A Suffolk County judge ruled Wednesday that prosecutors can use key DNA evidence in the murder case against accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, handing a major win to the prosecution as it prepares for trial, as reported by The New York Post.
Judge Tim Mazzei’s decision allows District Attorney Ray Tierney to present genetic evidence that investigators say ties Heuermann to the killings of seven women whose bodies were found along remote areas of Long Island between 1993 and 2010.
Hair DNA evidence Suffolk prosecutors say links alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann to the killings of six women will be admitted as evidence at a future trial, a Riverhead judge ruled Wednesday in a precedent-setting decision.
To read more, click the link:… pic.twitter.com/R0ituGikDq
— Newsday (@Newsday) September 3, 2025
“The science was on our side and that’s why we won,” Tierney told reporters following the ruling.
Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, attended the hearing but did not make a statement afterward.
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Heuermann, a 60-year-old architect, was arrested in July 2023 outside his Manhattan office. Initially, he was charged with the murders of three women—Megan Waterman, 22; Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and Melissa Barthelemy, 24.
He has since been charged in the killings of four additional women: Valerie Mack, 24; Melissa Taylor, 20; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; and Sandra Costilla, 28.
The case had been unsolved for years until Suffolk County police reopened the investigation at Tierney’s urging. Advances in DNA technology allowed forensic experts to test degraded samples, including hairs recovered from the victims.
Those tests linked Heuermann to the murders, prosecutors argued.
Defense attorney Michael Brown challenged the admissibility of the evidence, calling it “magic” and questioning the reliability of the DNA analysis.
Rex Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown, insisting the accused #GilgoBeach serial killer, #RexHeuermann, won’t plead guilty. Brown filing a motion claiming admission of nuclear #DNA evidence violates NYS Public Health Law, because lab not accredited in NY. pic.twitter.com/GXqJzxWYQ3
— Mary Murphy (@MaryMurphyMedia) September 3, 2025
Brown argued that Astrea Labs, the company that conducted the testing, was not licensed in New York and that the use of its results violated state health regulations.
Mazzei rejected those arguments, ruling the DNA evidence can be introduced at trial.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His legal team has raised multiple objections to the forensic evidence and has sought to separate the cases into multiple trials.
The Gilgo Beach murders, one of the most notorious serial murder investigations in New York history, have drawn national attention for over a decade.
The discovery of human remains along Ocean Parkway in Suffolk County in 2010 and 2011 launched a sprawling investigation that left authorities searching for answers until new forensic tools provided fresh leads.
The trial date has not yet been set.
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