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Killing Grounds The Gilgo Beach Murders S01E03
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00:06all right my last question
00:09if you were a tool or an object to bring your business to greater heights what would it be
00:21that's an interesting question i know because for what i do we have to have so many tools in
00:28the toolbox just one just one just one i have one tool that's pretty much used in almost every job
00:35and it's actually a cabinet maker's hammer oh okay cabinet maker hammer okay it is
00:43persuasive enough when i need to persuade something not someone something
00:51sometimes i have to be the heavy framing hammer other times i'm the lightweight hammer just to
01:01nudge things along all right i guess it's a hammer we got it selfie time selfie time
01:09you're fast ready one two three ah can you smile that is
01:34because this case gained such notoriety i knew that it would be very easy for the person who
01:40perpetrated these crimes to utilize the internet to try to figure out what we were doing so
01:45that's why i was very quiet i didn't show up on gilgo beach with the big magnifying glass and talk
01:52about all the things we were going to do because i wanted the perpetrator to think that it was business
01:57as usual we were spinning our wheels we weren't making any progress to maintain that investigative
02:05secrecy not everybody in my office knew what we were doing not everybody in the pd
02:09or the fbi it was just the members of the task force
02:17we had our first task force meeting february 1st and i think march 14th of 2022 was when
02:23rex yurman was was identified as a suspect for the first time there was a new level of energy
02:29injected into this task force they were finally starting to see some meaningful movement on this case
02:37but what we think doesn't matter as prosecutors it's what we can prove
02:44so we would just work to try to establish more connections to those murders
02:56so we were surveilling him for a number of months
03:04they tracked where he went they tracked him on the train the la double r they tracked him going to
03:08his office in midtown for the most part his activity was business as usual
03:18he would go to work and go home that is nothing that is in any way atypical
03:32but we saw within a very short period of time we actually buy a prepaid phone which we confirmed on
03:40the camera remember the killer used the burner phones so now we looked at the phone in his name
03:48and what was the activity and was it consistent with the times when the burner phones were being utilized and
03:55it was
03:59that was arguably one of the most significant points in this investigation
04:08there was this tension because we knew through his use of burner phones that he was continuing to
04:14contact sex workers that's obviously concerning but you still don't have enough evidence to prosecute
04:23when you looked at the original crime scene there wasn't a lot of evidence but what we saw
04:27was these five question hairs of interest discovered in december of 2010 with the gilgov four
04:37there was one that was recovered on amber costello and then there were three question hairs obtained from
04:46megan waterman and then hair that was recovered from the belt buckle of maureen brader barnes
04:56the hairs found on the victims were not a match to the victim nor any other profile within codis
05:02the hairs belong to an unidentified male of caucasian descent as well as three different females
05:12we need more dna profiles to compare against maybe these hairs would be associated with the suspect
05:23the task force obtained dna samples from the suspect's house
05:34so we're able to develop four genetic profiles off of bottles
05:40those genetic profiles were for family members who lived at the residence in massapequa park
05:48the suspect was married they had a biological daughter and she had a son who was unrelated to the suspect
05:57and now you have to actually see them discarding things that they eat or drink and then get the dna
06:03sample so you know for sure that you have the right profile
06:10it was painstaking because you're still trying to keep the suspect in your sights
06:15do the surveillance obtain this evidence but you don't want to blow the investigation
06:25one day rex comes out of the office and he throws away his a box of pizza i just loved
06:32hearing this
06:32because it's just good old-fashioned detective work right the detective was standing there blending in
06:39with everybody else in new york city went over got the pizza box and therein was a piece of crust
06:45and he went and they took that pizza crust and they ran it
06:56and then i started calling people in i said read this
07:00and we all agreed it was on
07:06we had enough probable cause to arrest rex yurman
07:17for myriad of reasons we had decided that we wanted to arrest him in midtown manhattan coming
07:23out of his place of business
07:35it was exciting it was uh scary um because you know what this person was capable of
07:46so you know you really worry about keeping people safe
07:56so
08:04so
08:05so
08:29We got him!
08:30All right.
