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supply. See site for details. I

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understand that anybody who's paid attention to

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the media would have to come to

1:01

the conclusion that I killed my wife.

1:03

Hi my name is Zach Stewart-Pontier. I'm

1:06

one of the filmmakers behind the Jinx

1:08

and I'm excited to bring you the

1:10

official Jinx podcast. We'll be revisiting all

1:12

six episodes of part one and watching

1:15

along with part two as it airs

1:17

on max starting April 21st. Bye bye.

1:21

The official Jinx podcast. Listen on max

1:23

or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:28

The following podcast contains explicit language and

1:30

content that may not be suitable

1:32

for all listeners. A

1:37

surprise statement from Rex Heuerman's wife.

1:40

She wants to keep it open-line, give him the benefits of

1:42

doubt. Gets

1:44

everyone talking. It

1:46

fell on deaf ears but she wanted to be

1:48

a victim. And a

1:50

convicted killer. The

1:52

assistant district attorney who prosecuted

1:54

the case actually said that

1:57

some of the Gilgo murders could be the handiwork

1:59

of this carpenter. or John Bittross is

2:01

now looking for a retrial. Justice

2:04

has been served, but

2:06

is it really justice that has been served?

2:09

How can someone do that to

2:11

someone? And later, we look into

2:14

the key clue in the rec-sewarment

2:16

arrest that went missing for 11

2:18

long years. During the time

2:20

when these leads came in about the Chevy

2:22

Avalanche, Burke is in charge of the District

2:24

Attorney's Office. So it's very simple

2:27

for him to say, you

2:29

just come to me. From

2:45

I.D. and Joke Productions, this

2:47

is Unraveled, Long

2:50

Island Serial Killer. On

2:59

the day our last episode went live, those

3:02

of us who have been following

3:04

the Long Island Serial Killer case

3:06

and the rec-sewarment indictments closely were

3:08

surprised to see a press release

3:11

coming from Macedonia and Duncan, the

3:13

firm representing Asa Ellarup, rec-sewarment's wife.

3:17

There hadn't been a court appearance or major

3:19

news break. The timing seemed

3:21

odd and unprovoked. Here's

3:23

what it said. On

3:25

behalf of our client, Asa Ellarup, she

3:27

wishes to make the following statement. Ms.

3:30

Ellarup's heartfelt sympathies go out to the victims

3:32

and their families. Quote, nobody

3:35

deserves to die in that manner. I

3:37

will listen to all of the evidence and withhold judgment

3:40

until the end of trial. I'll

3:42

give and recs the benefit of the doubt, as

3:44

we all deserve. End quote. Ms.

3:47

Ellarup visits Mr. Heurman weekly and still

3:49

maintains that recs is not capable of

3:51

the crimes he's accused of. There

3:55

are a few things in that statement that

3:57

immediately started catching fire. The

4:00

sheriff's office responded to the claim

4:02

that Asa Ellerup sees her husband

4:04

weekly. They noted they

4:06

have seven jailhouse visits logged, which

4:09

obviously wouldn't be weekly, since

4:11

he's been in jail for eight months. But

4:14

perhaps she's planning on now going weekly

4:16

moving forward. And the

4:18

other statement that drew an immediate response was

4:20

her quote, heartfelt sympathies for the

4:22

victims and their families, end quote.

4:26

Not surprisingly, Gloria Allred, attorneys for

4:28

some of the victims' families, released

4:30

her own written statement. Here

4:33

are the highlights. The

4:35

victims' family members whom I represent

4:37

appreciate the quote, heartfelt sympathies,

4:39

end quote. We

4:41

wonder, however, what her response will be if

4:44

Rex Euerman is convicted by a jury

4:46

of the murders and or other felonies

4:48

with which he is charged. Is

4:52

Asa willing to commit that if defendant

4:54

Euerman is convicted, she will make a

4:56

meaningful contribution, to a fund to compensate

4:58

the family members of the victims for

5:00

their heartbreaking loss. We feel

5:02

that sympathetic words without deeds are meaningless.

5:05

We look forward to Ms. Ellerup's response.

5:09

Of course, the most shocking part

5:11

of Asa Ellerup's statement, again, a

5:13

statement no one asked for was

5:16

the part that stated quote, Ms.

5:18

Ellerup still maintains that Rex is not

5:20

capable of the crimes he's accused of,

5:22

end quote. I'm

5:25

sure for the victims' families, it's

5:27

confusing to both get the heartfelt

5:29

sympathies and the statement that she

5:32

feels her husband is incapable of

5:34

committing such crimes. While

5:36

it must be truly earth shattering to the

5:38

depths of your core to realize that

5:40

your husband stands accused of four heinous

5:42

murders, while your mind and body are

5:45

most likely in a state of shock

5:47

as they try to process not just

5:49

the news, but relive the last 30

5:51

years that you've been with this

5:53

man. And while you very

5:55

much may not want to believe his guilt, why would

5:57

you make a statement like this? Why

6:00

at this time Suffolk County District

6:02

Attorney Ray Tierney spoke to Bridget

6:04

Quinn on WCBS 880

6:07

a.m. about her statement. Here's

6:09

just a snippet of that interview. She's

6:13

entitled to feel how hard she feels.

