The lawyer for accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann’s wife says a Netflix docuseries raises “concerns and questions” about how investigators determined her and her daughter’s hair were found on the victims’ bodies.
The DNA evidence in the case against Heuermann has taken center stage in an ongoing hearing in Suffolk County Court. On Tuesday, Asa Ellerup, Heuermann’s estranged wife, and her daughter, Victoria Heuermann, watched from the gallery as the co-founder of the California lab that tested the hair samples took the stand.
“After watching the Netflix series, which came out last week, it raises more concerns and questions about how this investigation was conducted and the procedures that were employed to extract that DNA,” Ellerup’s lawyer, Bob Macedonio said.
He was referring to “Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer,” a three-part Netflix series that aired allegations corrupt former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke compromised the investigation and blocked the FBI’s involvement in the case.
“The extraction, how they obtained Asa’s hair, Victoria’s hair, allegedly, in light of that last Netflix series that came out, it brings us more concerns and questions,” Macedonio said. “It’s difficult because they are the people, the only people in that courtroom that their DNA is supposed to be on victims’ bodies. … So it’s very important for them to see and listen and hear it for themselves, instead of have somebody else tell them that it was your DNA. ”
Heuermann, an architect who lived with his family in Massapequa Park on Long Island, is charged with killing the so-called Gilgo Four victims: Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 42.
He’s also charged with killing three more women — Jessica Taylor, 20; Sandra Costilla, 28; and Valerie Mack, 24. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Tuesday, Richard Green, the co-founder of Astrea Forensics, the lab in California that did the nuclear DNA testing of the rootless hairs found at six of the seven crime scenes, took the stand. Astrea Forensics’ DNA analysis linked Heuermann, Ellerup, and their daughter Victoria to the hairs.
Heuermann’s lawyers have asked a judge to disqualify much of the DNA evidence, saying that the new DNA methodology employed by prosecutors has never been tested in New York courts.
On Tuesday, Green went over his background and the lab’s history with assisting law enforcement agencies.
Assistant D.A. Nicholas Santomartino ask Green if the lab, which was founded in 2019 is accredited, and he said “not currently,” though it started the process last summer.
Dr. Green explained they initiated the process to become accredited last summer. That process includes an internal on-site audit by the ANSI National Accreditation Board, which won’t happen until winter 2026.
“We’ve been told they are backed up,” Green said of the audit scheduling.
Green testified that Suffolk County has paid the lab $190,000 total, which includes $130,000 for the Gilgo Beach case.
Heuermann’s defense lawyer is expected to cross-examine Green when the hearing continues Wednesday.