A fellow inmate of Rex Heuermann says the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer may be in danger while he’s in jail as the case against him proceeds, the New York Post reports.
Philip Walker, 56, who is incarcerated at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility, told the newspaper that inmates likely are not fans of Heuermann because of his alleged attacks on the opposite sex.
“Crimes against women and girls, especially killing them, is frowned upon here. A lot of us have sisters, daughters, mothers. No one likes guys who did crimes like that,” Walker told the Post.
Heuermann was arrested July 13 and charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found buried on Long Island’s Gilgo Beach in 2010. He is also the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
The 59-year-old architect is presently being kept in isolation and is on suicide watch. The facility in Riverhead, New York, allegedly goes on lockdown when Heuermann is moved around, Walker told the newspaper.
“Everything shuts down when they move him to the yard, medical, whatever. Over the speakerphone, they said, ‘Stop all inmate movement,’” Walker told the Post. “We all know it’s for him.”
Walker is in custody on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of his housemate, James Vaughn, on July 3.
If Heuerman were to be kept with the rest of the jail inmates in the “general population,” Walker said the accused serial killer could be attacked.
“I don’t think people would be too happy if he was in population. I don’t think it would be good if he was moved into population. I could see someone doing something to him,” Walker told the Post.
Walker is not the first prisoner to comment publicly on the Gilgo Beach case. Dennis Rader, the BTK serial killer who murdered 10 people, has accused Heuerman of being a copycat.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being kept in the state’s custody without an opportunity to post bond.
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[Feature Photo: Rex Heuermann/Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office via AP]
