckle was unsuitable for DNA profiling and was sent to a forensic laboratory for further analysis before Heuermann was identified as a suspect, the indictment said.
The lab was recently able to generate DNA sequence data for the hair found on Brainard-Barnes, confirming a link to Heuermann, the indictment said.
The DNA profile is "7.9 trillion times more likely to come from an individual genetically identical to Asa Ellerup's SNP genotype file than from an unrelated individual," the complaint said.
"Nuclear DNA has existed in the hairs since they were first recovered in 2010 and now science has caught up," Tierney said. "I would say this is a good breakthrough for justice, a good breakthrough for the investigation."
Investigators also determined that DNA extracted from female hairs recovered from Waterman and Costello's bodies was "significantly more likely" to come from a person with genetically identical DNA profiles to those of Heuermann's wife and daughter, according to the indictment.
The technology used to determine the DNA evidence is "advanced" and "scientifically accepted in both the medical and forensic communities," Tierney added.
According to the criminal complaint, Ellerup was out of town when Brainard-Barnes disappeared. And all four murders are said to have occurred when Heuermann's wife and children left the state, giving him "unlimited time to carry out his plans for each victim without any fear that his family would discover or be accused of his involvement in these crimes." ", according to the complaint.
"This indictment makes it clear once again that Asa Ellerup and her children were not involved, even within the jurisdiction, when these murders occurred," Ellerup's attorney, Robert Macedonio, said Tuesday.
Heuermann's arrest last year came as a "surprise" to Ellerup and the children, Macedonio added.
"They were completely unaware of this life that existed, or may have existed," the lawyer said. "She is not involved in this and has never had any involvement in it."
Authorities identified Heuermann as a suspect in early 2022 using cellphone records, witness descriptions and other information, and obtained a sample of his DNA from the leftover crust in a pizza box that he threw away.
Investigators also further linked Heuermann to Waterman by conducting sophisticated DNA testing on a piece of male hair found near her body and comparing it to DNA obtained from the pizza remains, the indictment said.
More than 200 weapons were found in the house
Less than six miles from where the remains were found, Heuermann lived quietly with his family for years in the Long Island suburb of Massapequa Park.
He married Ellerup in 1996 and lived quietly with his daughter and stepson. Neighbors said the family mostly kept to themselves. Ellerup filed for divorce within a few days of Heuermann's arrest, her lawyer told CNN at the time.
When investigators turned the house upside down last summer, they found between 200 and 300 guns hidden in a locked safe behind a metal door. Authorities also looked at properties Heuermann owns in South Carolina and Nevada.
Investigators recovered two burner phones from Heuermann during his arrest that were used to contact sex workers, Tierney said Tuesday. Prosecutors were able to identify fraudulent email accounts and aliases that Heuermann used to search for "torture porn" and information about the murder investigations and the victims' families, he added.
Heuermann's DNA was found on at least one of the bodies, Tierney previously said.
Heuermann's Internet history included at least 200 Internet searches for information about the status of the Gilgo investigation, as well as compulsive searches for photos of the victims and their families, prosecutors said.
The Gilgo Four are among 11 groups of human remains found scattered across the south coast of Long Island between 2010 and 2011. This launched what police have called "one of the most consequential murder investigations" in the island's history.
This story has been updated with additional information.CNN's Nicki Brown and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
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