Before Rex Heuermann‘s arrest, years of unanswered questions in regards to the murders of not less than 10 intercourse employees birthed the phantom personas of “LISK” and the “Manorville Butcher.”
Four of the victims – generally known as the “Gilgo Beach 4” – have been linked to Heuermann, who’s believed to be “LISK,” quick for Long Island Serial Killer.
He was charged in three of the killings, and is the prime suspect in a fourth.
But there are not less than six extra victims – together with some who had been dismembered – that had been present in the identical neighborhood alongside the South Shore of Long Island by April 2011, which pushes a fiercely debated query again to the forefront.
“This is tough to speak about, however is that this similar killer or are there two?” mentioned Josh Zeman, a filmmaker and producer who sunk his tooth into this case for a 2017 documentary referred to as “The Killing Season.” “It’s been actually baffling to among the greatest minds within the nation.”
Further complicating the infamous New York chilly case is when and the place the physique elements of the dismembered victims had been discovered.
The cranium of 1 sufferer – recognized solely as “Fire Island Jane Doe” – was discovered on Gilgo Beach in 2011, however her legs had been discovered about 16 miles east on Fire Island in 1996.
Valerie Mack’s head, palms and proper foot had been discovered on Gilgo Beach in 2011, however her torso was discovered 11 years earlier in Manorville, New York, which is about 40 miles east of Gilgo Beach.
Similarly, Jessica Taylor’s cranium, palms and considered one of her forearms had been discovered across the seaside alongside Ocean Parkway in March 2011, however her torso was present in Manorville in 2003.
Law enforcement additionally discovered physique elements of a younger Black or biracial Jane Doe, generally known as “Peaches” after a distinguishing tattoo on her left breast, close to Gilgo Beach in 2011. But her torso was present in Hempstead Lake State Park in 1997.
A toddler that investigators mentioned was a baby of “Peaches” was additionally discovered on Gilgo Beach in 2011.
“So you’ve a killer who’s leaving torsos in Manorville, further physique elements in Gilgo Beach and the identical particular person, theoretically, has left different physique elements in different elements of Long Island,” Zeman mentioned in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“It’s depraved complicated… The undeniable fact that these physique elements, these torsos, had been present in Manorville is why folks name this killer, ‘The Manorville Butcher.’”
Enter John Bittrolff, a Manorville resident and carpenter by commerce who was arrested by DNA in July 2014 for killing two intercourse employees named Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee.
Theories concocted by the general public and legislation enforcement instantly tied Bittrolff to the Gilgo Beach case, however he beat his victims to demise and left them on the aspect of the highway, a 3rd totally different MO.
“Many mentioned he should be the Gilgo Beach Killer. He should be the Manorville Butcher. He should be accountable for all these our bodies alongside Ocean Parkway,” Zeman mentioned. “But proper now, we don’t know.
“It was initially mentioned throughout his trial, that an [assistant district attorney] mentioned he could be linked to extra our bodies, however we’ve but to seek out out if that’s actually true or hypothesis.”
Bittrolff was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to 50 years to life in jail.
“He stays considerably of a tangential and mysterious determine on this complete query if there’s one or a number of killers,” Zeman mentioned.
John Bittrolff was considered one of Heuermann’s 200-plus alleged Google searches associated to the Gilgo Beach case, based on his bail software, which detailed 1000’s of Google searches for express pornography and close by intercourse employees.
Fox News Digital isn’t describing most of the Google searches as a result of their express nature, however “John Bitroff (sic)” was listed as No. 14 in searches (pictured under).
One peculiar google search
There was one alleged Google search that caught Zeman’s eye: “Asian twink tie up porn.”
Twink is outlined as a homosexual or bisexual younger man with a “slim, boyish look,” based on dictionary.com.
“Personally, I all the time thought it was two killers,” Zeman mentioned. “But one of many our bodies that was discovered alongside Ocean Parkway was an Asian male, in order that immediately made me assume that immediately we’re coping with one killer.”
The sufferer he’s referring to nonetheless hasn’t recognized. He’s described as a younger, organic male discovered carrying girls’s clothes.
Law enforcement imagine the sufferer was lifeless for about 5 years when he was present in April 2011. All that’s left is a composite sketch.
“I nonetheless don’t know (what number of killers), and this was a giant downside for Suffolk County from the start,” Zeman mentioned. “It’s been mentioned (former Police Commissioner) Richard Dormer was fired as a result of he obtained in an argument with the DA whether or not it was one serial killer or two.
“So this debate about one serial killer or two has been raging for the reason that very earliest days of this investigation.”
“No sense is sensible”
Retired Reno, Nevada, Police Lt. Joey Walker, who created the “Serial Defense” program that features a podcast and life-saving methods to fend off intercourse assaults and serial killers, broke down the case for Fox News Digital.
He began the interview by saying, there’s an previous adage, “No sense is sensible,” which is especially true on this felony case.
He drew a diagram just like a clock with every quantity as one other risk. At the middle is the “dump web site,” which on this occasion is Gilgo Beach.
With serial offenders of any crime, they possible will repeat what they know works, Walker mentioned, so if one particular person dedicated all of the murders and dumped proof (or on this case our bodies/physique elements) with out being caught, the “space is secure” and might be used once more.
Then there’s the chance a single offender dedicated some or a lot of the murders, and by coincidence one other killer used the identical dumping floor, Walker mentioned.
He used the circumstances of Ted Bundy and Edmond Kemper for instance why serial killers would possibly scatter physique elements.
“Finding human stays from one murder sufferer in numerous places may have a ritualistic part, the place the killer makes use of that physique half as a memento, or for his or her sexual gratification,” Walker mentioned.
