PROSECUTORS in the Gilgo Beach serial killer case showed a clip from Jurassic Park in a bizarre move to defend their DNA testing method.
Part of the movie was shown during an intense 5-day hearing over whether DNA can be used in the case against alleged murderer Rex Heuermann.
Heuermann, 61, is accused of killing seven sex workers beginning in 1993.
The women’s bodies were discovered years later, in 2010 and 2011, along Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach, about 50 miles outside of New York City.
Since it took years to discover the bodies, investigators needed to use a specific type of nuclear DNA testing to tie him to the murders.
But Heuermann’s defense attorney, Michael Brown, has cast doubt on the method, even calling it “magic,” The New York Post reported.
Typically, DNA testing would involve collecting hair samples, but the state of the women’s bodies made that impossible.
Prosecutors defended nuclear DNA testing by presenting a clip from Jurassic Park, depicting scientists extracting dinosaur DNA from a mosquito to clone animals that had been extinct for millions of years.
Nicole Novroski, the associate director at the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas, emphasized that the DNA science showcased in both the film and the murder case has a history of being utilized extensively.
Novroski testified it is an accurate and reliable way to test DNA.
Reflecting on the clip, Brown highlighted that the scientists in the movie believed they were employing sound scientific practices, but ultimately, the outcome was catastrophic with the dinosaurs annihilating everyone.
The judge chuckled at the comment, according to The New York Post.
Heuermann was supported last week at his first pre-trial hearing by his estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, and his 27-year-old daughter, Victoria.
Ellerup recently finalized her divorce from the alleged killer.
Heuermann, who worked as an architect, was arrested in July 2023 for allegedly murdering Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, and Melissa Barthelemy.
He was later charged with the murders of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor, and Sandra Costilla.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced earlier in March that Heurmann’s charges stop at the seven victims.
“There comes a time when we have to say that a case has an investigation phase, a grand jury phase, a pretrial phase, and then a trial phase,” Tierney told The Post.
“So, that investigation phase, in regard to this case, is pretty much closed,” he said.
“That is not to say we’re not investigating other unsolved cases in Suffolk County, which we will be doing all along.”
Murder victims linked to the Long Island Serial Killer
The sleepy seaside community of Gilgo Beach in Long Island, NY, was horrified after the arrest of Rex Heuermann in July 2023 for a series of gruesome murders. Here is what we know about his alleged victims:
Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25 – Brainard-Barnes was believed to be a sex worker based in Norwich, Connecticut. She went by the names “Juliana” or “Marie” and advertised her services on various platforms, including Craigslist and Backpage. She mostly worked out of hotels in Manhattan. On the day of her death on July 6, 2007, she took an Amtrak train from New London to Grand Central Terminal. She was reported missing eight days later, but it wasn’t until 2010 that her remains were found on the north side of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.
Melissa Barthelemy, 24 – Barthelemy was an aspiring hairstylist who was last seen alive on July 12, 2009. She worked as an online escort and lived in the Bronx, NYC, but primarily worked out of hotels in Manhattan. She used sites such as Adult Friend Finder and went by either “Chloe” or “VerySexyChloe” online. After she disappeared, her sister revealed she had received calls from a stranger who admitted to killing her. Her body was found on Gilgo Beach on Dec 11, 2010.
Megan Waterman, 22 – Waterman was a single mother living in Scarborough, Maine, when she went missing. A sex worker who advertised her services on Craigslist and Backpage used the aliases “Lexxy” and “Sexy Lexi.” She vanished on June 6, 2010, after leaving a Holiday Inn hotel located in Hauppauge, Long Island. Two days later she was reported missing, and her body was found on December 13 of that same year.
Amber Lynn Costello, 27 – Costello lived in West Babylon, Long Island, at the time of her disappearance. She advertised as a sex worker on Craigslist and Backpage, reportedly to support her heroin addiction. She had entered a detox program shortly before his disappearance before relapsing. She was last seen alive on September 2, 2010, and her body was discovered on Ocean Parkway on December 13, 2010.
Jessica Taylor, 20 – Taylor was an escort working in Midtown, New York when she was reported missing on July 19, 2003. She was reportedly spotted at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan between July 18 and 21. On July 26, 2003, parts of her body were found in Manorville. More of her remains were discovered on March 29, 2011, during the search for Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old sex worker.
Sandra Costilla, 28 – Costilla was a native of Trinidad and Tobago living in New York at the time of her disappearance. Investigators called Costilla a “drifter” and her last known address was in Queens. Costilla’s remains were uncovered in the woods in Southampton on November 20, 1993. Costilla had numerous sharp force injuries to her face, torso, breasts, left thigh, and vaginal area.
