Gilgo Beach killings: 2 Long Island communities in spotlight of Rex Heuermann case tire of scrutiny

Neighbors of accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann, charged a year ago with the killings that have haunted Long Island for more than a decade, say they want their Massapequa Park community back.

About 5 miles southeast of there, and a 30-minute car ride, residents of Gilgo Beach — which became synonymous with serial killings after the remains of Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello and Megan Waterman were discovered in 2010 — want to shift attention away from their South Shore community to Heuermann’s hometown of Massapequa Park.

A year after Heuermann's arrest, the two Long Island communities most associated with the case have struggled to deal with the intense spotlight their neighborhoods continue to receive from the case.

In Massapequa Park, residents have endured blocked streets, intrusive police searches and low-flying news helicopters that roused them before dawn. Their meals have been disrupted by a media horde that trampled on their lawns, banged on their doors and asked the same questions over and over again.

Even a year later, murder groupies — true crime fans — stop on First Avenue to gawk at Heuermann’s ramshackle home and pose for photos.

“People feel their privacy has been invaded,” Massapequa Park Mayor Daniel Pearl said.

Residents of Gilgo Beach said they are also tired of the stigma associated with their community. Eleven bodies have been linked to the case, some as far away as Manorville, a 45-minute drive to the east. 

“Let’s call him the Massapequa Park Monster, or something different,” five-year Gilgo Beach resident David DiStefano said while nursing a beer and hanging out with his 6-month-old daughter on a sunny day outside the Gilgo Beach Inn.

“Gilgo Beach Killer is baloney,” he added.

Heuermann stands charged in the deaths of Barthelemy, Waterman, Costello, Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla. He has pleaded not guilty to multiple first-degree and second-degree murder charges.

One day after Heuermann's arrest, residents of Massapequa Park's First Avenue and surrounding blocks woke up on July 14, 2023, to find they had unexpected visitors. A Suffolk County police command vehicle and other law enforcement cars and trucks were parked near Heuermann’s home. A portion of First Avenue, where Heuermann has lived since the 1990s, had been blocked off, and investigators swarmed in and out of the house he shared with his wife and two children. Television vans were parked just outside the perimeter, along with a small army of reporters, photographers and camera operators. The search would last 12 days.

Massapequa Park resident Richard Harmon, who lives a few doors down from the Heuermann home, said he initially didn’t know what was going on until he spoke to reporters. “It was a shocker,” Harmon said. “The first few days, everybody was in shock. Everybody was trying to figure out what was going on.”

Rabbi Janise Poticha, of Temple Sinai of Massapequa, whose congregation includes Massapequa Park residents, said people were initially curious during the first few days after Heuermann’s arrest, but also scared and disturbed.

“It was frightening, because it happened right under our noses,” she said.

Curiosity and fear eventually gave way to aggravation.

“We thought, ‘This is going to be a circus. We are going to get invaded,’ ” Harmon said. “A woman brought a pet pig on a leash, and that is when the neighbors started saying the freaks were coming out.”

Pearl said Massapequa Park officials learned about the search at the Heuermann home after sanitation crews could not drive their trucks through the blocked street. Residents had to haul their garbage to a designated checkpoint for pickup.

“My main concern was the quality of life for residents,” Pearl said. “It was chaos in that particular area.”

Residents initially welcomed police, bringing them snacks and cold drinks on hot mid-July days. They welcomed reporters who needed to use the bathroom into their homes. But eventually, neighbors said, it became too much. Harmon said he got angry when New York State Police troopers photographed him as he walked down the street. “I broke no laws,” he said, “so I took photos of the cops taking pictures of me.”

Heuermann’s next-door neighbor Etienne deVilliers called the situation “invasive.”

“I had to show ID to get to my own house,” he said. “So things have been tough, as far as that goes. It’s been hard for a while. After a day or two, you deal with it. But when it is going and going and going and it just keeps going, you are like, ‘Jesus Christ, is this ever going to end?’ ”

Pearl said many of the complaints he received were about the media. News helicopters flew over homes near the Heuermann house at dawn, rousing residents from their beds and tormenting them for much of the day. Drones buzzed above backyards, violating residents’ privacy and personal spaces.

Heuermann’s neighbors say media members were polite and professional, but the sheer numbers took a toll. Residents complained about damage to lawns and other property. Others complained they had been photographed or videotaped against their wishes.

Traffic on First Avenue between Michigan and Connecticut avenues also became a problem, as true crime fans, bloggers and podcasters visited the home of the alleged serial killer.

“A lot of people come around, gawking and taking pictures,” deVilliers said. “Cars are constantly stopping to take pictures. It seems like there are murder groupies. It’s crazy.”

Pearl said the village installed no parking, no stopping and no standing signs at the intersection of First and Michigan avenues, where the media had congregated last year. Dozens of cameras were installed at the intersection.

Harmon feared Halloween would bring out more gawkers, but the block was eerily quiet. “Halloween was very strange,” he said. “No kids were out trick-or-treating on our block. Parents were afraid. We left candy out, but it was not touched.”

While the neighborhood has returned to relative calm, Suffolk police and New York State troopers returned in May to conduct a six-day search of the home.

“They put a truck right there, with lights blasting all night,” deVilliers said, pointing to the street in front of his home.

The fallout from Heuermann's arrest also disrupted lives by the ocean.

Morgan Berk, who has lived in Gilgo Beach since 2020, said she and her friends were riding bikes on the bike path shortly after Heuermann was arrested when they spotted a group of young adults carrying video and audio equipment.

“We had to stop because we had to tell them they were walking through poison ivy. City people didn’t quite know that and they freaked out,” she said, also lamenting the name of the case.

“I wish they would call it a different name, but it is what it is,” she said.

Gina D’Alto, of Merrick, and Brianna Tambasco, of Lindenhurst, are regular visitors to the area.

“I know my parents were nervous about me coming here for a while after all that happened,” D'Alto said.

“Everyone was always kind of scared,” Tambasco said. “Growing up here, we would always go to Robert Moses, Field 5, walk around to the lighthouse and back. You were always like, ‘Hopefully, you don’t get caught by something bad.' ”