NBC NEWS: 5 June 2024

The Thursday court hearing follows a series of recent searches, both at the architect's Massapequa Park home and in a wooded area of Manorville, where remains linked to the case were found more than a decade ago

By Greg Cergol and Jennifer Millman • Published June 5, 2024 • Updated on June 5, 2024 at 10:16 pm

The New York City architect arrested in connection with a string of bodies found on Long Island's Gilgo Beach is expected to be arraigned Thursday and face additional charges related to the deaths of two victims, sources with knowledge of the investigation confirmed.

Accused serial killer Rex Heuermann is scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. arraignment on the new charges. The names of the victims were not specified.

The indictment is sealed but an NBC News source described Thursday’s arraignment and planned press conference at 11 a.m. by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney as “huge” and “game-changing” in the ongoing case against the 60-year-old former architect.

When asked on Monday if Heuermann's upcoming court date is the result of two recent searches, Tierney said, "It’s the result of those and other investigative steps." However, the district attorney would not confirm any new charges. "There were a number of investigative steps that were taken...Thursday you will see the fruits of that investigation," said Tierney.

News of the additional charges was first reported by Newsday.

In June of this year, 2024, Heuermann was returned to court to face indictment for the murder of additional victims. Leaked information indicated there would be two victims named in the indictment. It had long been known two sets of partial remains found on Gilgo Beach had been linked by DNA to cold case victims Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack. Both Taylor and Mack were determined to have had dismembered torsos found years before in Manorville.

Taylor's decapitated torso was discovered in 2003. Her skull, two hands and a forearm were discovered on Gilgo Beach in 2011. DNA analysis later led to the discovery of her identity.

Mack's dismembered torso was discovered in Manorville in November of 2000. DNA examination of skeletal remains (a head, right foot and hands) discovered on Gilgo Beach April 4, 2011, tied the two cases together; however, it was not until May 28, 2020 the victim was identified as Valerie Mack. Mack had last been seen by her family sometime in the spring or summer of 2000 somewhere in the vicinity of Port Republic, New York.

Broad speculation, therefore, was that the two victims would be the only two Gilgo Beach victims who shared commonality with Manorville: Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack.

The huge surprise disclosed in Court was the naming of a victim whose death occurred in 1993, her body discovered in the woods by two hunters in North Sea. Found splayed on her back, partially clothed, Sandra Castillo's corpse had been abused by more than two dozen sharp force injuries believed to have been imposed post mortem.

The second victim named in Heuermann's latest indictment was, as anticipated, Jessica Taylor.

Both victims were tied to Heuermann by forensic testing of strands of hairs found "on or near" the women's remains. The DNA tests determined those hairs matched genetically to Heuermann, his immediate family members, or to persons who had shared an abode with him. The tests that revealed Heuermann himself to have been the donor excluded 99.96% of the North American population – but could not exclude Heuermann.

DA Ray Tierney announced the Task Force charged with investigating the Gilgo Beach Murders will also pursue cold cases (presumably those where indications are they may have been perpetrated by Heuermann). The Task Force is also working to identify the remaining sets of partial remains located on Gilgo Beach: among them - the victim known as Peaches (an African American female whose dismembered torso was found shortly after death and bore a distinctive tattoo of a peach before her partial remains were located on Gilgo Beach; the skeletal remains of an infant linked by DNA analysis as Peach's child, and an Asian American genetic male who had worn women's apparel at time of death.

What was not disclosed either in court or among documents filed by the prosecution was what evidentiary discovery prompted the recent search that resulted in the indictment for Sandra Castillo.

The bail application provided information that was of macabre interest. The discovery of a "planning document" created by Heuermann about 2000 originally but modified subsequently. It detailed methods to be used to avoid detection (such as a reminder to always buy gas with cash, locations of roadside cameras, avoidance of use of credit cards, destruction of photos, and so forth) and ways to keep victims alive for prolonged torture sessions and means to muffle sounds, a reminder that "small is good" and a personal admonishment to strike first blow with more force.

It was left to speculation as to what triggered that Manorville search although Tierney was quoted as saying, "Officials have recovered a large amount of technology from the residence, including 15 cameras, 27 computers, 46 cell phones and over 30 hard drives."

This monster becomes more ghoulish with each finding of his twisted, evil mind and the detestable ways in which he satisfied his sick needs.

Your author shall continue to track news of Rex Heuermann's case as it progresses.

In the meantime, I hope to return to the much more enjoyable pursuit of my ancestors and their lives.