Judge scolds alleged Gilgo Beach killer's defense, vows trial will begin ‘come hell or high water'
The lawyers representing alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann received a stern warning from the New York judge presiding over the case.
Judge Tim Mazzei expressed his frustration with Heuermann’s legal team in a hearing on Tuesday, after the case has dragged through the Long Island courts for over two years, according to the New York Post.
"This trial will begin after Labor Day, come hell or high water," he said, the Post reported.
The scolding came after Heuermann’s lawyer, Michael Brown, introduced a new stack of motions further challenging evidence in the infamous murder case on Monday evening, the Post reported.
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The new defense filings reportedly challenge roughly 20 search warrants carried out by authorities throughout the investigation, with Heuermann’s attorneys asking to suppress some of the DNA evidence – including a discarded pizza crust and energy drink thrown in the trash – while citing constitutional grounds.
"If our government can go into our garbage can and take our DNA and learn everything about us, what’s the purpose of having a Fourth Amendment anymore?" Brown told reporters, according to the Post.
In a September ruling, the judge determined the prosecution could use the DNA evidence in the case.
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Brown went on to insist his team was not stalling while working on the case, according to the Post.
"We’ve been working hard on this case," he said. "We will be prepared to try the case come Labor Day."
On Tuesday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney continued to assert that his office would not consider a plea deal for Heuermann, while adding that his team is prepared to go to trial, the Post reported.
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"The judge was very explicit, and we are ready," Tierney said.
However, Tierney reportedly added that he does not believe Brown is intentionally trying to delay the proceedings, insisting that the flurry of new court motions are "the nature of the business."
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Prosecutors allege Heuermann, 62, was behind the brutal killings of seven sex workers between 1993 and 2010, whose bodies were found throughout remote areas around Long Island.
Valerie Mack, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Jessica Taylor, 20, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Sandra Costilla, 28, and Melissa Barthelemy, 24, have all been named as victims in the murders, with Tierney alleging Heuermann is responsible for their deaths.
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The cases remained unsolved for decades as the sleepy Long Island community reeled over the possibility of a serial killer lurking in their midst. Heuermann was later arrested outside his Manhattan architecture office in July 2023.
Heuermann's defense team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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Prosecutors initially charged Heuermann with three of the murders, with DNA evidence later allegedly linking him to four additional bodies.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the murders and faces a single trial for the seven alleged killings.