6:15

The evidence will point in

6:17

whatever direction it points. We're looking very forward

6:19

to proving our case in court. We'll let

6:21

the chips fall where they met. It

6:23

made me wonder if the chips might fall to

6:25

her becoming a witness for the defense. I would

6:27

love to see her as a witness for the

6:30

defense, but that's up to them. Why

6:32

would you love to? I think ultimately

6:34

it would be helpful to the

6:36

prosecution case. You don't want to

6:38

specify how exactly? No. If

6:42

the goal with Ace Ellerup's statement was

6:44

to draw some fire, mission accomplished. Still

6:47

perplexed as to the timing of this press

6:49

release, I reached out directly to its author,

6:52

Ace's attorney Robert Macedonio. Here's

6:55

what he said. The timing was she

6:57

has been to see Rex several

6:59

times since the last court appearance

7:01

when the superseding indictment was arraigned.

7:04

She had the opportunity to read through the DA's

7:06

bail application. She wants to keep an open mind.

7:08

She has not seen or heard any evidence in

7:11

the courtroom. We don't have access to any

7:13

of the evidence that Mike Brown gets. There's

7:15

protective orders on that, so we can't

7:17

actually see anything. She says

7:20

she wants to keep an open mind, give them the benefit of the

7:22

doubt on all this, and make her judgment

7:24

when she hears and sees everything in the courtroom. What's

7:27

interesting to note here is that the

7:29

discovery evidence the district attorney has had

7:31

to legally share with Rex Heuerman's legal

7:33

team is under protective order and

7:35

thus cannot be shared with third parties.

7:38

And that includes his wife, Ace. So

7:40

while she may be visiting him weekly, it's not

7:43

like he can share any of the evidence with

7:45

her. The information she's received

7:47

is the same as what we

7:49

have. Other than conversations

7:51

she may have had directly with investigators

7:54

and the DA himself, here

7:56

is more with Ace's attorney. specifically

8:00

for the victims because like she said nobody deserves to die

8:02

in that way. Gloria put out a statement,

8:04

you know, sympathy is great, but give us money. I mean,

8:07

how is she going to give money to the victims when her

8:09

soon to be ex-husband hasn't even been convicted of the crimes yet?

8:12

I'm not getting into a piece of natural Gloria. We

8:14

both have clients and clients' interest to protect and that's

8:16

what we're doing. I also asked

8:18

him about the part of the statement where

8:20

she believes Rex not to be capable of

8:22

committing these murders. She actually

8:24

believes that he's innocent or she's

8:26

keeping an open mind? She's never said that. Everybody

8:29

keeps saying that. She's giving him the benefit

8:31

of the doubt and going to listen and

8:33

hear all the evidence before she makes her

8:35

judgment. Do you think she will testify

8:37

in a pretental trial? I

8:40

don't anticipate that to be honest. And Melissa DA is

8:42

going to call. I don't anticipate Rex calling her. I

8:44

don't know what relevant information she has because

8:46

the DA has said she wasn't here. DA

8:49

has repeatedly said both

8:51

in writing and in statements to the

8:53

press on each and every

8:56

occasion of the alleged homicides, Asa

8:59

was not in the jurisdiction. She

9:01

is not a suspect and

9:03

there will be a suspect in these crimes. And

9:06

while I had him on the phone, I also

9:08

wanted to check in on Asa's health. She's

9:11

in remission. She's not suffering from anything right now but

9:13

her health is what it is. She

9:15

has cancer and never know when it's coming back.

9:20

Happy to hear that she's currently done with treatment

9:22

and in remission. But

9:24

that brings me right back to these questions.

9:27

Why the statement and why now? Perhaps

9:30

she didn't feel her point of view was

9:32

properly communicated at the last hearing. Though

9:35

a statement two months delayed feels late.

9:39

Perhaps another news story is about to break and she

9:41

wanted to get ahead of it. Perhaps

9:44

the documentary she's participating in needed

9:46

another story beat. Perhaps

9:48

the responses from DA Tierney, Gloria

9:50

Allred, and other journalists and

9:53

podcasters like myself was exactly the

9:55

point. In that case, well

9:57

played. There

10:03

has been some legal maneuvering in the

10:05

case of Rex Heuerman since the last

10:07

episode. The defense team wrote

10:09

a demand letter for a bill of particulars.

10:12

According to NewYorkCourts.gov, this is a

10:14

list of written questions from one

10:16

party to another asking for

10:19

details, that's the particulars part, about

10:21

a claim or defense. The

10:24

defense argues that the prosecutor's office

10:26

has not provided enough information for

10:28

Rex Heuerman to be able to

10:30

prepare defense in response to

10:32

the murder charges of the Gilgo Forva films.

