Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to True Crime and Headlines with Jules and Joe. I'm Jules, a former educator with a lifelong interest in learning the why, not just the how, behind true crime cases.

Speaker 2: 0:09

I'm Joe, a mental health professional that got roped into this true crime podcast Yee-haw.

Speaker 1: 0:16

It's our goal to give a voice to victims and to not shy away from diving deeper in the inner workings of the monsters behind the crimes. If we can study, analyze and assess actions of bringing psyche motives, maybe, just maybe, we can help prevent more of these monsters from emerging in the future. This is episode 12, part three of three of the Long Island Serial Killer. If you've not listened to parts one and two, make sure you go back and do so. Besties, you don't want to miss out on what led up to this point, and you know, joe, and I know you have so many true crime podcasts to choose from, and you're here with us. Hey, we're here to support. Oh, we love you and we're so thankful for that. Thank you for giving us your time as you take us along with you in your ear.

Speaker 1: 1:01

Whatever you're doing, whatever we're doing, besties, we're doing it together, so, thank you. Don't forget that if you're enjoying us, we could really use a five-star rating. We're desperate Wherever you listen to us, and the best way to help us grow is by telling your friends about us. We're here for the long haul, but we'll be able to be here more frequently for you the higher we move up the charts or, you know, even get on the chart. Yeah, okay, let's go. Are you ready? That's you, joe, let's do it.

Speaker 1: 1:54

We left you in part two in 2023. Wait, that's now. Yeah, y'all. This case is evolving, live and it's wild, so let's catch you up. July 2023.

Speaker 1: 2:08

And here we go the tangled web we weave on a journey to arrest and charge Rex A Hewerman from Long Island on three charges of first degree murder. And before we begin, I actually need to shout out all the amazing true crime podcasters, this community of passionate people who sift through documentaries, podcasts, newspaper articles, forums, speak to families. You know they even talk to investigators and analyze documents. I have seen so many amazing true crime podcasters, you know just pour themselves into searching for the truth. And we have the heavy hitters, like crime junkie, who have given back so much to victims' families and have even helped solve crimes. The smaller podcasters who are diving into true crime stories for the first time because this is what they feel called to do, like Lauren Conlin of corruption in Tennessee on Grand Solomon's death. In the fierce women, like Mandy Matney of True Sunlight you may recall her from the Murdoch Trials who refused to back down in search for the truth. And the podcasts that are operated from a dining room table and researched into the night after a long shift of work the one women teams, like Primetime Crime with Kylie with a K, I'll link all the ones I've listed in our show notes. You guys, this genre needs to be a community over competition, because the only thing worth winning in this arena is truth and justice. And if we can come together and share each other's stories and work together, I think we can help prevent more crimes in the future.

Speaker 1: 3:38

We need to shout out Mr Bill Smith of Middle Tennessee, who went onto our website truecrimeandheadlinescom, or click support our show in the show description and donated to our coffee fund. Cheers Coffee's on you, mr Smith. Thank you. We are enjoying a nice coffee on you this week and it's fuel to keep us going. And we would love to thank another supporter, ginger, who went on and donated coffees for us too. Thank you, Ginger. We're just a two-person women-owned business and the Audio House LLC, and we do it all, folks, and we do it with what's left of us. But if you help share us, review us or donate to us, we love to make it that we get to share the best of us and make this our full-time career. And Jody will do it, because I've told her.

Speaker 1: 4:24

I've told her what was that about boundaries in the last episode? You can keep up with us in between episodes. We do release a new episode every Wednesday and you can keep up with us on Instagram at truecrimeandheadlines. And don't forget to say hi to me over on Instagram. My handle is at yourhostjewels. Okay, we good, let's do it All right back to Rex. Who is he? Rex Hewerman is a 59-year-old Caucasian male from New York. He is financially stable with a career in architecture. It's been reported in numerous publications, through many different sources, that Rex was well-odd, to put it mildly.

Speaker 2: 5:08

Well-odd, very odd.

