The New York man suspected of killing at least three women in the Gilgo Beach area has now been charged with the murder of a fourth.
The 60-year-old suspect, who The Daily Wire is not naming due to a policy regarding alleged mass killers, was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, ABC New York reported. The man already has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Costello, who were found on a beach along the south shore of Long Island, New York, back in 2010.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced that the suspect had been linked to Brainard-Barnes through DNA evidence and that her death fits the pattern of the other three victims, including the fact that the suspect’s family was out of the state during the woman’s disappearance.
Court documents obtained by ABC show that prosecutors seized two phones from the suspect when he was arrested last year, claiming the phones were used “in furtherance of hundreds of contacts with sex-workers between 2020 and 2023.” In addition to the phones, investigators also revealed in the filing that they seized hundreds of other electronic devices from the suspect’s home and office, adding that the suspect obsessively searched for information about the Gilgo Beach victims.
“Defendant’s devices also contained the following: A collection of violent, bondage, and torture pornography preceding, during, and subsequent to the disappearances and murders of the aforementioned victims between 2007 and 2010; and prostitution-related searches preceding, during, and subsequent to the disappearances and murders of the aforementioned victims between 2007 and 2010,” prosecutors said in the filing.
The suspect was arrested on July 13 for the murder of the three women. Six days after his arrest, his wife filed for divorce. She and other family members reportedly will receive $1 million for participating in a documentary series with Peacock. The project will follow the family’s lives as they cope with the upcoming trial and how it has uprooted their lives.
Police investigating the Gilgo Beach serial killings are operating on the theory that the suspect committed the murders in his own home, a source told CNN.
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The theory is based on the fact that the suspect’s family was out of town during the murders, suggesting he may have lured the victims to his home, a source involved in the investigation told the outlet.
Authorities are operating under this theory, the source said, as they continue to search the suspect’s home for trace evidence of the victims. Killing them at his own home would have allowed him to control the environment while having easy access to the materials found along with the victims at Gilgo Beach, such as tape and burlap bags.
Four bodies were found within days of each other. The body of Barthelemy was found on December 11, 2010, during a police training exercise with a K9, according to a bail application obtained by the Daily Beast. Two days later, police searched the area and discovered the three other bodies.
If convicted, the suspect faces multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.