Rex Heuermann.Photo:Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office

Rex Heuermann mug shot

Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office

A neighbor of the allegedLong Island serial killer Rex Heuermanndescribed the architect as a “very quiet” woodworker who kept to himself.

Although the neighbor, who asked not to be named, lived at his Massapequa Park, New York home for 22 years, he told PEOPLE he rarely spoke to Heuermann. “He did a lot of woodworking and stuff in his garage and in his… his driveway,” the neighbor said. “I hope he wasn’t building coffins.”

Even if the two saw each other at the train station, the neighbor said they never acknowledged each other. “It came down to it that when we first moved here, he made his mark,” the neighbor said of Heuermann. “He had no interest in being [in] any kind of relations, so I said that’s it. If I saw him at the train station, I didn’t acknowledge him at all. He didn’t acknowledge me.”

Kyle Mazza/Anadolu Agency via Getty

Crime scene investigators bring out evidence from the home of Rex Heuermann who was arrested as a suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killings In Massapequa Park, Long Island, New York

After Heuermann moved to the house next door, the neighbor said he “never said two words to me,” explaining that Heuermann gave him a “creepy” vibe. However, he was still surprised when he heard the news of Heuermann’s arrest.

“I can’t believe it,” the neighbor said, before noting that other criminal cases in Massapequa Park were giving the city a poor reputation. “It’s giving Massapequa Park people a really bad name. But I got to tell you, this is one of the best communities to live in. I mean, we got a great school system,” he told PEOPLE, later adding that it was “very unfair” that crimes like these put a “big schmear” on the community.

Heuermann, an architect with an office in Manhattan,was taken into police custody Friday. He is the suspect in the “Long Island Serial Killer” case, which came to light in December 2010 when the bodies ofMelissa Barthelemy,Amber Costello,Megan Waterman, andMaureen Brainard-Barneswere reportedly found wrapped in burlap and buried in the marsh on Gilgo Beach, Long Island.

The women went missing between 2007 and 2010.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty

Law enforcement officials are seen as they investigate the home of a suspect arrested in the unsolved Gilgo Beach killings on July 14, 2023 in Massapequa Park, New York

During a press conference, authorities said Heuermann was allegedly linked to the killings through cellular data from his burner phones, his car, and hairs reportedly found at the crime scene.

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“Rex Heuermann is a demon that walks among us,“Suffolk County Police Commission Rodney Harrison claimed at the press conference. “A predator that ruined families. If not for the members of this task force he would still be on the streets today. Even with the arrest, we are still not done.”

source: people.com