Netflix’s newest docuseries, directed and produced by Liz Garbus, examines a crime that had people mystified for over a decade. And yet, now there are answers. At least some. Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer goes over how the police finally identified Rex Heuermann as the Long Island Serial Killer. But that’s not the end of the story, because with the police having identified Heuermann, they are now looking back to see if he could be involved in more unsolved murderers.
Heuermann’s story is both surprising and not. He had a family—who knew nothing about his double life and who were surprised and horrified to hear of his crimes. His wife filed for divorce as soon as she found out he’d been charged not just with the murder of the so-called “Gilgo Four,” the first four victims whose remains were discovered along a stretch of Ocean Parkway in Suffolk County in 2010, but three other women in addition to them. He lived, in many respects, a normal life outside of the murders.
But a couple of things made Heuermann, who pled not guilty to all seven charges and has been held without bail at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County awaiting a trial since, stand out. What made people remember him? What was Rex Heuermann’s height, and how big is he actually?
Rex Heuermann Height & What Size the Long Island Serial Killer Was
Rex Heuermann’s size and weight have not been officially reported, but he’s believed to be at least 6’4 and over 250 pounds. That tracks with what his neighbors told NBC News about him, referring to him as a “tall, big, big guy. Always well dressed.”
It also was a big factor in identifying him, because a witness in the murder of Amber Costello, one of the “Gilgo Four” identified a car—that later matched to Heuermann’s—but almost as importantly, gave a description of the driver of that car that wasn’t as far off from the man himself: a large, white, “ogre”-like male in his mid-40s, somewhere between 6’4 to 6’6, with “dark busy hair” and “big oval style 1970’s-type eyeglasses”.
That identification led police to a stash of burner phones, which police traced to the same locations the victims had been in. Police also managed to trace Heuermann’s regular phone to these locations, as well, indicating the burner phones were only used to set up dates with the sex workers he would then end up killing.
Later, police dug through Heuermann’s trash until they could find something to test for his DNA, finding a pizza crust. That, alongside the burner phones, the car, and the pretty close match on the description, was enough for an arrest. Right now, Heuermann is still awaiting trial while police are trying to figure out if he could be responsible for any more unsolved crimes. He has not been granted bail.
