Suspected Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann allegedly visited LI gun club day before victim Jessica Taylor disappeared
Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann visited a Long Island gun club the day before one of his alleged victims, Jessica Taylor, disappeared — and days before her remains were found in nearby woods, according to a report.
Heuermann, who was charged last week in Taylor’s death, was scheduled in a day planner to attend a rifle training event at the Peconic River Sportsman’s Club in Manorville on July 20, 2003, the day before she went missing — and days before her partial remains were found about a mile from the edge of the gun club property on July 26, 2003, Newsday reported.
Peconic River Sportsman’s Club confirmed that the 60-year-old accused killer attended “a few” public events in the early 2000s, but insisted he was never a member. He last visited for a shooting competition in April 2010.
“Mr. Heuermann was not and is not a member of the Peconic River Sportsman’s Club,” club spokesperson Kerry Goldberg said. “Mr. Heuermann did participate in a few high-powered rifle events at the club, which were open to the public.”
Heuermann served as one of 30 volunteer coaches, “not an instructor,” for a sanctioned safety program called Small Arms Firing School, which teaches gun safety and marksmanship for legal competition, Goldberg added.
“His role was to ensure safety while working directly with an individual student who took the course and assist them while shooting,” Goldberg said.
The day planner detailed three other shooting events that Heuermann may have attended the month Taylor was killed.
Heuermann was involved with multiple “shooting clubs” in the area, a law enforcement source confirmed to Newsday.
The married father of two was first arrested last year in the murders of four young women known as the “Gilgo Four,” who were found wrapped in burlap within days of each other in late 2010.
Then last week, Heuermann was also charged with second-degree murder in the 1993 death of Sandra Costilla and the 2003 death of Taylor.
The charges came after authorities searched the area in Manorville where the partial remains of Taylor and another Gilgo Beach victim, Valerie Mack, were found over two decades ago.
Though Heuermann has not been charged in Mack’s death, newly revealed “planning documents” could tie him to the crime, prosecutors said.
“We are going to continue to investigate. We’ll talk about whatever other investigation we’re undergoing when and if we bring those charges,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said as Heuermann was charged in the latest two slayings last week.
