Accused Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Challenges DNA Evidence, Seeks Separate Trials

Accused Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Challenges DNA
Evidence, Seeks Separate Trials
Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann appeared in a
Long Island courtroom as his defense team formally filed motions
challenging the case against him.

Heuermann, an architect and father of two from Massapequa Park,
is charged with seven of at least ten murders tied to the
infamous Gilgo Beach killings. His legal team is pushing to
separate the charges into multiple trials and is contesting key
forensic evidence that prosecutors plan to use.

His attorney, Michael Brown, filed a motion requesting that the
seven murder charges be split into five separate trials. 

The motion proposes that the first three victims be tried
together, while the remaining four be handled individually. Brown
argued that keeping all charges in one trial could unfairly
influence a jury.

"When you have count after count, charge after charge, it leads a
jury despite a judge's instruction, it leads a jury to say you
know what there's so much there," Brown stated. "He may not be
guilty of this but maybe he's guilty of that and it's what we
call accumulative effect."

The defense is also challenging DNA evidence obtained from
rootless hairs found at six of the crime scenes. Attorney
Danielle Coysh argued that the forensic method used to analyze
the hairs has not been widely accepted in the scientific
community, making it inadmissible under state law.

"It's never been the subject of any judicial testing or any
standard so this is the first time in the United States that it
will be done," Coysh said.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney pushed back on the
defense's claims, stating that the DNA method—performed by Astrea
Forensics, a California-based lab—is scientifically valid.

"I would submit that this is the next generation of the evolution
of the technology," Tierney said. "It's exciting to be at the
forefront of that and we look forward to proving the scientific
acceptance and effectiveness of this technology."

Tierney has led the charge against Heuermann, working with the
Gilgo Beach Task Force to bring charges against him.

The latest development in the case comes after Heuermann was
recently charged in the murder of Valerie Mack. Her remains were
first discovered by a hunter’s dog in 2000 in a wooded area of
Manorville, Long Island. Mack’s decapitated body was found inside
a black plastic bag bound with rope and wrapped in duct tape.
Both her hands and one of her legs were severed, according to
court documents. The rest of her remains surfaced more than a
decade later, in April 2011, near Gilgo Beach.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to Mack’s murder, as well as the
killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Maureen
Brainard-Barnes, Amber Costello, Jessica Taylor, and Sandra
Costilla. Authorities have linked the murders to a string of
victims found along Ocean Parkway between 1993 and 2010.

His next court appearance is set for February 18. Judge Timothy
Mazzei indicated that a hearing on the DNA evidence, known as a
Frye hearing, will likely take place in late February or early
March.

Heuermann has denied all charges.

#GilgoBeach #RexHeuermann #TrueCrime #ColdCase #DNAEvidence
#JusticeForVictims #LongIsland

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