Rex Heuermann, a suspect in the Gilgo Beach killings, and former police chief James Burke, who mishandled the case, may have met while “gay cruising,” argues the attorney for the victims.
There is “no question” Heuermann might have met Burke, according to prosecutor John Ray, who said “several people” had informed him of his involvement in the Long Island gay cruising scene.
James Burke, a disgraced officer, was detained on August 22 for reportedly proposing oral sex to a male park ranger who was acting undercover, at a well-known “cruising ground.”
Heuermann, 59, was detained on July 13 of this year in connection with the deaths of several women, whose bodies were discovered on Gilgo Beach ten years prior.
Prosecutors claim that accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann and disgraced ex-police chief James Burke may have crossed paths while ‘gay cruising’ in Long Island.
In the past month, multiple sources have contacted John Ray, an attorney for the families of the two women whose bodies were discovered on the east New York peninsula, to report seeing Heuermann prowling the neighbourhood in search of casual sex.
This comes after former Gilgo cop Burke was nabbed for reportedly engaging in oral sex with a male park warden while acting undercover in Farmingville’s Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Park, a notorious hotspot for ‘gay cruising’.
In this context, “cruising” refers to the act of walking or driving around a designated “cruising area” in search of a single, anonymous companion.
Gay cruising areas are purportedly aplenty on Long Island, including the ‘pickle park’ neighbourhood where Burke was detained.
As part of his most recent effort to bring the women killed to justice, attorney Ray has also been investigating these hunting locations.
Key suspect Heuermann, 59, was reportedly well-known in the neighborhood’s “gay cruising” scene, and there is “no question” that this connection may have put Burke, 59, in touch with Heuermann.
According to Ray, “I have several people who contact me because they don’t want to talk to the police, they have genuine fears, and they don’t want their families to know,” the U.S. Sun reported.
“But they’ve shared with me that [Rex Heuermann] is a cruiser.”
“I’ve had several people tell me the same thing,” one person said.
“Obviously, it’s all word of mouth, and evidence is hard to come by.”
Ray continued by requesting that Suffolk County Police look into any possible social ties that might exist between the two guys.
Following his arrest near “pickle park” on August 22, Burke was charged with offering a sex act, indecent exposure, public lewdness, and criminal solicitation in the fifth degree.
It happened just one month after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed Burke had botched the Gilgo Beach homicides investigation and had been living a double life that included crack smoking, transvestism, and encounters with prostitutes.
Between 1996 and 2011, 11 women, mostly prostitutes who advertised on Craigslist, were killed near Gilgo Beach by a single serial killer.
Following a police investigation brought on by the disappearance of 23-year-old escort Shannan Gilbert, their bodies were found on the South Shore beach over many months in 2010 and 2011.
The remains of the “Gilgo Four” victims, who were discovered in December 2010, were discovered within a quarter-mile of one another close to the beach.
In Suffolk and Nassau counties, six other sets of remains were discovered in the first few months of 2011, which authorities believe predate the beach bodies.
Before authorities accused Long Island architect Heuermann of killing three of the “Gilgo Four” victims—Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Costello—the serial killer went unpunished for more than a decade.