in three of 11 killings on new york s long island, how authorities used dna from a pizza crust to identify the suspect. also, could soon be three people charged with classified documents case? maggie haberman joins us live. the heat, what is behind it, where it s worse, and the places that could soon set all- time record. good evening, thanks for joining us. 12 1/2 years ago the bodies of four people were found over several days buried near a remote beach on new york s long island. all four women murdered, wrapped in burlap. they were eventually identified as melissa bartholomew, megan waterman, maureen brainard- barnes and amber lynn castillo they were not the only ones. in the year that followed, investigators would uncover seven more sets of human remains across two long island counties. there were few clues, the case went cold. no arrests were made until now. tonight, the remarkable story of how authorities came first to suspect and then build a six count murder case
could set all-time records. 12 and a half years ago, the bodies of four people were found over several days buried on long island. all four women were murdered, wrapped in burlap. they were eventually identified as melissa bar tholmy, megan, marie and amber lynne costello, and they were not the only ones. investigators would uncover seven more sets of human remains across two long island counties, bringing the total to 11. but there were few clues. the case went cold. no arrests were made until now. tonight the remarkable story of how authorities came first to suspect and build a six-count murder case against a 59-year-old married architect with two children of his own in a home in a quiet long island neighborhood. miguel? reporter: anderson, i want to show you what s been happening outside this home. this case, this unsolved murders, have gripped long island and so many people for so long. police have been out here all day going through his home, bringing out tons of e
with relation to the last murder, amber costello. there was also a physical description that matched the defendant. and that as well as the phone usage, which linked heuermann to his house in massapequa as well as his business in mid town manhattan. that really was the start of our interest. dana: the truck had been there before, right? the witnesses had indicated that this person that they described as a very large individual was with amber costello shortly before she disappeared and he was driving this avalanche vehicle. it wasn t until march 14th of 2022 we were able to link an avalanche vehicle to rex heuermann who matched the description. bill: the woman who gave you the information was the victim. it was witnesses who saw the truck.
miguel marquez. joining us now is suffolk county district attorney. thank you so much for joining us on this evening. what initially led you to this suspect? was there a first clue that was sort of an aha moment? well, i took office in january 2022. of course the investigation had been go on for about 12 years. so, we did sort of a soup to nuts analysis of the case, and we looked at some of the old evidence. and then we factored in some new evidence, specifically some information with regard to a car that the defendant owned. we were able to plug that into existing phone evidence, as well as some of the hairs that were left on the murder victims. and i think march 14th of 2022 was when we really focused on this defendant. and that had been the first time that this defendant had ever been identified as a suspect in these murders.
hairs that were left on the murder victims. and i think march 14th of 2022 was when we really focused on this defendant. and that had been the first time that this defendant had ever been identified as a suspect in this murder. reporter: he wasn t even identified early on? it was march of 2022? what the first time he was identified as a suspect. reporter: when did you know for sure, in your opinion, that he was the killer? i think that there is, you know, it just kept on getting more and more interesting. i think if you look at the defendant, he is a very large person with a distinctive appearance. the witnesses at the time of amber lynn costello s disappearance really describe the person that looked , that appeared very much like the defendant. he owned a particular vehicle,