Long Island police dodge questions about crucial piece of evidence at Rex Heuermann home

Investigators in Long Island have dodged questions about a crucial piece of evidence believed to have been discovered contained in the household home of Gilgo Seaside serial killer Rex Heuermann.

Suffolk County District Legal professional Raymond Tierney was grilled in a press convention on Tuesday about the chilling alleged discovery of a mattress inside an enormous vault within the basement of the home in Massapequa Park.

The DA repeatedly refused to substantiate or deny the existence of the doubtless harrowing piece of evidence however did verify the existence of the walk-in underground vault.

“The vault is huge enoguht to stroll into and it’s within the basement,” he stated.

He additionally confirmed that “no human stays” had been discovered at the “cluttered” one-storey property.

Nevertheless, he famous it would take time for the crime lab to check the trove of objects seized for the likes of blood, hairs or different hint evidence which might point out whether or not or not any of his alleged victims had been killed at the property.

Whereas he wouldn’t go into particulars about what was discovered, he did verify {that a} “large quantity of evidence” had been recovered from the home which Mr Heuermann grew up in as a toddler – earlier than sharing together with his spouse of twenty years, their daughter and his stepson till his arrest.

The DA confirmed that the search of the home has now come to an finish after investigators spent nearly two weeks combing by the property, seizing objects and digging up the yard for clues about the murders.

Within the 12 days since Mr Heuermann was arrested in connection to the notorious serial killer case, investigators have been trying to find evidence tying him to the murders together with any trophies taken from the victims.

On Monday, search groups had been noticed finishing up a “main excavation” of the yard with cadaver canine and a ground-penetrating radar machine scouring the bottom earlier than excavators dug up the earth with a backhoe.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison beforehand revealed that they consider at least some of the murders came about contained in the home.

Mr Heuermann’s spouse and youngsters had been out of city at the time of every of the three murders he’s charged with.

Mr Heuermann was taken into custody on 13 July, nearly 13 years after the our bodies of at least 11 victims had been found alongside the shores of Gilgo Seaside on Long Island.

He was charged with the murders of three of the so-called “Gilgo 4” – Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello.

He’s additionally the prime suspect within the homicide of Maureen Brainard-Barnes – who was final seen alive in early June 2007 in New York Metropolis.

The “Gilgo 4” had been all present in December 2010 inside one-quarter mile of one another, sure by belts or tape and a few wrapped in burlap – their our bodies dumped alongside Gilgo Seaside.

Court docket information present that Mr Heuermann was linked to the killings by a tip about his pickup truck, a stash of burner telephones, “sadistic” on-line searches, telephone calls taunting victims’ households, his spouse’s hair discovered on the victims’ our bodies – and a pizza crust.

The primary piece of the puzzle got here when a witness within the Amber Costello case revealed particulars about a car {that a} shopper was driving when she was final seen alive.

Costello, who labored as a intercourse employee, was seen alive on the night of 2 September 2010 when she left her home in West Babylon. A witness stated she had gone to fulfill a shopper who was driving a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche.

Final yr, a registration search confirmed that native man Mr Heuermann owned a first-generation mannequin of the truck at the time of Costello’s disappearance. He additionally matched the witness’ description of the person believed to be the killer: a big, white “ogre”-like male in his mid-40s, round 6’4’ to six’6” tall, with “darkish bushy hair,” and “huge oval model 1970’s sort eyeglasses”.

The invention of the automobile led investigators to hone in on Mr Heuermann together with executing 300 subpoenas, search warrants and different authorized processes to acquire evidence to find out his potential involvement within the killings.

Amongst this was Mr Heuermann’s alleged use of burner telephones, with prosecutors saying that he used burner telephones to contact the three girls and organize to fulfill them at the time after they went lacking.

He additionally allegedly took two of the victims’ cellphones – and used one to make taunting telephone calls to at least one of their households the place he boasted about her homicide, courtroom paperwork state.

Mr Heuermann’s DNA was discovered on one of the victims, whereas his spouse’s hair was discovered on three of the 4 girls he’s related to.

His arrest comes after the horrific serial killer case has captured the nation’s consideration for greater than a decade.

The Gilgo Seaside murders had lengthy stumped regulation enforcement officers in Suffolk County who believed it could possibly be the work of a number of serial killers who focused intercourse employees and dumped their our bodies alongside the distant seashores on Ocean Parkway.

The case started in Might 2010 when Shannan Gilbert vanished after leaving a shopper’s home on foot close to Gilgo Seaside.

She referred to as 911 for assist saying she feared for her life and was by no means seen alive once more.

Throughout a seek for Gilbert in dense thicket near the seaside, police found the stays of one other girl.

Inside a matter of days, the stays of three extra victims had been discovered shut by.

By spring 2011, the stays of a complete of 10 victims had been discovered together with eight girls, a person, and a toddler. Police have lengthy thought that it could possibly be the work of a number of serial killers.

Gilbert’s physique was then present in December 2011. Her trigger of demise is extensively contested with authorities lengthy claiming that it’s not related to the serial killer or killers however that she died from unintended drowning as she fled from the shopper’s home.

Nevertheless, an unbiased post-mortem commissioned by her household dominated that she died by strangulation and her mom believes she was murdered.

Like Gilbert, most of the victims focused had been intercourse employees, whereas some are but to be recognized.

In addition to extensively looking out Mr Heuermann’s home in Long Island, officers are probing different areas related to the accused assassin together with storage items two miles away in Amityville.

In the meantime, regulation enforcement businesses are additionally trying into unsolved murders and lacking individuals instances all throughout America together with in Las Vegas, South Carolina and Atlantic Metropolis.