Gilgo Beach killings: Judge sets hearing on DNA evidence in suspect Rex Heuermann's case

A pretrial hearing to determine whether DNA evidence allegedly linking accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann to multiple victims will be admissible at trial is scheduled to take place later this month, a Suffolk judge said Wednesday.

Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei set the first day of the Frye hearing for March 28 during a brief court conference in Riverhead.

The prosecution and defense are both expected to call expert witnesses in the area of nuclear DNA testing.

The Frye Standard for admissibility of scientific evidence tests novel scientific evidence — like the DNA evidence that prosecutors want to use in their case against Heuermann — and "requires that before being admitted, the prosecutor must prove the evidence's general acceptance by the scientific community," according to the federal National Institute of Justice.

"If we were not confident, we would not have used it," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Wednesday.

Heuermann, 61, of Massapequa Park, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and Sandra Costilla.

Heuermann, who did not address the court but spoke directly to his attorney, wore a blue and white striped shirt, blazer and maroon tie during his brief time in the courtroom.

Tierney, speaking to reporters after the conference, said the investigation phase of the case against Heuermann is "pretty much closed."

"We'll continue to look at those other murders, but we're not going to ascribe them to one person or the other until we can prove it and we're not at the point of charging anyone for any of those murders," Tierney said when asked about the investigations into who killed the other known Gilgo Beach victims.

Heuermann's defense team has asked the judge to bar from the trial expert testimony on nuclear DNA results from rootless hairs found at six of the seven crime scenes, arguing that the whole genome sequencing technique is not scientifically sound.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, in response to the defense motion, said the nuclear DNA evidence in the case against Heuermann should be admissible, citing in part that the results were corroborated by a second lab's mitochondrial DNA analysis.

The defense has filed a motion seeking to have the case severed, arguing that prosecuting Heuermann for all the killings in a single trial could have a cumulative effect on the jury.

Heuermann's attorneys, in court papers filed Wednesday, also sought to rebut the prosecution's arguments that Heuermann followed a similar operating method in committing the killings.

The defense argued that the crimes have "glaring and significant differences," citing differing injuries to the victims' remains.

"The only interest to be served in trying all of the counts together would be that of judicial economy but at the expense of Rex Heuermann's right to a fair trial," wrote Heuermann attorney Sabato Caponi.

Heuermann's attorneys have suggested the state go to trial first on the three women whose bodies were found at Gilgo Beach — Barthelemy, Costello and Waterman — and then go to trial on the remaining counts related to the four other victims separately.

Newsday reported last month that prosecutors have said in court papers that Heuermann worked at Jones Beach for about three years when he was in his 20s and became "extremely familiar with Ocean Parkway at night," which was the burial site for six of the seven victims.

"Notably, the investigation to date has established the defendant worked at Jones Beach from approximately 1981-1984," prosecutors said in the court documents, Newsday previously reported. "Part of defendant’s work at the beach entailed the defendant getting on All-Terrain Vehicle and going from field to field to ensure beachgoers were off the property once the beach was closed, a role that made the defendant extremely familiar with Ocean Parkway at night."

The judge is expected to rule on the severance issue in the coming weeks.

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.