Because physique elements had been discovered a number of miles aside, it was possible completed on function both to confuse investigators or to thwart identification, which is what Whitey Bugler did.
And serial offenders examine, learn and watch different offenders, and “maybe mimic their methodology, complete or partially, of their successes,” he mentioned.
To Walker’s level, Dennis Rader, generally known as the serial killer “BTK,” wrote in a letter to Fox News Digital that he sees Heuermann as “a clone of me.”
Bodies or proof might be discarded “purposely or haphazardly,” and that usually depends upon the sophistication of the offender, Walker mentioned.
Who had been the Gilgo Beach victims?
Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann — a New York City architect and married dad of two — was arrested in reference to the long-unsolved Gilgo Beach murders. The arrest is tied to the so-called “Gilgo Four,” girls discovered wrapped in burlap inside days of one another in late 2010.
The years-long investigation that led to the arrest revolved across the discovery of greater than 10 units of human stays alongside Ocean Parkway close to Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County between December 2010 and April 2011.
Most victims had been petite feminine intercourse employees with inexperienced or hazel eyes. But there have been additionally two exceptions: a 2-year-old lady and a younger Asian man.
Melissa Barthelemy, 24
Barthelemy was a intercourse employee who lived within the Unionport part of the Bronx and dreamed of in the future opening her personal magnificence salon. She was final seen alive in her basement house on Underhill Avenue on July 12, 2009.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25
Brainard-Barnes was dwelling in Norwich, Connecticut. She went lacking after taking an Amtrak prepare from New London, Connecticut, to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on July 6, 2007.
Amber Lynn Costello, 27
Costello, 27, was a intercourse employee and heroin addict who lived in West Babylon, New York, at a house with a lady and two males. She marketed on Craigslist and Backpage to assist her and her roommates’ drug habits. Costello was present in December 2010 after having been final seen leaving her house that September.
Megan Waterman, 22
Waterman, a 22-year-old mother of 1, was final seen on June 6, 2010. She lived in Scarborough, Maine, and earned a dwelling as an escort. She was final seen by her household boarding a New York-bound Concord Trailways bus in Maine. Her physique was discovered on December 13, 2010, on the north aspect of Ocean Parkway, close to Gilgo Beach.
Jessica Taylor, 20
Remains belonging to Jessica Taylor, a 20-year-old girl working as an escort in New York City, had been present in a wooded space in Manorville on July 26, 2003. Her further stays — initially labeled “Jane Doe No. 5” — had been found on March 29, 2011, alongside Ocean Parkway.
Valerie Mack, 24
Valerie Mack was 24 years previous and dwelling in Philadelphia when she went lacking. She labored as an escort, utilizing the alias “Melissa Taylor.” Relatives final noticed Mack within the spring or summer time of 2000 in Port Republic, New Jersey, however she was by no means reported as lacking to the police. Her partial skeletal stays had been present in Manorville in September 2000 however had been initially generally known as “Jane Doe No. 6.”
Unidentified Asian man
The skeletal stays of a yet-to-be-identified Asian man had been discovered alongside Ocean Parkway on April 4, 2011. It is estimated that the person was between 17 and 23 years previous on the time of his demise. He was roughly 5 toes 6 inches tall with dangerous tooth.
‘Peaches’ and her daughter
An African American girl’s partial stays had been found in Hempstead Lake State Park again in 1997, and he or she had change into generally known as “Peaches” due to a bitten tattoo of a peach on her left breast. On April 4, 2011, police uncovered the stays of a toddler, who was about 2 years previous on the time of her demise. DNA testing confirmed that one of many skeletons was that of the 2-year-old lady’s mom, “Peaches.”
Jane Doe No. 7
Remains discovered on April 11, 2011, together with the physique of the lady dubbed “Peaches” was linked by DNA to a physique that was discovered 15 years earlier on Fire Island. On April 20, 1996, skeletal stays of a younger white feminine had been found in Davis Park on Blue Point Beach. Two units of stays, collectively generally known as “Jane Doe No. 7,” haven’t been recognized.
Shannan Gilbert, 23
Gilbert was a Craigslist escort who lived in Jersey City, traveled together with her driver Michael Pak from Manhattan to fulfill a shopper, Joseph Brewer, at his house within the Oak Beach Association on the morning of May 1, 2010. She spoke with two neighbors earlier than disappearing. Her physique was found in a marsh close to Oak Beach — about half a mile from the place she was final seen alive — on December 13, 2011.
“If the offender discards gadgets in a number of places, it might be a purposeful try and solid off suspicion from themselves the place it could be linked and attributed on to them,” he mentioned.
“I used to be arrested age 59. Married, two children,” Rader wrote within the letter. “Husband, dad longtime a serial killer, stalker, used digital gadgets, lives in a neighborhood undetected.”
With all that mentioned, it’ll possible “take years, if ever, earlier than the totality of the crimes dedicated are attributed to a number of individuals and in the end resolved,” Walker mentioned.
Not responsible plea
As it stands now, Heuermann is accused of killing Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and is the prime suspect in Maureen Brainard-Barnes’ homicide.
He was charged with six counts of homicide (first- and second-degree for every sufferer), and pleaded not responsible to all prices.
Prosecutors haven’t mentioned in the event that they imagine Heuermann is concerned with any of the opposite six victims on Gilgo Beach.
But his arrest sparked legislation enforcement businesses throughout the nation, together with South Carolina, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, to reexamine lacking individuals circumstances and chilly circumstances to find out if Heuermann is concerned.