10:35

They focus on what they call

10:37

very vague allegations that Heuerman quote,

10:40

caused the deaths unquote, but

10:42

lack specificity as to how and where

10:44

he allegedly did so. It

10:47

is true that the bail

10:49

application and superseding indictment document

10:52

do not specifically call out

10:54

where and how Maureen Brainard

10:57

Barnes, Melissa Bartholomew, Megan Waterman,

10:59

and Amrlyn Costello died. In

11:03

response from Suffolk County Assistant

11:05

District Attorney Andrew Lee, there

11:07

were a few new pieces

11:09

of information, mainly that all

11:11

four victims were found quote,

11:13

completely nude unquote, other

11:15

than their restraints, which included

11:18

tape, burlap or belts. They

11:20

clarified that they believe Rex Heuerman acted

11:23

alone and only specified cause

11:25

of death as quote, homicidal

11:27

violence unquote. ADA

11:29

Lee argues that the 12 terabytes of

11:31

data delivered in discovery has everything the

11:34

defense needs and that they

11:36

may want to check the grand jury minutes for

11:38

specifics and time and place of each day. In

11:41

other words, the district attorney's office

11:43

knows what they will argue. They've

11:45

already done so in front of the grand jury and

11:48

while they're not sharing with the public, the

11:50

defense only needs to look at what's been

11:52

provided to figure it out. ADA

11:55

Lee said quote, the

11:57

defendant is well situated to prepare a defense.

12:01

Both parties are scheduled to conference with

12:03

the judge on April 17th, and

12:06

this will most likely be on the agenda. Next,

12:10

we'll look at another recent bombshell,

12:12

and later, we fill

12:14

you in on our investigation into the

12:16

long-lost clue that was the key to

12:19

Rex Huerman's arrest. In

12:31

the original bail document filed in

12:33

July of 2023, we

12:35

learned that amongst Rex Huerman's

12:37

alleged serial killer web searches

12:39

like Serial Killers by

12:42

State 2023, eight terrifying active serial

12:46

killers we can't find, and

12:48

America's five most notorious cold

12:50

cases was a

12:52

search for, quote, John Bitrolf, unquote.

12:56

John Bitrolf currently sits in prison

12:58

for the murders of Rita Tangretti

13:00

and Colleen MacNamy, two petite-statured

13:03

women who engaged in sex work.

13:05

They were found about 25 miles away

13:07

from the Ocean Parkway victims, and

13:10

John Bitrolf has made the news these

13:13

last few weeks because he's looking for

13:15

a retrial, and he might get it. So,

13:19

who is John Bitrolf, and why

13:22

was Rex Huerman allegedly interested in

13:24

this man? John

13:26

Bitrolf was often mentioned as a suspect

13:28

in the Long Island Serial Killer Murders

13:30

by Internet Sluts, of course,

13:33

before Rex Huerman's arrest, and

13:35

he was convicted of two similar killings.

13:38

Both women engaged in sex work,

13:40

both were petite, and both had

13:43

been murdered by either asphyxiation or

13:45

strangulation. Their bodies were left

13:47

in nature, in these cases, in

13:49

the woods. They were

13:51

found in November of 1993 and January of 1994. John

13:56

Bitrolf is also the main suspect in the

13:58

murder of Sandra Costino. It. Was

14:01

murdered in November at Ninety Ninety Three.

14:03

Each as a three victims had

14:06

been sexually assaulted, strangled post post

14:08

mortem and were missing their left

14:10

sale. The Suffolk County Police

14:12

collect Dna at the scenes every death

14:14

and Colleen, but there was no Dna

14:16

present at the center. Kostya crime

14:19

scene. As with

14:21

the Long Island Serial Killer investigation,

14:23

it's been alleged that the Suffolk

14:25

County Police Department past this investigation.

14:29

On the one hand, They reportedly look

14:31

at one hundred and fifty two

14:33

suspects gathering dna and other evidence.

14:36

On the other hand, who was

14:38

the primary suspect. Or infinite

14:40

Officers at the Suffolk County

14:42

Police Department. And. The

14:45

case with cause for two decades. But.

14:48

In Twenty Thirteen, seemingly out of

14:50

the blue jeans that Ross was

14:52

arrested on second degree murder charges

14:54

for readers hang ready and calling

14:56

matheny. A

14:58

stunning arrest. today. A man who has

15:01

lived for twenty years and a quiet

15:03

Suffolk County neighborhood with a wife and

15:05

children is tonight charged with a cold

15:07

case smarter two women killed two decades

15:09

ago. Investigators say there could be an

15:11

additional victims, the bodies of twenty year

15:13

old Collie Mcnamee and thirty one year

15:16

old read it and ready Both considered

15:18

sex. Workers at the time were found within three

15:20

months of each. Other Both victims were

15:22

found in close proximity to murders

15:24

different have resided as it's on

15:26

our cameras. Were there when the suburban

15:28

father have to face to judge. Inside

15:31

river had criminal course. Forty eight

15:33

year old said nothing and showed no

15:35

emotion as charges against him were detailed

15:37

and criminal court for. Trump answered a

15:39

not guilty pleas attorney says at trial it

15:41

will be proved they arrested the wrong guy.

15:43

We tried to see if anyone was at

15:46

his men are ville home for comment. No

15:49

answer. Still so many questions from

15:52

neighbors still in sauce. I thought

15:54

he was an all rounder family moon. You

15:56

know, nothing ever strains out of the ordinary.

