Suffolk Sheriff Errol Toulon’s office said Monday Rex Heuermann, the man charged with murder in three of the Gilgo Beach killings, has been placed on suicide watch while in custody within the Suffolk County Correctional Facility.
Victoria DiStefano, a spokesperson for the Facility says that he is “being evaluated by the county’s mental health staff who generally make the determination to place an inmate on suicide watch.”
Authorities are keeping mum about his location, they would not reveal where he is being detained. But it could be the maximum-security facility in Riverhead where other infamous figures, including serial killer Joel Rifkin, and the Amityville Horror killer Ronald DeFeo, were kept pending their legal cases.
“We are not disclosing which facility he is currently in, just that he is incarcerated within the Suffolk County Correctional Facility,” DiStefano wrote in an email.
She said the secrecy of location was for security purposes.
Michael Brown, the accused killer’s lawyer, said he has no prior criminal record and reiterated that Heuermann “insisted that he did not commit these crimes” when he spoke with him.
“There is nothing about Heuermann, who is married for over 25 years and the father of two, that would suggest that he is involved in these incidents,” Brown said, adding, “And while the government has decided to focus on him despite more significant and stronger leads, we are looking forward to defending him in a court of law before a fair and impartial jury of his peers.”
While Brown is making such categorical statements professing Heuermann’s innocence, the Suffolk County authorities, along with the FBI, are executing a meticulous search of his house, two storage facilities in Amityville and his Manhattan office.
A police source told The Post, “We’re just going through his house looking to see if there’s any evidence”, adding, “If he has any trophies.” The presence of the Medical Examiner at the search strongly suggested that investigators feared they might find body parts.
While no “trophies” have yet been found, plenty of other evidence has turned up. The most chilling is a life-like doll that was found in a glass case. One of the eleven believed to have been his victims was a toddler whose identity has never been released. The question is: what is the meaning of this highly unusual find?
Also of note, the investigators found a cache of more than 200 weapons, according to Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison in an interview with Fox on Monday.
“He had an arsenal in a vault that he had downstairs. It’s concerning, regarding the guns being registered or legal or not, that’s something we’re still taking a look at.” Harrison added, “Anytime somebody has that type of arsenal we have some concerns.”
Heuermann was charged Friday with three counts each of first-and second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, and Megan Waterman.
