Accused Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann is due in a New York court on Tuesday, amid reports that he will be charged with a fourth murder.
A source close to the case told NBC News that Suffolk County prosecutors will announce the new charges against Heuermann after they are unsealed in court. Heuermann is the prime suspect in the 2007 slaying of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach in 2010.
READ: Continuing Coverage of the Long Island Serial Killer
Brainard-Barnes’ remains were discovered amid a search for Shannan Gilbert, 24, who vanished from Oak Beach, New York, in May 2010. In late 2011, her remains were discovered in a nearby marsh.
Though police believed Gilbert’s death was accidental, her disappearance led to the discovery of 10 sets of human remains — including Brainard-Barnes’.
In July, police arrested Heuermann in Manhattan for the 2009 and 2010 murders of three women at Gilgo Beach on Long Island. Currently, Heuermann is charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27.
Brainard-Barnes and the three other victims were reportedly wrapped in burlap and buried near each other along the Ocean Parkway at Gilgo Beach. According to the New York Post, all four women were advertising as sex workers when they vanished.
NBC News reported that DNA from a discarded slice of pizza linked Heuermann to Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello’s slayings. A hair belonging to Heuermann’s wife was allegedly recovered from the crime scene.
Heuermann’s attorney has not yet commented on the latest news.
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[Featured image: Rex A. Heuermann, the architect accused of murdering at least three women near Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, appears before Judge Timothy P. Mazzei in Suffolk County Court, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Riverhead, N.Y. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool)]