Valerie Mack, 24 – At the time of her disappearance, Mack was working as an escort under the alias “Melissa Taylor.” She was last seen alive in the spring of 2000 in New Jersey, but her family didn’t report her missing. Parts of her body were discovered by hikers in September 2000 in the Long Island Pine Barrens, but she was not identified and was instead given the nickname “Jane Doe No. 6.” The rest of her remains were recovered on April 4, 2011, near Gilgo Beach.
There have been several other murder victims tied to a Long Island Serial Killer, but no connection has been found to Rex Heuermann, and he is not a suspect in their deaths.
Karen Vergata, 34 – Vergata was a sex worker living on West 45th St. in Manhattan at the time of her disappearance on Valentine’s Day, 1996. She had called her father that day to wish him a happy birthday. Parts of her body were found at Davis Park on Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach on April 20 that year, but at the time, she wasn’t identified and was known as “Jane Doe No. 7.” Her skull was found on Ocean Parkway on April 11, 2011.
Additional victims – Four other remains of possible victims were also recovered but have not been officially named.
Police have searched Heuermann’s home twice since he was arrested in preparation for the murder trial.
“He had an arsenal in a vault that he had downstairs,” then-Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told Fox News in July 2023.
Tierney also revealed the feds released $13 million in frozen funds to help the prosecution.
“Unbelievably, seemingly out of nowhere,” he said.
“The investigation is over and we’re going to be getting access to that money. Last time I checked it was about $13 million.”
The alleged killer pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Heuermann is being held at Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County, NY.
A timeline of the Gilgo Beach murders
A community on Long Island, New York, was left looking for answers after the remains of numerous people were found in Gilgo Beach. This is a timeline of events that led to the arrest of suspect Rex Heuermann.
April 1996: The first remains are found in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders. Authorities referred to the victim as “Fire Island Jane Doe.”
June 1997: The partial remains of a woman, known only as Peaches, are found in a bin at Hempstead Lake State Park.
September 2000: The remains of a woman are found in Manorville, New York. She was known as Manorville Jane Doe for decades.
July 26, 2003: The remains of Jessica Taylor are found in Manorville. Her skull was found eight years later.
July 2007: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, goes missing. She was reported missing by a friend.
July 2009: Melissa Barthelemy goes missing.
May 2010: Shannan Gilbert vanishes. She called the police before she went missing.
June 2010: Megan Waterman goes missing. Security footage showed her leaving a Holiday Inn Express hotel in Hauppauge, Long Island.
September 2010: Amber Lynn Costello disappears. She left her home in West Babylon, New York, without her cell phone. But, she was never reported missing.
September 2010: Hikers in the Long Island Pine Barrens discover more remains of the Manorville woman.
December 2010: The remains of Barthelemy are found by investigators in Gilgo Beach. The investigators were searching for Gilbert at the time. Later, investigators found three other bodies which were wrapped in burlap at Gilgo Beach. Authorities announced a serial killer may have murdered the females.
January 2011: The remains of Waterman, Barthelemy, Costello, and Brainard-Barnes are formally identified. They are known as the Gilgo Four.
March 2011: Human remains are found near Gilgo Beach.
April 2011: The bodies of three other victims are found near Gilgo Beach. Two other victims were found near Jones Beach, about five miles from where the other bodies were found near Gilgo Beach.
May 2011: Cops announce six more sets of human remains were found.
November 2011: The Suffolk County Police Department announces the victims found near Gilgo Beach were most likely sex workers. They believe one person may be responsible for the murders.
December 2011: The remains of Shannan Gilbert are found in Gilgo Beach. Cops at the time didn’t believe she had been murdered. Gilbert’s remains were discovered around a year and a half after vanishing.
December 2015: The FBI joins the probe into the murders.
May 2020: The remains of Manorville Jane Doe are identified as Valerie Mack. Mack was working as an escort in Philadelphia when she disappeared. She was last seen by her family in New Jersey in 2000.
January 2022: A new task force is created to investigate the murders.
May 2022: Cops release a 22-minute phone call from the night Gilbert disappeared.
July 13, 2023: Authorities announce the arrest of Rex Heuermann. The suspect was arrested in Manhattan. He was charged with the deaths of Costello, Barthelemy, and Waterman. He was named the prime suspect in the murder of Brainard-Barnes, but cops did not charge him.
August 4, 2023: The woman, known as Fire Island Jane Doe, formally identified as Karen Vergata, 34.
October 18, 2023: Attorney John Ray says new evidence has connected Heuermann to victims Gilbert and Vergata.
January 16, 2024: Heuermann is charged with murdering Brainard-Barnes. He pleaded not guilty.
December 17, 2024: Heuermann is charged with murdering Valerie Mack.
