Rex Heuermann, the New York architect accused of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer, has been charged in the deaths of two more women—including one whose murder was not previously thought to be linked to the case.
Heuermann, 60, is now accused of the 2003 killing of Jessica Taylor, 20, and the 1993 slaying of Sandra Costilla, 28, according to a new bail application obtained by The Daily Beast.
Prosecutors allege that Taylor was found “decapitated” and that both of her arms “had been severed from her body below her elbows.” Afterward, Heuermann allegedly mutilated Taylor’s body to hinder her identification. Costilla, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, was found posed in a lewd manner, with her “uncovered legs spread apart” and shirt pulled up to expose her breasts, investigators said.
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The bail application also reveals a harrowing Heuermann’s planning document authorities found on his computer after his initial July arrest that he allegedly used as a “blueprint to ‘plan out’ his ‘kills.’” The document, which was created in 2000 and modified twice before 2002, had four category sessions— “PROBLEMS,” SUPPLIES,” “DS,” and “TRG,” with various words under each section.
The “PROBLEMS” category was allegedly a guide to how to avoid getting arrested and included words like “DNA, TIR MARKS, BLOOD STAINS,” the bail application states. The “SUPPLIES” section included items he allegedly “needed to carry out the serial murders,” including acid, booties, and hair nets.
“The ‘DS’ heading appears to be an acronym for ‘dump site,’ which is corroborated by... the discoveries of Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor at two separate ‘dump sites,’ i.e., the vicinity of Mill Road and Ocean Parkway,” the bail application states. “TRG” appears to be a reference to target or victim. It is important to note that the known victims thus far are all petite women, which is consistent with the “SMALL IS GOOD” entry in the document, lending further support to the aforementioned conclusion that “TRG” refers to victims or “targets.”
The document also has a three-category section below on “PRE-PREP,” “PREP,” and “POST-EVENT.” Prosecutors allege the sections were Heuermann’s guide on how to start to plan the murder, including checking his car and picking a target, the steps directly before the slayings, and his steps afterward to avoid apprehension.
The latest charges mean Heuermann is now connected to the murders of six women, most of whom were working as escorts and whose remains were found along the Gilgo Beach shore. The women were bound with tape and belts, and wrapped in burlap, and at least four have since been dubbed “the Gilgo Four.”
Heuermann is being held without bail and has pleaded not guilty to charges related to four women—Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. An arraignment has been set for the six new charges for Taylor and Costilla’s cases on Thursday morning in Suffolk County.
The bail application for Heuermann provides a slew of grisly new details about Taylor and Costilla’s death. Taylor, a sex worker in Manhattan, was last seen on July 19, 2003, after speaking with her mom on the phone and taking an unknown call.
“At the time of Ms. Taylor’s disappearance, Rex A. Heuermann worked in the same vicinity as where Ms. Taylor was known to ‘street walk,’ i.e., work as a sex worker,” the bail application states. “Records seized during the execution of prior search warrants reveal Heuermann was in fact present in Midtown Manhattan on July 21, 2003, the same date Ms. Taylor disappeared.”
Part of her remains were discovered a week later by a witness walking her dog in Long Island. She was found “lying on her back with her legs bent underneath her,” and her head and arms had been severed.
During an initial investigation, police spoke to a witness who saw a dark-colored Chevrolet pickup truck in the same wooded area where Taylor’s body was discovered around the time she went missing. The car matched one Heuermann owned at the time.
Taylor’s skull, hands, and forearm were discovered eight years later about 40 miles away.
Her “remains were located on the same side of the road” where Brainard-Barnes, Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello had been found months prior in December 2010, prosecutors say.
The bail application states that Heuermann looked up multiple local news articles about Taylor’s remains and Taylor herself—and then attempted to delete the search.
Probably the most damning piece of evidence against Heuermann, however, is a hair found in a “surgical drape that had been underneath” Taylor’s body that matched his DNA.
Costilla, whose murder appears to be the oldest connected to Heuermann, was discovered by two hunters on Nov. 20, 1993. She was found lying on her back and had multiple injuries to her face, torso, breasts, and vaginal area, the bail application states.
Investigators also found hair on Costilla, including one “from a tape-list of the striped shirt above” her head. In 2014, DNA extracted from the hairs was originally tested against John Bittrolff, a convicted murderer once suspected to be connected to the Gilgo Beach remains, but did not come up with a match.
In April, one male hair collected from Costilla was tested against Heuermann’s DNA—and investigators found that it was “substantially more likely” that it came from him. Another piece of hair was tied to a woman who was living with Heuermann at the time of Costilla’s murder.
“The foregoing provides further support that Rex A. Heuermann mutilated, murdered, and transported the body of Sandra Costilla to Southampton,” the bail application states.
