Serial killer suspect's soundproof basement has eerie echoes of 'murder castle'

24 July 2023 , 17:47

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The back garden of Heuermann's home was excavated after a soundproof room was found in the basement (Image: AP)

One of the most chilling pieces of information to come out of the arrest of Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann was the alleged discovery of a soundproof basement where it's believed a woman was killed.

Even more eerie are the echoes this has of H H Holmes' 'murder castle' - the man believed to be America's first serial killer.

A search of Heuermann's Long Island home involved the use of cadaver dogs and a ground-penetrating radar machine. Then, the diggers moved in for a "major excavation" of the home the 59-year-old architect shared with his wife and two children.

A neighbour reported that police had found a sound-proofed room in the basement, with a former coworker confirming its existence and describing it as a "serious vault" which was concrete-lined with walls "maybe two or three feet thick".

The discovery is a chilling parallel to the case of the man who became widely recognised as 'America's first serial killer'.

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H H Holmes, real name Herman Mudgett, was a swindler and trickster who lived in the Chicago area in the 1880s.

Diggers were seen excavating in the back garden of Heuermann's home (AP)

He attended medical school having always had an interest in the subject, he allegedly trapped animals and performed surgery on them when he was younger. He graduated from the University of Michigan and moved to Chicago, taking a job as a pharmacist under the name Dr H H Holmes.

However, he soon began his murder spree, killing people in order to steal their property. He built himself a house, which became known as 'Murder Castle'.

It was equipped with secret passages, trapdoors, and soundproof rooms - reminiscent of the one allegedly found in Heuermann's home. The 'Murder Castle' also had doors that could be locked from the outside, gas jets to asphyxiate victims and a kiln to cremate their bodies.

Born Herman Webster Mudgett, also known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or H. H. Holmes, he's believed to be America's 'first serial killer' (Alamy Stock Photo)

During the peak of his activity, Holmes allegedly seduced and murdered a number of women. His Modus Operandi (MO) was to become engaged to the women, killing them after he secured control of their life savings.

He also had his employees carry life insurance policies, which named him as the beneficiary so he could collect the money after killing them.

It's said that Holmes sold the bodies of many of his victims to local medical schools. Ultimately, it was an insurance fraud attempt which led to his capture. He had come up with a scheme with an associate, Ben Pitezel, to defraud an insurance company by faking Pitezel's death.

Rex Heuermann, 59, has been arrested on suspicion of murder for the long-unsolved deaths of three women (Getty Images)

Pitezel took out a $10,000 life insurance policy, and the pair travelled to Colorado, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas, where they committed further acts of fraud. On their return to Missouri, Holmes was arrested for fraud and briefly jailed in St Louis.

Here he met Marion Hedgepeth, a career criminal, who agreed to help with the insurance scam involving Pitezel. During this time, Pitezel moved to Philadelphia and opened a fake patent office to swindle investors.

When Holmes was released from jail, he travelled to Philadelphia where he killed Pitezel. He then convinced Pitezel's widow, who was aware of the insurance scheme, that her husband was still alive.

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Authorities reportedly uncovered a soundproof basement room in Heuermann's home (ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA)

Being concerned that one of Pitezel's five children might contact the police, Holmes killed three of them. Insurance investigators were alerted to the fraud by Hedgepeth, and Holmes was arrested in Boston.

He was tried in Philadelphia for the murder of Pitezel and sentenced to death by hanging. Holmes confessed to 27 murders, though he later increased the total to more than 130. Some researchers have suggested he may have killed as many as 200 people.

Heuermann has been accused of murdering three women of the group which became known as the 'Gilgo Four' after their bodies were discovered near Gilgo Beach.

The 'Gilgo Four': Melissa Barthelemy, top left, Amber Costello, top right, Megan Waterman, bottom left, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes (AP)

He has denied the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, from New York, Amber Lynn Costell, 27, from North Carolina and Megan Waterman, 22, from Maine.

He is also reportedly being looked into as a suspect in the fourth woman's death - Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, from Connecticut.

The 'Gilgo Four' were found in December 2010 during the search for 23-year-old Shanna Gilbert, from Ellenville, New York, who was last seen in the nearby gated Oak Beach community. The women's bodies were found in the brush alongside Ocean Parkway, wrapped in burlap.

Amber Lynn Costello's body was found December 13, 2010 (AbacaPress / SplashNews.com)

In total, 10 bodies were found believed to be linked to the Long Island Serial Killer, also known as the Gilgo Beach Killer, Craigslist Ripper and Manorville Butcher.

However, law enforcement has long speculated that the bodies, all found in the same area of Long Island, could be the work of multiple killers.

Fiona Leishman