How Burner Phones and Pizza Crust Led Police To A Serial Killer

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Good morning!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Not that we’re trying to rush the summer, but did you know that 2 in 5 parents are already shopping for school supplies.

According to a new study, parents are setting aside $225 for back-to-school shopping, and half of parents are concerned about affording all the school supplies they’d like to buy.

But, because we still want to send you off on a high note, 66% of parents say they are anticipating the upcoming school year will be better than last year.

Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney

🗞 MAN ARRESTED IN SERIAL KILLINGS COLD CASE

A Long Island architect was charged Friday with murder in the deaths of three of the victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders on Long Island, New York.

WHAT HAPPENED?
It came after detectives pursued a new lead after more than a decade, saying they matched DNA from a pizza crust the alleged killer ate to genetic material found on one woman’s remains.

Rex Heuermann has lived for decades across a bay from where the remains were found, and is charged with killing three women. The 59-year old is also considered the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman.

This caps off an investigation that first started in 2010.

TIMELINE: GILGO BEACH MURDERS
In 2010, the disappearance of a 23-year-old Shannan Gilbert exposed a larger mystery when investigators found the remains of 10 more bodies all within walking distance of each other. That launched the manhunt for a possible serial killer.

• In December 2010 police discovered the remains of 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy while searching for Gilbert, who had been missing since May of that year.

• Days later, investigators discovered the remains of three additional victims: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Costello, and Megan Waterman. The women were all wrapped in camouflaged burlap and buried within a quarter-mile of each other. They became known as the “Gilgo Four.” Each of these women worked as escorts, who advertised their services on Craigslist.

• Between March and April of 2011, police discovered the remains of six additional people, including an Asian male and a female toddler, along the south shore of Long Island.

  • At this point, police are not connecting these other victims with the “Gilgo Four.”

• In 2011, authorities made a list of characteristics they predicted the “Gilgo Four” killer might possess that would end up being eerily accurate. They said the killer was probably a white man in his mid-20s to mid-40s, married or with a girlfriend, well educated and well spoken, financially secure, owns an expensive car, and lives or used to live near where the bodies were found. But still, the trail went cold.

THE SUSPECT
On Friday, Rex Heuermann was charged in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello — three of the “Gilgo Four.”

So who is Rex Heuermann? He is married and a father of two. He runs a respected Fifth Avenue architecture firm in Manhattan, and lives just 15 miles from Gilgo Beach.

He is charged with six counts of murder: one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in each of the three killings. He was taken into custody without bail Friday. He told his attorney he is not the killer, and entered a not guilty plea. His next court date is scheduled for August 1st.

CONNECTING THE DOTS
In January 2022, Suffolk County prosecutors assembled a team of investigators, analysts, local police, and FBI to resurrect the case and relook at all the evidence. That’s when authorities identified Heuermann as a suspect, and for the next year and a half began watching and surveilling him to build a trail of evidence.

Here are some of the key clues that led to Heuermann’s arrest (full 32 page case):

• Chevy Avalanche: Two months after assembling the new task force, they already linked Heuermann to one crime through a Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck registered to him. A witness reported seeing a similar vehicle when one of the victims disappeared in 2010. After the connection, detectives issued more than 300 subpoenas to connect more dots.

• Cell phone records: Investigators obtained phone records linking Heuermann to burner phones he used to contact the three women he’s suspected of killing. Investigators say he used them to make "taunting phone calls” to victims’ family members, and allegedly used another’s cellphone to check her voicemails.

• Secret online profile: Authorities say Heuermann maintained several email accounts and a Tinder account which he created under pseudonyms to search for sex workers.

• Google searches: Heuermann made at least 200 Google searches about the Gilgo Beach murders in the last year alone, including specifics about the disappearance of the three women he’s suspected of murdering. Authorities say he also “compulsively” kept track of his victims’ families, and made thousands explicit Google searches, including child pornography.

  

  Google searches allegedly made by Heuermann 2022-23

• Pizza crust linked his DNA to crime scene: On January 26, 2023, investigators saw Heuermann throw away a pizza box in Midtown Manhattan. A DNA swab from the leftover crust found a DNA match to a hair found on one of his victim’s bodies.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨 NATION

📌 2024 candidates have convinced voters that the 2024 election is a fight over America’s way of life (WSJ)

📌 Trump, Biden, Desantis: What new candidate fundraising reports says about race (POLITICO)

📌 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes off Alaska’s coast, triggering brief tsunami warning (CBS)

📌 Summer camp gains importance for kids who lived through a pandemic (AXIOS)

📌 Murdaugh boat crash victim gets $15 million settlement (FOX NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Putin says Russia has “sufficient stockpile” of cluster bombs and will use them against Ukraine (AP)

📌 Iran “morality police” resume patrols 10 months after protests began (GUARDIAN)

📌 China and Russia to begin joint military drills in Sea of Japan to counter U.S. sanctions (BLOOMBERG)

📌 Health alerts issued as 105+ degree heat stretches across Italy, Greece, Spain (REUTERS)

💵 BUSINESS & TECH

📌 How AllBirds lost its way: Quality complaints—and intractable holes—have dogged the hot shoe company, which rolled out an assortment of new products (WSJ)

📌 Tesla builds its first cybertruck after years of delays (FORTUNE)

📌 Three independent designers are suing Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein, accusing the company of dishonest and fraudulent business dealings and “egregious” copyright infringement (NBC)

🎥 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Actress and style icon Jane Birkin — who Hermes’ famed handbag is named after — has died in Paris at the age of 76 (ABC)

📌 Say What?!? America has fallen out of love with ice cream (CNN BUSINESS)

📌 Hollywood Strike Sticking Points: Details on where the two sides stand in the negotiation (VARIETY)

📌 Former Fox, Paramount head warns Hollywood faces “absolute collapse,’ Says top actors and execs should take 25% pay cut (The WRAP)

📌 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain dethrones Novak Djokovic to claim historic Wimbledon win in epic five-set thriller (TENNIS)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: JULY 17

• 1902: American mechanical engineer Willis Carrier completed drawings for what would became the first modern air conditioner.
  

• 1918: Former Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed by Bolsheviks.
  

• ​​1955: Disneyland was unveiled during a special live television broadcast on ABC.
  

• 1968: The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine premiered in theaters

• 2005: “Wedding Crashers” premiers in theaters this week 18 years ago, giving us a number of quotes including “stage 5 clinger” and “Crabcakes and football. That’s what Maryland does!”