Suffolk DA's tell-all Gilgo document

Daily Point

32-page Gilgo bail document reads like a pitch for a true-crime series

Of all the intriguing aspects of the Gilgo Beach serial killer case, add the 32-page bail document filed Friday by the Office of the Suffolk County District Attorney.

At an arraignment, prosecutors usually tell a judge the reasons that the defendant should be locked up, released with certain conditions, or suggest a dollar amount of cash bail to ensure the person charged returns to court. In the state system these are usually done orally or in a succinct court filing to efficiently move the process along. The indictment of Rex Heuermann on charges that he murdered three women is just four pages. The story about how the Gilgo cold case was cracked is in the accompanying document,

Amid the incredible revelations in this case, we now know District Attorney Ray Tierney brings a touch of his experience as an assistant U.S. attorney to the official disclosure process. In the federal system, prosecutors routinely use bail documents to put out many more facts to shape the case narrative, for the courts, and especially for the public. Notably, this was done in the federal case brought against former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke in 2015, and that was only eight pages.

Even for this sensational case, the DA’s bail document is one for the ages; it reads like a pitch to Hollywood producers for a true-crime drama series. It was signed by Allen Bode, chief assistant district attorney, who worked for 18 years as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York.

The filing, which can be found here, has plenty of details besides those already listed in almost every news story. Such as the name of the K-9 police dog — Blue — who found the first set of remains on Dec. 11, 2010. It’s here we learn the origins of the “ogre” description of Heuermann made by the pimp of Amber Costello and all about a “ruse” the pair used to take the Massapequa architect’s money without delivering services. The “ogre” labeler also describes the suspect’s “big oval style 1970's type sunglasses” along with his height, weight and hair.

Heuermann’s wife Asa Ellerup, who has now filed for divorce in Suffolk County Supreme Court, was not just out of town when these victims disappeared, but specifically in Iceland, and also, at other times, in Maryland and New Jersey.

There are six Manhattan street maps, inserts of where the calls from a victim's phone pings a tower located near Heuermann’s Manhattan office; a list of 30 pornography sites he accessed from his burner phone with descriptions such as ”pretty girl with bruised face porn” (that's one of the least offensive ones we would mention); his 24 internet searches for news stories tied to the case, three surveillance photos at cellphone stores, a selfie, and extensive details on the DNA evidence. Here the press found not only the widely used photo of the pizza box with DNA-encrusted crusts but also a shot of the discarded box in a trash can in front of 385 5th Ave.

Why so much information? Did the DA’s office really think it would be difficult to convince a Suffolk County judge that there was enough evidence against Heuermann to keep him behind bars pending his trial? Or was it part of a larger, discrete information flow strategy by Tierney? It feeds tempting details into a voracious media cycle under the cover of an official document, albeit one that is not posted on the office’s government website.

Tania Lopez, director of communications for the district attorney, told The Point that when Tierney took office in 2022, he instructed his prosecutors to put bail applications in writing. “This ensures that the court has all of the relevant facts before it when making bail determinations and, if necessary, forms the basis of a clear record for appeal of any bail decision,” she wrote.

Relevant indeed.

In a story that made headlines around the world and attracted multitudes of reporters and calls from media outlets, the DA’s office did not put out a news release. The latest news releases on its website involved the sentencing of a Bellport man and the indictment of eight people for an online narcotics scam.

— Rita Ciolli rita.ciolli@newsday.com

Pencil Point

On target

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Final Point

Detours ahead

If the first meeting of the Traffic Mobility Review Board is any indicator, the road forward for the effort to toll Manhattan’s central business district is going to be a long — and potentially bumpy — one.

The board’s initial round of questioning Wednesday night provided some insight into where the battle lines may lie as the process of determining tolls, exemptions and details moves forward.

For Long Island Island Federation of Labor president John Durso and Transport Workers Union president John  Samuelsen, the conversation was, perhaps unsurprisingly, about workers, particularly those who could be hit multiple times depending on the shifts they work and where their jobs are. For Kathryn Wylde, who heads the Partnership for New York City, a large business group, there were concerns about what types of commercial vehicles might be charged higher truck and tractor fees. And Elizabeth Velez, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member who heads the Velez Organization, a construction company, drilled down on for-hire vehicles, particularly on whether drivers or passengers would be hit hardest.

Long Island’s specific needs came up only briefly, when Durso asked MTA officials to describe how the Island might benefit from the capital funds raised by the concept known as congestion pricing.

But for the most part, board members focused on broader concerns — and they were many.

Samuelsen, who focused particularly on shift and overnight workers, made it clear that he wasn’t going to go easy on any congestion pricing plan.

“It’s not helping the folks that make New York City go in the overnight at all,” Samuelsen said of the proposed four-hour overnight window when there could be lower tolls. “It’s got to be addressed. It’s not helping anybody.”

Samuelsen also cited low-income commuters who live in transit deserts, whose needs, he said, were not being adequately addressed.

“There are several conundrums … what I would call conundrums… involved in this and they have to be well thought out. It’s going to be a subject of interest for me.”

When Durso had another chance to speak, he animatedly piggybacked on Samuelsen’s comments.

“I’m listening to this and my neck is vibrating here,” Durso said. “With all due respect, if you didn’t live it, you can’t understand what it does to you when you’re pinching pennies. So, we’ve got to figure something out.”

Figuring something out, though, won’t be simple. Congestion pricing is still scheduled to go into effect in the second quarter of next year. That leaves a lot of work to do — and a lot of conundrums to figure out — in a fairly short amount of time.

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com