A Long Island woman and former escort who claims to have gone on a date with Rex Heuermann eight years ago said he asked her whether she was a fan of true crime—then brought up the serial murder case in which he’s now been implicated.
Even at the time, Nicole Brass, told the New York Daily News on Tuesday, there was something disturbing about the way Heuermann discussed the Gilgo Beach killings.
“It didn’t seem like somebody who feels bad when he talked about the victims. It seemed like somebody who really wanted to brag about what they did, but couldn’t,” she said.
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His body language shifted, and it seemed like he was having fun, Brass recalled. “It was almost like he was visualizing it in his head and getting off to what he was saying,” she said.
Heuermann also seemed to have knowledge of the case that hadn’t been made public yet. In a TikTok posted Monday, Brass said that he’d described a victim whose death hadn’t yet been publicized.
The whole experience gave her “the worst gut feeling,” and Brass made her escape from the date—at a seafood restaurant in Port Jefferson—soon after. “I didn’t want dessert,” she said in the TikTok.
@your_recovery_stylist my date with the gilgo beach killer pt.1 #gilgobeachkiller #gilgobeachmurders #truecrime #rexheuermanncaught #rexheuermann #rexheuermanngilgobeach #arrested #datewithakiller #date #sw #almostme #partone #storytime ♬ original sound - Your_Recovery_Stylist
Earlier on Tuesday, it was announced that the ongoing investigation into the serial killings now spans across several states as authorities seek to determine whether Heuermann may be responsible for other unsolved crimes.
Law-enforcement agencies in South Carolina and Las Vegas confirmed their involvement in the case, which concerns the decade-old killings of at least three women whose remains were found alongside several other bodies in marshes near Gilgo Beach, Long Island.
Property records show that Heuermann, a New York architect and father of two, previously purchased a five-acre lot in Chester County for $155,000. The architect also reportedly owns a condo in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Metro Police Department confirmed to The Daily Beast they are “aware” of Heuermann’s connection to Sin City and are reviewing all cold cases for possible ties. The Chester County Sheriff’s Office also said the FBI requested its participation in the task force to assist in “gathering evidence” in South Carolina “relevant to their investigation.”
New York State Police on Tuesday were seen hauling away a wrapped Chevy Avalanche in Chester County. The vehicle was then seen rolling into the sheriff’s office impound lot as authorities were holding an afternoon press conference about their participation in the Gilgo Beach task force, according to Fox News. Local residents also told the outlet that FBI agents were seen on a Chester property owned by Heuermann and his brother.
Court documents state that Heuermann's dark-green Chevrolet Avalanche that routinely sat outside his New York home was a key piece of evidence in their case tying him to the decade-old killings of at least three women whose remains were found alongside several other bodies in marshes near Gilgo Beach.
The evidence is the latest in a slew of discoveries from the Gilgo Beach task force since Heuermann was arrested on Thursday. New York authorities on Monday searched the architect’s Long Island home, where officials recovered 200 to 300 guns locked away in a walled-off metal vault in the home.
“He had an arsenal in a vault that he had downstairs,” Harrison told Fox News. “It’s concerning, regarding the guns being registered or legal or not, that’s something we’re still taking a look at. Anytime somebody has that type of arsenal, we have some concerns.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said Friday that Heuermann had “compulsively” searched for images of his alleged victim's families—including their children. “He was trying to locate those individuals,” the prosecutor said.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. He also remains the prime suspect in the killing of a fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. An attorney for Heuermann did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a Monday night interview with CNN, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison revealed that Heuermann's family was “disgusted” and “shocked” by the harrowing allegations against the architect.
“If you ask me, I don’t believe they knew about this double life that Heuermann was living,” Harrison said, later telling another outlet that the family has “been cooperative—there hasn’t been any resistance.”
“A very, very bizarre lifestyle that he lived,” he added to News 12. “Two types of lives where he was a family man, architect, but when his wife would go out of town, some of the things that he participated in was very, very dangerous for our community.”
John Ray, an attorney representing two of the Gilgo victims’ families, told The Daily Beast that his clients were “overjoyed and elated” when they heard the news of Heuermann’s arrest last week. Now, they are anxious to learn more information about the ongoing investigation—and whether Heuermann is suspected in more unsolved cases.
“He was a hunter. If he is the killer, he had the opportunity and means to dissect them,” Ray added. “He could have buried people in other places.”
