Gilgo Beach victim Maureen Brainard-Barnes had her body secured with a belt marked with either “WH” or “HM,” and the county prosecutor says those initials are the same as accused Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann’s grandfather.
In an interview in Newsday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said that the belt, which was considered a potential lead in 2020, was among three different belts that Heuermann could have allegedly used to bind Brainard-Barnes’ feet, ankles, and legs together.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Heuermann was arrested on July 13 for the deaths 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.
Heuermann has been 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 Brainard-Barnes.
Tierney told Newsday that all three belts found at the scene were “identical,” except the belt with the embossed lettering, which bears the same initials as the late William Heuermann.
“Yes, there was ‘WH’ or ‘HM’ on the belt,” Tierney explained. “The last name is Heuermann. There are ancestors with WH, so assign to that what you will.”
Meanwhile, Heuermann, who remains behind bars without bail, has pleaded not guilty to the killings. His lawyer, Michael J. Brown, echoed his client while speaking with reporters about the case.
“There is nothing about Mr. Heuermann that would suggest that he is involved in these incidents,” Brown previously said, according to ABC News. “And while the government has decided to focus on him despite more significant and stronger leads, we are looking forward to defending him in a court of law before a fair and impartial jury of his peers.”
Prosecutors, however, handed over around “100 hours of surveillance video” to the court Monday, taken outside of the defendant’s Massapequa Park home prior to his arrest. They also handed over around 8 terabytes of evidence, which equaled around “2,500 pages of records.”
“You’re talking about 13 years of investigation,” Tierney told reporters at the Suffolk County court on Monday. “It’s a massive amount of material.”
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Rex A. Heuermann, center, the architect accused of murdering at least three women near Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, and his lawyer Michael J. Brown, appear before Judge Timothy P. Mazzei in Suffolk County Court, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Riverhead, N.Y. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool)]