15:58

You know for something to pop? Lakers

16:00

twenty years later, down the road.

16:02

Cysts, crazy. Sound.

16:05

Familiar. Seems. Like almost

16:07

verbatim to what reporters sat upon. rec

16:09

sermons of us nine years later. While

16:15

the victims upon the discovery

16:17

of their bodies were often

16:19

dismissed as quote hookers are

16:21

prostitutes upon their arrests, both

16:23

rak fewer mountains on that

16:25

Roth were referred to as

16:27

husbands and Fathers his Tail.

16:31

Interestingly enough, they both me

16:33

their professions and building homes. Racks

16:35

as an architect, saw it

16:37

as a carpenter or in reality

16:40

they allegedly destroyed. Family is.

16:43

Neither had criminal records at the time of

16:45

their rest. Both. Were avid hunter

16:47

as and both how to reporters active

16:49

social holes. Rex. You women belong

16:51

to many networking groups. War Zone Fit

16:54

for Off was referred to by neighbors

16:56

as quote the major unquote of his

16:58

neighborhood. In the bit rough

17:00

case. It turns out the Dna collected

17:03

at the crime scene of read a tank

17:05

ready. And calling Molson me suddenly.

17:07

Hit a familial match on coda

17:09

the combined Dna index system. That

17:12

person with Timothy Bet Ross whose

17:14

Dna was collected and added to

17:16

the system because of a parole

17:19

violation. The. Police trump

17:21

both of committees feathers surreptitiously

17:23

collected dna samples in March

17:25

The suspect dna. To zone that

17:27

ross. There are many issues

17:29

with the trial destroyed. Evidence being one

17:32

of them, But. Is alive. Twenty

17:34

seventeen a jury convicted on that Ross

17:36

for the murders are free to tango.

17:38

Etti. Employee Martha Me. Fast.