Speaker 1: 5:10

His former classmates report that Rex was often a target for bullies while in school, and his former employees state that Rex was extremely odd. In fact, one former employee claims she was going on a cruise for her 40th birthday and Rex was asking her where she was going to be and she said I don't know. Somewhere in the middle of the ocean. And lo and behold, she receives an envelope under her door while on a boat on a cruise in the middle of the ocean, and the note was from him. That said I told you I could find you.

Speaker 2: 5:46

In hindsight that's creepy as it is, but then when you find out he's been linked to the serial murders, that's creepy.

Speaker 1: 5:56

Neighbors even recall that Rex's home, which was situated just across the Bay of the Gilgo Beach area where the Gilgo Four victims' remains were located. The home looked dilapidated and very unlike the other wealth to do, and neatly kept homes in the area, In fact in the ocean. We're even warned to stay away from that house. So there's that.

Speaker 2: 6:17

Where's his house in relation to where Shannon's escort was?

Speaker 1: 6:23

Oh, it's within the vicinity. They're all within Not in the same community, not in the same exact community, but it's in the same vicinity, the same county. Okay, Neighbors also report they almost never saw anybody or any activity surrounding this home. So did he live alone? No, joe, thank you for asking. Rex lived with his wife and her name is ASA. Would that be Aisa? Aisa, yeah, aisa and his two adult children. So he has a stepson who has some fairly severe developmental delays and he has a daughter, and they all live there.

Speaker 1: 7:04

And what we know about the specifics of Rex Heerman's case against him stems from court documents and official police statements. It's important to recognize that this is an ongoing case and an open case, so you know what that means. We don't get everything yet. You gotta wait for the books to come out. So that means the authorities are rightfully withholding information from the public at the time being. This case will be unfolding in real time and, as it does, you bet your bottom dollar will be doing updates as it continues to unfold for you Now.

Speaker 1: 7:38

When the task force was formed in 2022, the team worked tirelessly, following old leads, new leads and tracing back all the steps taken or not taken at the time. Now recall the corruption that was going on in the department at the time. You know, joe, we have no idea how far it went. I mean, I don't rule anything out at this point, to be honest Connections and corruption. I mean call me jaded, but I mean the writing's on the wall.

Speaker 1: 8:06

With that guy right and with the new Suffolk County Police Commissioner hellbent on seeking justice for these victims, some good people stepped up and got things rolling. Yes, task force. They followed up on all these statements, reviewed all these records and they followed up on a statement from 2010, which we recalled in episode excuse me in part two that saw a truck Chevy Avalanche around the scene where Costello was last seen. I remember that, so we need to backtrack a little. In part two, I shared how all four of the Gilgo victims were sex workers. Very petite. This is where it gets darker. If you need to fast forward because you don't want to hear information about predators towards children, go ahead and skip forward about 30 seconds to a minute, joe.

Speaker 1: 9:04

You can't skip forward because, you're sitting with me, so I'm going to do my best to be respectful of all the triggers in this room as well. Rex Euromon's phone had internet searches full of child pornography and violent adolescent rape-related pornography searches, and I will not share the names of the searches. I as well had to put it down when I was listening as well to different reports and reading different reports. That's just triggering for that part, but I won't go into that part, but it's there.

Speaker 2: 9:40

You mean like the terms in which she was searching for were pretty violent.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Yes, and it was very purposeful. Children violent children, sex crimes, and tie that to the fact that all the Gilgo Four victims were very tiny, it makes us wonder if the crimes were fueled by violent sexual desires. Finding sex workers, specifically, who would look closer to children but would be accessible and willing participants to meet up for consensual encounters yes, that's exactly.

Speaker 1: 10:18

Thank you for doing that. And choosing sex workers almost ensures a lag in discovery time, because we all know too well we talked about the urgency for victims. When they are not fitting, the showcase image of a typical victim isn't there and, according to history search records, rex also searched the Gilgo serial killer multiple times throughout the years and he was searching documentaries, podcasts, hey Rex, and the same Gilgo news pages which we have sourced here as well during our research. Now we could devils advocate and advocate and put on our defense attorney hat for a moment and say, okay, yeah, well, he's a family man in the Gilgo Beach area and he was concerned for his family safety. Okay, but so concerned that he also searched for multiple people, of extended family members of the victims. I don't think we can explain that one away, searching for the family victims fathers, mothers, sisters.

