The DNA expert at the center of the Gilgo Beach serial killer case has helped solve several notorious cold case murders – and cracked a mystery at the heart of the infamous Zodiac killer case.
Rex Heuermann returned to the Arthur M Cromarty Criminal Courthouse in Riverhead, Long Island, Wednesday to hear a second day of testimony from expert witness Dr Richard Green.
Green – who has worked as a professor in biomolecular engineering at University of California in Santa Cruz since 2010 – used technology in his lab Astrea Forensics to identify the DNA on hairs found on some of the Gilgo Beach victims.
According to investigators, hairs found on the victims’ bodies were traced back to Heuermann’s wife Asa Ellerup, daughter Victoria Heuermann and a third unnamed individual.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Green testified about a string of other examples where his DNA lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz, or his company Astrea Forensics had helped to solve cold cases and unsolved murders.
He told the court how he was once contacted at his university lab to assist in the Zodiac killer investigation, to try to extract DNA from some letters believed to have been sent by the killer.
Letters had been sent to a newspaper and a victim’s father in connection to the 1966 murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside, California.
‘They wanted to know who sent that letter,’ he said.
Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann is led into the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs on April 15
The DNA expert on Rex Heuermann’s case revealed he had previously worked on the Zodiac killer case. This flyer was distributed by the San Francisco Police Department in October 1969
Green testified that the lab managed to extract DNA from a letter and used it to develop a DNA profile, which then identified the person who wrote the letter.
The individual confessed to writing the letter but investigators determined he was too young at the time to have been the Zodiac killer, Green said.
Green said the person was just a 13-year-old ‘whose motivation was seeking attention.’
The prosecution went on to present a string of newspaper clippings of cold cases being solved thanks, at least in part, to DNA analysis carried out by Green and one of his labs.
Heuermann’s defense attorney Michael Brown objected to the prosecution entering the newspaper clippings as evidence, claiming it was prejudicial.
Judge Timothy Mazzei called a sidebar where the prosecution – including Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney – and the defense gathered to argue over the matter.
Heuermann, dressed in a dark suit with a powder blue shirt and pink tie, sat at the defense table alone, watching on intently.
The judge sided with the prosecution and overruled the objection.
Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch and her daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters were named as three of the four victims in the Bear Brooks murders
After 40 years, ‘Princess Doe’ was identified as Dawn Olanick, a 17-year-old teen from Long Island who was found dead in a cemetery in New Jersey in 1982. The victim’s tooth and eyelash were submitted to Astrea Forensics for DNA extraction which led to her identity as well as the suspected killer
Astrea Forensics also helped in the 1982 case of a 9-year-old girl, Daralyn Johnson (pictured) of Canyon, Idaho who was kidnapped, raped and murdered
Green went on to describe his work on the infamous Bear Brooks murders, where four female victims were found at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire – two in 1985 and two in 2000.
The victims are believed to have been killed in the late 70s or early 80s.
The FBI contacted Green’s research lab in California for help in identifying them, he testified.
Many of the victims’ remains were badly decomposed, he said, with some found in barrels.
Green and his lab used tissue and hair from the victims to generate DNA profiles – and ultimately identified three of the four victims decades after they were killed.
Another case was that of Dawn Olanick, also known as Princess Doe, a 17-year-old girl from Long Island, who was found dead in a cemetery in New Jersey in 1982.
Her case went cold for 40 years until 2022 when she was identified. The victim’s tooth and eyelash were submitted to Astrea Forensics for DNA extraction which led to her identity as well as the suspected killer.
Astrea Forensics also helped in the 1982 case of a 9-year-old girl, Daralyn Johnson of Canyon, Idaho who was kidnapped, raped and murdered.
Astrea Forensics founder Dr Richard Green (pictured) testified about the DNA technology used to tie Heuermann to the killings
Charles Fain was wrongly convicted for Johnson’s killing but always claimed his innocence. New DNA testing later led to his conviction being overturned and the case going unsolved.
Green explained that he was contacted by the FBI to help solve the case. There was not much forensic evidence in the case but some hairs were found on the victim’s underwear and sock.
Green was asked to develop a genotype file that could be used by investigative genetic genealogists to develop leads. After a suspect was identified, he was sent a DNA sample to compare to the DNA profile on the hair found on the victim.
It was this case that led Green to create IBDGem, a software program that compares DNA from a known sample to an unknown sample.
Green said that he ran the IBDGem software on the suspect and brother in Johnson’s case, which led to David Dalrymple, 66, in 2022. Green was an expert witness in the case that led to the conviction of Dalrymple.
His company also does a lot of work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), he testified.
During a combative cross-examination, Heuermann’s defense attorney hit Green with the fact that the case in Idaho is the only time his DNA analysis has been used in a criminal court case.
‘Literally one court out of 50 states have accepted your product,’ he said.
Melissa Barthelemy (top left), Amber Costello (top right), Megan Waterman (bottom left), and Maureen Brainard-Barnes (bottom right) became known as the ‘Gilgo Four’
Valerie Mack (left) disappeared in 2000 and parts of her body were discovered in Long Island that November. Jessica Taylor (right) vanished in 2003 with some of her remains being found in Manorville that year
Sandra Costilla (left) was murdered in 1993, making her the earliest known victim. Karen Vergata’s (right) remains were identified in 2023. Heuermann has not been charged in connection to her death
Brown grilled Green about whether his DNA technology is widely accepted by the scientific community.
Brown pushed that something being accepted by the scientific community might not be the same as being accepted in a criminal court.
At that point, the judge scolded Brown, saying: ‘Isn’t that my decision to make?’
Judge Mazzei went on to make it clear that whether or not it is accepted in his courtroom in New York will be his decision.