17:41

Forward to Twenty Twenty Four ends on

17:43

that Ross legal team is now seeking

17:45

a new trial. To. Help us

17:47

make sense of all of it. I

17:50

reached out to Mary Murphy, a respected

17:52

journalist with Long Island Six Eleven. so

17:54

I've been covering. The bit rough case for

17:56

years. I. Spent

17:58

forty years as a T. reporter in

18:00

New York. In 2014, we find

18:03

out that there was

18:05

this Long Island carpenter arrested on

18:08

two cold cases of sex workers to

18:10

these unsolved murders from 1993

18:13

and 1994. I covered Bittrowff's

18:16

arrest and extensively covered the

18:18

aftermath after John Bittrowff was sentenced to

18:20

50 years to life in 2017. The

18:24

assistant district attorney who prosecuted the

18:26

case stood outside the courtroom and

18:29

actually said sort of in

18:31

a stunning development that some of

18:33

the Gilgo murders could be the handiwork of

18:36

this carpenter John Bittrowff. So people kind

18:38

of went into a fungi. He

18:40

was loaded as a suspect prior to

18:42

Rex Huyerman's arrest and there's

18:44

still some speculation now that he

18:46

could be responsible for the two

18:50

Mannerville cases associated with the LISP

18:52

case. I asked the

18:54

current district attorney Ray Tierney if

18:57

John Bittrowff could have committed some of the

18:59

LISP crimes and he said

19:01

he's not LISP. So I took that to mean

19:03

that he's not connected to any of them but

19:05

it's possible that he meant that

19:07

he's not LISP in connection with the Gilgo 4. While the

19:10

2017 statement made by the Bittrowff

19:14

prosecutor definitely added fuel to speculation

19:16

that John Bittrowff could be responsible

19:18

for some of the Ocean Parkway

19:21

victims, it's not the only piece

19:23

of information that did. Rita

19:25

Tangretti who was one of John

19:27

Bittrowff's victims reportedly had an

19:29

adult daughter who was best friends

19:31

with Melissa Bartholomew who was one

19:33

of the Gilgo 4 victims. And

19:36

John Bittrowff lived in Mannerville which is

19:38

where some of the remains belonging to

19:40

Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor were found

19:42

in a wooded area. The rest

19:44

of their remains were part of the discovery along

19:47

Ocean Parkway in April of 2011. Here's more of my

19:51

interview with Mary Murphy. What

19:53

is your understanding of the more recent developments

19:56

in the Bittrowff case? He

19:58

went to a prison, took years to life. in

20:00

2017 but his team has

20:02

continued to attach

20:37

the court of the Legal Aid Society. They're

20:40

claiming that during the

20:42

trial the prosecutors from Suffolk County

20:45

did not provide an internal heirs

20:47

report about a former

20:49

Suffolk County cop. Apparently

20:52

this cop's ex-wife said that

20:54

she believed that her

20:56

husband at the time had killed

20:59

Rita Tangretti one of John

21:01

Bittrow victims. So there is

21:03

this debate going on now these legal

21:06

aid attorneys are saying the

21:08

defense did not get this document relating

21:10

to this cop and the investigation of

21:13

whether the wife

21:15

believed that her husband

21:17

was the one that killed Rita Tangretti. However,

21:19

the current Suffolk County

21:22

district attorney's office is saying that

21:24

document was given a long time

21:26

ago during the case during the

21:28

trial. The original trial

21:30

attorney though had said he didn't

21:32

recall receiving that document. Did

21:35

you become aware at any point that

21:37

any Suffolk County police officers had been

21:39

suspect back in the 90s

21:41

during the original investigation? I had

21:43

heard and I believe this actually was pulled

21:45

up at the trial there was

21:47

another Suffolk County police officer, a

21:50

different police officer than I just

21:52

referenced who was a suspect. We're

21:55

30 years later and it's like the

21:57

mishandling of this evidence in this case it's

21:59

that's advertising the BitRolph conviction. He

22:02

has family members that are very much supporting

22:04

him and at least several years ago I

22:06

know that his wife was supporting him I

22:09

spoke to his sister-in-law and there were

22:11

certain members of the family that were really

22:13

working hard to prove that she was not

22:16

a killer. It

22:18

is interesting that BitRolph's family stood by

22:20

him during the trial and even after

22:22

the conviction perhaps similarly

22:24

to how things are playing out with the

22:27

Euerman family. I asked Mary

22:29

Murphy what John BitRolph's chances are at a

22:31

new trial in light of these new claims. If

22:35

it's proven that the Internal

22:37

Affairs Report was not handed over

22:39

to the defense during the trial,

22:42

you know the argument could be made that it

22:45

could have been exculpatory or helped him with

22:47

the trial. I mean anything is

22:50

possible. It's interesting that the Legal Aid

22:52

Society has taken this on. Usually an

22:54

appeals attorney is hired by a family.

22:57

I'm not people familiar with the Legal

22:59

Aid Society. Are they government funded? I'm

23:02

sure there's some government funding. They usually you

23:05

know, they represent people oftentimes who

23:07

don't have any funds to pay for

23:09

an attorney. So there is a

23:11

chance that the family doesn't have any more money

23:13

to put toward appeals like this and

23:16

maybe they tell that this was a good cause

23:18

to pick up. I think it will

23:20

be so interesting if he ends up succeeding and

23:22

it's because of the

23:24

same sort of negligence that we saw

23:27

in the early days of the Lisk investigation.

23:30

It would be quite a development if that happened. As

23:35

a reporter on the True Crime beat on Long

23:37

Island, Mary has had a front-row

23:40

seat to how cases are handled by both

23:42

the police and the district attorney's office. I

23:45

asked her if she's seen any difference

23:47

under district attorney Ray Tierney's watch.

23:50

I think there's more transparency now and

23:53

in fact, I was really amazed at

23:55

the amount of detail contained

23:57

in that bail affidavit when Rex

24:00

Ehrman was presented in court, they

24:06

received 32 pages of essentially evidence in

24:09

the Gilgo case then there was another affidavit

24:12

that was presented in January when

24:15

he was indicted on the fourth Gilgo

24:18

victim Maureen Brainerd Barnes.

24:20

So I think there's been a sea change out

24:22

there. Once we saw all the things

24:25

about the searches and the phones and

24:27

the burners, the DNA, there

24:30

was strong evidence pointing to Rex

24:32

Ehrman but the questions

24:35

about the dismembered victims that were

24:37

found along Ocean Parkway that's still

24:39

not answered. So it's going to

24:41

be really interesting to see if they tie any

24:43

of those dismembered cases to Rex

24:46

Ehrman. When

24:50

it comes to John Bittroth or any convicted

24:52

person, the appeals process is

24:54

part of our judicial system for good reason.

24:57

Wrongful convictions unfortunately do

24:59

happen but when a

25:01

convicted killer, especially one that took years

25:04

to bring to trial, seems to gain

25:06

traction on an appeal, the family of

25:08

the victims get these old wounds opened

25:10

all over again. Teresa

25:13

Tangretti, niece of Rita Tangretti, a

25:15

John Bittroth victim, is processing all

25:17

of this new information now. Here's

25:20

a little bit of my interview with her from before

25:22

the appeals news broke. What

25:25

are your sort of early memories of your

25:27

aunt? She loved to dance.

25:30

I just remember her dancing a lot and

25:32

she had three kids at the time. My

25:35

aunt Rita's oldest son is

25:37

Anthony. She had a daughter,

25:39

Amanda, but she had passed

25:41

away. And then there's Frankie.

25:44

I just remember playing with her kids a

25:46

lot. We'd always play hide

25:48

and seek. We always would play

25:51

red light, green light. My

25:53

aunt Rita was a very, very good mom.

25:56

She always took care of her kids. She always

25:58

had her kids. with the best

26:01

of whatever she could get

26:03

and whatever her husband at the

26:05

time could afford. I loved her

26:08

husband. His name was Frankie. I

26:10

just remember him being this savvy

26:13

guy and you would always smile.

26:16

Did they remain together or did they split up?

26:18

They were together, but then my

26:20

aunt just chose to go down the

26:23

wrong path. Everybody makes

26:25

mistakes. She was still

26:27

married to him when

26:29

she passed away. It was

26:32

just wrong choices. Drugs had taken

26:34

over. She might have

26:36

been this little short little Puerto Rican

26:38

girl, but she didn't open

26:41

up a can of clippets if she needed

26:43

to. She was

26:45

feisty, but very loving.