08:34What's happening?
08:36It's not easy when you go into a case
08:38and you are looking for that needle in the haystack.
08:42There were tens of thousands of hours
08:45placed into this investigation by Suffolk County Police,
08:49the FBI, the District Attorney's Office,
08:51the Sheriff's Department, the State Police.
08:53That task force was, in my opinion, a game-changer.
09:02For 13 years,
09:04the public has been just so fascinated by it,
09:07and law enforcement has been confounded by it.
09:10There has finally been an arrest.
09:12A Massapequa Park man charged with the murder of three women.
09:16Rex Hureman stayed silent
09:18as he walked out of Suffolk County 7th Precinct
09:20to face a judge on Friday afternoon.
09:23My friend, she called me.
09:25She was like, are you watching TV?
09:27I was like, no, why?
09:28She's like, your exact description of an ogre.
09:32Six foot seven, 350 pound man.
09:34She's like, he's being arrested right now for Amber's murder.
09:39I've seen what that motherfucker looks like.
09:42Sorry, but that's being nice still.
09:45And he looks like an AI-generated version of Grimace
09:52if he was a human.
09:55The first time I saw pictures of him,
09:58I was like, wow, what a monster.
10:01He's huge.
10:03And these girls are all so tiny.
10:05And then the scenarios started coming in my head
10:09of this accused's big body and her, she's so tiny.
10:17And now I have those nightmares in my head
10:20on top of everything else.
10:24If this is the person, it's going to save a lot of lives.
10:29No other girl is going to get hurt
10:31the way our girls got hurt.
10:37Our hope is that those families are experiencing
10:40some level of comfort and some level of relief,
10:43knowing that the person responsible
10:46for their loved one's death is now being held responsible.
10:51It was later on that day, they came out with the truck.
10:55And it was just like, holy shit, they had that, you know,
10:58everything for 13 years in front of them.
11:00They just never used it.
11:05If it comes out that this guy's been killing girls
11:09since they could have had him in 2010,
11:11that's what bothers me.
11:13That's what's going to cause me to lose sleep.
11:16I love it, too.
11:22Kristen Thorne is live outside the home
11:24where neighbors were shocked to learn of today's arrest.
11:27Sade, this is sort of the place to be on Long Island right now.
11:31When I come down with my car to drop my wife off,
11:34I see him walking.
11:36It looks like every other American-type person, I guess.
11:40I saw it on Facebook this morning, and I was at work.
11:44And I was just like, listen, I've got to take some personal time.
11:47I've got to go down here, because this is a big case.
11:51You know, we've got to see how it plays out, too.
11:53We're talking about the Gilgal 4,
11:54so you all know that's not the end of the story, right?
11:59I was at work watching it on TV in just joking fashion to the guys.
12:06I was just like, hey, you know, I probably went to high school with them.
12:09And I found out about three hours later that they named the suspect,
12:15and it was Rex Hoyerman.
12:19We went to the same schools growing up.
12:22He was more of a recluse.
12:25He was very introverted, very skinny and tall.
12:30You know, we would bully him.
12:34You know, we used to call him Herman Munster.
12:38And he never bullied anybody, you know?
12:41He wasn't that type of person.
12:46When I saw his house, I was more surprised,
12:49because I thought maybe being an architect,
12:51he would do something a little nicer.
12:54This is a very nice neighborhood, and the house does stand out.
12:59Most of the people in the neighborhood didn't want to be closer,
13:02mainly because of the condition of the house and stuff like that.
13:04Because he's an architect.
13:06For you to have a house like that in a neighborhood like this, on this block,
13:09how come you haven't done your house?
13:12You go down the street, normal house, normal house,
13:15serial killer, normal, normal.
13:17You know what I mean?
13:19You know, then we started hearing from neighbors,
13:20like, that was the house they told the kids at Halloween don't go to.
13:26The condition of the house was very cluttered.
13:29We found a large number of electronic devices, phones, laptops.
13:34We found 116 or so handguns in the house, and about 163 long guns.
13:42And if you look at the profile,
13:44he was an individual who hunts, an individual who targets shoots.
