Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann may have met disgraced ex-police chief James Burke while ‘gay cruising’ in Long Island, according to prosecutors.
John Ray, a lawyer for the families of two women found dead on the east New York peninsula, said several sources have contacted him over the past month to say they previously encountered Heuermann roaming the area looking for casual sex.
This comes after former Gilgo cop Burke was busted for allegedly offering oral sex to an undercover male park ranger at the Vietnam Veteran’s memorial Park in Farmingville – an area known for ‘gay cruising’.
Cruising in this context means walking or driving around a locality ‘cruising ground’ in search of an anonymous, one-time partner.
Long Island is allegedly littered with gay cruising grounds, including the area where Burke was arrested, known colloquially as ‘pickle park’.
Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann (pictured) may have met disgraced ex-police chief James Burke while ‘gay cruising’ in Long Island, according to prosecutors
Former Gilgo cop James Burke (pictured) was busted last week for allegedly offering oral sex to an undercover male park ranger at the Vietnam Veteran’s memorial Park in Farmingville – an area known for ‘gay cruising’
John Ray (pictured), a lawyer for the families of two women found dead on the east New York peninsula, said several sources have contacted him over the past month to say they previously encountered Heuermann roaming the area looking for casual sex
Some longtime Suffolk County residents, who asked not to be identified, revealed to DailyMail.com that there are many pickle parks across the island and that they are a ‘breeding ground for sexual activity, prostitution and drugs.’
Attorney Ray has also been looking into these hunting grounds, in the most recent development of his decade-long campaign to secure justice for the women killed.
He said several sources have told him key suspect Heuermann, 59, was known on the local ‘gay cruising’ scene – and there’s ‘no question’ this link could have brought him into contact with Burke, 59.
‘I have several people who contact me because they don’t want to talk to the police, and they have real fears and they don’t want their families to know, but they’ve shared with me that [Rex Heuermann] is a cruiser,’ Ray told the U.S. Sun.
‘Obviously it’s all word of mouth, and evidence is hard to come by, but I’ve had several people tell me the same thing.’
Ray added that he is urging Suffolk County Police to investigate any potential social ties between the two men.
Burke was charged on August 22 with offering a sex act, indecent exposure, public lewdness and criminal solicitation in the fifth degree after he was detained near ‘pickle park’.
It came only a month after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Burke bungled the investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings and led a double life that allegedly included smoking crack, cross-dressing and relationships with prostitutes.
DailyMail.com has contacted Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office and Heuermann’s attorney in regard to Ray’s claims.
Ray said several sources have told him key suspect Heuermann (pictured) was known on the local ‘gay cruising’ scene – and there’s ‘no question’ this link could have brought him into contact with Burke, 59
Burke (pictured) was charged on August 22 with offering a sex act, indecent exposure, public lewdness and criminal solicitation in the fifth degree after he was detained near ‘pickle park’
!['I have several people who contact me because they don't want to talk to the police, and they have real fears and they don't want their families to know, but they've shared with me that [Rex Heuermann] is a cruiser,' Ray said](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/04/02/75018753-12476327-_I_have_several_people_who_contact_me_because_they_don_t_want_to-a-75_1693791838976.jpg)
‘I have several people who contact me because they don’t want to talk to the police, and they have real fears and they don’t want their families to know, but they’ve shared with me that [Rex Heuermann] is a cruiser,’ Ray said
A single serial killer is believed to be behind the Gilgo Beach murders of 11 women, mostly prostitutes who advertised on Craigslist, between 1996 and 2011.
Their bodies were discovered on the South Shore beach over several months in 2010 and 2011, following a police probe triggered by the disappearance of 23-year-old escort Shannan Gilbert.
In December 2010, the remains of four victims who became known as ‘The Gilgo Four’ were found within a quarter of a mile of each other near the beach.
Six more sets of remains were found in early 2011 in Suffolk and Nassau counties, which police believe predate the beach bodies.
The serial killer went undetected for more than a decade – until police charged Long Island architect Heuermann with the murders of three of the ‘Gilgo Four’ victims – Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Costello.
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