Gilgo Beach killings: Suspect Rex Heuermann taken off suicide watch, Suffolk sheriff says

Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann has been removed from suicide watch at the Suffolk County jail in Riverhead as he awaits trial on charges he killed three women whose remains were found near the beach 13 years ago, the top jail official said Monday.

“Mental health staff at the jail have made the determination to remove Rex Heuermann from suicide watch at this time,” Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. said in a statement. “He will continue to be evaluated periodically. His housing and security protocols have not changed.”

Heuermann, a 59-year-old Manhattan-based architect who lived in Massapequa Park, was placed on suicide watch shortly after his July 13 arrest. He was removed Aug. 3, said Victoria DiStefano, a spokeswoman for the jail. 

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree murder charges in the killings of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello, three of 10 slaying victims whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway. Authorities have said Heuermann is the “prime suspect” in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found with the other three victims in 2010. All four of the women were sex workers, law enforcement officials said.

DiStefano said mental health staff with the Suffolk County Department of Health makes the determinations about whether an inmate is removed from suicide watch.

Marykate Guilfoyle, a spokeswoman for county government, including the health department, provided a statement in response to the procedures around placing and removing inmates from suicide watch that read: "After an inmate is placed on suicide watch by either the Sheriff's office or SCDOH due to potential safety concerns, mental health staff conduct a detailed evaluation to determine if an inmate should remain on suicide watch. In accordance with HIPAA, we are unable to provide any information regarding the status of an individual on suicide watch or why an individual may have been removed from suicide watch."

Inmates placed on suicide watch at jails and prisons are subjected to intense monitoring by staff and typically are prevented from accessing any objects that could be used to hang themselves, such as bedsheets, according to the National Institute of Corrections, an agency within the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Heuermann’s attorney Michael J. Brown did not comment Monday. Brown has said previously that his client, a seemingly successful architect and married father of two who has no prior criminal record, has denied committing the crimes.

Heuermann’s arrest last month may have been a step forward in solving the mystery of the long-unsolved killings. Prosecutors have said they linked Heuermann to three of the killings through DNA, cellular phone technology and an eyewitness statement.

Earlier this month, the presiding judge in the case, State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei, ordered Heuermann to submit to a cheek swab that will allow prosecutors to have further DNA testing performed in an effort to bolster their case. The defense had objected to the testing, which will be video-recorded and photographed, according to the judge’s order. 

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.