13:47The main reason why we wanted to arrest the defendant at his place of business
13:52rather than his home was we wanted to avoid those guns.
13:55You know, and then, of course, we're also looking for trace evidence,
14:00you know, blood, hair, stains.
14:04When Rex Heurman is arrested, we're all rushing to figure out,
14:07who is this guy?
14:08You have to remember, this is years
14:11of not knowing who the Long Island serial killer was.
14:16And now, we have a name.
14:20I was doing legal research on my computer,
14:23and I saw the name Rex,
14:25and I thought,
14:26not a lot of Rexes,
14:28but, okay, there's another Rex.
14:30And then I saw his last name,
14:32and then I saw an architect,
14:34and then I saw a serial killer.
14:36And I thought I was hallucinating.
14:39This was impossible.
14:40And then I saw his mugshot.
14:45I thought, there's no way that's him.
14:47Like, oh, there must be another Rex Heurman.
14:49It's so crazy that there are two Rex Heurmans.
14:52And then I was like, no, that's him.
14:54That's, like, his face.
14:55Like, and also, there aren't two Rex Heurmans.
15:00I just couldn't believe it.
15:01I thought somebody had...
15:04just played a joke on me.
15:06There's no way.
15:07I was 26 years old when I started working with Rex.
15:10He was a pretty girl,
15:12but he just tells jokes and never hit on me.
15:15To me, he was never a scary person
15:19or anyone you should ever fear.
15:23He was a licensed architect.
15:26There were mostly women working in the office,
15:29usually one to two other architects.
15:33And then he had, you know,
15:35a handful of people who helped him really grind out the work.
15:41When I worked for him,
15:43my job was to be his assistant.
15:46The office was a disaster area.
15:50It was a mess.
15:51There were blueprints all over the floor.
15:54It was dirty.
15:57So I spent the day cleaning.
16:00Inside his own office,
16:03you know, he's the main event.
16:06He doesn't have a very high emotional intelligence.
16:10He can't read people very well.
16:13But I can't envision him being a killer.
16:17I just think he's so large and bumbling.
16:21You know, I just can't imagine it.
16:23No.
16:25Like, here's this kind of lumbering guy
16:28who shuffles around.
16:29You don't look at him and think,
16:31here's the most agile, fearsome killer.
16:38I am a survivor of sexual assault.
16:42And my guard is totally up most of the time.
16:50And he didn't even register on my radar.
16:54I'm trying to reconcile
16:56why I didn't take better care of myself
16:59or how could I have not known, you know?
17:03But I think no one could have ever known.
17:08Those girls never had a chance
17:13because he tricked them
17:15just like he tricked everybody else.
17:19Here we had a killer
17:20who was hidden for all these years.
17:23And so far, we believe that we've got him.
17:31When he was first arrested,
17:34his lawyer told the media
17:36that Rex was crying,
17:39he was very upset,
17:40that he said he had nothing to do with any of this.
17:43He didn't even know these women
17:46and that he didn't know any of what was going on.
17:50Official site DNA and cell phone data
17:52is evidence alleging he used burner phones.
17:55Defense attorney Michael Brown
17:56calls the evidence circumstantial.
17:58I don't believe everything the government says.
18:01Do you believe everything the government says?
18:03The press has convicted my client
18:06without seeing a shred of evidence.
18:07So he doesn't stand a chance with the press.
18:10And we're not going to try the case in the press.
18:13I doubt that any one of you for a moment
18:15have even contemplated the possibility
18:17that they have the wrong guy.
18:19The government is looking to convict my client.
18:22What has my client told me?
18:23He told me he didn't do this.
18:28So am I starting?
18:30Am I, am I, am I leaning on?
18:31Ray Tierney wants the buck to stop with him.
18:34It's like the biggest case of the century, right?
18:37If anything goes wrong with this prosecution?
18:42The indictment of defendant Rex Andrew Heerman,
18:4559 years of age,
18:47for the murders of Melissa Bartholomey,
18:50Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
18:53The investigation of Maureen Brainerd Barnes
18:56is ongoing.
