(NewsNation) — Rex Heuermann, already suspected in the deaths of four women found near Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, was charged in the murders of two more women Thursday during his latest court appearance.
A bail application released Thursday morning by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney had indicated Heuermann would be facing additional second-degree murder charges for the deaths of Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the killings of Taylor and Costilla at Thursday’s hearing. He is currently in custody.
Taylor, 20, went missing in 2003 while working as an escort in New York City. Some of her remains were discovered in Manorville that year, and more were found by the side of Ocean Parkway. The body of 28-year-old Costilla was discovered in 1993.
In a court filing, prosecutors said they were able to use new forensic testing methods to match hairs found on or near the vicinity of both victims to a DNA profile that is a likely match to Heuermann. Additionally, prosecutors say they recovered a “planning document” on a hard drive in his basement used to “methodically blueprint” his killings.
Police have been probing the deaths of at least 10 people, most of whom are sex workers, whose remains were discovered along an isolated highway not far from Gilgo Beach since 2010.
The victims had gone missing over a span of at least 14 years.
Heurmann, an architect who lived across a bay from where the bodies were found, was arrested last July in connection to the killings of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Alleged ‘planning document’
One piece of evidence the Gilgo Homicide Task Force found in Heuermann’s basement was a Microsoft Word document entitled “HK2002-04.” Though it had been deleted, forensics experts were able to recover it.
“The task force believes that this is a planning document that was utilized by Heuremann to methodically blueprint and plan out his kills with excruciating detail,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a press conference Thursday. “His intent was specifically to locate these victims, to hunt them down and to bring them under his control and to kill them. His motivations, meticulous planning and clear intent is obvious.”
The all-caps document featured a series of checklists with tasks to complete before, during and after the killings, as well as practical lessons for “next time,” according to a court filing. Among the dozens of entries written are reminders to clean the bodies and destroy evidence, to “get sleep before hunt” and to “have story set.”
One section, titled “things to remember,” appeared to highlight lessons from previous killings, prosecutors said, such as using heavier rope and limiting noise in order to maximize “play time.” A “body prep” checklist includes, among other items, a note to “remove head and hands.”
Other evidence in latest victims’ case
More of what investigators found was detailed in a bail application document sent out before the hearing, which also includes more information about the condition of the victims’ remains.
In 2003, a person walking their dog found Taylor’s remains and called 911, according to the document. She had been found decapitated, lying on her back, with her legs bent underneath her. Both of Taylor’s arms were severed from her body below her elbows and a tattoo on her torso had been “severely obliterated” by a sharp object.
Taylor’s skull, hands and forearm were later discovered along Ocean Parkway, just east of Gilgo Beach. The remains were on the same side of the road from where Brainard-Barnes, Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello’s had been found.
A male human hair was recovered on Taylor, from a surgical drape that she had been underneath. It was sent to a mitochondrial testing laboratory, as well as a nuclear DNA testing lab, and test results showed that results were able to exclude most of the population except for Heuermann.
Costilla’s remains were found in November 1993 by two people hunting in a wooded area of Southampton. She had been lying on her back, her arms outstretched over her head, with her uncovered legs spread apart. Costilla’s shirt was pulled over her torso and head, the bail application document said, and there were multiple sharp force injuries to her body. Hairs found on Costilla were also sent for testing, which also pointed to Heuremann, the bail application said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a developing story.
