Gilgo Beach Murder Suspect Compares Himself to a Hammer in Resurfaced Video

Video has emerged showing Rex Heuermann, the 59-year-old architect arrested on Thursday on suspicion of being the so-called "Long Island serial killer," describing his favorite tool as a cabinet maker's hammer.

Heuermann made the comment in an interview with YouTuber Antoine Amira which was published in February 2022, for his Bonjour Realty channel which describes itself as "a celebration of New York City and its people."

On Friday, Heuermann pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, and another three of second-degree murder, over the deaths of Amber Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Megan Waterman, 22. The women's bodies were among 11 sets of human remains found in 2010 and 2011 on Gilgo Beach, an isolated location located to the east of New York City, which authorities suspect are connected to Heuermann.

Costello, Waterman, Barthelemy and 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes make up the "Gilgo Four" murder victims. Whilst Heuermann hasn't been charged in relation to Brainard-Barnes' death, he is considered the main suspect by authorities.

In the Bonjour Realty interview, hosted by real estate agent Antoine Amira, Heuermann was asked "if you were a tool, or an object" that would "bring your business to greater heights, what would it be?"

He replied: "One of the things I learned from my father was furniture building, he was an aerospace engineer who built satellites and built furniture at home. I still build it in the same exact workshop. I have one tool that's pretty much used in every job, and it's actually a cabinet maker's hammer. It is persuasive enough when I need to persuade something."

Amira jokingly clarified "not someone?" after which the architect said: "Something, and it always yields excellent results, and at the end of the project, whatever piece of furniture or what I'm working on, it always helps it come out beautifully."

He later added: "Sometimes I have to be the heavy framing hammer, other times I'm the lightweight hammer just to nudge things along."

Newsweek has reached out to Amira for comment by email.

Heuermann was tracked down following an intricate police investigation, which court fillings said involved more than "300 subpoenas, search warrants and other legal processes to obtain evidence."

Investigators used cell phone data, an eyewitness report and DNA evidence scraped from discarded pizza crusts to build their case.

Heuermann protested his innocence, with Michael Brown, his lawyer, claiming he is "distraught" and terming the evidence against him "extremely circumstantial."

He said: "We're looking forward to fighting this case in a court of law, not the court of public opinion."

Speaking to Newsweek, Barry Auslander, one of Heuermann neighbors in Massapequa Park, New York, said local children were warned to stay away from his house.

He commented: "Most people don't knock on his door. During Halloween, the kids are told to stay away. He's not a very nice person."

Auslander added Heuermann's house was "dilapidated inside and out."