18:59Maureen Brainerd Barnes was not included.
19:01The reason is they didn't have enough time
19:03to get her DNA into that indictment.
19:06But they felt they had to arrest him when they did
19:09because they could see his activities
19:11in terms of trying to reach sex workers.
19:14And they were worried that he was a threat
19:16to public safety.
19:19We've been able to associate
19:21eight or so burner phone accounts to him.
19:25Primarily, those burner phones
19:26were used to speak with
19:28a large number of sex workers.
19:31It was, you know, precisely
19:33what we've been talking about
19:35all along with this tension
19:36between public safety,
19:38grand jury secrecy,
19:39and obtaining the evidence.
19:41So we continue to prosecute
19:44those three cases in court
19:45while still investigating
19:47the Brainerd Barnes case
19:48and the grand jury.
19:49Look, prosecutors do not like
19:52to move forward in a case
19:55without having everything together.
19:57Of course, they wanted the four of them
19:59ready to go at one time.
20:01But unfortunately, in this situation,
20:03there was still some outstanding DNA.
20:08So we definitely know
20:10that Maureen Brainerd Barnes
20:12had been restrained
20:15by three leather belts,
20:18one of which was utilized
20:20to tie Barnes' feet, ankle,
20:22and legs together.
20:23And on the belt
20:25had the initials
20:27WH or HM.
20:30WH are the initials
20:32of Rex Heurman's grandfather.
20:35Could be coincidental.
20:38But most importantly,
20:39they found on the belt
20:42one female hair.
20:47The hair that was recovered
20:49from the belt buckle
20:50of Maureen Brainerd Barnes,
20:52that was consistent with his wife.
20:56There is this known phenomenon
20:59in science.
21:00It's called transference.
21:01If you live with a person,
21:03oftentimes their hair
21:04will get on your clothes,
21:05you'll come in contact
21:05with a third party,
21:06and both those hairs
21:08could then be transferred
21:09to that third party.
21:11Rex's wife's hair
21:12was found on Maureen's body.
21:16Could this be transference?
21:18Or could it be
21:20that Maureen
21:21had actually been
21:23in Rex's house?
21:25And then you have the people
21:27who theorize
21:30that Asa
21:31may not be telling us
21:33everything that she knew
21:34about what was going on
21:36and may have interacted
21:38with some of these women.
21:40She had no idea
21:41any of this was going on
21:42or the allegations
21:43were even
21:43her husband was a suspect.
21:45She's not a suspect.
21:47She has not been questioned
21:48by the police
21:48regarding any of this.
21:49It's been extremely overwhelming
21:51for her and the children
21:53trying to piece
21:54life back together
21:55or what it was
21:56two and a half weeks ago.
21:58I think there's still
21:59a lot of concern
22:01and suspicion
22:02about whether these women
22:03were ever in the house.
22:05I mean,
22:06there's an incredible amount
22:07of Asa
22:09and Victoria's
22:10DNA
22:11on these female victims.
22:17There's a lot of supposition
22:19and noise
22:21surrounding the wife,
22:22but what we've been able
22:23to prove conclusively
22:24is during the time
22:25of the commission
22:25of these four charged murders,
22:27the wife and the rest
22:29of the family
22:30were out of the state
22:32at the time
22:32of the commission
22:33of the murders.
22:44The first round
22:45of charges
22:45against Rex Heurman
22:47were for Megan Waterman,
22:49Amber Costello,
22:50and Melissa Bartholomew.
22:52Six months later,
22:54he was charged
22:55with Maureen Brainerd Barnes,
22:57the fourth
22:58of the Gilgo Four.
23:06So, good afternoon,
23:08everyone.
23:08Thanks for coming.
23:10We're here to discuss
23:11the superseding indictment.
23:12The only change
23:13in that indictment
23:14is that we've charged
23:15the murder
23:16of Maureen Brainerd Barnes,
23:18which occurred
23:19in July of 2007.
23:21It's important
23:22that we keep in mind
23:23what this case is about.
23:25Maureen Brainerd Barnes
23:26was 25 years of age
23:29when she lost her life.
