Investigators had been watching the man they believed was LISK—the Long Island Serial Killer—for months. They had cell tower evidence. Burner phone records. But they needed DNA.

Then he threw away a pizza box.

In the final part of our Gilgo Beach Killer series, we examine how a discarded pizza box allegedly provided the evidence that led to charges in a thirteen-year cold case—and what happens when the alleged Long Island Serial Killer faces trial in September 2026.

The investigation stalled for years after bodies were discovered along Ocean Parkway. Then a new Suffolk County task force formed in February 2022 with a mandate to apply modern technology to old evidence from the Gilgo Beach murders.

Six weeks in, an investigator noticed an old witness statement. An "ogre-like man" driving a Chevrolet Avalanche near where Amber Costello vanished. A database search returned one name.

From there, cell phone records allegedly connected the alleged Gilgo Beach Killer to burner phones in every instance. But investigators needed physical proof.

Enter whole genome sequencing—technology that can extract DNA from degraded, rootless hairs. A California lab applied it to evidence from six victims. According to prosecutors, the results linked hairs to LISK and his family.

Then the pizza. DNA from the crust matched a male hair on Gilgo Four victim Megan Waterman. A profile found in only 0.04% of the population.

"That was a remarkable day," DA Tierney said. "You read the report and you read it again."

July 13, 2023. The alleged Long Island Serial Killer arrested. Twelve-day search. Fifty-eight hard drives. Over two hundred firearms. The planning document.

The defense challenged the DNA technology as "magic." Judge Mazzei allowed it—the first time in a New York criminal trial.

The LISK trial happens September 2026. Part 5 of 5.

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