A suspect in the Long Island serial killer case, which involved the slaying of 9 women, a man and a toddler, was arrested in New York on Friday, three people familiar with the matter said, according to the New York Times.
The suspect was identified as Rex Heuermann, an architect from Nassau County who worked in Manhattan, an official said.
“It’s been a long time coming & I never gave up hope that one day justice would be served,” Sherre Gilbert, the sister of one of the killer’s victims, said in an email to NBC News. “I’m just happy it happened sooner rather than later. The suspect (Rex) deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life. He destroyed many lives so while it won’t bring our loved ones back, it does help that one less monster is off the streets and he can’t ever hurt anyone else!”
The Suffolk County police and the Suffolk County district attorney are handling the investigation.
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The killings occurred over more than a decade near Gilgo Beach on Long Island’s South Shore. The first case took place in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old prostitute from New Jersey, went missing.
For years, it was unclear whether the killings were committed by one person or multiple people.
Heuermann’s neighbors said they were shocked by the arrest.
“After hearing about this case for so many years, it’s a shock to find out that your neighbor is a serial killer and you never knew it,” neighbor Cheryl Lombardi, said.
Another neighbor, Mike Cafiero, said he was woken up by his family over the arrest.
“You’d think he’d have a better house, for an architect,” Cafiero commented. “Like a lot of people around here, they’ve been keeping up on this case and they said, ‘Wake up, they caught the Gilgo killer around the block.”
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