Speaker 1: 11:24

Now, my search history would not be so different at this point because I'm researching all of these crimes. However, this is where it differs. I'm not a killer Full stop. Are you Full stop? What was his purpose and did it just stop with the Gilgo murders? Yeah, he wasn't researching any other true crime cases, any other crimes in that area. He was only tracking any leads on possible serial killer news for the Gilgo 4. So how did we even get his phone records? Well, to be more accurate, we need to say phones. Rex Eurman had over seven burner phones which he used to conduct multiple internet searches and phone calls. When the police connected Rex to this truck in 2022, which was reportedly seen by an eyewitness in the Gilgo Beach area in 2010. They trailed his activity and through this surveillance, they watched Rex purchase and load minutes onto burner phones, still reaching out to sex workers to set up meetings for sexual encounters, even as early as 2023.

Speaker 2: 12:46

I was going to say do we think that there are? So those bodies were found in 2010,. Do we think that there are more bodies?

Speaker 1: 12:54

We, the collective, we, or me, julie and all her voices Collective, you know, public consensus of which I found is yes.

Speaker 2: 13:07

Okay, we just haven't found them.

Speaker 1: 13:08

But the connections are not there yet, so the focus is on what can we nail him for to get him out the streets?

Speaker 2: 13:14

And if his family's at the house and if there's not a lot of activity at the house, where was he taking these women to engage in sex acts and murder?

Speaker 1: 13:24

That's a very good question.

Speaker 2: 13:25

I don't know.

Speaker 1: 13:26

That's a very good question. Burner phones are not as secret and private as they were once led as it was once led to us to believe. You know when they were first coming out. Burner phones popular in pop culture, in the movies. Let's get a burner phone. You can't trace us. Well, according to the website Rexfieldcom, quote, all mobile phones, even burner phones and burner apps, go througha cellular carrier or virtual number operator. The cellular carrier is involved in every text, phone call and data link and holds account information that reveals a subscriber's identity. You can obtain information such as call logs, data usage, text messages and local information from the cellular carrier or virtual number operator through a subpoena served by law enforcement or a lawyer. End quote. So let me break it down. We only know about Rex because this task force in 2022, reads a report about an eyewitness statement that said they saw a certain truck. Searches around the area of that truck revealed Rex Hewerman had that type of truck.

Speaker 2: 14:43

So they had to already be on him to even look to see what kind of truck he had, because who knows how many avalanches there were in the area it's not a heavily populated area.

Speaker 1: 14:52

This is not a large area. This section, if you do this radius of this section, it's not a heavily populated area, and this guy lives in Long Island and he's working in Manhattan, so I'll go into that in a second. But Rex was also on websites such as Tinder and he was using his own photos for his own profile picture and he was using different emails, but he did use the same email a few times to log into different burner phones. So why does this matter? It matters because I've withheld one little piece of information. It matters because, Joe, I've withheld one little piece of information from you and I know how much you love that Two of the victims were contacted numerous times by a burner phone right before they went missing.

Speaker 1: 15:46

Three of the four victims communicated with their client through a burner phone. Two had numerous communications before they went missing. The police were then able to follow their lead about Rex and trace the location of the burner phone calls that were made through the victims' phones to that of Rex's own personal cell phone and they had the same activity hitting cell towers. So he has his personal phone on him and he has a burner phone on him allegedly, and this burner phone is the one calling these girls, the Gilgore Four girls, and they contract the same activity. When the burner phone called, let's say, amber, the one that went missing, she was one of the Gilgore Four called Amber. Rex was placed one fourth of a mile away from his Manhattan architecture office, where the same peeing was from the burner phone. So they line up. They were able to triangulate his movements with the burner phone. Fascinating right Movements, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 17:06

The police, with this information, take it even further. Recall how one of the victims was bound with that leather belt with the initial WH. We talked about how Rex's grandfather was William Heurman. So add all this to the list of evidence to possibly charge this man. Still not enough, though. What do you typically want to have to get somebody? What?

