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Judge scolds alleged Gilgo Beach killer’s defense, vows trial will begin ‘come hell or high water’

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Judge scolds alleged Gilgo Beach killer’s defense, vows trial will begin ‘come hell or high water’

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The lawyers representing alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann received a stern warning from the New York judge presiding over the case. 

Judge Tim Mazzei expressed his frustration with Heuermann’s legal team in a hearing on Tuesday, after the case has dragged through the Long Island courts for over two years, according to the New York Post. 

“This trial will begin after Labor Day, come hell or high water,” he said, the Post reported. 

The scolding came after Heuermann’s lawyer, Michael Brown, introduced a new stack of motions further challenging evidence in the infamous murder case on Monday evening, the Post reported.

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EX-WIFE OF ALLEGED GILGO BEACH KILLER STILL DEFENDS HIM, BUT DAUGHTER SAYS HE ‘MOST LIKELY’ DID IT

Rex Heuermann appears in Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom with his attorney Michael Brown at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, New York, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (James Carbone/Newsday via Pool)

The new defense filings reportedly challenge roughly 20 search warrants carried out by authorities throughout the investigation, with Heuermann’s attorneys asking to suppress some of the DNA evidence – including a discarded pizza crust and energy drink thrown in the trash – while citing constitutional grounds. 

“If our government can go into our garbage can and take our DNA and learn everything about us, what’s the purpose of having a Fourth Amendment anymore?” Brown told reporters, according to the Post. 

In a September ruling, the judge determined the prosecution could use the DNA evidence in the case. 

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A map created by Suffolk County Police shows the locations of the bodies found on Gilgo Beach between 2010 and 2011. (Suffolk County Police)

Brown went on to insist his team was not stalling while working on the case, according to the Post.

“We’ve been working hard on this case,” he said. “We will be prepared to try the case come Labor Day.”

On Tuesday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney continued to assert that his office would not consider a plea deal for Heuermann, while adding that his team is prepared to go to trial, the Post reported.

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Rex Heuermann appears in Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom with his attorney Michael Brown at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, New York, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (James Carbone/Newsday via Pool)

“The judge was very explicit, and we are ready,” Tierney said.

However, Tierney reportedly added that he does not believe Brown is intentionally trying to delay the proceedings, insisting that the flurry of new court motions are “the nature of the business.” 

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Prosecutors allege Heuermann, 62, was behind the brutal killings of seven sex workers between 1993 and 2010, whose bodies were found throughout remote areas around Long Island. 

Valerie Mack, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Jessica Taylor, 20, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Sandra Costilla, 28, and Melissa Barthelemy, 24, have all been named as victims in the murders, with Tierney alleging Heuermann is responsible for their deaths. 

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The cases remained unsolved for decades as the sleepy Long Island community reeled over the possibility of a serial killer lurking in their midst. Heuermann was later arrested outside his Manhattan architecture office in July 2023.

Heuermann’s defense team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

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Prosecutors initially charged Heuermann with three of the murders, with DNA evidence later allegedly linking him to four additional bodies. 

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Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the murders and faces a single trial for the seven alleged killings. 

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Pennsylvania

Man accused of using excavator to destroy home with family inside

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Man accused of using excavator to destroy home with family inside


Court records show a man is facing numerous charges after local news outlets reported he was accused of partially demolishing his Pennsylvania home with members of his family still inside.

Erik Pierwsza, 48, is charged with three counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count each of causing a catastrophe and disorderly conduct, according to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY.

According to local media outlet WTAE, Pierwsza allegedly destroyed a portion of his home with an excavator, while his wife and two children were inside. Pierwsza is a resident of Buffalo Township, roughly 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The Buffalo Township Police Department did not immediately return USA TODAY’s request for more information. Court records did not list representation for Pierwsza and noted that he is not currently represented by a public defender.

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According to a criminal complaint reported on by WTAE and WPXI, Pierswza had allegedly got into an argument, at which point Pierswza threatened to tear down the house.

He then allegedly climbed into the excavator and began demolishing the home, per the outlets.

According to WPXI, no one was injured.

Pierwsza is being held at Butler County Prison on $10,000 bond, per court documents.

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Drew Pittock covers national trending news for USA TODAY. He can be reached at DPittock@usatodayco.com.



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Rhode Island

Rhode Island high school yearbook printed with the word ‘school’ misspelled on its cover: ‘Shocking to see’

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Rhode Island high school yearbook printed with the word ‘school’ misspelled on its cover: ‘Shocking to see’


It failed spelling.

A Rhode Island high school mistakenly misspelled the word “school” on its yearbook cover.

Over 100 copies of Johnston Senior High School’s 2026 yearbook are missing the letter “c” in the word “school” written on its spine.

“Johnston Senior High Shool” was printed on the spine of the school’s 2026 yearbook. WPRI

Students, faculty and parents at what was dubbed “Johnston Senior High Shool” in the keepsake graduation book are shaking their heads at the cringeworthy mistake.

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“It was really a shocking thing to see, a whole high school misspelling the word ‘school,’” Johnston senior Neari Vazquez told NBC 10. “It’s kind of a bad look.”

Johnston Senior High School Superintendent Scott Sutherland told 12 News that he wrote a letter to the school’s families to apologize for the error, made by the yearbook printing company Treering.

