Police conclude second search of Heuermann's home, which focused on the basement

The focus of a six-day search of the Massapequa Park property of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann was the home's basement, an attorney for his family told Newsday Sunday.

Attorney Robert Macedonio, of Islip Terrace, accompanied Heuermann's daughter, Victoria, to the home shortly after being informed by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office that the search had been completed.

“It seems like the focus was on the basement,” Macedonio said after spending about half an hour inspecting the condition of the house after investigators left. “There doesn’t seem to be much disruption in the bathrooms (and) bedrooms. »

Macedonio, who represents Heuermann's ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, said that although the pipes and pipes had been cut during a search of the house 10 months ago, “none of that mattered.” continued” this time.

Macedonio said he planned to tell Heuermann's defense attorney, Michael J. Brown, of Central Islip, about what he observed in the house, but that he was not “at liberty to discuss” exactly why he thought investigators were focusing on the basement.

“They were searching particular areas,” he said. “I don't know what probable reason they had to search those areas, but I'm sure it was a legally sufficient search warrant.”

Macedonio said it appeared many of the items removed from the home had been returned.

“Most of the items they expected to be taken away are still inside,” Macedonio said, noting that televisions, computers and a dog bed were among the items they noticed being removed but put back in place. “The kitchen is very tidy, the conditions are much better. »

Macedonio said the family was told they could return Sunday morning after the search ended Saturday. Victoria Heuermann, 27, spent about 40 minutes inside the home, gathered some belongings and left with Macedonio and an associate shortly after noon.

Macedonio said Victoria Heuermann planned to meet Ellerup, 60, and her brother Christopher Sheridan, 34, and they would all come home together.

Victoria Heuermann did not speak with a reporter as she entered and exited the house. Macedonio declined to discuss her state of mind as she entered the home for the first time since police arrived Monday morning.

The second surprising search lasted six days, with investigators seeing dozens of evidence boxes and other items removed from the First Avenue home each day.

State troopers, who had been blocking traffic on Michigan and Connecticut avenues since Monday morning, had left the area Sunday morning. Only the Massapequa Park Village barricades remained on the corners near the house, although neighbors could be seen tearing down some of them as they sought to return to a sense of normalcy.

While signs prohibiting stopping or standing have been posted near Heuermann's house since late July, occasional passersby could be seen rolling down their windows to take a photo of the house with the road now open. A sign posted on the front door by the family last year asks for privacy.

It was the second comprehensive search of the First Avenue house, built by Heuermann's parents in 1955. The first search lasted 12 days after the architect's arrest in July. Unlike last time, the Nassau County Police Department was not stationed outside the home following the search.

The renewed efforts at the house came just weeks after the Gilgo Beach Task Force – a multi-agency unit including members of Suffolk County law enforcement, state police and the FBI – spent nine days with K-9 units searching thousands of acres of forests in and around. Manorville.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office did not say whether the search in Manorville was related to the warrant issued for Heuermann's home or give any further explanation for why investigators returned.

“As (the prosecutor) previously stated, the work of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force continues,” Tierney spokeswoman Tania Lopez said at the start of the search. “We do not comment on the stages of the ongoing investigation.”

Tierney's office did not respond to requests for comment Sunday. Brown declined to comment Sunday.

Following last year's search, Tierney spoke of a “massive amount of evidence” that investigators had removed from the home. He also talked about more than 200 weapons seized from the property, some of which could result in additional charges from the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, although the weapons were not used in the killings.

Heuermann, 60, was arrested in New York on July 13. The following afternoon, he pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree murder charges for the killings of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello, whose remains were found near Gilgo. Beach over 13 years ago.

He pleaded not guilty again in January to the superseded indictment, which added a fourth count of second-degree murder for the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found near the other victims.

In a court filing in March, Deputy Suffolk County Prosecutor Andrew Lee said the four women, known as the Gilgo Four, were found “completely naked” and restrained with duct tape, burlap or belts. Five hairs, attributable to Heuermann or a member of his family, were found on three of the four alleged victims.

Lee wrote that all of the alleged victims were sex workers in their 20s who advertised their services online and that they were all contacted by cell phones used in locations matching the location of Heuermann at times when his family was out of town.

Heuermann is next scheduled to appear before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in Riverhead Criminal Court on June 18.