Speaker 2: 17:33

type of evidence.

Speaker 1: 17:34

Absolutely not that hair. Yeah, recall we had the hair. So the task force has connected his truck, triangulated the calls, his personal calls, the belt connection. Now there was DNA found, hair found on that belt and it was sent to the crime lab. And now it's not an overnight turnover, like you see in CSI shows. It takes months to get back in real time because crimes have backlogs, people are waiting, limited resources, limited personnel. There's backlogs in this case as decades old.

Speaker 1: 18:14

And here we go. The hair came back as a female, but it was not any of the females that were discovered as a gilgothor. Was it his wife's? Yes, I won't even bury that lead. Yes, and undercover agent retrieved trash from the human's home and they were able to match the DNA retrieved to what they found to the victims. Now, it wasn't an exact match but the likelihood I believe it was a 99% chance that the hair that they found was a match from the DNA they found in the trash from a female in his home, his wife. His wife is not a suspect in this crime, even though it links her DNA. So how?

Speaker 2: 19:06

Yeah, the belt was in the house and her head with her hair, is on the house.

Speaker 1: 19:10

Yeah, exactly. And they've been married for 25 years yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:13

I'm sure my husband has my hair all over his things.

Speaker 1: 19:17

Well, we don't need to know about your hair. Why did you have to say things? Why did you have? You could have just his pertain things, okay. So Asa, his wife, was actually gone, while three of the four victims went missing.

Speaker 1: 19:35

She wasn't even in the country. There you go. There was my question. Rex was alone, without his wife, and this is why many sources speculate she had nothing to do with the murders, other than the man she was associated with, that she was married to for 25 years, had her hair transfer from his clothe, her clothe, from her body, her things, to his body, to the victims. And after this connection was made, rex's DNA was tested against one more sample. They found a male sample and this was made by tracking and tracing Rex and seeing that he was consuming pizza and waiting for him to throw this pizza box away, going through his trash because it's not illegal to take trash and they were able to compare the pizza crust, the DNA from the pizza crust, to the DNA they collected. So Rex's DNA came back. A perfect match, bingo. Without a doubt, it matched Rex's DNA to the victims found on the Gilgo Beach Bingo.

Speaker 1: 20:49

Next day Rex is arrested. Here's the bail document, which tells us a lot about what the state has built as far as a case against Rex. Now, remember y'all, he has not gone to court yet. So if this case is interesting to you, you wanna make sure you follow along because things will be unraveling and being unveiled in real time for us. So here is the bail document, which tells us a lot about what they have first and second degree murder on three counts for victims, for the victims Waterman, barthelomy and Costello. Now this is the bail application that was filed with the court and it tells us how strong of a case they really do have. So pay attention to what it says you ready Quote, as described below based on the serious, heinous nature of these serial murders, the planning and forethought that went into these crimes, the strength of the people's case, the length of incarceration the defendant faces upon conviction, the extended period of time that this defendant was able to avoid apprehension, his recent searches for sadistic materials, child pornography, images of the victims and their relatives, counter surveillance conducted online as to the criminal investigation, his use of fictitious names, burner email and cell phone accounts and his access to and history of possessing firearms, the only means to ensure defendant Rex A Heuerman's return to court is to remand him without bail.

Speaker 1: 22:25

End quote. Spoiler alert he didn't get out on bail. That's good. At least that document is. Fire. Go off the prosecutors. And he has pled not guilty to all of these charges and his wife, asa, has also filed for divorce. She filed for divorce. Get it girl.

