Expert analysis: What are investigators digging for in suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann's backyard?
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. -- Investigators were seen digging in suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann's backyard Sunday, amid questions about whether critical tips were overlooked in the case more than a decade ago.
CBS New York's John Dias spoke with experts about what detectives may be searching for and what comes next in the case.
Heuermann is accused of killing three women and is the prime suspect in another murder.
Suffolk County Police say they will be at his Massapequa Park home for a few more days.
"This kind of one-to-two-week period is about on par, especially with how complex of a case it is," said Paul Bleakley, assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven.
On Sunday, drone video caught a backhoe digging a large hole in Heuermann's backyard, as detectives in white hazmat suits took pictures and gathered evidence with ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs at work.
"This is a very disorganized killer, and this is why police are spending a lot more time," Bleakley said. "They have reason to believe that if this person has messed up before, from a traced evidence standpoint, there may be other pieces of evidence in their home."
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Posted by CBS New York on Monday, July 24, 2023
Legal experts say police could be looking for a murder weapon the alleged killer may have tried to bury in his yard or for evidence to prove this is where one or multiple women were killed. Experts say they could also be trying to rule out the home.
"It looks like they're putting together some key pieces of evidence that may have been overlooked," said Herbet Ellis, of Ellis Law.
This all comes as questions are mounting about whether detectives at the time of the murders more than a decade ago dropped the ball on key evidence from victim Amber Costello's roommate, who described Heuermann and his car after an interaction.
"What you have to understand is when they're getting that, that's lost within a sea of other tips and information they are getting, and at the time, there wasn't really any coherent leadership," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
A big setback in the case came in 2012 when former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy to obstruct justice and violating a victim's civil rights in a separate case.
- What We Know: Who is Rex Heuermann? | Who are the Gilgo Beach murder victims?
Tierney inherited the investigation when he took office in 2022.
"I can't say, from a leadership perspective what happened before January 2022, but I can tell you what we did starting February 2022. And that's what we did, and six weeks later, we had a suspect," Tierney said.
Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison says the description was not easily matched with the area of interest -- Massapequa Park, where phone calls were last made to the murdered sex workers.
"We came about that information maybe a couple of years ago, but we were unable to attach it to the Massapequa box, which I'm sure you are very familiar with, but the one thing I'm not going to do is knock anybody that was before me," Harrison said.
Watch John Dias' report
Meanwhile, Harrison calls the search at Heuermann's Massapequa Park home "fruitful."
"There have been items that we have taken into our possession. That makes it fruitful," Harrison said.
He added every single crevice in the home is being examined.
The top cop confirmed the existence of a walk-in basement vault with a large iron door.
"There's not a soundproof room. There is a vault where he secured numerous amount of guns," Harrison said.
Asked if he believes Heuermann is responsible for more murders, Harrison added it's hard to say, saying this person has been at large for a long time and the Gilgo murders task force will be kept in tact.
Neighbors' lives are upended by the massive crime scene, but they too want to know what authorities find.
"As long as they need to stay, they need to stay. There's a lot of things that are unsolved," neighbor Gina Guerriere said.
"Everybody wants to know what's going on, really, what they will find in that house," another neighbor said.
Watch Carolyn Gusoff's report
As police continue to scour the suspect's house for an 11th day, crowds continue to come from far and wide to the crime scene.
"I think it's cool to see everything in action, all the cops," Massapequa Park resident Erica Simone said.
Neighbors worry their once-quiet block will forever be a spectacle.
"Gonna be the Amityville horror house. You're gonna have people coming by, stopping. It's gonna be a load of traffic," neighbor Frankie Musto said.
Monday, Nassau County Police assured the community when the crime scene tape comes down, police will still be there.
"We're watching the street to make sure kids are not climbing through yards to go take some pictures or photographs on the property," Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said.
Police say they will continue 24-hour surveillance in the days after investigators leave and then will have intensified patrols driving around after that.
"We're putting cameras on the block. We're going to have enforcement out there, vehicle traffic enforcement, and we're gonna make sure that we're not gonna turn this into some kind of sideshow," Ryder said.
Nassau County plans to put "no standing" signs outside Heuermann's house so drivers can be issued a $150 summons if they pull over.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. He is due back in court Aug. 1.