Francey Hakes to Newsmax: Real Work Starts in Gilgo Beach Case

The real work starts now in prosecutors’ case against Rex Heuermann, who on Friday was charged with murder in the deaths of three of 11 victims in long-unsolved killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders, said former federal prosecutor Francey Hakes.

“DNA evidence isn’t the rock-solid evidence that everyone thinks it is. It’s science, and it’s complicated science. And I don’t doubt that, given this offender is facing life without parole, that his defense team will be able to bring in DNA experts. And you can bet those experts will challenge the evidence,” Hakes said Friday during an appearance on Newsmax‘s “On the Record With Greta Van Susteren.”

“There’s also going to be challenges to how the evidence was collected. There will be motions to suppress the evidence. As the prosecutor, I’m not sitting on my laurels or even confident that a jury will understand that evidence or believe my expert versus the defense expert. So I want lots of other evidence in this case. And like you say, there’s lots of other similarities: the car, you’ve got cellphone records. But still, there is no such thing as a slam-dunk,” she added.

Heuermann, who has lived for decades across a bay from where the remains were found, is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. He is also considered the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman whose body was bound and hidden in thick underbrush along a remote beach highway, authorities said.

In March, detectives tailing Heuermann recovered his DNA from pizza crust in a box that he discarded in a Manhattan trash can and matched it to a hair found on a restraint used in the killings, authorities said.

Heuermann’s lawyer pleaded not guilty on his client’s behalf Friday in state court in Riverhead, New York. Citing “the extreme depravity” of Heuermann’s alleged conduct, Judge Richard Ambro ordered he be jailed without bail.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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