Accused Gilgo Beach murderer nicknamed after ‘Family Guy’ character

Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was nicknamed “Peter” by colleagues — after the bumbling, plodding and sometimes uncouth dad in the popular TV sitcom “Family Guy.”

“We called him ‘Peter,’ the ‘Family Guy,’ mostly because of the way he looked — he was goofy,” a Big Apple architect who worked with Heuermann for almost 20 years told Fox News Digital.

The former colleague, who asked not to be named, said he was shocked by the ghastly allegations against the Massapequa Park married father of two, whom he described as “really friendly and really nice.

“A year ago, my wife was watching a documentary about [the case], telling me how [a] guy was out there killing all these girls on Long Island. I could have never imagined this,” the man said.

“It’s like ‘The Twilight Zone.’ “

Heuermann, 59, was arrested Thursday for allegedly killing three women. He is the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, say cops — who have been investigating the deaths of 11 people found in Gilgo Beach near the suspect’s home for more than a decade.

The accused killer is 6 feet 4, weighs about 240 pounds — and bears a striking resemblance to the corpulent character Peter Griffin in the animated “Family Guy.”

Despite Peter’s generally well-intentioned persona, the main protagonist does exhibit a somewhat nasty streak from time to time, including making fun of his daughter Meg and others.

Jim Clemente, a former FBI profiler who serves as producer for the CBS show “Criminal Minds,” profiled the person behind the Gilgo Beach crimes in 2011. He described the killer at the time as an educated, intelligent and mild-mannered “sexual sadist” who enjoys watching people suffer, according to Fox News Digital.

“He shows this mask, this cover of kindness, so he can continue to commit his crimes,” the former G-man said. “He’s incredibly good at compartmentalizing, separating his murders from his family life.”

Clemente added that Heuermann was likely “very cruel to certain people” when he thought he could get away with it.

The suspect’s former colleague who also talked to the outlet said he learned about Heuermann’s arrest when a friend in Atlanta sent him a link to a story about the case and asked jokingly if he knew him.

“And I’m like, ‘What the f–k? I do know him,’ ” the man said. “When I saw this whole thing unfold, I was in shock. How was this even possible? It’s crazy. His contact is literally in my phone.”

The architect said he first met the triple murder suspect around 2003 at the firm Mojo Stumer, where Heuermann was a consultant.

“He was always pretty patient with me,” the man recalled. “He taught me how to navigate through the city’s building code.”

The architect said that when he left Mojo Stumer, he hired the hard-working Heuermann as a consultant and expeditor on several residential projects.

“There was nothing weird,” the ex-colleague told Fox News Digital, adding that Heuermann also tried to recruit him around 2009 but he decided not to take the job.

The two remained in touch over the years and grabbed lunch together occasionally, according to the outlet.

Heuermann, who pleaded not guilty to the murder charges against him Friday, was linked to the killings partly because his DNA left on discarded pizza crust was positively matched to DNA left behind on the body of Waterman.

On Sunday night, police began searching a storage unit in Amityville, LI, that was connected to the suspect.

They are looking for possible body parts as well as other “trophies” that the alleged killer may have kept from his victims, police said.

Earlier in the day, state police confiscated a cache of guns from Heuermann’s nearby home in Massapequa Park. Authorities had previously carted off other items from the home, including a large child-like doll, cat food, a scratching post, an empty bookcase and a framed picture.