(TNND) — Accused serial killer of the Gilgo Beach murders, Rex Heuermann, is expected to stand trial shortly after Labor Day, a judge said during a Tuesday hearing.
Heuermann has previously pleaded not guilty to killing the seven women whose remains were discovered on Long Island.
The 62-year-old suspected murderer has requested to redact certain evidence and dismiss one of the charges.
The defense is trying to exclude the incident when Heuermann was arrested outside of his Midtown Manhattan office in 2023, and was quoted by prosecutors saying, “What is this about?” and “It’s a mistake.” Prosecutors also quoted him asking officers, “What did I do?” according to the defense filing.
Another statement the defense is seeking to have removed is when court officers reviewed Heuermann’s property following his arrest, and he allegedly said, “I guess I won’t be needing that,” referring to his $6,000 watch.
Defense attorney Danielle Coysh said that the statements “were involuntarily made and may not be used in evidence against the defendant.”
The defense is also seeking to remove evidence seized from Heuermann’s home, office, cars and rented storage unit, along with DNA evidence from the case. The judge has denied an attempt by Heuermann to exclude DNA, but now the defense is arguing that the DNA evidence was gathered through an unwarranted search of a Manhattan garage can, where investigators said they found discarded pizza crust that links Heuermann to the murders.
Additionally, the defense is also seeking to dismiss the murder charge for the 1993 death of Sandra Costilla.
A piece of hair found on Costilla’s shirt was linked by prosecutors to Heuermann, the the defense is calling it insufficient.
This evidence, even if accepted as true, does not establish that Mr. Heuermann killed Sandra Costilla, nor that he acted with the intent to cause her death,” Coysh said. “The prosecution presented no eyewitness testimony, surveillance footage, digital evidence, phone records, fingerprint impressions, confession, or murder weapon linking Rex A. Heuermann to this crime.
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The Suffolk County district attorney’s office has until March to respond to the defenses’s requests.
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