23:30She was a devoted sister,
23:33devoted mother,
23:34devoted daughter.
23:36And this is what
23:36this case is about.
23:38This is what
23:38this case should be about.
23:41And I went
23:42for the press conference
23:43when the asshole
23:45was charged
23:45with my friend's murder.
23:51Justice needs to be served.
23:54And I hope
23:56he just never,
23:58ever sees a lighted day.
24:01I'm attorney Gloria Allred,
24:04and today I'm here
24:05at the Suffolk County
24:06New York Courthouse
24:08with five of my six clients
24:10who were relatives
24:11or a friend
24:12of alleged victims
24:13of defendant Rex Herman.
24:16They have asked me
24:17to represent them
24:18as their victim's rights
24:20attorney in this case,
24:21and I'm honored
24:22to support them.
24:25Next,
24:26I would like
24:27to introduce
24:29Nicolette Brainerd Barnes
24:31who is the daughter
24:34of Maureen.
24:35I'm here to speak
24:36for my mom, Maureen.
24:37I was only seven years old
24:39when my mother
24:40was murdered.
24:41Her loss drastically changed
24:42the trajectory
24:43of my life.
24:44I remember
24:45she read to me
24:46every night,
24:47and now I can no longer
24:48remember the sound
24:49of her voice.
24:52For years,
24:53it looked like
24:53there might not be
24:54charges filed
24:54against any suspect
24:55for the murder
24:56of my mother.
24:58While the loss
24:59of my mom
24:59has been extremely
25:00painful for me,
25:01the indictment
25:02by the grand jury
25:03has brought hope
25:04for justice
25:04for my mom
25:05and my family.
25:08I'm a women's
25:10rights attorney.
25:11I've represented
25:1220 victims
25:13of Jeffrey Epstein,
25:14a number of victims
25:16against Harvey Weinstein.
25:19I don't judge
25:20people.
25:22Life is a challenge
25:23for every woman
25:24I know.
25:27And I understand
25:28what women have
25:29to go through
25:30in life
25:32because I've lived it.
25:34After I became
25:35a teacher,
25:36moved to California,
25:36I went to Mexico
25:37on a vacation
25:38with a friend.
25:40And there,
25:41I met a doctor
25:44and went on a date
25:46with him
25:47and ended up
25:48being raped
25:49at gunpoint
25:51and had nobody
25:52who could help me.
25:54I didn't know
25:55attorneys.
25:56So I remember
25:57when I didn't know
25:58and why I didn't know.
26:01And it just
26:02always motivates me
26:04to help win change.
26:10the people
26:11who are involved
26:13with the Gilgo Beach
26:14case contacted me
26:16and asked me to help.
26:18I felt that
26:20I had the ability
26:21to help,
26:22I have the opportunity
26:23to help,
26:23and I have the desire
26:25to help.
26:27But there's a long way
26:29to go
26:30to learn
26:32if they're going
26:33to win
26:34any justice.
26:36It took years
26:37to even discover
26:38the bodies
26:40of their loved one.
26:41And some bodies
26:42have not yet
26:43been identified.
26:49The Gilgo Four
26:50definitely received
26:53a lot of attention,
26:55mainly because
26:56that's where
26:56the investigation
26:57has focused
26:58and because,
26:59quite frankly,
27:00they're all identified.
27:01The remaining
27:02six victims
27:03attached to this
27:04crime scene,
27:04with the exception
27:05of Jessica Taylor,
27:07were all
27:07John and Jane Doe's.
27:10Every time
27:11there is a press
27:12conference on this case,
27:13we ask about
27:14these other victims
27:15and police will only say
27:16they're continuing
27:17to do their work,
27:18they're continuing
27:19to investigate it.
27:21IDing a body
27:22is so important
27:24it is the first step
27:26that allows law enforcement
27:28to go and try
27:29to figure out
27:29who killed someone.
27:31You cannot find out
27:32who killed someone
27:32if you don't know
27:33who the victim is.
