A former classmate of accused Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann says he’s a “mama’s boy” who was uncomfortably close with his “controlling” mother.
The classmate, who attended Alfred Berner High School in Massapequa, said Heuermann would tell people “things like, ‘I have to get home to my mother,’” the New York Post reports.
“I always got the impression he was close . . . to his mother. The mother seemed to be his all,” the classmate added.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Heuermann is charged with the death of three of the four women known collectively as the “Gilgo Four.” The bodies were found within days of each other on Gilgo Beach in December 2010. All four women were buried in burlap sacks.
He’s now charged with six counts of murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and is the prime suspect in the death of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
The ties Heuremann has with his mother could have been why he bought his childhood home in Massapequa Park from her in 1994, shortly after his first marriage. Heuremann and his current wife (who recently filed for divorce) were still living in the home when police arrested him on July 13.
Criminologist Scott Bonn, who accurately profiled the accused Gilgo Beach killer in 2011, described Heuermann as a “psychopath” influenced by his mom’s “controlling and domineering” nature, the Post reports.
“He had a kind of an unusual, incestuous [relationship], in an emotional sense, with his mother, [which] could be a contributing factor to his pathology,” Bonn said.
“Who knows what was ticking beneath the surface. He may [have been] projecting the loving doting son, when in fact there may have been some deep-seated resentment toward Mom.”
Meanwhile, Heuermann remains behind bars at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead, without bail. Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon said Heuremann is in an isolated cell alone and appears to be “comfortable.”
“He’s in the cell by himself, he’s receiving all the services that any other person who’s incarcerated will receive,” Toulon told WCBS 880.
“It seems like he’s very comfortable in his cell and his surroundings. He’s indicated to my staff that he would not be any issue to us and would be extremely compliant, so we’ll see how that plays out in the days and weeks ahead.”
He’s also on suicide watch, according to Toulon, who said it was “pretty standard for someone that comes in with a case of this type of notoriety.”
“Our mental health staff will re-evaluate him to see if they actually do feel he has suicidal tendencies.”
Toulon added that they monitor and videotape Heuermann 24 hours a day, and “all inmate movement stops” when he is moved from one place to another within the jail.
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[Feature Photo: Rex Heuermann School Photo; Berner High School/Facebook]
