Nobody took Rex Heuermann, a quirky and quiet man, for a serial killer.
Neighbors in his quiet Long Island suburb were reeling Friday after his stunning arrest in the long-unsolved series of Gilgo Beach murders dating back more than a decade.
“I’m shocked!” said local resident Carol Bergen, 65. “Shocked. What else can you feel about it?”
Heuermann, 59, was taken into custody Thursday night around 8:30 p.m., with his Massapequa Park neighbors awakened by authorities early Friday and ordered to move their cars as news of the arrest spread like wildfire.
Local residents gathered all morning behind the crime scene tape in the suburban enclave, shooting cell phone video and gossiping in gaggles about Heuermann and his family.
“I always thought they were a little odd,” said neighbor Matthew Waterhouse, 23. “It’s horrible. If he did it, he deserves to be put away.”
Ten women were killed in 2010 and 2012, with investigators stymied for years in their pursuit of the killer. Authorities charged the suspect in three of the killings, adding charges were likely in a fourth murder.
“This is crazy,” said the suspect’s 26-year-old next-door neighbor. “Unbelievable … It’s just shocking. I don’t know what to say.”
The neighbor recounted police arriving in the Long Island neighborhood on Thursday night, with men in suits and black SUVs seen on the typically quiet street.
Waterhouse said he learned Friday in a group chat that his neighbor, a Long Island native with a wife and two children, was the long-sought suspect in the murders.
“They gave off hick, redneck vibes,” said Waterhouse of the suspect and his family. “Like the quality of their house, they way they dressed. He wore overalls all the time … I was a little creeped out by the house.”
In a video interview posted on the internet, lifelong suburban dad Heuermann talked about his career as an architect and consultant, working in Manhattan and opening his own shop in 1994.
His clients included…
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