Daughter of fourth victim tied to accused Gilgo Beach killer hopes to finally achieve justice for murdered mom
The shattered daughter of the latest victim tied to accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann said Tuesday she hopes the new charges against him will finally bring justice for her mom.
“For years, it looked like there might not be charges filed against any suspect for the murder of my mother,” said Nicole Brainard-Smith, 24 — after Heuermann, a married dad and architect from Long Island, was finally hit with murder charges Tuesday in the 2007 slaying of her 25-year-old mother, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
“While the loss of my mother has been extremely painful for me, the indictment by the grand jury has brought hope for justice for my mom and my family,” she said at a press conference at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office after Heuermann’s arraignment.
Nicole was just 7 when her mother disappeared July 9, 2007 — the first of the four women known as the “Gilgo Beach Four” to go missing while working as escorts on Long Island.
Heuermann, 60, was already charged in three of the deaths before prosecutors unsealed a new indictment also charging him with Maureen’s death.
“Her loss drastically changed the trajectory of my life,” her daughter said. “There were countless times I needed her and she was not there. I remember she read to me every night, and now I can no longer remember the sound of her voice.”
Maureen’s sister said her life was “shattered” by her older sibling’s slaying.
“Throughout those years, I had continued to hold on to hope that one day there would be justice for Maureen and that whoever took Marueen’s life would be held accountable,” Melissa Cann said at the press conference.
“Today is another important chapter in the long pursuit of justice for Maureen,” Cann, 39, said. “It has been 16 years since the last time I saw my sister, and 16 years since I heard her voice because 16 years ago she was silenced.
“Losing Maureen has become a wound that never truly heals,” she added. “It remains a part of me.”
Maureen’s tragic life was short — and difficult at nearly every turn as a young adult, according to a New York magazine profile.
The victim, who was raised in a blue-collar household in Groton, Conn., was once a straight-A student in school, filling books with poetry and song lyrics and with little interest in “material things,” according to the outlet.
But at 17, Maureen dropped out of school after getting pregnant with Nicole. She got married and later divorced, although she did earn a high-school equivalency diploma.
She then made ends meet by working various jobs, including shuffling cards at the blackjack table at the nearby Foxwoods Casino Hotel, and also toiling at a local ShopRite supermarket and an area gas station.
Her life took another turn in 2006 when she responded to an ad for modeling work in Manhattan — which eventually turned into weekends working as an escort.
“We all had a kind of idea about it, but we didn’t want to actually think of it,” Cann told the magazine. No one could keep Maureen from doing something she wanted to do.”
Then one weekend, she vanished after taking the train into Manhattan with friends and disappearing on her own.
Maureen, who also had a second child, was one of at least 10 people whose bodies were discovered along Ocean Parkway between 2010 and 2011, including three others identified as the Gilgo Beach Four.
She, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Megan Waterman, 22, were all working as escorts on Long Island when they disappeared.
Their deaths remained unsolved until the start of 2022 when Suffolk County police reopened their cases, which led to Heuermann’s arrest outside his Midtown Manhattan architecture office in July.
On Tuesday, prosecutors said DNA samples from hair found on the bodies were linked back to Heuermann or his wife, Asa Ellerup, and 26-year-old daughter, Victoria Heuermann.
Heuermann’s family was out of town — but not the architect — when the four murders were committed, the indictment said.
On Tuesday, Cann pleaded that all of the victims — not just her older sister — be remembered.
“These victims had families, and they were human beings with aspirations and hope for a better future for themselves,” she said. “They have families who love and miss them. Maureen, Melissa, Megan and Amber are no longer here to speak for themselves.
“I am glad that the family members of the other victims are continuing to speak out for their loved ones, and I support them because they knew their loved ones best, and they miss them more than anyone will ever know.,” Cann said.
