Rex Heuermann, a former New York architect accused of killing four sex workers whose remains were found on a Long Island beach more than a decade ago, will face additional charges in connection with several other victims, an official said. source with direct knowledge of the case told NBC News. .
Heuermann, 60, is expected to be arraigned Thursday morning, the source said.
The indictment remains sealed, the source said, and additional details were not immediately available. The new charges are expected after investigators returned last month to search Heuermann’s home in the Long Island suburb of Massapequa Park.
An area in Manorville, about 40 miles from Heuermann’s home, was also searched.
Heuermann was arrested in July and charged with murder in the deaths of 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27. He was charged with the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, earlier this year.
The women disappeared between 2007 and 2010. Their remains were found in December 2010 around Gilgo Beach, on the south coast of Long Island. Authorities made the discoveries while searching for Shannan Gilbert, a sex worker who disappeared from the nearby gated community of Oak Beach.
Gilbert, 23, was last seen running away from a client’s home on May 1, 2010. Her remains were found in a swamp in December 2011. Authorities have said they believe she drowned, but an autopsy conducted by respected forensic pathologist Michael Baden said she had been the victim of violence, possibly strangulation, without concluding how she died.
During the search of Gilgo Beach, the remains of several other people were discovered, including those of Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack. Partial remains of Taylor and Mack, both sex workers, were also found in Manorville, about 45 miles east of Gilgo Beach.
Heuermann, who is being held without bail, has maintained his innocence in the murders of the four women. He has not been charged in the deaths of Taylor or Mack.
Authorities linked Heuermann to the earlier cases in part through strands of his estranged wife’s hair, which were obtained from burlap bags in which the remains were found. Charging documents say Heuermann’s former partner and children were traveling out of state when he allegedly killed the women.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
