Police reportedly opted to arrest the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer at his office due to a stockpile of guns he had at home.
Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested on Thursday in Manhattan for the 2009 and 2010 murders of three women at Gilgo Beach on Long Island — where investigators found, in total, the bodies of nine women, a man, and a toddler. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told ABC that they apprehended Heuermann at his office because he had more than 200 guns stored in his home in Massapequa.
“We wanted to take him into custody somewhere outside the house, because of access to those weapons,” Tierney explained.
According to the New York Post, officials said Heuermann only had permits for approximately 92 of his guns.
Heuermann is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Reports indicated that he is the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose body was found in the same area. The four murder victims were reportedly wrapped in burlap and buried next to each other.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder. On Sunday, police executed a search warrant at a storage unit in Amityville which may be linked to his case.
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[Featured image: Rex Heuermann/Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office via AP]
