In April 2011, just months after the bodies of four women were discovered buried near Gilgo Beach on Long Island’s South Coast, a number of experts and criminologists put together a sketch told The New York Times about the traits they expect to see in a suspect.
The women, wrapped in burlap and buried within a quarter of a mile of each other in the area where the remains of a total of 11 people would eventually be found, were probably killed by a white man. in their 20s to mid-40s, they said. He is married or has a girlfriend. He is well educated and well spoken. He is financially secure, has a job, owns an expensive car or truck, and lives or has lived near where the bodies were found.
On Friday, details began to emerge about Rex Heuermann, who was arrested and charged with murder in the murders of three women. Prosecutors said he was the prime suspect in the fourth woman’s death. Heuermann, 59, is a married white man who works as an architect in Manhattan and lives in Massapequa Park, about 15 miles from Gilgo Beach. Prosecutors said he was in possession of a Chevrolet Avalanche truck at the time of the killings.
None of this proves that Mr. Heuermann is a serial killer, and experts note that records are often used to assess individuals who have come under the radar of investigators. But the similarities went unnoticed by some experts who assembled the 2011 records.
Scott Bonn, criminologist, author and serial killer researcher who spoke about the Gilgo Beach murders, said: “When I heard the news yesterday, I had to smile at myself. because that’s almost what I expected. a phone interview on Saturday.
Heuermann, who is being held without bail at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead, NY, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyer said outside court on Friday that he has denied carrying out the killings.
Attorney Michael Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday night. On Saturday morning, the block around Mr. Heuermann’s house remained closed to the public, except for the public. Many boxers parked outside the house to take away the items collected as evidence.
Killer profiling is not an exact science. And the portrait that experts painted in 2011 can depict many men who live on Long Island and come to Manhattan to work.
“The thing about serial killers – at least the ones in large numbers,” said James Alan Fox, a professor at Northeastern University who has studied serial killers for more than 40 years. than – they’re usually downright normal.
“You can’t use records to find a killer,” Mr Fox said, adding that there have been cases where records are inaccurate.
In 2011, Dr. Bon, then assistant professor of sociology at Drew University in Madison, NJ, predicted that the killer would be “someone who could walk into a room and look like normal Joe. usually yours”.
He believes this man will be organized and careful with his work. He told The Times that the killer was “convincing and rational enough” to convince his victims to meet him on his terms.
Dr Bonn said on Saturday he was not surprised to learn about Mr. Heuermann’s profession. “Who is more organized, who is more meticulous than someone who studies engineering and architecture?” he say. Heuermann will have to convince to sell his skills, he added.
Serial killers tend to be extremely careful not to leave evidence behind and can hide in plain sight, infiltrating their communities, experts say.
“They usually have jobs and families and they kill time part-time,” Mr. Fox said. “It’s not their only activity in life.”
People who have worked with Mr Heuermann say he is extremely demanding, impressing some clients while exasperating others with his attention to detail. Some of his neighbors describe him as an “average” man they wouldn’t think of as “anything but a businessman.” For everyone else, he was someone to stay away from—a tall, dazzling man they would see in the front yard of a run-down, dilapidated house.
Nicholas Ferchaw, 24, a neighbor, said: “We will cross the street. “He’s someone you don’t want to approach.”
Dr. Bonn said serial killers can have seemingly opposite personalities.
“These individuals live fragmented lives,” he said, noting that Mr Heuermann “is clearly very productive – having his own architecture firm and holding a briefcase your own, get on the train, go into town every day, get to Manhattan and be able to function.
“But then,” he said, “it was almost like they flipped a switch and became a completely different individual.”
Corey Kilgannon contribution report.
