About a decade ago, Long Island was gripped by fear, as the nation was simultaneously chilled, of an apparent serial killer in and around the Gilgo Beach area.
For years, law enforcement agencies, district attorneys, and detectives could not catch a lead to save their careers. A case gone cold, it almost seemed as if finding the culprit was like finding a needle in a haystack.
The latest allegations show that that needle was an architect in Massapequa. While still not convicted, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R), his department, and other involved agencies have shown tenacity, tact, and resourcefulness in hopefully closing this chapter of Long Island’s history for good.
Last summer, the nation was shocked to learn that a suspect in the famous slaying had finally been identified. Since Rex Heuermann’s initial indictments in three murders, Tierney’s office has charged him with three other murders, not only possibly finding a suspect in the famous “Gilgo Four,” but also widening the potential timeline of murders going back to the 1990s.
Heuermann now faces charges in the murders of Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla. Taylor’s partial remains were found in Manorville, just a stone’s throw away from an eastern Long Island rifle club at which Heuermann was a sporadic attendee.
Furthermore, Tierney’s investigation found hundreds of electronic devices and data storage units in Heuermann’s Massapequa home. The prosecution has also obtained a record of Heuermann’s Internet search history, which includes violent and gruesome forms of pornography, as well as a detailed manifesto that nearly identically aligns with the methods of murder used on his purported victims.
The cherry on top is that Heuermann is apparently a scholar of a former FBI criminal psychologist, whose works the alleged serial killer studied to possibly cover his crimes and evade capture.
The moral of the story: Heuermann seemed like a completely normal guy living a normal life with his normal family. Little did anyone know that an alleged psychopath possibly responsible for perhaps the most gruesome crime spree this Island has ever seen was hiding in plain sight.
Tierney’s investigation is also alleging that Heuermann didn’t just murder out of circumstance; they allege that he methodically tracked his victims down to murder them.
Now, Heuermann’s links to South Carolina, Las Vegas, northern Virginia, and Atlantic City are all on the table for examination, as similar cold cases have risen in those locations with similar telltale signs of Heuermann’s doing.
But these are all allegations, let’s be perfectly clear. However, we put a respectable amount of stock in D.A. Tierney and his work. After being sworn in as Suffolk District Attorney in 2022, Tierney has not only made strident efforts in prosecuting fentanyl dealers and those who negligently contribute to the already-staggering overdose tolls, ensure public safety and awareness through seminars and summits, and called for local government reform at Social Services, but Tierney produced a suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders after a little more than a year in office.
Tierney has built an incredible record in such a short amount of time that it’s almost unconscionable that any candidate could even fathom running against him in 2025. Tierney has not only kept valuable campaign promises, but he’s also upheld his oath of office overwhelmingly.
We consider ourselves lucky to have such local leadership here in Suffolk County.
