Prosecutors urge judge not to vacate John Bittrolff's conviction, arguing in court papers the defendant didn't prove link between accused Gilgo Beach killer and one of his victims

Suffolk prosecutors are urging a judge to deny a motion by twice-convicted murderer John Bittrolff to vacate his conviction, arguing the Manorville carpenter’s latest attempt to clear his name is based on misconceptions about previous theories on the case and a misguided attempt to connect alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann to the killings.

Attorneys with the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County filed the motion on behalf of Bittrolff in January after they said reanalyzed DNA evidence in the 1994 killing of Colleen McNamee revealed a profile of another man whose genetic material was found on a pair of “men’s jeans” discovered at the Shirley crime scene, a pair of black stretch pants, and on the victim. Bittrolff sought to have that profile compared with the FBI’s CODIS database and a profile of Heuermann, who is currently charged in the 1993 killing of Sandra Costilla, a case Bittrolff was previously a suspect in.

Prosecutors told Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro the motion should be denied in a filing Wednesday afternoon.

“[Bittrolff’s motion] is based on a mistaken belief [by a previous prosecutor] that defendant murdered Ms. Costilla and Bittrolff’s strained assertion that the alleged perpetrator — the very large Heuermann — wore pants that appear to have been worn by — the 5’2” tall — Ms. McNamee,” Assistant District Attorney Rosalind Gray wrote. Heuermann is charged in the killings of seven women; he has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The filing contains investigative notes that suggest the jeans, which Bittrolff’s attorneys argued had the name “Michael M.” written on the waistband and most likely belonged to McNamee’s killer, had a 21-inch inseam and the alleged name referred to the brand and size of the pants.

Bittrolff was convicted in 2017 in the strangling and bludgeoning deaths of McNamee and Rita Tangredi, whose body was found in a wooded area in East Patchogue in November 1993. The victims were known sex workers operating in Suffolk, police and prosecutors have said.

Ambro signed a subpoena in July directing the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office to provide Bittrolff’s appellate attorneys with the raw DNA data in the McNamee and Tangredi cases, court records show. That information was submitted to Cybergenetics, a DNA company with proprietary software using computer "probabilistic" genotyping it markets as being able to enhance DNA evidence crime labs have previously determined to be inconclusive when a mixture of DNA is present.

While Bittrolff’s DNA was found on swabs of both victims, testing of other DNA samples, including the pants at the McNamee crime scene, were found to be inconclusive.

Cybergenetics, in testing conducted last summer, determined that Bittrolff was not a contributor to the male DNA found on the jeans, stretch pants and a separate swab of McNamee’s body.

In Wednesday’s filing, prosecutors argued a different theory that both sets of pants belonged to McNamee and the DNA profile is likely of a man who had sex with her before Bittrolff.

Gray said the Cybergenetics profile cannot be entered into CODIS because the work was not done in an accredited lab and does not meet FBI standards. She also argued the defense failed to make a valid legal argument for comparison with the Heuermann profile.

“Defendant has neither demonstrated a nexus between Rex Heuermann and Ms. McNamee, nor provided an adequate legal basis to perform a comparison of Heuermann’s DNA — which is not evidence in this case,” Gray wrote.

Prosecutors also argued a request by Bittrolff to perform mitochondrial DNA testing on hairs found at both crime scenes is too broad and said each of the new claims could have been raised in prior motions to overturn his conviction.

The points raised in Bittrolff’s motion are not likely to have produced a different verdict at trial, where the jury on three occasions reported a deadlock during deliberations, since the defense did introduce alternative suspects and evidence of additional DNA, prosecutors said.

Bittrolff was arrested in July 2014 after investigators learned DNA found at both crime scenes partially matched the DNA of one of his brothers. It was later determined Bittrolff was a match for the DNA found on two different swabs of Tangredi, a separate swab of McNamee and fingernail scrapings of Tangredi’s left hand.

Testimony at trial established a prosecution theory that Bittrolff was the last person to have had sex with the women based on a controversial science known as sperm density.

Bittrolff is currently serving a 50-years-to-life sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate Dannemora.

Ambro on Wednesday set a June 11 deadline for Bittrolff's attorneys to decide if they wish to respond to the prosecution's filing.

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.