Pal reveals the moment he was convinced Rex Heuermann ‘was Gilgo Beach murderer': ‘I'm the best friend of a serial killer'
City architect David Jimenez, 63, reveals in his first public interview in the new Peacock docu-series, 'The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets' that it only took one prison visit with suspect Rex Heuermann to come to that realization.
'I expected to hear, 'David, I'm innocent, can you help me out?' ' Jimenez said of his unsettling 2023 jailhouse chat with the 61-year-old married Manhattan architect. 'And that's when I get the feeling.
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'I think he did it,' the shattered friend told the show, which began airing Monday.
6 David Jimenez says he formed a tight friendship with fellow city architect Rex Heuermann but that he now believes he's guilty of seven murders.
Peacock
Jimenez said he only wanted to hear Heuermann deny the sickening allegations — but that the response he got fell far short of giving him any comfort.
' 'Did you do it?' ' Jimenez said he asked the suspect. 'He teared up a little bit, and he started crying. I'm like, 'Rex, this is really bad.' I said, 'It's like it looks like you did it. It looks really bad.' And it's like, 'Can you tell me something?'
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'I said, 'They're even accusing you of killing prostitutes in Vegas,'' Jimenez recalled. 'And he had a very visceral reaction: 'All I did was gamble and drink there.' '
Jimenez said he still struggles to reconcile how the gifted architect he once buddied up to could possibly be the monster accused of one of the most notorious serial killer cases in the US.
'I'm in a story that I never wanted to be [in]. I'm the best friend of a serial killer,' Jimenez said. 'It's like I hit Lotto, but I didn't win any money. You know, like not a good Lotto.
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'He was a great friend,' Jimenez said. 'I feel like it's a loss because he was my buddy.'
6 David Jimenez said he quickly bonded with Rex Heuermann in 2006 over their mutual interests, including guns.
Peacock
The hulking Heuermann was arrested in July 2023 at his Midtown office and charged with three cold-case murders of young sex workers on Long Island in a case that shocked the nation.
Suffolk County prosecutors later charged him with the murder and mutilation of four more missing women, with all of the victims sex workers whose bodies were dumped in the area of Ocean Parkway over nearly 30 years, bringing the murderous tally to at least seven.
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DNA and other evidence definitively linked the dad of two to the slayings, officials have said. Heuermann allegedly kept news clips of the brutal killings in his basement.
Jimenez told the filmmakers he met Heuermann in 2006, when the 'family man' architect walked into a New York City Building Department office, where Jimenez was working, to discuss his latest project.
The two men quickly bonded over their shared passions: architecture, guns and a fondness for antiques.
'I could tell he's a confident man, and he's very secure,' Jimenez said. 'And he comes across as, you know, sort of a tough guy, but he was, he's still very nice.
6 The Gilgo Four were the first four of Rex Heuermann's alleged victims. From top left clockwise, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello and Megan Waterman.
Suffolk County Police Department
'Because we were both architects we have a lot of things in common, certain political views, the scotch, the cigars, the guns,' he added. 'All the macho stuff. He was easy to be friends with.'
Jimenez said the pair took frequent trips to shooting ranges and gun shows, including one in Las Vegas. He said he was given a tour of Heuermann's massive gun collection in his basement vault, where he stored as many as 300 weapons, according to Suffolk County prosecutors.
The pal said Heuermann's family — wife Asa Ellerup and their adult children Victoria and Christopher — appeared respectful of his friend, who was clearly the man of the house.
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6 Rex Heuermann is now charged with killing and mutilating seven sex workers dating back nearly 30 years.
Newsday
6 David Jimenez said he thought Rex Heuermann was 'a family man' who doted over his sickly wife, Asa Ellerup.
Peacock
Ellerup, in her own interview with the show, has called Heuermann her 'hero' and described falling in love with him all over again when she first saw him behind bars.
'He was a family man,' Jimenez said of his accused buddy. 'He's the man of the house, and there was a certain respect when [his family] would speak with him.'
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Then the close kinship between the two men came to a crashing halt July 14, 2023.
6 David Jimenez remembers the call from is son on July 14, 2023, telling him his best friend was an accused serial killer.
Peacock
Jimenez told Peacock he was driving to a Building Department office in Brooklyn when he got a call from his son, who wanted to know how to spell Heuermann's last name.
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'I freaked out,' the friend said when told why his son wanted to know. 'I was completely shocked. I pulled over because I couldn't drive anymore, and I just stood there. How could it be? It's like, it can't be.'
Additional reporting by David DeTurris
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Los Angeles Times
03-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
The news is catastrophic. Would it be so wrong to briefly escape into a beach read?
