Gilgo Suspect's '100s Of Contacts With Sex Workers' Revealed: Docs

LONG ISLAND, NY — New evidence this week revealed that Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann utilized two burner cell phones and a number of online accounts in fictitious names for "illicit activities," according to a bail report.

The bail report added that Heuermann "utilized these phones in furtherance of hundreds of contacts with sex workers between 2020 and 2023."

The evidence was unveiled on Tuesday as Heuermann was charged with the murder of a fourth Gilgo Beach victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

Heuermann, had previously been charged in three of the Gilgo Beach murders. And new DNA evidence revealed Tuesday helped connect Heuermann to all four of the deaths, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

On Tuesday, Heuermann was charged with second-degree murder, an A-1 violent felony, in the death of Brainard-Barnes on July 9, 2007, Tierney said.

His attorney Michael Brown said Heuermann pleaded not guilty; Heuermann will next appear in court on Feb. 6.

Last July, Heuermann, of Massapequa Park, was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder charges and three counts of second-degree murder charges in the deaths of sex workers Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway in 2010. Heuermann also pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A total of 11 sets of remains were found in the Gilgo Beach murders, which rocked Long Island, including that of a toddler and an Asian male.

According to the bail report, Heuermann' estranged wife Assa Ellerup and the couple's children were out of town on the date that Brainard-Barnes went missing; they were also away for the previous murders, according to the DA.

Additional burner phones and online activity were linked to Heuermann, the bail report said.

The bail report said that one of the phones, an "Alcatel" flip phone recovered from Heuermann's work desk drawer, revealed a text message exchange on March 1, 2020 with a sex worker linked to a sex advertisement in the Massapequa area, stating, "Hi, I saw your ad and wanted to see if we could set something up later, Andy."

The woman said she was busy and asked if the next day would work, to which "Andy" replied, "I am working all day. I was free today. My wife is out for the day. Working Monday."

The burner phones revealed communications with sex workers as well as a new email account of Heuermann's, which was subscribed to the fictitious name of Andrew Roberts Tierney said.

That "Sandbagger" account was utilized as recently as April 2021, to access and conduct searches related to "pornography, rape, torture and sex workers several thousand times," the bail report said. Heuermann, the report said, also searched for information regarding the Gilgo Beach investigation and the victim's relatives.

Newly discovered searches, the bail report said, included, but were not limited to: "tied up fat girl porn," "bondage bed," "autopsy photos of female," "skinny white teen crying porn," "very skinny white teen tied up porn," "medieval torture of women," and many more.

As recently as 2021 the Sandbagger account was used for searches and articles including, "How cell phone tracking is increasingly being used to solve crimes," "fbi (sic) cellular analysis survey team," "Gilgo news," "Melissa Barthelemy sister," "Long Island Serial Killer victim's sister reveals more about Maureen Brainard Barnes Mysterious Disappearance," and more, the bail report said.

An analysis of his laptop indicated the use of a file shredding software on July 9, 2009, shortly before he was to meet Barthelemy; investigators believe it was an attempt to "shred" any digital evidence of the laptop computer utilized to search for her prostitution advertisement, the report said.

An analysis of his laptop also revealed that on September 1, 2010, at 9:03 p.m. Heuermann accessed Amber Costello's Backstage ad; about two hours later, a burner phone linked to Heuermann had communications with Costello's phone, the report said, adding that during those. communications, the burner cellphone connected to cell site towers in West Amityville and Massapequa Park. Later, the cellphone traveled to West Babylon, near Costello's home, and again had contact with her phone on Sept. 2, 2010, which is when witnesses said he arrived at her residence, the report said.

"Despite Defendant Heuermann's attempts to 'wipe out' or 'scrub' his laptop computer, he was unsuccessful in concealing his access to Ms. Costello's Backpage ad," the report said.

Michael Brown, attorney for Heuermann, also addressed the media. He said he just received the new charge regarding the additional victim named and didn't have much information yet.

"We entered a not guilty plea," he said. "He has maintained his innocence since Day 1. He's looking forward to fighting these charges."

Brown also questioned the burner phones and said there was pinging of cellphones in Massapequa Park, where 17,000 live; there are hundreds of thousands of people who were using the cell sites in New York City, he said. Brown said his client was under surveillance for a year and a half. "If there was any suspicious activity, anything nefarious about my client, we would have heard about it," he said.

When he was arrested, Brown said, there were videos capturing the conversation. "My client was bewildered, stunned — had no idea he was being arrested," he said.

When asked about Heuermann's computer searches, Brown said people should ask themselves about their own internet searches and just because they searched a subject, it did not mean they were guilty. He said he would not comment on whether or not Heuermann patronized sex workers. "Many people patronize prostitutes," he said. "That doesn't mean they're killers."