In the note, he explained that Johnston’s yearbook club looked over a digital proof of the book prior to publication, but it did not show the spine.

However, Treering, which is based in Silicon Valley, released a statement disputing his claims.

“The school reviewed and approved both before the book went to print,” the spokesperson wrote.

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“The yearbook was printed exactly as the school’s editorial team approved it.”

The school’s yearbook club first noticed the glaring error when the boxes of books arrived at the school.

“One little thing, it’s like everything is perfect but this one thing is messed up,” yearbook club member Nate Dellamorte told NBC 10.

“When I talked to the advisor, he was already actively trying to fix it and a lot of the members said they’re gonna help him.”

Sutherland is outraged over the embarrassing oversight, and has already consulted with lawyers for advice on the matter.

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“We are extremely disappointed that this error made it through the company’s quality control and production process,” he continued in his letter.

“We are currently working directly with the yearbook company and other local vendors to ensure the issue is corrected before any yearbooks are distributed to students.”

Others think the yearbooks shouldn’t be reprinted — and the school should just chalk it up to a funny mistake.

“I mean it does happen, and I’m sure it would be too costly to reprint everything,” parent Melanie DaSilva told NBC 10.

“So it might just be one for the books and probably get a laugh.”

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Vermont

Fallen solar panels in Vermont prompt environmental concerns – Valley News

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Fallen solar panels in Vermont prompt environmental concerns – Valley News


High winds in October and March blew down many solar panels in a field in Shaftsbury, Vt., and regulators are now looking into the potential environmental impact of the damaged panels.

This is one of the first times in Vermont that large swaths of damaged panels containing lead and silver have raised the specter of environmental contamination and prompted the state to examine the issue. In this case, concerns grew partly because the fallen panels weren’t immediately cleaned up, state officials said in a recent filing, causing regulators to investigate potential environmental impacts.

In a recent filing to the Public Utility Commission, an Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets staff attorney wrote that the agency is looking into options for testing the soil to determine if contamination is a concern.

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“In general, it is important to protect agricultural soils,” an agency spokesman, Trevor Audet, wrote in a statement. “We are not aware of broken solar panels being a common issue in Vermont, but our knowledge is imperfect under the current reporting framework and we are working to learn more about any potential impacts.”

The damaged panels have caught the attention of environmentalists in the area. Among what they are seeking is pre-testing of soil near solar developments, so there will be a baseline to measure against for possible contamination.

Shaftsbury resident and farmer Jesse McDougall wrote to the Public Utility Commission expressing concern about whether Vermont’s acidic, low pH rain, winter snowmelt and spring showers could compound environmental contamination onsite. McDougall also alleged there were two fires after the October blowdown event.

“I want to see the right steps taken,” McDougall said in an interview. “There were hundreds of panels down, many of them smashed and broken, and on the ground for six months through a Vermont winter and two giant wind events and two fires.”

The solar array is near another controversial planned solar site in Shaftsbury approved by the commission last October, though neighbors to the project appealed the decision to the Vermont Supreme Court.

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Approved by the Public Utility Commission in 2022, the broken solar array, called ER Waite Cemetery Solar LLC, is licensed for 2.2 megawatts, the largest energy development allowed under a state program that facilitates long-term contracts and sets rates for renewable energy developments in Vermont.

Encore Renewable Energy planned and received a permit for the solar project, which Fusion Renewable then purchased. Fusion Renewable is now responsible for remediation at the site, wrote Jeffrey Polubinski, attorney for ER Waite Cemetery Solar.

The owner said the delay in site cleanup was due to the lag time in insurance approval. Then Fusion Renewable needed to pause any project work until April due to a deer wintering area near the site, according to a May 8 filing by the Department of Public Service.

The regulatory filing raised questions about work on the site, and the Department of Public Service filing included requests for information about the damage and remediation to see if there is more work to be done, if the owner violated terms of the contract or if there were impacts to rate payers.

An Agency of Natural Resources filing to the commission stated that the owner must dispose of panels as hazardous materials, given the silver and lead inside them.

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In addition, the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets said it is investigating options for agricultural soil testing in areas the state has designated as important farmland, according to a recent filing to the commission. In his statement, Audet wrote that the remediation method will depend on the scope and type of potential contamination found.

Meanwhile, some research on the environmental impact of damaged solar panels says that the impacts are likely to be minimal, but stronger standards and practices for solar developments may be necessary.

Annick Anctil, a Michigan State University civil and environmental engineering professor, said in an interview that pre-testing soil before construction can help determine whether broken solar panels have caused increased levels of heavy metals in the soil.

Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, said that, in addition to pre-testing soil, she wants more state-level tracking of solar array failures to prevent this type of situation from happening in the future.

“We could have all of the solar projects in Vermont fail, and I don’t know that there would be any ramifications,” Smith said.

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For the solar owner’s part, Polubinski wrote that the owner is working with the state to dispose of the solar panels, and they plan to detail the damage, the current and future remediation of impacts from the wind damage and subsequent fires.

Peter Sterling, executive director of the trade association Renewable Energy Vermont, maintains that the state has more than 100 solar arrays and that solar array failures are rare. Still, Sterling said the state’s examination of the issue shows “the process is working, which is good.”

This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To learn more, visit vtdigger.org/community-news-sharing-project.



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