NEW YORK — A New York architect charged in the Gilgo Beach murders will return to court this week after investigators searched his suburban home It is combed a wooded area elsewhere on Long Island.
Rex Heuermann, who pleaded not guilty to the deaths of four women whose remains were found along a remote beach road, will appear Thursday in state court in Riverhead, a spokesperson for the Suffolk County district attorney’s office confirmed. He had previously been scheduled to return to court for a status hearing on June 18.
The new trial date comes two weeks after investigators returned to Heuermann’s single-story home in Massapequa Park, where they recovered a cache of weapons during an initial search following his arrest last summer. A date for Heuermann’s trial has not yet been set.
During the latest searchwhich lasted several days, investigators placed paint chips and other materials into evidence bags and removed a large rectangular object covered with blue cloth.
A spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office declined to say whether the upcoming hearing was related to the renewed search effort.
In April, authorities involved in the investigation also spent more than a week searching a wooded area in Manorville, fueling speculation that they were looking for new evidence linked to some of the six additional sets of remains that were discovered along Gilgo Beach more recently. of a decade. .
Heuermann, 60, was arrested in July for the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. He was charged in January with the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
His lawyer, Michael Brown, said his client maintains his innocence. He declined to comment on the nature of Thursday’s hearing.
The case has angered investigators since the remains of eleven people, most of them young women who were sex workers, were found on a stretch of Gilgo beach in 2010 and 2011. Authorities said the investigation into the other victims remains ongoing. .
Robert Macedonio, an attorney for Heuermann’s ex-wife, said the most recent search of the Massapequa Park home focused mainly on the basement. He said the family was out of state when the search was conducted.
He declined to say what was taken from the home and said the family has not yet received a search warrant affidavit that would explain their reasons for conducting the search.
During the initial search of the home in July, authorities destroyed a wooden deck and used an excavator to dig up the backyard, which they scanned for buried objects using specialized equipment.
The most recent search was much less disturbing, according to Macedonia.
Vess Mitev, a lawyer for Heuermann’s two adult children, said the family was closely monitoring developments.
“The hearing is yet another milestone in this macabre saga, where they continue to be unhappy spectators,” he said in a text message.
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