A 12-day scouring of Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann’s cluttered Long Island home found a “massive amount” of potential evidence, with investigators still probing whether the killings were committed inside, the chief Suffolk County prosecutor said Tuesday.
“We’ve haven’t ruled out anything in regard to that,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney outside the defendant’s Massapequa Park home, adding the areas searched included a creepy walk-in basement vault at the suspect’s suburban residence.
“It’s not like TV,” he added of the ongoing probe. “It’s going to be a while for the analysts to do their job ... And if appropriate, the DNA section. That’s a process.”
Tierney acknowledged a number of items of potential evidence were found while declining to offer any sort of details.
“I’m not going to say specifically,” he said. “I think everyone wanted that singular piece of evidence. But we’re going to wait until we see all the evidence.”
Heuermann, 59, was busted July 13 on Fifth Ave. in Manhattan as the real estate executive left his Manhattan offices, with the suspect pleading innocent one day later to murder charges in the cold-case killings of three sex workers on Long Island in 2009 and 2010.
“What we’ve done is acquired a lot of information,” said Tierney. “So what we’re going to do now is what we’re doing all along, which is work with our partners ... and we’re going to see what if in any way fits into the case.”
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The hulking defendant was also identified as the prime suspect in the suburban murder of a fourth victim last seen alive on July 9, 2007. The lifelong Long Islander was the father of two, with his wife filing for divorce after Heuermann’s arrest.
The prosecutor, without offering details, confirmed investigators had also searched a number of other locations during the investigation.
Authorities said Heuermann remains a suspect in the slayings of six other victims found in Gilgo Beach: Four women, an Asian man dressed as a woman and a child, even as investigators dug up the defendant’s suburban backyard looking for evidence.
A tip from a Long Island pimp last year, along with DNA lifted from a pizza crust recovered from the suspect’s trash and Heuermann’s chilling web searches, steered investigators to the defendant and his green Chevrolet Avalanche, authorities said.
The arrest of the 6-foot-6, 270-pound suburban dad followed Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison’s decision last year to ramp up the investigation into the killings where the victims were found about 15 miles from the suspect’s Massapequa Park home.
The victims were identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, with the open investigation probing the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes — identified as the first victim in the killing spree.
Authorities in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and South Carolina were also reviewing cold case files where the defendant has emerged as a possible suspect.