Rex Heuermann was charged Thursday with the killings of Sandra Costilla in 1993 and Jessica Taylor in 2003.
Long Island Serial Killer suspect Rex Heuermann has been charged with two more murders, with one dating back to 1993.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that a grand jury indicted the architect from Massapequa Park, N.Y., with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Sandra Costilla in 1993 and Jessica Taylor in 2003.
Heuermann is already facing murder charges in the deaths of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. All four women worked as online escorts and disappeared between 2007 and 2010. Their remains were all found in an area on Gilgo Beach in Long Island, N.Y., in December 2010.
Jessica Taylor’s partial remains were discovered by a witness walking their dog on July 26, 2003, according to an amended indictment, which states she was found “lying on her back with her legs bent underneath her.”
A tattoo on her torso had been “severely obliterated by a sharp object” and her arms had been cut off, per the indictment which was released on Thursday. Her other remains, including her skull, were discovered in 2011.
In a statement issued through the family’s attorney, Gloria Allred, Taylor’s mother Elizabeth Baczkiel described her daughter as “compassionate” and “funny.”
Taylor loved to sing along with the radio and was a member of a church choir, Baczkiel said.
“It is a tragedy she never had children. Jessica would have made a great mother. She loved kids and loved working with them,” Baczkiel said, adding that her daughter worked as a summer camp aide.
Sandra Costilla’s remains were discovered on Nov. 20, 1993, by two people hunting in a wooded area, and she was found “lying on her back with her arms outstretched over her head with her uncovered legs spread apart,” per the indictment. Costilla, who was from Trinidad and Tobago, had several “sharp force injuries” across her body.
The indictment also details an alleged planning document that investigators found in which, prosecutors claim, Heuermann diligently recorded his plans. It shows lists under four columns labeled: “Problems,” “Supplies,” “DS” and “TRG.”
The “Supplies” list includes “saw / cutting tools,” “lie / acid,” “burn can” and a police scanner.
The column labeled “TRG” has a bullet point saying “small is good,” which investigators claim in the indictment is significant given that Heuermann’s alleged victims were all petite women.
Under a separate section titled “Things to Remember,” Heuermann allegedly wrote, “get sleep before hunt too tired creats (sic) problems” and “hit harder too many hit to take down. consider hitting neck next time for take down.”
Bob Macedonio, the attorney for Asa Ellerup, Heuermann’s wife, said the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement personnel searched Heuermann’s house over six days last month.
The search, according to Macedonio, focused primarily on the basement.
Heuermann — a father of two— was arrested July 13, 2023, near his office building in Manhattan.
Heuermann was allegedly linked to the murders of Waterman, Barthelemy, Brainard-Barnes and Waterman by burner phones and DNA evidence found on the victims.
He was also traced to a Chevrolet Avalanche registered to him that was allegedly seen at the time of Costello’s disappearance. Authorities also found evidence that Heuermann was allegedly obsessed with the case and searched for articles about the task force that was formed to investigate the murders.
According to authorities, included in his searches were: “Why could law enforcement not trace the calls made by the Long Island serial killer,” and “why hasn’t the Long Island serial killer been caught.”
Investigators also allegedly found hundreds of internet searches about raping and torturing women, child sexual abuse material, and searches involving rape. He also allegedly searched online for his alleged victims and their families.