26:48

Teresa also spoke about how the news

26:50

of John Bitraw-Sarrest impacted the family. I

26:53

thought they're going to catch this person, whoever

26:55

did it, man or woman. So grandpa, they're

26:58

going to catch him. She's

27:00

like, well, they should have

27:02

catch them already. After a couple of days,

27:05

years went by and I was always thinking in

27:07

the back of my mind when.

27:09

Instead, I gave up

27:11

hope after about 10 years. We

27:14

thought it was a cold case. My

27:17

cousin Anthony called. They

27:19

sound like Bob's killer. I

27:21

caught Bruce from snare saying it again. I

27:24

screamed so loud. I'm so happy.

27:27

I started crying.

27:29

Even the tears now, I can remember

27:31

that day. It shattered

27:33

everybody's world. When my mom

27:35

found out, she just went

27:37

ballistic because that was her baby

27:39

sister. They were very, very

27:41

close. I wish my grandmother

27:44

would have been here to find out

27:46

the justice of her

27:48

daughter, you know, them catching

27:50

John Bitraw-Sarrest's husband

27:52

served. But is it

27:55

really justice that has been served? I

27:57

mean, this man is still alive, you

27:59

know. in jail. It's

28:01

really, really sad that he still has

28:03

his life and

28:06

he's living in jail, but these

28:08

two women are gone. No,

28:11

and he got 20 years of freedom after

28:13

he did it. Yes,

28:15

exactly. And now,

28:18

almost seven years later, an alleged

28:20

prosecutorial mishandling could derail the

28:23

conviction. I reconnected

28:25

with Theresa and asked how she was feeling

28:27

in light of John Bitrolf's appeal. His

28:30

evidence and DNA don't lie. I'm sorry.

28:32

It just doesn't. I

28:35

firmly stand on my belief

28:37

that he

28:39

was a suspect. My family,

28:41

we don't believe in eye for an

28:43

eye. We have that much faith

28:45

that only God can judge you. We

28:48

prayed for John Bitrolf and

28:50

his family. How could someone do

28:52

that to someone? You do the crime, you

28:54

gotta do the time. I

28:57

asked if Theresa had heard anything

28:59

about Rita's oldest daughter, Amanda, allegedly

29:01

knowing Gilgo IV victim, Melissa Bartholomew.

29:05

I have no idea about that. God

29:07

bless her soul, Amanda. She

29:10

passed away. What's really

29:12

sad is her brother, Anthony, he

29:14

got a call on his 40th

29:16

birthday that they found

29:18

her in a abandoned house

29:22

and she overdosed. I'm

29:24

so sorry, Theresa. I'm

29:26

just so glad I got to know her when

29:29

we buried my grandma, Rita's mom, because

29:31

the last time I saw her, I

29:33

think she was like four years old.

29:37

And here she is, like her own woman. And

29:40

she was introducing me to other

29:42

family, her family members, as

29:44

you know, this is my blood. She looked

29:46

so much like my aunt Rita. I couldn't

29:49

stop saying it. I think she was a

29:51

path that her dad, I

29:53

want to say. I just wish I could

29:55

have my aunt back because she was a beautiful

29:58

soul. we

30:00

get older, you know, we do

30:02

his loved ones and family members,

30:04

they shouldn't be taken from us.

30:07

What's the enjoyment? You know, what

30:09

goes on in someone's mind? I

30:12

just wish that, you know, everybody

30:15

could be at peace, but you know,

30:17

that's never gonna happen. If

30:20

his family ever hears this, yes,

30:22

we pray every now and again

30:25

for his soul. And

30:27

it's not right what he did. We really

30:31

miss my Aunt Rita. We do all

30:34

the time. It's

30:38

important that we never forget the victims and their

30:40

families in all of this. Every

30:42

headline brings the emotions back to the

30:45

forefront. We will bring

30:47

you updates on whether or not John Bittrelf

30:49

is successful in his bid for a new

30:51

trial. Next, we look

30:53

into what went wrong at the Pacific

30:55

Henney Police Department when it came to

30:57

that key piece of evidence that led

31:00

to the identification of Rex Ewerman, the

31:03

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Available to buy now wherever books are sold. One

34:05

of the most disturbing revelations that

34:07

came to light through the bail

34:09

document that District Attorney Ray Tierney

34:11

filed is the fact that the

34:13

new investigative team narrowed their search

34:15

to Rex Hureman based on clear

34:17

witness testimony that was available to

34:19

the Suffolk County Police Department prior

34:21

to January of 2011. That

34:25

means for 12 years the clue

34:27

we've all been waiting for was sitting

34:29

right there in the files and no

34:31

one had bothered to investigate it. Nothing

34:35

about this has infuriated me more, so

34:37

we've been looking for answers. For

34:40

those of you who don't know what investigative

34:42

lead I'm talking about or for those who

34:44

need a refresher, let me catch you up.

34:48

On September 1st of 2010,

34:51

Amberlynn Costello, one of

34:53

the Gilgo IV victims found along Ocean

34:55

Parkway, was contacted by a burner phone.

