DJ Says His Ex-Wife Accused Him of Being Serial Killer, Contacted Police

A New Jersey wedding DJ is speaking out following the arrest of Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann. Heuermann has been charged with multiple counts of murder in connection with the killings of women whose bodies were found on Long Island's Gilgo Beach more than a decade ago, a crime spree that DJ Fred Hart was nearly questioned for after his ex-wife contacted police and named him as a possible person of interest.

Opening up about the ordeal to the Daily Mail last month after Heuermann was taken into police custody, Hart revealed that his connection to the case began in 2021 when his ex-wife reported him to the NYPD Special Victims Unit as a possible person of interest for the killings. Hart credited his ex-wife's "overactive imagination" with the confusion, explaining that she grew suspicious after he began traveling into New York City to help his elderly aunt in a real estate deal. Hart began "traveling to and from Brooklyn often from New Jersey," and since his aunt had been married to a "Gambino crime family associate," the vague mob connection piqued his ex-wife's interest. That paired with Hart's passion for sharp shooting and target practice eventually led her to conclude that he was an assassin or trained killer and possibly responsible for the unsolved murders.

"It's a funny story now and I make a joke of it but maybe I should have been more scared. Luckily, I knew I was beyond reproach," Hart told the outlet, adding that he first learned his ex-wife reported him to police by his stepdaughter. "She said, 'Hey Fred, I feel bad and wanted you to know, mom told the cops you were the serial killer.'"

Hart said his ex-wife, whom he was married to for four years before they separated and lived separately for 14 years, "leaped to a conclusion that Evel Knievel would have had a hard time jumping across to. I got on Wikipedia and started reading all about these girls who'd gone missing after setting up meetings on Craigslist and how they were from New York."

On July 7, 2021, he received a voicemail from Detective Lauren Liebhauser of the NYPD's Special Victims' Unit asking whether he was free for an interview. Hart "called the detective back immediately and said 'I am not the guy but I am happy to talk to you and help.'" Three meetings were scheduled and re-arranged by the detective, who, in a voicemail obtained by the Daily Mail, said there were other "big cases" that came up that required more immediate attention.

Although Hart "wasn't worried. I'm squeaky clean," he did contact his divorce attorney about speaking to pilice. The attorney told Hart, "'Absolutely not, no, no, no.' They were going to come and interview me at my house at that point, but he got in touch with them and instead asked to do it at his office. At that point, they couldn't talk to me." Hart, who has since finalized his divorce from his ex-wife, said he imagines police "pursue every tip they get. They didn't seem to be taking me too seriously."

On July 14, Heuermann, of Massapequa, Long Island, was identified as the suspect taken into custody on three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Those three women and a fourth, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, were all found close together in the Gilgo Beach area in 2010. At least 10 bodies were found to be in the area, believed to be the victims of a serial killer. Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the charges.