Accused Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann reportedly remains in a secure housing unit as he awaits trial for killing four women in New York.
Last week, Heuermann, 60, was formally charged with the 2007 slaying of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach in 2010. Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. told Newsday that Heuermann spends most of his time alone in a windowless 60-foot cell as the infamy surrounding his crimes makes him a target of violence.
“There was an individual that did say if he was able to get into close contact with him, ‘I’m going to do something.’ Inmates in jail do not like inmates that abuse women, or children,” Toulon told the news outlet. “Because of the nature of his case, it’s high-profile, it’s incumbent to keep him safe because justice will be served in the courts and not in my jail.”
Toulon explained that Heuermann lives in a unit that houses only one other inmate. Heuermann’s estranged wife has reportedly visited him three times since his arrest in July, according to Newsday.
In addition to Brainard-Barnes, Heuermann is charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27. Brainard-Barnes and the three other victims were reportedly wrapped in burlap and buried near each other along the Ocean Parkway at Gilgo Beach. All four women were reportedly advertising as sex workers when they vanished.
Brainard-Barnes’ remains were discovered amid a search for Shannan Gilbert, 24, who vanished from Oak Beach, New York, in May 2010. In late 2011, her remains were discovered in a nearby marsh.
Though police believed Gilbert’s death was accidental, her disappearance led to the discovery of 10 sets of human remains — including Brainard-Barnes’.
DNA from a discarded slice of pizza reportedly linked Heuermann to Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello’s slayings. A hair belonging to Heuermann’s wife was allegedly recovered from the crime scene.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all four slayings.
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[Featured image: Rex A. Heuermann/James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool]
