Gilgo serial killings: Co-founder of lab that linked hair samples with Rex Heuermann will testify later this month

A co-founder of the California laboratory whose new nuclear DNA extraction method is at the center of an ongoing hearing to determine its admissibility in the criminal case against alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann is scheduled to testify in Riverhead later this month, a judge said Thursday.

State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei announced Astrea Forensics' co-founder Richard E. Green will testify on April 15 — the third prosecution witness called to testify — as the third day of testimony concluded early Thursday afternoon in the ongoing Frye hearing.

Nicole Novroski, a forensic scientist from Texas, finished her testimony by agreeing with prosecutor Nicholas Santomartino that the "underlying methods" used by Astrea are scientifically tested and peer reviewed. Astrea developed DNA evidence from the degraded hair samples found with or near six of the seven Gilgo victims and linked it to the DNA of Heuermann or his family members.

On cross examination by lead Heuermann defense attorney Michael J. Brown, Novroski also agreed her earlier assessment of Astrea's methods as "effective" did not mean those methods had been "validated."

Brown has argued the DNA techniques used to develop the evidence should be deemed inadmissible at trial because it has not been sufficiently tested and accepted in the scientific community.

The prosecution has said it believes in the "efficacy and admissibility" of the nuclear DNA evidence.

Brown pointed to a scientific paper authored by Green that reported using a relatively small sample size of eight people, whose hairs and saliva were tested using the same methods used to extract and test DNA in Heuermann's case.

He attempted to liken the use and acceptance of Astrea's DNA findings in Heuermann's case to taking to medications that were only tested on a small pool, asking the witness if she would take a vaccine that was tested on only five people.

Novroski initially said she was unsure but, when pressed, ultimately said: "No, I would not take the medicine."

Brown also pressed Novroski on whether she could provide any results or notes from her lab's ongoing examination of Astrea's method for extracting DNA from a rootless hair extraction.

"I don't have anything to show you; we're testing the methods right now," Novroski said. "There won't be any data to share until we're done doing the testing."

Novroski said the testing had been ongoing for months and would continue for "another several months" though she said she "can ask the research associates for the notes."

Heuermann, 61, an architect from Massapequa Park, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the killings of seven women. He attended Thursday's proceedings, seemingly paying close attention to the witness testimony.

"The burden is on the prosecutor," Brown said outside court at the conclusion of Novroski's testimony. "They have to prove that this evidence is relevant and generally accepted in the scientific community. And I haven't heard any testimony to that effect yet."

Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney declined to comment Thursday.

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.