Gilgo Beach Suspect ‘Not Connected’ to Atlantic City Killings

Posted on: August 2, 2023, 10:57h. 

Last updated on: August 2, 2023, 12:22h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Prosecutors in New Jersey’s Atlantic County say they’ve been unable to find a link between the Gilgo Beach killings on New York’s Long Island and the murders of four women in Egg Harbor Township in the West Atlantic City area.

Rex Heuermann, Atlantic City, Egg Harbor Township
Suspected Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann appeared in court Tuesday, above. Heuermann is charged with three murders and is suspected of at least one more in New York, but there’s no evidence linking him to the crimes in Atlantic County, N.J. (Image: SkyNews)

It was hoped that Rex Heuermann’s arrest last month on suspicion of New York’s Gilgo Beach murders might lead to a breakthrough in a case in Atlantic City. There has long been speculation about a possible connection between the two spates of killings.

On Tuesday, William Reynolds of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said investigators had met with counterparts in Suffolk County, N.Y. to compare the time lines, dates, and methodologies of both cases.

At this point in time, … there does not seem to be a connection between the suspect in the Gilgo Beach case and the Atlantic County homicides from 2006,” Reynolds said.

“The 2006 case remains an open joint investigation between ACPO and the Egg Harbor Township Police Department, with continued assistance from our local, state, and federal partners,” he added. “Authorities will continue to follow all leads until the perpetrator of those crimes is brought to justice.”

Grisly Crime

In November 2006, the bodies of four sex workers — Barbara Breidor, 42, Kim Raffo, 35, Tracy Ann Roberts, 23, and Molly Jean Dilts, 20 — were discovered in a drainage ditch behind the Golden Key Motel on the Black Horse Pike in Pleasantville, N.J.

The bodies had been there for various amounts of time, ranging from a week to several months. All four were shoeless and apparently arranged so they pointed east toward Atlantic City.

The Golden Key was one of a handful of low-rise motels built on the north side of Black Horse Pike in the 1950s to provide a cheaper alternative to staying in Atlantic City. By the turn of the millennium, the motels had developed a reputation for sleaze and crime.

In 2015, the township purchased the motels, including the Golden Key, with a $3 million grant from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and demolished them.

Heuermann in Court

Meanwhile, Heuermann, the Long Island architect and suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders, made his first court appearance Wednesday. He’s been charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, who went missing in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, who disappeared in 2010.

He’s also suspected of killing a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who disappeared in 2007. Between 1996 and 2011, the remains of up to 18 people were found in Gilgo Beach on Long Island’s South Shore.

Heuermann, 59, was arrested on July 13 after investigators connected his pickup truck to one seen by a witness close to where a woman disappeared in 2010. Investigators obtained his DNA from a pizza box he had discarded in a trash can.

Heuerman also owned a property in Las Vegas, and police there have said they are examining cold cases for potential links to the suspected serial killer.