Welcome to the eve of the July 4 holiday, the official beginning of high summer. Los Angeles is reeling. The area is still recovering from devastating wildfires. Mayor Karen Bass this week accused the Trump administration of waging an 'all-out assault on Los Angeles.' Roving teams of federal immigration agents have cast a pall of fear across many of the region's communities. Would it be wrong to escape for a few hours into a beach read? Abby Jimenez, a best-selling author of romances like 'The Friend Zone' and 'Just For the Summer' who also owns a wildly successful bakery, believes an escapist romance book can be just the thing for troubled times. 'Romance is a safe space,' she said in an interview. 'No matter what happens in the story, you're going to wrap it up in the end.' 'The genre is so inclusive. There is sweet romance. Spicy romance. Christian romance. There are romance thrillers. Queer romances. And then you get your happy ever after.' Jimenez's latest book, 'Say You'll Remember Me,' came out this spring, just in time for beach read season. Though these days Jimenez lives in Minnesota, this book is partially set in Glendale, where she spent some of her childhood. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What does a beach read mean to you? There are just some books that are suitable for the pool and the sand over others. You're not going to be crying on the rest of your vacation. What are your favorite California beach reads? In your book, the main character Samantha has a meet cute with sexy veterinarian Xavier over a kitten's bowel problems, and then immediately decamps from the Midwest to Southern California. Tell us about your book's connection to Southern California. It is a book about making memories and losing them. It's a long-distance relationship. Samantha's mother is suffering from early onset dementia. I grew up in the Glendale/Burbank Area, before moving to Palmdale. The house I wrote into the book is actually my grandfather's house in real life. I wrote it exactly as it is in real life. The car I wrote into the book, the 1966 Dodge Dart convertible, was my car growing up. Bob Lentz of Sylmar says: 'I climb on my roof in the foothills of Sylmar to watch the fireworks across the entire San Fernando Valley!' Jody Stefansson of Pasadena says: 'My family's favorite thing to do on the 4th of July is close all the curtains and blinds in our home, turn down the lights, play soothing classical music and comfort our dogs with cuddles and reassurance. We celebrate July 5th!' On July 3, 1971, Jim Morrison — the lead singer of the Los Angeles band the Doors — died in Paris of heart failure at 27 years old. A bust placed on his grave site to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his passing went missing nearly 40 years ago. As the Times reported in May, Paris police found the memorial bust 'by chance.' Essential California will be off tomorrow. Enjoy your Fourth of July. We'll be back bright and early Saturday. Izzy Nunes, audience engagement internDiamy Wang, homepage internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
02-07-2025
A day outside an LA detention center shows profound impact of ICE raids on families
LOS ANGELES -- At a federal immigration building in downtown Los Angeles guarded by U.S. Marines, daughters, sons, aunts, nieces and others make their way to an underground garage and line up at a door with a buzzer at the end of a dirty, dark stairwell. It's here where families, some with lawyers, come to find their loved ones after they've been arrested by federal immigration agents. For immigrants without legal status who are detained in this part of Southern California, their first stop is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in the basement of the federal building. Officers verify their identity and obtain their biometrics before transferring them to detention facilities. Upstairs, immigrants line up around the block for other services, including for green cards and asylum applications. On a recent day, dozens of people arrived with medication, clothing and hope of seeing their loved one, if only briefly. After hours of waiting, many were turned away with no news, not even confirmation that their relative was inside. Some relayed reports of horrific conditions inside, including inmates who are so thirsty that they have been drinking from the toilets. ICE did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Just two weeks ago, protesters marched around the federal complex following aggressive raids in Los Angeles that began June 6 and have not stopped. Scrawled expletives about President Donald Trump still mark the complex's walls. Those arrested are from a variety of countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, India, Iran, China and Laos. About a third of the county's 10 million residents are foreign-born. Many families learned about the arrests from videos circulating on social media showing masked officers in parking lots at Home Depots, at car washes and in front of taco stands. Around 8 a.m., when attorney visits begin, a few lawyers buzz the basement door called 'B-18" as families wait anxiously outside to hear any inkling of information. Christina Jimenez and her cousin arrive to check if her 61-year-old stepfather is inside. Her family had prepared for the possibility of this happening to the day laborer who would wait to be hired outside a Home Depot in the LA suburb of Hawthorne. They began sharing locations when the raids intensified. They told him that if he were detained, he should stay silent and follow instructions. Jimenez had urged him to stop working, or at least avoid certain areas as raids increased. But he was stubborn and 'always hustled.' 'He could be sick and he's still trying to make it out to work,' Jimenez said. After learning of his arrest, she looked him up online on the ICE Detainee Locator but couldn't find him. She tried calling ICE to no avail. Two days later, her phone pinged with his location downtown. 'My mom's in shock,' Jimenez said. 'She goes from being very angry to crying, same with my sister.' Jimenez says his name into the intercom – Mario Alberto Del Cid Solares. After a brief wait, she is told yes, he's there. She and her cousin breathe a sigh of relief — but their questions remain. Her biggest fear is that instead of being sent to his homeland of Guatemala, he will be deported to another country, something the Supreme Court recently ruled was allowed. By mid-morning, Estrella Rosas and her mother have come looking for her sister, Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen. A day earlier, they saw Velez being detained after they dropped her off at her marketing job at a shoe company downtown. 