The Gilgo Beach murder case is moving toward a trial, but two defense requests are slowing things down. Rex Heuermann’s attorneys are asking for more time as they challenge something called nuclear DNA testing, which has never been used in a New York court of law.
The judge set what’s called a Frye hearing to determine whether the DNA evidence will be admissible during trial.
While Heuermann’s defense team calls the process “magic,” prosecutors say it’s commonly used throughout forensic science.
The Frye hearings are scheduled to begin Friday and could last a few months. Both sides are expected to call a total of eight witnesses, including a doctor and other experts.
What is nuclear DNA testing?
Nuclear DNA testing is common in forensic science, according to Michael Marciano, director of research for Syracuse University’s Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute. He said it’s used for everything from at-home DNA kits to disease detection and identifying human remains.
“We typically focus on nuclear DNA in forensic science, this is nothing new. It’s been done for decades and decades,” Marciano explained.
Marciano said the question in the Huermann case is what is known as whole genome sequencing, which he explained can be a more sensitive type of testing.
“Rather than look at 24 to 27 areas of the DNA, which is what we typically do in forensic cases, we look at thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of different variations in the DNA,” he said. “If you think about your DNA, a lot of people see it as a sequence of letters. We’re looking for differences in those letters.
“We share most of our DNA with each other. We’re looking for those differences, and those differences can provide information as to the identity of an individual,” he continued.
Shortly after Heuermann’s arrest in July 2023, the district attorney’s office said DNA from a discarded pizza box linked him to hair from one of the victims.
When Heuermann was charged with a seventh murder last December, court documents said hairs found near the victim’s wrists were linked to his estranged wife Asa Ellerup and his daughter, to the exclusion of 99.65% of the North American population. His wife and daughter, who would have been a young child at the time, have not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
“This is the future”
If the whole genome sequencing is admissible in this case, Marciano says it could be a game-changer in DNA testing.
“If we look back to the O.J. Simpson case, actually, we saw the introduction of a new technology called PCR-based testing, which is now the gold standard for forensic DNA testing,” he said. “Whole genome sequencing is available in private companies right now for use in criminal investigations. It’s not widespread, but this could be one of those critical moments in moving forward in forensic DNA analysis that brings this to the mainstream.”
He said changes like this take time to work through the court system, but added, “this is the future, without a doubt.”
“Innovations in forensic DNA analysis take time, because it goes through the court system, and that benefits the defense as well as the prosecution in the need to vet and ensure that these technologies are reliable,” he said. “That is what these hearings that we’re expecting in the next two weeks to cover – is this generally accepted? Is this high quality science?”