Gilgo Beach killings: Police conclude 2nd search of Heuermann's home, which focused on basement

The focus of a six-day second search of the Massapequa Park property of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann was on the home's basement, an attorney for his family told Newsday on Sunday.

Attorney Robert Macedonio, of Islip Terrace, accompanied Heuermann's daughter, Victoria, to the home shortly after being notified by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office that the search had ended.

“It seems to be the focus was in the basement,” Macedonio said after spending about a half-hour inspecting the condition of the house after investigators left. “There doesn't seem to be much disturbance in the bathrooms [and] bedrooms.”

Macedonio, who represents Heuermann's estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, said that while piping and drains were cut during a search of the house 10 months ago, “none of that went on” this time.

Macedonio said he planned to notify Heuermann's defense attorney, Michael J. Brown, of Central Islip, of what he observed in the house but wasn't “at liberty to discuss” why exactly he believed investigators focused on the basement.

“They were searching particular areas,” he said. “I don't know what probable cause they had to do those areas, but I'm sure it was a legally sufficient search warrant.”

Macedonio said it appeared many of the items reported removed from the house had been returned.

“Most of the items that they were anticipating [being] taken are still inside,” Macedonio said, noting TVs, computers and a dog bed were among the items they noticed had been taken out but put back. “The kitchen is very orderly, much better conditions.”

Macedonio said the family was told they could return Sunday morning after the search wrapped up Saturday. Victoria Heuermann, 27, spent about 40 minutes inside the house, gathered some belongings and left with Macedonio and an associate shortly after noon.

Macedonio said Victoria Heuermann intends to meet up with Ellerup, 60, and her brother, Christopher Sheridan, 34, and they will all next return to the house together.

Victoria Heuermann did not speak with a reporter as she entered and exited the house. Macedonio declined to discuss her frame of mind as she walked into the house for the first time since police arrived last Monday morning.

The surprising second search lasted six days, with investigators seen removing dozens of evidence boxes and other items from the First Avenue house each day.

State troopers, who had blocked traffic from Michigan and Connecticut avenues since early last Monday, had left the area by Sunday morning. Only Village of Massapequa Park barricades remained along the corners near the home, though neighbors could be seen taking some of those down as they looked to return to a sense of normalcy.

While “no stopping or standing” signs have been posted in the vicinity of Heuermann's home since late July, the occasional passerby could be seen rolling down a window to snap a photo of the house with the road now back open. A sign posted on the front door by the family last year asks for privacy.

It was the second exhaustive search of the First Avenue home, which Heuermann's parents built in 1955. The initial search lasted 12 days after the architect's arrest in July. Unlike last time, the Nassau County Police Department was not posted outside the home following the search.

The renewed effort at the home came just weeks after the Gilgo Beach Task Force — a multiagency unit comprising members of Suffolk County law enforcement, state police and the FBI — spent nine days with K-9 units searching thousands of acres of woodlands in and around Manorville.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office has not said if the Manorville search was connected to the warrant issued for Heuermann's home or given any other explanation for why investigators returned.

“As [the DA] has previously stated, the work of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force is continuing,” district attorney's office spokesperson Tania Lopez said at the onset of the search. “We do not comment on investigative steps while ongoing.”

Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney's office did not respond to requests for comment Sunday. Brown declined to comment Sunday.

Following last year's search, Tierney spoke of a “massive amount of evidence” investigators removed from the home. He also spoke of more than 200 guns taken from the property, some of which could lead to additional charges from the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, though guns were not used in the killings.

Heuermann, 60, was arrested in New York City on July 13. The next afternoon he pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree murder charges in the killings of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello, whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach more than 13 years ago.

He again pleaded not guilty in January to a superseding indictment, which added a fourth count of second-degree murder in the slaying of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found near the other victims.

In a March court filing, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Lee said all four women, known as the Gilgo Four, were found “completely nude” and restrained by either tape, burlap or belts. Five hairs, attributable to Heuermann or members of his family, were found on three of the four alleged victims.

Lee wrote all the alleged victims were sex workers in their 20s who advertised their services online and that they were all contacted by burner phones utilized in locations consistent with Heuermann’s whereabouts at times when his family was out of town.

Heuermann is due to next appear before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in criminal court in Riverhead June 18.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.