Judge Deals Blow to Rex Heuermann's Defense in Long Island Serial Killer Case By Christine Pelisek

Alleged Long Island Serial Killer Rex Heuermann will face all seven murder charges in a single trial, a Suffolk County judge ruled Tuesday, Sept. 23.

The ruling comes as a blow to Heuermann’s attorneys, who filed a motion seeking to sever the cases into separate trials. The attorneys argued that there was no “unique and consistent modus operandi common to all seven murders,” according to court documents.

Judge Timothy Mazzei denied the motion.

At the same hearing, Mazzei also denied the defense’s request to exclude DNA evidence, per the The New York Times.

Heuermann is accused of killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and Sandra Costilla.

The remains of the women were found between 1993 and 2011.

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Heuermann’s first alleged victim, Sandra Costilla, was found in 1993 by two people hunting in a wooded area in North Sea on Long Island. Costilla, who was from Trinidad and Tobago, had several “sharp force injuries” across her body, per an indictment.

Jessica Taylor and 24-year-old Valeries Mack’s partial remains were found near Gilgo Beach, an oceanside neighborhood on Long Island, N.Y., and in Manorville, N.Y..

Mack’s partial remains were found inside a black plastic bag wrapped in duct tape on Nov. 19, 2000, by three hunters in the woods while Taylor’s partial remains were found in 2003. More of their remains were later discovered near Gilgo Beach in 2011.

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The remains of Waterman, Barthelemy, Costello and Brainard-Barnes were found in Gilgo Beach, in 2010.

Heuermann — an architect and father of two — was first arrested July 13, 2023, near his Manhattan office building. He lived in Massapequa Park, N.Y.

He is allegedly linked to the murders of Waterman, Barthelemy, Brainard-Barnes and Waterman via burner phones and DNA evidence found on the women, who were all in their 20s.