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.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
"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.
NBC New York previously reported earlier in the week that Heuermann would face an additional murder charge Thursday. Now it appears there will be at least two additional murders he will be connected to, two sources with knowledge of the investigation told News 4.
Earlier in the week, the Suffolk district attorney's office confirmed the court date but declined to specify the reasoning behind the new hearing or when it would occur.
Heuermann's attorney, Michael Brown, has said his client maintains his innocence. Earlier in the week, he declined to comment on the nature of Thursday's hearing.
The new court date comes two weeks after investigators returned to Heuermann’s single-story home in Massapequa Park, where they had recovered a cache of weapons during an initial search following his arrest last summer. A date for Heuermann’s trial has not yet been set.
During the most recent search, which lasted several days, investigators placed paint chips and other materials into evidence bags and removed a large rectangular object covered in a blue cloth.
"Just like the rest of us, we’re waiting to hear what the district attorney has to say," Vess Mitev, the lawyer representing Heuermann's two adult children, previously told NBC New York. "My clients, again, they’re going to take it day-by-day, minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour as the landscape shifts around them."
Mitev earlier this week told NBC New York his clients have yet to return to their home after the latest police search there and says they stand by their father.
"If it’s one or 100, they are allegations and they are eager have the legal process play itself out. Not in the court of public opinion, but in the courtroom in front of a jury, in front of a judge," Mitev said. "These are allegations. They’re horrible allegations, horrific allegations and they’re dealing with an everyday process of trying to wrap their heads around it, the fact of allegations against their father. But they’re allegations nonetheless."
The 60-year-old Heuermann was first arrested in July 2023 in the deaths of four women whose remains were found in burlap sacks along a remote stretch of Ocean Parkway more than a decade ago. The bodies of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Melissa Barthelemy and Megan Waterman, were found during a search for a missing escort, Shannan Gilbert, who later was found dead in a marsh. Her case was inconclusive; it has not been linked to the others.
As officers searched for her, they found at least six additional sets of remains in addition to the four women's bodies. Not all of those people have been positively identified. At least two were believed to be escorts who fit the victim profile.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Word of the new charges comes weeks after investigators returned to Heuermann's home with a search warrant. It wasn't clear what, if anything, they found, but that search came shortly after another unspecified search connected to the Gilgo investigation, this time in a wooded area in Manorville.
Some of the remains discovered in Manorville years ago, when the investigation started, were linked to the body parts of Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack discovered along Ocean Parkway. No arrests have been made in those cases.
Robert Macedonio, a lawyer for Heuermann’s estranged wife, said the most recent search of the Massapequa Park home was primarily focused on the basement. He said the family was out of state when the search was conducted. Macedonio declined to say what was taken from the home and said the family has not yet received the search warrant affidavit that would spell out their reasons for conducting the search.
During the initial search of the home in July 2023, authorities tore up a wooden deck and used an excavator to dig up the backyard, which they scanned for buried objects using specialized equipment. The most recent search was far less disruptive, according to Macedonio.
Jake Offenhartz and Philip Marcelo of The Associated Press contributed to this report.
