Rex Heuermann's wife files for divorce as Gilgo Beach murders investigation continues
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. -- Suffolk County's district attorney says they're now in a new phase in the Gilgo Beach murders case, and we're also learning new details about suspect Rex Heuermann's family.
We've learned Heuermann's wife filed for divorce Wednesday. This comes as more women are coming forward, sharing their chilling encounters with him.
"When we executed the search warrant, one of the reasons why we didn't want to arrest the defendant at his home is because we knew he had permits for 92 handguns," Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said Wednesday night. "We've executed ... a great number of search warrants over a great many different places, and we are looking for everything from large items to molecular items like blood, DNA, trace evidence, hair."
Investigators, forensics teams and crime scene techs have been searching Heuermann's Massapequa Park home since Friday, removing mounting evidence, including 200 guns.
They're also checking his Long Island storage units and properties he's connected to in South Carolina and Las Vegas. The vehicle detectives say links Heuermann to the crimes arrived by tow truck from his South Carolina property.
"We're also going to have to interview a great number of people, which we'll be doing over the course of the next couple of days," Tierney said.
Watch Jennifer McLogan's report
Investigators are going way back in the suspect's life to try to piece together the case.
According to state parks records, Heuermann was a seasonal worker at Jones Beach when he was in his late teens and early 20s. Jones Beach is less than a 10-minute ride from Gilgo Beach, where the bodies of the young women he allegedly killed were buried.
"You would think it would be someone who was familiar with the area, so who either spent a lot of time on Ocean Parkway," beachgoer Patricia Murphy said.
"Knowing that he's not on the street anymore, I hope that the families can finally get some closure," beachgoer Stacie Gelhaus said.
So far, Heuermann has been linked to three murders and is a prime suspect in a fourth, but the remains of six others were discovered in the same area, too.
"We're going to expand our investigation into the other bodies on Gilgo Beach," Tierney said.
Relatives of other victims found along the beach are still awaiting answers. There is frustration, but they're still holding out hope.
"There is still an awful lot of investigation that has to be done to fully understand how many people were victims to this individual," criminologist Mary Ellen O'Toole said.
Investigators say they're also looking into other unsolved murders on Long Island and in other cities to see if he's connected.
Related stories:
- Who is Rex Heuermann? What we know about the Gilgo Beach murders suspect
- Gilgo Beach Murders: Despite Rex Heuermann arrest, "no end in sight" for the investigation
- Gilgo Beach murders: Massapequa Park residents worry suspect Rex Heuermann's home will draw gawkers
- Rifles, other evidence removed from Rex Heuermann's home as investigation continues into Gilgo Beach murders suspect
- More stories about Rex Heuermann
- More coverage of the Gilgo Beach murders
Meanwhile, an image from Google Maps' street view shows Heuermann's vehicle from 2011 in front of his Massapequa Park home.
There is growing anxiety among some in the neighborhood.
"Guns. One after another ... It was 200, and a grenade," neighbor Etienne Devilliers said.
Devilliers said his wife caught Heuermann peering over the fence at her while she was sunbathing. Devilliers told him to cease and desist.
"He complied, and he didn't argue back and he didn't fight and he didn't get violent or... I never seen a streak of violence in the guy," he said.
Another neighbor, a former police officer, described on a podcast how he was confronted by Heuermann two weeks ago aboard a Long Island Rail Road train over where he was standing.
"It's almost like a road rage without the car. I walked away, but he's physically intimidating in the fact that he is 6-foot-5. Missing his left front tooth. His voice is very distinctive. I thought he was a bully," the neighbor said.
"I've always thought of Long Island as this safe haven sanctuary," homeowner Steven Radosta said. "This is like, whoa."
More women are coming forward, saying they had eerie encounters with Heuermann, including 34-year-old Nicole Brass.
"He was very detailed, and it didn't seem like somebody who was just a true crime fan. It seemed like somebody who as they talked about it were reliving it in their head. Like, he seemed, like, excited. Like, it piqued his interest. He sat up straighter, he relaxed his body. He seemed, like, really excited to talk about it," she said.
She told CBS New York over the phone she went on a date with the suspected serial killer years after the Gilgo Beach murders, and she was weirded out when he asked her if she knew about the killings.
"We did surveil him. We did physical surveillance and otherwise surveilled him, and from our observations and our investigation, it was pretty clear this defendant was living a double life, a part of his life that he presented to the public and a part of his life that he very much kept hidden," Tierney said.
Authorities say crime scene investigators will likely be at Heuermann's Long Island home for a while.
Heuermann, an architect, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday. He remains behind bars on suicide watch. His attorney says he looks forward to fighting this case in court.
Police say his wife and two children were "in the dark about his double life."
Gilgo task force leaders say they are reaching out to sex trafficking victims who could be critical in gathering more evidence in the case.