'My mom told me to call 911 because someone was kidnapping her,' Rosas said. Stuck on a one-way street, they had to circle the block. By the time they got back, she says they saw Velez in handcuffs being put into a car without license plates. Velez's family believes she was targeted for looking Hispanic and standing near a tamale stand. Rosas has her sister's passport and U.S. birth certificate, but learns she is not there. They find her next door in a federal detention center. She was accused of obstructing immigration officers, which the family denies, but is released the next day. About 20 people are now outside. Some have found cardboard to sit on after waiting hours. One family comforts a woman who is crying softly in the stairwell. Then the door opens, and a group of lawyers emerge. Families rush to ask if the attorneys could help them. Kim Carver, a lawyer with the Trans Latino Coalition, says she planned to see her client, a transgender Honduran woman, but she was transferred to a facility in Texas at 6:30 that morning. Carver accompanied her less than a week ago for an immigration interview and the asylum officer told her she had a credible case. Then ICE officers walked in and detained her. 'Since then, it's been just a chase trying to find her,' she says. As more people arrive, the group begins sharing information. One person explains the all-important 'A-number,' the registration number given to every detainee, which is needed before an attorney can help. They exchange tips like how to add money to an account for phone calls. One woman says $20 lasted three or four calls for her. Mayra Segura is looking for her uncle after his frozen popsicle cart was abandoned in the middle of the sidewalk in Culver City. 'They couldn't find him in the system,' she says. Another lawyer, visibly frustrated, comes out the door. She's carrying bags of clothes, snacks, Tylenol, and water that she says she wasn't allowed to give to her client, even though he says he had been given only one water bottle over the past two days. The line stretches outside the stairwell into the sun. A man leaves and returns with water for everyone. Nearly an hour after family visitations are supposed to begin, people are finally allowed in. Still wearing hospital scrubs from work, Jasmin Camacho Picazo comes to see her husband again. She brought a sweater because he had told her he was cold, and his back injury was aggravated from sleeping on the ground. 'He mentioned this morning (that) people were drinking from the restroom toilet water,' Picazo says. On her phone, she shows footage of his car left on the side of the road after his arrest. The window was smashed and the keys were still in the ignition. 'I can't stop crying," Picazo says. Her son keeps asking: "Is Papa going to pick me up from school?' More than five hours after Jimenez and her cousin arrive, they see her stepfather. 'He was sad and he's scared," says Jimenez afterwards. 'We tried to reassure him as much as possible.' She wrote down her phone number, which he had not memorized, so he could call her. More people arrive as others are let in. 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Newsweek
01-07-2025
- Newsweek
Gilgo Beach Serial Killer's Belongings Being Sold on eBay
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Asa Ellerup, the ex-wife of Rex Heuermann, the man accused of killing several women whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach on Long Island, New York, is selling her former husband's 1972 Jeep for thousands of dollars in an eBay auction. Newsweek reached out to eBay for comment. Why It Matters Heuermann, who drew national attention upon his arrest in 2023, is accused of murdering seven women between 1993 and 2010. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Ellerup, a presence during several of her ex-husband's court appearances, filed for divorce from Heuermann following his arrest. The separation was finalized in March 2025. What To Know The eBay listing is for a 1972 Jeep AMC & 1963 HO/MA Trailer, stipulating that they were owned by "LISK" Rex Heuermann. As of 5:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the listing had been viewed more than 1,640 times and received 35 bids, reaching a high of $7,600. The starting bid was $1,000. A family representative is selling the vehicle and trailer on Ellerup's behalf and will transfer the money to her, according to Newsday. Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann confers with his attorney Michael Brown inside Judge Tim Mazzei's courtroom during a frye hearing at Suffolk County Court on June 17, 2025 in Riverhead, New York. Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann confers with his attorney Michael Brown inside Judge Tim Mazzei's courtroom during a frye hearing at Suffolk County Court on June 17, 2025 in Riverhead, New York. James Carbone-Pool/Getty Images The item description details the "vintage" nature and "unique model design and impeccable make." The Jeep has 52,256 miles and is being sold with both the hard and soft tops, in addition to all soft and hard doors, along with additional parts stored in boxes in the trailer. "The 1972 Jeep offers a nostalgic experience and is sure to turn heads on the road with its cool design and, if you are a true crime buff, this Jeep and trailer have quite a history," the description says. "The owner was none other than, The Long Island Serial Killer, Rex Heuermann." The listing also mentions the Peacock documentary series about the case, The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets. According to Peacock, the series goes "inside the suspect's home for the first time where exclusive commentary from his own family reveals a chilling portrait of a man accused of living a double life." What People Are Saying Victoria Heuermann, Rex Heuermann's daughter, revealed in the final episode of the Peacock series per a statement displayed on screen: "A week before the series' release, Victoria Heuermann told producers that based on the publicly available facts that have been presented and explained to her, she now believes her father is most likely the Gilgo Beach killer." Asa Ellerup, in The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets: "I would need to hear it from Rex, face-to-face, for me to believe he killed these girls." What Happens Next A date for Heuermann's trial has not yet been set. The defense has requested that charges be split into five separate trials.
