Suspected Serial Killer at Jail: 'Is It in the News?'

Meanwhile, DA says suspect's DNA was found on victim's body
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 18, 2023 1:30 AM CDT
Suspected Serial Killer at Jail: 'Is It in the News?'
A crime laboratory officer is seen through a window as law enforcement search the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, NY.   (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)

During intake at the jail after he was arrested on suspicion of murdering at least three women in Long Island's Gilgo Beach, Rex Heuermann had just one question, a source tells CNN: "Is it in the news?" The 59-year-old was placed on suicide watch, a Suffolk County Sheriff's Office spokesperson says, adding that such a move is not unusual in cases like this. Heuermann's attorney tells NBC New York his client has tearfully insisted to him, "I didn't do this." Meanwhile, the Suffolk County district attorney released new information on CNN's This Morning, revealing the suspected serial killer's DNA was found on one body and his wife's DNA was found on two bodies.

"With regard to that DNA and those hairs, it's either transfer—in other words, one person comes into contact with a second person who then comes into contact with a third person – or, they were at a location where, you know, the family member occupied, whether it's a car or a house," the DA says. He adds that in addition to Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose murders Heuermann is charged with, authorities are "confident" they will also be able to charge him with the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Also recently revealed by a source: officials reportedly found as many as 300 firearms in a vault in Heuermann's basement. Police are also searching storage sheds linked to him. (More Gilgo Beach killer stories.)

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