Sex workers come forward about ‘violent’ encounters with Rex Heuermann

Two sex workers have claimed that Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann was “violent” and “aggressive” during encounters, Suffolk County’s top cop said this week — as it was revealed that the disgraced father of two has been meeting with a clergyman behind bars.

The two women were interviewed by Suffolk County’s anti-human trafficking unit at the Riverhead and Yaphank jails late last month, Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. told Newsday.

Each said she had one meeting with Heuermann, and that they found the 6-foot-4, 240-pound architect “violent” and “aggressive,” he continued.

“A person of that size being a little aggressive was probably frightening,” Toulon added.

Neither woman was injured during the encounters, he said.

Toulon did not specify whether the two women met Heuermann before, during or after he is believed to have strangled at least three other women and left their bodies off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach, about 20 minutes from his Massapequa Park home.

Since his arrest for the infamous crimes on July 13, Heuermann has been housed at the Suffolk County jail facility in Riverhead, where he is meeting with a clergyman once a week, Toulon told the outlet.

The South Shore native is no longer on suicide watch, the sheriff clarified.

“I have not seen any emotion from him, [he is] very emotionless,” he said.

“You wonder what is going on … Is there something going on inside that is brewing?” 

Heuermann is on a special unit, where corrections officers are keeping him safe from other inmates — and himself.

“He’s not just another inmate to me, and forget about the notoriety of this case,” Toulon said. 

“I’m really trying to look into his soul to see what is it about this guy that’s not about the other (900) inmates I’m dealing with.”

Heuermann spends 18 to 20 hours a day in his 60-square-foot cell, where he has access to books, television, newspaper and mail, the sheriff explained.

He also goes for walks alone in a small recreation area.

Meanwhile, jail staff are instructed to monitor the suspect closely for signs of physical or emotional distress — including crying, pacing his cell, or putting his hand to his head.

“When [inmates] see the four walls of their cell start to close in, there is not much more that they can do,” said Toulon, who previously worked in New York City corrections.

“Three months ago, he was walking around the streets in New York City, he was eating at a deli … It starts to weigh on someone who is incarcerated.

“I don’t want them to ever be complacent with anything, with any of his requests,” he said of the corrections team at Riverhead, adding that Heuermann is a “very unique person.”

“If they feel it is unusual, bring it to a supervisor’s attention. If he is not acting right, make sure he gets the proper medical treatment.

“It’s more important to me that Mr. Heuermann has his justice in the courts and not in the jails.”

When Heuermann does appear in court, Toulon said, he uses a “certain area” to walk from his cell to the courtroom without using a vehicle.

Toulon, who started Suffolk County’s anti-human trafficking arm shortly after being appointed sheriff in 2017, added that the department is still interviewing dozens of sex workers at jails in Nassau County in hopes of turning up more evidence in the Gilgo investigation.

Officers are also set to start questioning known sex workers at Rikers Island, he explained.

Heuermann, 59, was arrested near his office in Manhattan on July 13.

He pleaded not guilty to the strangulation murders of Melissa Barthlemey, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, whose remains were found concealed in burlap off Ocean Parkway in December 2010.

Heuermann is also the prime suspect in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was the first of the so-called “Gilgo Four” to disappear.

Earlier this week, a young woman in South Carolina reportedly told police that Heuermann was the last man she saw with her mother, who vanished from the Palmetto State in 2017.

Heuermann — who is married and has two adult children — was initially linked to the infamous Gilgo case through his distinctive Chevrolet Avalanche, which was later seized at his South Carolina property.

The architect was also tied to burner cellphones used to contact the victims and their families, while DNA evidence taken from a discarded pizza crust and napkin subsequently linked him to genetic material found on the burlap around Waterman’s remains.

Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown, has previously professed his client’s innocence.

Prior to his bombshell arrest, Heuermann had no criminal record.