Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer made pass at ‘creeped out' woman on train days before arrest

News.com.au

3 days ago

It was a killer commute.
Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann made an unwanted pass at a 'creeped out' New York train-goer just days before his shocking arrest for the infamous murders, according to the commuter, who took secret videos of the chilling encounter.
Kaylin Morales was on her way home from a dinner date in the Big Apple, riding a nearly empty Babylon-bound LIRR train around 7.45pm on July 1, 2023, when things took a chilling turn – when Mr Heuermann, 61, plopped down in the seat right next to her, despite the rest of the car being deserted.
'I just thought he was this big, fat, ugly white man … I obviously didn't know who he was at the time,' Ms Morales, 21, told The Post.
'It was just so weird that the rest of the seats were empty and he had to sit right next to me. I was on high alert at that point.'
Ms Morales, who had her legs stretched out onto the seat across from her own, recalled the hair-raising comment Mr Heuermann made to her as he sat down.
'He said, 'Oh, you don't have to move your pretty legs. I won't bother you,'' she said.
Feeling 'uncomfortable', the Bay Shore resident started secretly recording videos and pictures of Mr Heuermann as they pulled out of Penn Station.
'Just in case, for my own safety, I was like, 'Let me just get evidence of who this person is,'' she explained.
One Snapchat clip — which Ms Morales captioned at the time, 'Like why the f**k is there mad open seats and this guy sits right next to me and can't stop talking to me, like i literally can't ever catch a break' — shows Mr Heuermann, wearing khaki cargo pants, holding a Miller Lite can.
The video then cuts to a close-up of Ms Morales's face, which shows her frowning.
Another vid, captioned 'the cracking of a new drink is crazy [crying emoji] i simply cant', shows Mr Heuermann's stubby fingers cracking his second beer, while the phone sitting on his thigh appears to show a New York Post article.
'I could have moved but I was like, 'Is he going to say something else to me?' Like, I just don't want to interact with this man any further — everything about him was sussing me out. So I thought the best thing to do was ignore him and put my AirPods in and look out of the window,' explained Ms Morales, who also said she felt 'boxed in' by Mr Heuermann's 'large body.'
Although she could 'see and feel' Mr Heuermann talking to her more, the music in her AirPods intentionally drowned his voice out, she recalled.
Another clip she took shows Mr Heuermann exiting the train at Massapequa, where he lived for years before getting nabbed for the infamous murders.
When news of Mr Heuermann's arrest broke nearly two weeks later, Ms Morales was aghast.
'My heart immediately sank to the floor … it was literally the craziest feeling. I couldn't even believe it,' she recalled.
She decided to submit the clips she'd taken of Mr Heuermann to Suffolk County Crime Stoppers 'in case it could be of use', and ended up getting interviewed by a detective on the case, who confirmed it had been Mr Heuermann sitting next to her on the train, she said.
A spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney said their office could not confirm or deny details of ongoing investigations, and the Suffolk County Police Department declined to comment when asked about Ms Morales's claims.
Nearly two years after the creepy encounter, Ms Morales finally felt it was safe enough to post them on her TikTok account on May 5.
'I was worried if I posted right after his arrest, if he had a partner, I didn't want them coming after me, so I waited. After I watched the Netflix documentary and see that he did this alone, I felt more comfortable sharing my experience,' she explained.
'God was with me that day,' she told The Post.
Mr Heuermann – who has pleaded not guilty to murdering seven women — will return to Suffolk County Criminal Court on June 17. A trial date for the murders has not yet been set. Mr Heuermann is being held in Riverhead Correctional Facility.
Mr Heuermann's lawyer did not return a request for comment from The Post.