FIRST ON FOX: Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect, suburban dad and duck hunter who Suffolk County police allege is the suspected Gilgo Seashore serial killer, might have gone from the boat ramp close to his Massapequa Park, New York, residence to the marsh grass the place investigators discovered the victims in minutes, just about undetected, if he took a flat-bottomed vessel he had entry to.
“There’s a probability that this was an possibility that he would have seen on the time as one thing that may be viable for him if, in reality, he was trying to get rid of a physique,” Paul Mauro, a lawyer and former NYPD inspector, stated Wednesday throughout a go to to the realm.
Prosecutors declined to remark Wednesday on whether or not they imagine the victims had been pushed to the realm over the bridge to Ocean Parkway, however the bay aspect of the seashore is sort of instantly south of a ship ramp near Heuermann’s residence.
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“The query turns into, is it not much less ostentatious to strategy from the waterside versus parking an SUV, this well-known Avalanche that the accused had, on the highway, every time he did it nighttime or in any other case, haul a lifeless physique into the woods, after which bury that physique, which is at all times going to take a while on the quilt of darkness?” Mauro requested.
WATCH: Former NYPD Inspector Paul Mauro visits scene the place Gilgo Seashore victims had been discovered
Heuermann was an avid duck hunter and shared a duck boat with a pal, in line with the lawyer for his spouse, who filed for divorce Wednesday.
Public data present he had a looking license as lately as 2012. Moreover, police have stated they discovered a whole lot of firearms in his basement after they started a dayslong search of his home.
“Let’s be frank, we might bury a physique out right here now and no one would know, and it is the center of the day.” — Former NYPD Inspector Paul Mauro
Pictures taken this week of Heuermann’s inexperienced Chevrolet Avalanche – seized in South Carolina however prosecutors say he owned on the time of the murders between 2007 and 2010 – present it had a tow hitch and trailer ball.
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A channel slicing throughout South Oyster Bay from Amityville runs straight to the bottom of Gilgo Seashore, the place there’s a sandy financial institution lower than 50 yards from the place police discovered one of many “Gilgo 4” in December 2010. They’d been trying to find a unique lady, Shannan Gilbert, who went lacking in Might 2010 after a collection of troubling 911 calls.
They had been discovered within the brush between two small coves north of Ocean Parkway dubbed Hemlock and Coast Guard.
“It is a idea,” Mauro stated. “The bottom was completely different, doubtless, again then, however who is aware of, it could have been extra advantageous.”
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He stated he suspects it was one thing police had seemed into. Pictures from early 2011 present a Suffolk County dive workforce looking out Hemlock Cove earlier than they lastly discovered Gilbert farther east alongside the parkway.
Now, two wood crosses quietly overlook the marsh in Coast Guard Cove – one among which somebody adorned with a cranium masks.
Fox Information Digital made the journey by boat Wednesday morning. It took about 5 minutes to get from the north finish of South Oyster Bay to the south, and 5-10 further minutes in no-wake zones on both finish.
The quickest option to drive there, down Wantagh Parkway and over the bridge, would take about 25 minutes as nicely – whereas passing by means of the Jones Seashore space and within the eastbound lane on the south aspect of Ocean Parkway – requiring the suspect to make a U-turn after Gilgo Seashore, flip round, and park on the aspect of a freeway with no shoulder with a lifeless physique within the truck.
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“If I am placing myself within the mindset of any person who’s trying to get rid of a physique – I’ve a ship; I do know these waters; I imply, let’s be frank, we might bury a physique out right here now and no one would know, and it is the center of the day,” Mauro stated after assessing the waterfront.
Suffolk County District Legal professional Ray Tierney stated the victims had been wrapped in a camouflage burlap that’s in line with the sort utilized in duck blinds and was “clearly” meant to hide the our bodies.
Heuermann had 92 handgun permits, Tierney advised Fox Information Wednesday, and police eliminated greater than 200 firearms from his residence. New York legislation doesn’t require permits for lengthy weapons – and police seized dozens of these.
Suffolk police have stated that the 4 our bodies had been all recovered inside 22 and 33 toes of the highway. Nevertheless, Ocean Parkway has no shoulder, which might make a automobile pulled over conspicuous, Mauro famous, and it’s patrolled by state police.
WATCH: ‘GRIM TIDE’ ON FOX NATION
Anthony Babich, a neighborhood duck hunter and information, stated a small, flat-bottomed boat may very well be the right option to strategy from behind and that the camo burlap “is one of the best” possibility for hunters on the water there.
“You pull proper up, and also you’re good,” he advised Fox Information Digital. “Nobody’s gonna see you, particularly at night time and should you’re conversant in it.”
There’s a sturdy probability that Heuermann, who grew up in Massapequa Park, hunted the realm for years earlier than and after he purchased his childhood residence from his mom within the Nineties.
“He knew the realm,” Babich stated. “He knew the spot – it is the place his dad took him.”
A small duck boat might journey even faster with out having to stay to the channels, which lower by means of extraordinarily shallow sections of the bay, Babich stated.
WATCH: Police in New York search suspected Gilgo Seashore killer Rex Heuermann’s residence in Massapequa Park
“You’ll be able to stroll by means of the grass, no drawback,” Babich stated. “However the place these our bodies had been, should you go a little bit bit south of it, to the mosquito ditches which can be within the mud, it is so thick in there it sucks you down like quicksand.”
GILGO BEACH MURDERS: THE INVESTIGATION IN PHOTOS
Heuermann pleaded not responsible Friday to costs of first- and second-degree homicide within the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27.
His spouse, Asa Ellerup, filed for divorce on Wednesday.
WATCH: ‘GRIM TIDE’ ON FOX NATION
The Gilgo victims had been killed between June 2007 and September 2010 and located wrapped in camouflaged burlap off Ocean Parkway in December 2010.
Heuermann can also be the prime suspect within the dying of a fourth lady, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.
He’s due again in courtroom Aug. 1 and faces as much as life imprisonment with out the opportunity of parole if convicted.
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His lawyer Michael Brown didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Fox Information’ Haley Chi-Sing and Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
