What we know about the women known as the 'Gilgo Four'

Rex Heuermann has now been charged with killing four women whose bodies were discovered bound with belts or tape and wrapped in burlap along a stretch of Long Island's Gilgo Beach in 2010.

A married father accused by authorities of leading a double life, Heuermann had faced three counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello the following year, according to the Suffolk County district attorney. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

The 60-year-old New York architect also has been charged in the disappearance and killing of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found near the same spot, prosecutors said Tuesday. He had been identified as a prime suspect in the killing since his arrest in July.

Heuermann pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to the superseding indictment charging him with murder in the second degree in the death of Brainard-Barnes.

Heuermann "has maintained his innocence from day one," his defense attorney said after he was charged in the fourth killing.

"He said, 'I'm not guilty of these charges,'" defense attorney Michael Brown said. "He's looking forward to fight these charges and we're doing that. We're going to continue to prepare."

Heuermann was first identified as a potential suspect in early 2022, shortly after a multi-agency task force was formed to examine cold cases involving nearly a dozen sets of human remains found along Long Island's South Shore between 2010 and 2011, including the "Gilgo Four."