A long-time neighbour of Gilgo Beach killings suspect Rex Heuermann has said he confronted the “strange and odd” architect – because he “creeped out” his wife.
Heuermann, 59, was charged with the murder of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings in Long Island last week. The father-of-two has lived for decades across a bay from where the remains were found.
His long-term neighbour Etienne Devilliers has now revealed that the suspected serial-killer made his wife feel uncomfortable on a number of occasions. But Devilliers said Heuermann backed off after he confronted him – and he said he was “really surprised” to learn that his neighbour had been charged with multiple murders.
Devilliers, a retired New York City firefighter who has lived nextdoor to Heuermann for three decades, told Fox & Friends: “My wife would sunbathe in the backyard occasionally … but he would stand over the fence because he was a tall guy. … He would constantly say he was 6’4”, 250 pounds, and he would try to start conversations with her.
“My wife finally told me a few times that she was getting creeped out a bit by him. I had a conversation with him.
“It wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation.
“We spoke pretty harshly, but he didn’t get aggressive or anything. After that, he never did it again.
“He was strange and odd. People would stay away from his house. I mean, they would literally cross the street because the house was such a mess.”
“He tried to buddy up because he wanted some friends. Nobody in the neighborhood ever talked to the guy. The house was a mess, but he stayed to himself, pretty much. So, he asked me to play cards and tried to buddy up a couple of times, but I kind of stayed away from him.”
“When I had that altercation with him, I basically threatened him to stop leering at my wife. He backed off.
“The violence thing I didn’t see coming because he didn’t come off violent. I mean, he was strange to look at, enormous. But he never became more violent to me or to anybody that I could tell.”
“He tried to buddy up because he wanted some friends. Nobody in the neighbourhood ever talked to the guy.
“The house was a mess, but he stayed to himself, pretty much. So, he asked me to play cards and tried to buddy up a couple of times, but I kind of stayed away from him.”
Devilliers said he did not know Heuermann’s first wife, but was familiar with his second wife and their two children.
“The wife was a bit on the odd side, too,” said Devilliers.
“She kept to herself most of the time, and whenever I spoke to her, it was just two or three-word things. With Rex, on the other hand, I had conversations with him regularly.
“The kids, I really always felt sorry for the kids. The son is a special needs kid who just got his first dog a couple of weeks ago. It just brightened him up. He’s a sweet kid. And they always used him to do the garden work and plow the snow. And they kept the kid busy doing the manual labour around the house,” Devilliers continued.
“The daughter is also a nice young girl that kept to herself. Very quiet, very shy, and rarely I spoke to her – just hello and goodbye. The son I did have conversations with. He was a nice kid. I feel terrible for them.”
Devilliers also explained the impact the arrest had on his usually quiet neighbourhood. He told Fox & Freinds host Brian Kilmeade it had become a “madhouse”, due to the intense media interest in the case.
“We’re in shock. We really are,” said Devilliers.
“This is a wonderful neighborhood. The people around us are terrific. Everybody’s really a nice person. We all get along.
“There’s a lot of cops. I’m a retired city fireman, and there’s a lot of cops and firemen in the neighborhood. So, we feel very, very safe. The kids run around, biking around. Everybody’s happy here. So, this is a shock to all of us.”