27:36The FBI
27:37approached Suffolk County
27:39and offered to deploy
27:40investigative genetic genealogy
27:42in order to resolve
27:43the identities
27:44of the remaining bodies.
27:46Jane Doe number six,
27:48Fire Island Jane Doe,
27:49as well as Jane Doe
27:51found in Hempstead Lake Park,
27:53Peaches,
27:54and her baby
27:55and her baby,
27:56as well as Asian male.
27:58Their DNA profiles
27:59were submitted
28:00into NamUs,
28:01that is the national database
28:03for missing persons
28:04for DNA profiles,
28:05and there were no hits.
28:07So from there,
28:08the FBI used investigative
28:10genetic genealogy
28:11to build out
28:12the family trees.
28:15And in the end,
28:16the identity of Jane Doe number six
28:17was resolved
28:18to Valerie Mack.
28:22Peaches,
28:23Tanya Jackson,
28:26Tatiana,
28:26that's her baby,
28:30and Fire Island Jane Doe,
28:32Karen Vergarda.
28:34And the work to identify
28:36Asian male remains ongoing.
28:39The investigation
28:40into the remaining six victims
28:43is extremely active
28:44and more active
28:45than it's been
28:46in a very long time.
28:48We don't know yet
28:50if Rex Howerman
28:51will be charged
28:52with their murders,
28:55but Jessica Taylor
28:56will, in my opinion,
28:59be the most viable
29:00of the remaining victims
29:02to have a suspect
29:03associated with them.
29:05She could be the link
29:06that linked not only
29:08those other victims,
29:10but links back
29:11to the Go-Go Four.
29:13Jessica Taylor's body
29:15was found at Gilgo Beach,
29:17but parts of her body
29:18were also found years prior
29:20in Manorville, Long Island.
29:24Jess Taylor was 20 years old.
29:27She had a rough upbringing,
29:29but a mom that loved her
29:30and two brothers that loved her.
29:33And she fell into the wrong crowd
29:35who introduced her
29:37to sex work.
29:40In July of 2003,
29:42her torso was found
29:44in Manorville,
29:45and she remained unidentified
29:47for about a year.
29:50Jessica had a tattoo
29:51on her back.
29:53The tattoo had been mutilated
29:56in a way to disfigure it
29:58so that it was not
29:59reasonably identifiable.
30:02But the medical examiner's office
30:05effectively pushed
30:06the skin together,
30:07sent out a photo,
30:08blasted around
30:08to local police agencies,
30:10and a detective
30:12in Washington, D.C.
30:13that had arrested Jessica
30:15the preceding year
30:17recognized the tattoo
30:19and called Suffolk PD
30:20and said,
30:22I know who she is.
30:33So Jess Taylor's body
30:35was found right about here,
30:39maybe 10 feet set back
30:41right by the tree.
30:45She had been decapitated.
30:47Her hands and her feet
30:50had been cut off,
30:52and she had been posed
30:54to maximize the shock value
30:56and also to increase
30:58the amount of humiliation
30:59to the victim.
31:02A neighbor reported
31:03seeing a large Chevy
31:06pickup truck,
31:07dark color,
31:08pull into this service road,
31:10stop for a bit,
31:11for maybe 10 minutes,
31:12and then leave
31:13around 10.30 at night.
31:15That's when we believe
31:16the perpetrator
31:17drove up,
31:18took out Jessica's,
31:19effectively,
31:20her torso,
31:21posed it
31:22on a medical u-drape tent
31:25and left her hair
31:27to be found.
31:28And from what I understand
31:30from her family members
31:31about Jess,
31:32she would not have
31:33gone softly.
31:34She was not going down
31:36without a fight.
31:38She was tortured
31:39pre- and post-mortem.
31:43She probably inflicted
31:45some degree of humiliation
31:46onto the perpetrator,
31:48and so he inflicted it back.
31:54Her head and her hands,
31:56the reigning body parts,
31:57were found
31:57along Ocean Parkway
31:59in March 2011.
32:02Jess's case was crucial
32:03to the identification
32:05of Jane Doe No. 6,
32:06Valerie Mack.