Speaker 1: 22:45

Immediately Now. I shared in part two the eyewitness about the Chevy Avalanche truck near the vicinity where Ms Amber Costello was last seen. Here's what the bail application officially states happened you ready? According to witnesses, around the time of these communications between the burner cell phone and the Costello phone, on September 1st through 2nd 2010, a prostitution client showed up at Miss Costello's residence located in West Babylon, new York. After the client entered the home, a ruse was executed on the client, whereby a person pretended to be the outraged boyfriend of Amber Costello and the client left from the residence while Amber Costello retained the money the client had brought to pay for her services. Based upon interviews, that client was described as a large white male, approximately 6'4 through 6'6 to height, in his mid-40s, with dark bushy hair and big oval-style 1970s-type eyeglasses. A witness described into the police as appearing like an ogre. Furthermore, a witness noticed a first-generation Chevrolet avalanche parked in the driveway of the residence and no Joe. I don't know the witness's name. I don't know if it was a roommate or not. You brought that up earlier. According to the witness, following the ruse, this client said he was just her friend tell her I'll give her a call and walked out the front door. Thereafter, at two. This mirrors the physical attributes of defendant Rex A Hewerman, who was a large male, approximately 6'4 in height, in excess of 240 pounds in weight, with dark, bushy hair, who wears large eyeglasses and who was 46 years old when Amber Costello went missing. Now, the burner cell phone sent a text message to the Costello phone, which stated that was not so nice. I need credit for next time. Phone records show that the burner phone was located at Massa-Piqua Park within two minutes of this text message being sent. Okay, I'm going to sidetrack here. Rex lives in Massa-Piqua Park.

Speaker 1: 25:24

According to a witness, later that day, on September 2, 2010, ms Costello was again contacted by the same client that was in the house the night before with the avalanche. Furthermore, amber told us he wanted to see her again, but he didn't want to come back to the house because of her boyfriend. Thereafter, on September 2, 2010, at approximately 9.32 pm, the same burner phone from the previous evening again communicated with the Costello phone. During this communication, the burner cell phone used a cell site located in Midtown Manhattan. Side note, rex's office was in Manhattan. Okay, following this communication and based upon the cell site tower records, the burner cell phone traveled to Massa-Piqua Park and had contacts with the Costello phone at approximately 10.39 and 11.05 pm. Cell site records for the burner phone indicate that at approximately 11.17 pm the phone traveled to West Babylon in proximity to the residence of Amber Costello. In summation, this prosecution just did a fire job connecting Rex from his home to his work, to Amber, to the burner phone, and I want to read some of the searches before we conclude for today about some of the searches that he conducted from these burner phones, in case you still don't feel like there's enough to charge this man. Here are just some of the searches Now I'll be mindful about which ones I read aloud.

Speaker 1: 27:10

Why could law enforcement not trace the calls made by the Long Island serial killer? Why hasn't the Long Island serial killer been caught? Long Island serial killer phone call. Long Island serial killer update. Long Island serial killer update 2022. Fbi active serial killers Serial killers by State 2023. Stop of all known serial killers and solve serial killer cases. 11 currently active serial killers Eight terrifying active serial killers.

Speaker 1: 27:48

We can't find Megan Waterman, melissa Barthelamy, marine Brené Barnes, and then it has redacted names of Melissa Barthelamy's relatives that he also searched. You recall that Melissa's family received phone calls from Melissa's own cell phone. Yeah, a man. Okay, another search was inside the Long Island serial killer in Gilgo Beach. Here we go. Here's one Gilgo Beach Killer criminal minds. And the last one I want to share with you. The search was in Long Island serial killer investigation. New phone technology may be key to break the case. That's right, rex. I mean he had to know they were closing in on him. These were all searches that he made. Now, as his defense attorney, I would absolutely spin this as a concerned family man. However, when you go into character witnesses, oh my gosh, the things I believe are going to come out in this case. Now, for selfish reasons, I hope that they allow news in the courtroom. I'm not sure what the judge will decide, because it is becoming quite of a spectacle and I'm sure we're not helping by reporting on it but these girls deserve it, their families deserve it.

Speaker 1: 29:17

Why was the fourth one not tied to him? You know, I'm not sure they didn't go into exactly why it wasn't tied, I don't know, but it says that they're close, they're close to tying and there's a footnote in that document that was filed for the bail hearing that they were close in closing in on tying him to the fourth. Okay, the other thing.

Speaker 2: 29:37

I think that we need. We would really be missing if we didn't touch on. Is the mental health of Rex right? Like I'm curious? There's so much we don't know. I'm curious about his early childhood. We know that there was bullying, but I imagine there was probably other things. What's his relationship like with his primary caregivers, his family, siblings, et cetera, any other trauma that he endured? I'm thinking about, because he's I'm presuming, because there are sex workers, that there was also sexual assault with these deaths. Do we know that?