34:59

This burner cell phone at some

35:01

point pinged a cell tower in Massapequa

35:03

Park while the communications were taking

35:05

place. As we

35:07

now know, Massapequa Park is

35:09

the home of Rex Hureman, the suspect

35:11

who's been arrested for Amber's murder. The

35:15

burner phone then traveled to West

35:17

Babylon, close to the home of

35:19

Amberlynn Costello, before making contact again

35:21

at 12.05am. Since

35:24

that's after midnight, it's technically September 2nd of

35:26

2010. Dave

35:29

Schaller, a friend and sometimes roommate

35:31

of Amber, has stated that he

35:33

came home that night to

35:35

find a man he didn't know threatening Amber.

35:38

Amber, who occasionally engaged in

35:41

sex work, had allegedly locked

35:43

herself in the bathroom. Schaller

35:45

claims he came to blows with this

35:47

stranger, and eventually he left in a truck.

35:51

This is important. Dave Schaller

35:53

saw the man clearly, as well as

35:55

his vehicle. At

35:57

about 1.18am, Amber's phone received a call. text

36:00

message from the burner phone stating,

36:02

quote, that was not nice. Do

36:05

I credit next time? End quote. It's

36:08

assumed the word get was missing from the

36:10

text. Do I get credit

36:12

next time? Within two

36:14

minutes of this text message being sent,

36:16

the burner phone was back in Massa

36:18

People Park. On the evening of

36:21

September 2nd, around 9 30 PM. So

36:24

about 20 or 21

36:26

hours later, the same burner phone

36:28

contacted Amber from Midtown Manhattan. We

36:31

now know that is where Rex Sherman's

36:33

office was located. The

36:36

burner phone then traveled to Massa People Park

36:38

and back to West Babylon when it

36:40

had contact with Amber's phone again around

36:42

11, 17 PM. After

36:45

this, Amber was seen leaving her

36:47

residence. A witness saw

36:49

her getting into a dark colored trip. It

36:52

was assumed with a client. And

36:55

that was the last time Amberlynn Costello

36:57

was ever seen alive. She

36:59

left her cell phone at home. So she

37:02

didn't have contact with anyone after that. It's

37:05

believed that the client convinced

37:08

Amber to meet up a second time the

37:10

following night and for lack

37:12

of a better description, make good

37:14

on the business deal that had been

37:16

arranged the previous evening, the Suffolk

37:18

County district attorney alleges the

37:21

client in question is Rex

37:23

Sherman. Three

37:25

months later on December 13th of 2010. Amberlynn

37:29

Costello's body was found along

37:31

ocean Parkway together with Melissa

37:33

Bartholomew, Megan Waterman, and Maureen

37:36

Raynard Burns. Together

37:38

they became known as the Gilgo Four.

37:41

After the discovery of Amber's body, Dave

37:43

Schaller insists he went to the Suffolk

37:45

County police. We don't

37:47

have an exact date, but since

37:50

Amber wasn't identified until early January

37:52

of 2011, it's probable he went

37:54

to the police after that. He

37:57

gave police a description of the man he

37:59

suspected. the last client of Amber's.

38:02

He said that he saw a man that, quote, looked

38:04

like an ogre, end quote. But

38:07

he also told police the man

38:10

drove a dark green Chevy Avalanche

38:12

truck. Now fast forward 11

38:14

years, when under the

38:16

direction of district attorney Ray Tierney, the

38:19

Long Island Serial Killer Task Force goes through

38:21

all of the evidence in the files again.

38:24

And a female state trooper takes

38:27

it upon herself to search the

38:29

registered vehicle databases and not only

38:31

finds the dark green Chevy Avalanche

38:33

truck in Manasipiqua Park, but

38:36

also that it's registered owner,

38:38

Rex Huerman, fits the

38:41

physical description of the witness testimony.

38:44

So why did the Suffolk County Police Department

38:46

not pursue this lead back in 2011?

38:50

I reached out to then Suffolk County

38:52

Chief of Detective, Dominic Verone. And

38:54

if you've listened to this podcast from the

38:56

beginning, you've heard from Dominic before. And

38:59

while we've met in the past, he said he couldn't

39:01

sit for an interview at this time. Although

39:03

he gave me permission to read you the text

39:05

that he sent me, here's what he said.

39:08

Quote, I don't recall anything

39:10

about a Chevy Avalanche or where it was

39:13

buried in the case folders. A

39:15

chief is never aware of all the nuts

39:17

and bolts in hundreds of leads in a

39:19

massive investigation. I wish I was. Eventually,

39:22

I would have been able to review the

39:24

files, but the way I was pushed out

39:26

with such short notice concluded that. I

39:29

am anxious to learn who was the witness,

39:31

who took a statement from him, when it

39:33

was taken, and how it was recorded. This

39:36

will all come out in discovery, end quote.