32:09She was a 24-year-old female
32:12from South Jersey
32:13who was involved
32:14in sex work.
32:18Both Valerie Mack
32:20and Jessica Taylor
32:21had both of their
32:22torsos
32:23and other body parts
32:24recovered in Manorville
32:26in 2000 and 2003,
32:28respectively.
32:31Jessica Taylor's body
32:33was found
32:33on Falsy Manor Road,
32:35which bisects
32:36with Mill Road.
32:37The location
32:39of Valerie Mack's body,
32:41they were found
32:42less than a half a mile
32:44from each other.
32:46And if you look
32:47at the manner
32:48in which both Valerie Mack
32:50and Jessica Taylor's bodies
32:51were left,
32:52it was very similar.
32:55Both victims
32:56were decapitated
32:56and dismembered
32:57at their arms
32:58below their elbows.
33:02During the course
33:03of the investigation,
33:04it became pretty evident
33:05that it was necessary
33:06that the task force
33:07expanded the search
33:08for victims
33:10after they had
33:11a DNA profile
33:12from Rex Howerman.
33:13They looked
33:14for cold cases
33:15going back decades
33:17in Suffolk County
33:18for victims
33:19that may have
33:20had DNA evidence
33:21linking
33:22to this potential suspect.
33:25Sandra Castilla
33:26was one of those victims.
33:31In the early stage
33:32of the investigation,
33:33Sandra Castilla
33:34was a case
33:35that we thought
33:36was of interest to us.
33:38The similarities
33:39between Sandra Castilla
33:41and Jessica Taylor
33:42were so striking
33:43in the way they were left
33:44and the manner
33:45of their death.
33:47So this is the site
33:48where Sandra Castilla's
33:49body was found,
33:50November 20, 1993.
33:53She was not covered.
33:54She was not put in a bag.
33:56She just was there
33:57out in the open.
34:00The official cause
34:01of death
34:01was asphyxiation.
34:04She had multiple
34:05slash wounds
34:06across her body.
34:07Her arms were
34:08above her head.
34:09Her legs were
34:10spread apart.
34:11Her top was shoved
34:13up above her head
34:14so that it just
34:17compounded
34:18the humiliation
34:18of it all.
34:21Several of her injuries,
34:22from what I understand,
34:23were post-mortem as well.
34:25So she's dead
34:27and he's still
34:28defacing her body.
34:35As a journalist,
34:36I advocate on behalf
34:38of women
34:39who had in some way
34:40been brutalized,
34:42in some way
34:43been harmed.
34:45I saw this one face
34:47and something
34:48about the face
34:49told me
34:49that if I could not
34:51be sure that she was
34:52Trinidadian,
34:53I knew she was Caribbean.
34:55So I proceeded
34:57to, on an investigation,
34:59to try to figure out
35:00who Sandra Castilla
35:02really was.
35:05Sandra Castilla
35:06was born in Trinidad
35:08and Tobago.
35:09The family was
35:09by no means wealthy,
35:11but they were also
35:12not impoverished.
35:13And it seemed
35:14that the unit
35:15was a fully functional
35:16and happy unit
35:18and a happy family.
35:20Her mother and father
35:21died in very tragic
35:23circumstances.
35:24Sandra and her brother
35:25were immediately
35:26and instantly orphaned.
35:29and then eventually
35:31Sandra left Trinidad
35:32for Queens, New York.
35:35The police seemed
35:36to assume
35:36that her lifestyle
35:38was quote-unquote
35:39substantially similar
35:40to the lifestyle
35:42of the other victims,
35:43meaning that she did
35:44interface in some way
35:45with sex work.
35:46There's nothing
35:47that I have discovered
35:48to suggest that
35:50she was a sex worker.
35:52She worked in bookkeeping
35:53and through that job
35:55was in Manhattan
35:56quite often.
35:58There's one suggestion
35:59that perhaps
36:00that he may have
36:01encountered her in a bar.
36:04On November 13, 1993,
36:07there was a best friend
36:08she had who was living
36:09in Massachusetts
36:10and she phoned her
36:11in some distress.
