FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL : Rex Heuermann Cleared in Murder of "Peaches" and 2-Year-Old

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

News, True Crime

3.9 • 7.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

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Summary

Rex Heuermann has been cleared in the strangulation death of Colleen McNamee. The 20 year old was beaten strangled and dumped near the William Floyd Parkway in 1994. DNA testing confirmed Heuermann was not connected with the murder.

The DNA test was conducted following a request by convicted killer John Bittrolff. He was convicted in 2017 of killing McNamee and Rita Tangredi. Her battered body was found in in 1993. Bittrolff tried to pin McNamee’s murder on Heuermann. DNA proved the claim incorrect.

Police arrest prominent New York architect Rex Heuerman in connection with the Gilgo Beach serial killings. Rex Heuerman,59, is charged in multiple deaths of women whose bodies were found buried. These include Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.

The women's remains were found along Gilgo Beach in Long Island within 500 feet of each other. However, investigators have found a total of eleven bodies but Heuerman is not charged in all. Seven so far. Heuermann claims he is innocent.

Now a judge rules that evidence collected through cutting-edge DNA technology will be admissible at his trial. Prosecutors say the DNA points directly at Rex Heuermann. The technology specializes in extracting nuclear DNA from damaged or hard-to-get samples, such as rootless hair, like those found on six of the victims.

Joining Nancy Grace Today:

John Ray - Attorney for family of Shannan Gilbert
Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst (Beverly Hills): Twitter: @DrBethanyLive
Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony M. Carter - Suffolk County Police Department
Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University; Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet" and Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan;" Twitter: @JoScottForensic
Todd G. Shipley, CFE, CFCE - Cyber crime expert, Author: “Investigating Internet Crimes: An Introduction to Solving Crimes in Cyberspace;" Twitter: @webcase
Toby Wolson - Forensic Consultant Specializing in DNA, Serology and Bloodstain Pattern Analysis
Kristin Thorne- Investigative Reporter for WABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York, and Host of Hulu’s true-crime show, “Missing;" @KristinThorne on Facebook, Twitter, Insta, Threads, & LinkedIn

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an IHeart podcast.
0:02.3	Guaranteed Human.
0:08.7	Rex Hewerman, the name will live forever in infamy along names like Ted Bundy, BTK,
0:17.4	buying torture, kill, Dennis Raider, Timothy McVeigh, Charles Manson, oh gosh, I could go on.
0:29.7	Rex Hiramon, the alleged Long Island serial killer awaiting trial, we know what he did to his victims, horrific, horrific
0:41.1	murderers after horrific, horrific, horrific sex torture while his wife and children were out of town
0:49.0	in a basement dungeon, then burying them so he could look at their graves every day when he went to
0:57.5	work on Long Island there at Gilgo Beach. And that is tonight's Friday night special, and it
1:05.3	is very, very special. I'm Nancy Grace. This is crime stories. I want to thank you for being with us.
1:13.8	Rex Heerman. Cops say he is the Long Island serial killer. I believe he can be connected and
1:25.9	will be connected to many, many other dead bodies.
1:30.9	But for tonight, for our Friday night special...
1:36.3	I hope you're sitting down.
1:39.4	If you look at the faces of all the women, he allegedly murdered.
1:46.8	One, two, three, four, five, I mean, on and on, five, six, seven.
1:53.7	And counting, all these women dead at the hands of Rex Heuerman?
2:02.6	What do we know?
2:03.6	Nancy, as you said, Rex Heuerman is suspected in and charged in multiple gruesome murders
2:09.6	of young sex workers on Long Island.
2:12.6	But now he has been cleared in the strangulation death of Colleen McNamee. The 20-year-old was beaten,
2:19.4	strangled, and dumped near William Floyd Parkway in 1994. DNA testing cleared Heurman in
2:26.2	connection with the murder. Quoting from the coroner's report, a comparison between cybergenetics
	...

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