A Long Island man convicted of two killings in the early 1990s is seeking a review of his case after alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was charged in an “eerily similar” homicide during the same period, according to a report.
John Bittrolff, who was convicted in the 1993 murder of Rita Tangredi and the 1994 killing of Colleen McNamee, is pushing for exoneration after Heuermann was indicted in the 1993 killing of Sandra Costilla — a murder Bittrolff was long suspected of committing.
Bittrolff’s attorney Lisa Marcoccia called the crime scenes of the three murders “eerily similar,” and asked the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office to perform DNA testing on hairs found at the Tangredi and McNamee crime scenes, letters obtained by Newsday revealed. She also asked that the office release forensic evidence from the Costilla crime scene.
“All three women — Sandra, Rita and Colleen — were all killed within the same time frame … all three women were found in a wooded area, their legs were spread apart, their hands were above their head, they were each missing one shoe,” Marcoccia told Newsday.
“Colleen and Sandra both had their shirts pulled up over their faces, and the DA’s [office] has also claimed that there were wood chips on all three bodies … any logical person [would believe] one person was responsible for all three murders.”
District Attorney Ray Tierney, who was not in office when Bittrolff was charged and convicted, denied Marcoccia’s requests.
“I’ve looked at those cases,” Tierney told the outlet. “If I thought there was a problem with them, I would do something.”
Before Bittrolff’s 2014 arrest, Suffolk County investigators had long publicly said they believed the person responsible for the deaths of Tangredi and McNamee was responsible for the killing of Costilla.
Marcoccia, who previously filed two unsuccessful motions to overturn Bittrolff’s conviction, sent Tierney a letter on June 6 — the day Heuermann pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge in Costilla’s death.
In the letter, she asked prosecutors to turn over records for Heuermann related to the Costilla case, including any forensic analysis conducted from the Costilla crime scene and all information obtained through devices that are relevant to all three slayings, the outlet reported.
“The goal of the District Attorney’s Office is not to win cases, but to seek justice,” Marcoccia wrote in the letter.
After not receiving a response, she filed a second letter on June 18 to prosecutors repeating her requests and was denied two days later by Assistant District Attorney Guy Arcidiacono, who wrote that “there is no basis on law or fact for providing you with these materials.”
“As you are aware, Rex Heuermann has been indicted for the Costilla murder,” Arcidiacono wrote in a letter obtained by Newsday.
“Whether your client was ever investigated for the Costilla murder, it is evident he was not charged in that case. Neither the fact that he was not charged, nor that Mr. Heuermann has been charged is exculpatory as to Bittrolff’s murder convictions.”
Heuermann, 61, was linked to Costilla through mitochondrial DNA testing on hair found at the crime scene while Bittrolff was linked to Tangredi and McNamee through DNA testing of semen found in each of their bodies, officials have said.
Heuermann was arrested on July 13, 2023, for the brutal killings of three women and was charged in the murders of three other women over the year.
His murder trial is expected to begin in Suffolk County Supreme Court in September.
Meanwhile, Marcoccia believes further testing of DNA evidence could assist Bittrolff in his appeal.
“There were unknown hairs found on both Rita and Colleen’s body that were never tested against,” Marcoccia said, according to the outlet.