Speaker 1: 30:15

We're not sure With the sexual assault, especially when you have women who are working as sex workers and then they've been discarded for years. I'm not sure what remains.

Speaker 2: 30:32

So we don't know that he engaged in sexual acts with them before he killed them.

Speaker 1: 30:36

We do not know that at the time here's a picture of him, by the way.

Speaker 1: 30:41

Yeah, that's disgusting, he's massive. I'm wondering too. You know, I did read reports about his daughter talking about how, you know, this life is just a nightmare now. And the police destroyed their family home searching for things Obviously rightfully so. You don't leave anything unturned. They even took the deck apart and dug under the deck. Thank you, Thank you Self-Elec County, because they're doing what they should have done years ago. They're doing it now and I will be very surprised if this man gets off, because I really believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg of what they have found. They are still holding cards close to them. What they released to us in the public is just the tip of the iceberg, Just the fact of what they listed and why he should not be out on bail, the risk he has. I mean, they have a lot. They have documents and documents against this man.

Speaker 2: 31:41

I mean, I imagine there's some narcissism with him and we've talked about kind of the personality disorder cocktail with narcissism, borderline, some other things kind of in there. But I think what would help us understand? I'm always interested in the why behind the act and I think we just need to know more about his early childhood, outside of the bullying, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 32:09

And I think that will likely go into all of that as this case I hope so. As this case goes on Now. He was on suicide watch when he was in jail. I don't believe he's on suicide watch anymore and the family is back in their family home Now. His wife, who is actively seeking a divorce from him, or seeking a divorce from him, asa, was reported to have been saying how their son doesn't understand what's going on because of his developmental delays and his daughter is living through just this hellish nightmare.

Speaker 2: 32:46

How old is she?

Speaker 1: 32:47

now Do we know? They're in their 20s, they're adult children.

Speaker 2: 32:51

Yeah, and kind of that odd behavior too I think about in a social personality disorder. I think about like schizotypal or schizotypal or schizotypal personality disorder. There's a lot of different, you know, rule outs or possibilities, but I think that to understand the why we've got to know more about who he was before this.

Speaker 1: 33:15

Yeah, he still claims. I mean, he stood before the judge and he told the judge I did not do this, I did not do this. So, like you said, the patterns of behavior, his upbringing. I think if we've learned anything throughout all this true crime stuff is you know, you can't believe him yet, you can't believe anybody yet and you have to do your due diligence. I mean, is it possible he's innocent? At this point, the ethical answer would be yes. Anything is possible in the court of law. We are not the court of law. What do we believe?

Speaker 1: 33:55

I believe the police have enough information to adequately arrest and charge Rex Huberman for the murders. And I mean the DNA is damning. Come on, absolutely yeah, the DNA is damning. And you know, when we talk about the victims doing business out of the motels, that could tell you where he was going to meet with these women. Out of hotels, motels, out of his car. You never know. And I'm sure all this information will eventually come out. I have a lot of faith in this task force team. They have proven that they are trying to right the wrongs of the bad eggs before them.

Speaker 2: 34:36

Yeah, that's incredible to see, Really encouraging. I really hope so.

Speaker 1: 34:39

You guys, you'll want to follow along this case. Keep up with us. We'll post updates on our social media. Remember. You can follow us at truecrimeandheadlines on Instagram and you can follow me at your host, jules, and say hi to me. Joe, thank you for gracing us with your presence. I do what I can. Don't forget October is spooky season. Our next episode is going to be a series on the Salem witch trials, and then we're going to bring you into the shining, the story behind the Stanley Hotel, and we're going to round you out with the murders of the Lizzie Borden case and I said it like that because there's some speculation about the truth behind who did it.

Speaker 2: 35:20

But Jody, you ready. Thank you for coming. You guys have a good day.

Speaker 1: 35:26

Tell them thank you, joe, thank you, we love you. Bye guys and me.

Speaker 2: 35:32

I want to have a healthy. My mama is a podcaster. Bye too.