Heuermann’s legal team is seeking to sow doubts in the DNA technology used in the case – branding it ‘magic’ that has never been used before in a criminal case in New York.
He is asking the judge to throw out the DNA evidence allegedly tying Heuermann to the murders.
Prosecutors are fighting back, arguing the method is well-regarded in the scientific community.
Asa Ellerup and her attorney Robert Macedonio is seen inside the court house on Wednesday
Rex Heuermann’s wife Asa Ellerup, daughter Victoria Heuermann and their attorneys attend a hearing for Rex Heuermann at the Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Courthouse in Riverhead, Long Island on Tuesday
Asa Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann – dressed head to toe in a vibrant, multicolored outfit – looked on from the fourth row of the courtroom at the hearing
The cross-examination will resume Thursday morning in Riverhead.
The defense is then expected to call some expert witnesses before the judge issues a ruling on the matter.
Whether or not the DNA expert’s technology is allowed in the case could make or break the case against the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect – determining whether jurors will be allowed to hear critical evidence tying him to the murdered women.
Green testified Tuesday that his company Astrea Forensics has become the ‘go to’ for the specific DNA testing used in the case.
He told the court how Astrea specializes in DNA extraction from old or difficult samples – such as ancient bones that are tens of thousands of years old or rootless hairs.
Through his research, he went on to found the lab Astrea Forensics in 2019 – the lab that carried out the DNA testing in the case against Heuermann.
Green explained how the technology developed by his lab is able to develop a DNA profile from a rootless hair – like the hairs found on the bodies of several of the Gilgo Beach victims.
A hair, he explained, has small amounts of DNA that are fragmented – making it more difficult to obtain a profile from.
But, he said that DNA is ‘easily recoverable’ from rootless hairs using his lab’s technology.
It is then compared to a DNA sample taken from a known individual using a buccal swab, to see if it matches.
Rex Heuermann, a 61-year-old architect, returned to a courtroom in Riverhead, Long Island, Tuesday
Heuremann is getting escorted inside the Riverhead courtroom surrounded by court officers
Alleged Gilgo serial killer Rex Heuermann appears for a frye hearing at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on April 3
Heuermann’s now ex-wife Ellerup – who returned to the courtroom Wednesday for the hearing – exclusively told DailyMail.com, through her legal team, that she believes her husband may have been framed for the murders.
Ellerup’s attorney Bob Macedonio told DailyMail.com outside the courtroom Wednesday that Green’s testimony had not provided any clarity to the family members about how their hairs had been found on some of the murdered women.
‘This is the procedure used to extract DNA,’ he said of the hearing.
‘The clarity is going to come on how was Asa’s hair or Victoria’s hair taken into evidence off the alleged victims’ bodies.’
He added that the family does not believe they are ‘going to be able to counter it or prove the science wrong, it’s just not possible.’
‘But the extraction of evidence, the maintaining of evidence, the chain of evidence – all that is going to come into play at the trial.’
Ellerup’s concerns come after she watched the new Netflix docuseries Gone Girls about the case, her legal team revealed.
The show documented the corruption that plagued the case in the early days, with the then-Suffolk County Police Commissioner James Burke botching the investigation and forcing the FBI off the case. He was then sentenced to 46 months in prison for 2012 beating of a man who stole sex toys and paraphernalia out of his vehicle. The then-Suffolk County DA Tom Spota was also convicted for corruption, obstruction and witness tampering in connection to Burke.
The home of Rex Heuermann in Massapequa Park, Long Island, during a search of his home
Law enforcement on the scene of Rex Heuermann’s home following his arrest in July 2023
The Netflix series ‘raises more concerns and questions about how this investigation was conducted and procedures that were used to extract that DNA,’ the legal team said this week.
Ellerup has been attending the critical Frye hearings to hear the evidence for herself.
The couple’s daughter Victoria joined her mom in court Tuesday but did not put in an appearance Wednesday.
Heuermann is currently charged with the murders of seven women over a two-decade reign of horror running from 1993 to 2011.
The Gilgo Beach serial killer case had haunted the Long Island community for more than a decade, ever since the first of multiple bodies were discovered along Ocean Parkway in December 2010.
The chilling case began back in May 2010, when Shannan Gilbert vanished in bizarre circumstances one night.
The 24-year-old, who was working as an escort, had gone to see a client in the Oak Beach Association community when she made a terrifying 911 call, saying that someone was trying to kill her.
During a search for Gilbert in December 2010, officers came across the body of Barthelemy in the marshes by Gilgo Beach.
Police search a marsh in Oak Beach for the remains of Shannan Gilbert in December 2011
Within days, three more bodies – Amber Costello, Melissa Barthelemy and Megan Waterman – had been found.
The four victims, who became known as the Gilgo Four, had been dumped within a quarter mile of each other, some of them bound and wrapped in burlap.
Over the following months, the remains of seven other victims were found dumped along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.
Gilbert’s body was found last. Investigators maintain that she was not a victim, but died by accidental drowning after she fled into the dense thicket that night.
More than a decade later, in July 2023, Heuermann was dramatically arrested as he left his office in midtown Manhattan.
He was initially charged with the murders of three women: Costello, Barthelemy and Waterman.
Since then, he has been charged with the murders of four more victims: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack.
All the victims were working as sex workers when they vanished after going to meet a client.
Heuermann has not been charged in connection to the deaths of Karen Vergata and three still-unidentified victims, known only as ‘Asian Doe,’ ‘Peaches,’ and Peaches’ toddler daughter.
Costilla, meanwhile, had never been linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killer case until Heuermann was hit with charges for her murder in 2024.
Her murder expands the timeline that the accused serial killer is alleged to have been actively preying on victims.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
