Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, who is accused of murdering seven women, will face all of the charges in a single trial, a judge has ruled.

The decision, made Sept. 23 by Suffolk County Judge Tim Mazzei in Riverhead, NY, delivers a major setback for the accused killer’s lawyer Michael J. Brown, who filed a motion for multiple trials for the different victims.

Brown had earlier said that “the danger of having count after count, victim after victim in the same trial is that ‘if there’s smoke, there’s fire’ mentality.” 

On Sept. 23, the defense team argued, according to court documents, People reported, that there was no “unique and consistent modus operandi common to all seven murders.”

Judge rules on DNA evidence

At the same hearing, reported the New York Post, Mazzei also denied the defense’s request to exclude advanced DNA evidence.

This type of evidence is based on new techniques to analyze old and highly degraded DNA samples, like ones collected from the bodies of the victims in the Gilgo Beach case.

Heuermann’s defense team has argued against the use of this high-tech DNA evidence because it lacks general acceptance in the scientific community and has not been used before in New York.

He is in custody at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County while he awaits trial. 

Heuermann is also featured in the Peacock documentary The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets, which has aired on Oxygen and is streaming on Peacock.