Long Island Serial Killer Suspect Investigated for Unsolved 1989 Murder as Prosecutors Turn Over Hundreds of His Guns

Suffolk County prosecutors are expected to hand over more than 280 firearms seized from accused Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home, while New York police investigate the death of another potential victim.

According to Newsday, Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Opisso filed a motion with the State Supreme Court Thursday, indicating that Heuermann may have been in violation of state gun laws. The motion followed a weeks-long search at Heuermann’s home, where investigators reportedly found “a massive” amount of evidence.

It’s unclear which state law Heuermann is accused of violating; prosecutors said the guns found are not believed to have been used in the Gilgo Beach murders.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Heuermann was arrested in July for the deaths of three of the four women known collectively as the “Gilgo Four.” Their bodies were found within days of each other on Gilgo Beach in December 2010. All four women were buried in burlap sacks.

Heuermann has been charged with six counts of murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and is the prime suspect in the death of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

Brainard-Barnes was abducted in 2007, Barthelemy in 2009, and Waterman and Costello in 2010.

Opisso added in the motion Nassau County suspended Heuermann’s firearms license, “which would make his continuing possession of any pistols or revolvers illegal.”

Carmen Vargas/Handout

Meanwhile, New York officials announced that they’re investigating whether Heuermann was involved in the murder of Carmen Vargas. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office began looking into Heuremann as a potential suspect after loved ones said there were “too many similarities” between Carmen’s death and the Gilgo Beach victims.

Carmen, a petite sex worker, was found deceased around seven miles from Heuermann’s home in September 1989. Police say her body was found by Meadowbrook State Parkway after she was last seen leaving her Harlem apartment weeks prior.

“We’re working with our law enforcement partners to review unsolved homicide cases that fit the alleged pattern of Rex Heuermann,” a Nassau County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson told ABC 7 New York.

“I believe he did it,” Carmen’s niece, Felicita Figueroa, told PIX 11. “I believe he did it when he first started killing.”

“I was only, like, 12 years old, so I couldn’t really see. But I could tell it was a white man with glasses.”

Heuerman remains behind bars at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility without bail. He pleaded not guilty to the murders at an arraignment earlier this year.

Check back for updates.

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[Feature Photo: Rex Heuermann/Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office via AP]