The Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was linked to the crime scene with the help of a discarded pizza box that was thrown into a Manhattan trash can.
Investigators running surveillance on Rex Heuermann at the Manhattan office where he worked as an architect watched him throw the pizza box away, according to court documents.
The team grabbed a leftover pizza crust and had it swabbed and analysed by a forensics lab. Prosecutors say that the tested sample matched a mitochondrial DNA profile from a male hair collected off burlap recovered from the body of Megan Waterman.
Meanwhile, the Manhattan architect has pleaded not guilty to six counts of murder in connection with the infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office released charging documents on Friday confirming Mr Heuermann, of Massapequa, as the suspected serial killer who targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies along remote Long Island beaches.
He appeared in court in handcuffs and wearing a polo shirt and khaki pants. Mr Heuermann was held without bail as prosecutors had previously sought, citing his recent searches for “sadistic materials, child pornography, images of the victims and their relatives.”
The 59-year-old pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the first degree and three in the second degree over the deaths of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello.
The women are among the “Gilgo Four” whose bodies were found along a stretch of Ocean Parkway in Long Island in 2010.
Court documents state that Mr Heuermann is also the “prime suspect” in the murder of the fourth woman in that group, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, though he is not facing charges related to her death.