39:40

It is important to remember that Amber and

39:42

the other women were found not because police

39:45

were looking for them, but because they were

39:47

looking for Shannon Gilbert. Shannon

39:49

was a sex worker who went missing in

39:51

the nearby exclusive gated community of Oak Beach

39:53

in May of 2010. Upon

39:57

discovery of the Gilgo Four, the search

39:59

did not stop. In

40:01

fact, it intensified, and in

40:03

April of 2011, several more bodies

40:05

were discovered, including that of Valerie

40:07

Muck, Jessica Taylor, Karen Vergada, and

40:10

the yet-to-be-identified bodies as Peaches and

40:12

her toddler, as well as a

40:14

victim known as either Asian male

40:16

dough or Yogo Beach dough. Shannon

40:19

Gilbert wasn't found until December of 2011, a year

40:22

after the Yogo Four. Is

40:26

it possible that the massive search and

40:28

accompanying press coverage overwhelmed the department

40:30

with leads? Maybe. But

40:33

in speaking with several sources, a different

40:35

explanation has been offered. Here

40:37

is my interview with Suffolk County legislator

40:40

Robert Trotta. The

40:42

tip about the avalanche

40:44

comes in early January. So

40:47

in 2011, the Old

40:49

Guard, before a burt came in, would have been

40:51

in charge of the investigation. People like Vergada. Yes.

40:54

What is the theory about how that

40:56

tip would have not made it

40:59

to the police officers in

41:01

charge of the investigation at that time, as

41:03

far as Burke is concerned? Well,

41:05

during the time when these leads came in

41:08

about the heavy avalanche, now, this

41:10

is more than conjecture. This is people who

41:12

have worked there, you know, talking about it.

41:14

What happens is the district attorney and

41:16

the homicide squad work very closely together.

41:19

At the time, Burke is

41:21

in charge of the district attorney's office. So

41:23

it's very simple for him to say to

41:25

the detectives, look, you tell me everything.

41:28

You don't tell them anything because they're going to be

41:30

gone in six months or a year and I'm going

41:32

to be the chief. So there's no sense of them

41:34

telling them anything. You just come to me. The

41:37

paranoid that the FBI is looking at

41:39

Burke. And

41:42

then it's in 2012 when Burke officially takes over

41:44

as chief, what is the first thing Burke does

41:46

when he gets in charge? He

41:48

just disbanded every single federal

41:51

task force. We had five

41:53

or six guys in the DEA. You come back. We

41:55

don't work with the DEA. There was two detectives assigned

41:57

to the ATF. They were pulled out. This

42:00

was, you know, it was in the plan. And as

42:02

far as if Burke did have

42:04

anything to do, hypothetically, you know, like

42:07

that theory exists because he wields a

42:09

certain level of influence. He was at

42:11

the DA's office, but like, were people

42:13

familiar with other aspects of Burke's history

42:15

and who he was close to and

42:19

powerful connections he had? Everyone

42:21

knew he was protected by Spoda and

42:24

that he was a Vivian tenant. That

42:26

he was out of his mind that if he ever

42:28

became the chief, you know, people who knew him and

42:30

knew of him, he was power hungry and

42:33

he would just step all over you. He could care less about

42:35

you. And are you just surprised in

42:37

general that 12 years later this tip that they

42:39

had the whole time, you

42:41

know, was miraculously found by just

42:44

a female police officer doing work? Right

42:47

off the top of my head, it sounds like they screwed up. You

42:51

know, of course, I wasn't there during that time.

42:53

I mean, there could have been 50 boxes of

42:55

materials, but it doesn't matter when you look at

42:58

the fact pattern, any supervisor, anybody with half a

43:00

brain would figure out, okay, this is our our

43:02

big lead. This woman was missing two months ago.

43:04

We got a guy saying that he got in

43:06

the car with a guy in the Chevy Avalanche

43:08

and he's six foot six. That's got

43:11

to be the number one thing you're looking at. Whether

43:15

this exact lead was buried at James

43:18

Burke's request, we'll never know. But the

43:20

fact that Spoda and Burke were having

43:23

backdoor influence on rank and file at

43:25

the police department ahead of his appointment

43:27

there is troubling in light of

43:29

what happened. One other

43:31

side note, Steve Boulogne, the man who

43:33

appointed James Burke, termed out of office

43:35

last year. Two weeks ago,

43:38

it was revealed that current district attorney

43:40

Ray Tierney is leading an investigation

43:42

into Boulogne, probing whether he

43:45

or his officials improperly destroyed county

43:47

records. The saga

43:49

of corruption in Suffolk County seems to be

43:51

never ending. If you want to

43:53

hear Boulogne try to explain why he didn't

43:56

remove Burke in the face of overwhelming evidence

43:58

of wrongdoing, check out episode. of

44:00

this podcast. It's mind blowing.

44:02

And if you would like to

44:04

contribute to our story, or if

44:06

you know Rex Youerman, please send

44:08

an email to us at [email protected].

44:11

Or you can contact me directly on

44:14

Instagram at Alexis Linkletter. Unraveled

44:18

is produced by Joke Productions 4ID.

44:21

The executive producers and writers

44:23

of this podcast are Joke

44:25

Fincin, Biaggio Messina, and myself,

44:28

Alexis Linkletter. Executive producer for

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ID is Annie Mangonit. Our

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editor is Caitlin Cleveland. Lisa

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Rivikoff is our associate producer.

44:37

The music and score that you've heard

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