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On Long Island, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney, the lead investigator on the case, will announce the “significant development” at a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, June 6, outside the courthouse in Riverhead, his office announced.
The announcement will follow a scheduled court appearance by accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, during which he is expected to be charged with a fifth murder, CBS News reports.
Additional details about the charge, including the victim’s identity, were not immediately available.
Tierney will be joined by Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon, Jr., Acting Suffolk County Police Commissioner Robert Waring, as well as representatives from New York State Police and the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force.
The major development comes just weeks after a team of investigators – including officials from New York State Police and the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office – conducted another search of Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home on Monday, May 20.
It was not immediately clear what, if anything, investigators recovered during their search. A spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office declined comment to Daily Voice.
Heuermann, a 60-year-old architect with an office in Manhattan, was arrested in July 2023 on murder charges in the deaths of three Gilgo Beach victims: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello.
In January 2024, Suffolk County prosecutors formally charged him with murdering a fourth victim, 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
She disappeared in July 2007 while working as a sex worker and her remains were discovered along a grassy area of the South Shore in 2010 near those of Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello.
Investigators said all four were killed between July 2007 and September 2010 in what became known as the Gilgo Beach murders.
Heuermann was arrested in July 2023 after authorities linked his DNA from a discarded pizza crust to DNA from a man’s hair that was found on camouflage burlap used to restrain Waterman.
Investigators also linked Heuermann’s email account to dozens of disturbing search queries, including “girl begging for rape porn” and “torture redhead porn,” prosecutors said. He reportedly looked up numerous news articles about the Gilgo Beach murders.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is awaiting trial.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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