Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann was ‘weird,’ a ‘big talker’

Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann was “weird” and a “big talker” — so much so that it “makes sense that he’s a serial killer,” someone who knew him professionally told The Post Friday.

“He would always stand out. He was very personable. He would always make a point to talk to everyone in the room,” the person, who asked not to be named, recalled of Heuermann, 59, who was taken into custody in Manhattan on Thursday night.

“He was a big talker, promising to make professional connections and then never following through,” they continued, noting that they knew Heuermann, who ran his own architecture firm, from “the architectural industry” and met him about 10 times.

“He was weird. He was always odd. He’d mosey around. We knew something was odd about him.”


Rex Heuermann.
Rex Heuermann was arrested on Thursday night in Manhattan.
Suffolk Police Department

Follow The Post’s live blog for updates on the Gilgo Beach serial killings arrest


Heuermann, who is married, is due in court later Friday.

He was arrested after DNA evidence linked him to the grisly killings of the “Gilgo Four,” young women whose remains were found along a strip of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in late 2010, sources told The Post.

All four women advertised as sex workers. They were killed by strangulation.


Heuermann (top left) ran an eponymous architectural firm in New York City.
Heuermann (top left) ran an eponymous architectural firm in New York City.
Rex Heuermann Consultants & Associates

“It’s shocking. It’s terrifying,” the source said of Heuermann’s alleged involvement in the murders.

“You never think you’re going to come in contact with a serial killer. I never got the impression he was sleazy to women,” they added.

“I feel like it makes sense he’s a serial killer. He’s a weirdo.”


Rex Heuermann.
Heuermann was a “big talker,” a source told The Post.
YouTube / Bonjour Realty

Neighbors in Heuermann’s quiet Massapequa Park neighborhood were similarly shocked by the arrest.

Who is Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann?

A suspected serial killer has been arrested over the notorious Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island, The Post can confirm.

Rex Heuermann, 59, a married architect at a New York City firm, has a home on 1st Avenue in Massapequa Park, sources told The Post.

His arrest is tied to the “Gilgo Four,” four women — Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25 — found wrapped in burlap within days of each other in 2010. 

Rex Heuermann
Rex Heuermann was arrested in connection to the Gilgo Beach killings.
SPD

The body of Barthelemy was first found along Ocean Parkway on Dec. 11, 2010, sparking fears of a serial killer in the area.

By spring 2011, the number of bodies had climbed to 10, including eight women as well as an unidentified man and toddler.

Heuermann’s arrest comes after Suffolk County’s new police commissioner created a special Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force in February 2022.

Follow the Post’s Live blog for updates

“It’s a little scary. It can be anywhere. It could be your neighbor and you would never know,” said Cheryl Lombardi, who has lived down the street from Heuermann’s address since 1989.