36:12She told her life
36:13was not going well.
36:15And her friend suggested,
36:17why don't you just pack up
36:18and come to Massachusetts?
36:19You can stay with me.
36:21And Sandra said,
36:22yes, I will do that.
36:23I want to do that.
36:24And her friend waited
36:26for her to come
36:27and waited
36:28and waited
36:29and waited.
36:30And Sandra never showed.
36:32And about a week later,
36:34received a phone call.
36:37The person,
36:38it was a gentleman,
36:39and he said,
36:40he claimed he was
36:41a police officer.
36:42He said that Sandra
36:44had died,
36:44her body had been found,
36:46and that her friend's
36:47contact information
36:49had been found
36:49on Sandra's person.
36:51And that is how
36:52the contact was made.
36:53And from then to now,
36:56there has been
36:57no further contact
36:58from the police.
36:59Her friend is unsure
37:00whether it was
37:01the police who phoned
37:02or whether it was
37:03someone else.
37:10Sandra Castillo
37:11was found
37:12by two hunters
37:13in the area.
37:14At the time,
37:15this area was
37:16open up to hunters.
37:17And a number
37:19of the residences
37:19that are nearby now
37:20did not exist.
37:21They weren't here.
37:23So it was a relatively
37:24secluded area
37:25and a decent dumping
37:28site for someone
37:28looking to dispose
37:29of a body
37:30to go undetected.
37:35He was really
37:36into hunting.
37:37He had been
37:38for years.
37:39That was known.
37:40He loved guns.
37:42All types of hunting.
37:45He was a duck hunter.
37:47He went hunting
37:48for big game.
37:50He would go
37:51to Alaska
37:52to hunt bear.
37:53He was crazy.
37:54He's like,
37:55you're going to set
37:55a trap, you know,
37:57and lie in wait
37:58for this dangerous
37:59animal to come
38:00and then, like,
38:01spring into action
38:02or whatever.
38:07He liked to talk
38:08about going out
38:10and shooting bears
38:11and skinning them.
38:13And he would just
38:14like to watch
38:15people get nauseated
38:19from his story.
38:21What makes it so spooky
38:23for those of us
38:25who knew him
38:25and worked alongside
38:27him at any point
38:28is just that
38:28he's created a world
38:30where he can boss
38:31around a room
38:34full of women,
38:35many of whom
38:36are, you know,
38:37on the petite side.
38:38And then,
38:39on the weekends,
38:40he's allegedly
38:41out hunting women
38:42of the same stature.
38:54We were continuing
38:55to work the case.
38:57As we were doing that,
38:59we were getting back
39:00forensic evidence
39:02from some of the devices.
39:09During the search
39:10of the house,
39:11we found a couple
39:13of laptops,
39:14stand-alone computers.
39:17There was some evidence
39:19of further searches
39:20with regard to torture porn,
39:22with regard to
39:23monitoring the investigation,
39:25looking up
39:26the Gilgo investigation,
39:27the victims,
39:28the victims' families.
39:34We also recovered,
39:36I think,
39:37the most pertinent
39:37piece of evidence
39:38that we were able
39:40to retrieve
39:40out of unallocated space,
39:42which means it was
39:43erased originally,
39:45but we were able
39:46to forensically retrieve it,
39:47nonetheless,
39:48was the planning document.
39:50The task force
39:51discovered
39:52a Microsoft Word document
39:54entitled
39:55HK2002-2004.
39:59We didn't have much
40:00of a conversation,
40:02but, yeah,
40:04he's in a bad place.
40:08This document shows
40:10his intent,
40:13and that intent
40:14is to meticulously plan
40:17and premeditate
40:18the murders
40:18of the victims
40:19of this case.
40:20This document
40:21is unlike anything
40:23I've ever seen.
40:25This guy's an architect,
40:26and he's allegedly
40:28made a blueprint
40:30for his crimes.
40:58All right,
40:59we're going to be
41:00We're going to be
41:00to be the
41:01worst of your crimes.
41:01And we're going to be
41:03Oh, my God.
41:31Oh, my God.
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