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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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MANGIONE, ROBINSON, REINER AND MORE: MAJOR COURT CASES SET TO DOMINATE 2026

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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Maine

A remote Maine town is ready to close its 5-student school

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A remote Maine town is ready to close its 5-student school


TOPSFIELD, Maine — Jenna Stoddard is not sure where her son will spend his days when he starts preschool next fall.

Sending him to East Range II School would be convenient and continue a legacy. Stoddard lives just down the street and her husband graduated eighth grade there in 2007, one in a class of three. Topsfield’s population has dropped since then. The school now has five students, two teachers, few extracurricular activities and nobody trained to teach music, art, gym or health.

Stoddard’s son is too young for her to worry about that now. But the school may not be open by the time he is ready to go. Topsfield, a town of just 175 residents, will vote on whether to close the school on April 30. If it closes, the boy would likely be sent to preschool up to 30 minutes away in Princeton or Baileyville.

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“That’s a pretty fair distance for a kid, a 4-year-old, who is now on a bus all by himself,” she said. “[If] school starts at [7:45 a.m.], what time is the bus picking 4-year-olds up here? And what time is he going to get home at?”

Topsfield is an extreme example of how an aging, shrinking population and rising property taxes are forcing Maine towns to make difficult choices about their community institutions. Just over a dozen people came to a Wednesday hearing on the idea of closing the school. The crowd was mostly in favor of it.

East Range has four classrooms, two of which are not used for regular instruction. Credit: Daniel O’Connor / BDN

“It is emotional to close the school in a town,” Superintendent Amanda Belanger of the sprawling Eastern Maine Area School System said then. “But we do feel it’s in the best interest of the students in the town.”

Teacher Paula Johnson walked a reporter through the building, which is small by Maine standards but cavernous for its five students. It has four classrooms, a small library, and a gymnasium. There is also a cook and a custodian for the tiny school.

A hallway trophy case serves as a reminder of when the school was big enough to field basketball teams. Topsfield’s student population has never been large, but the school’s population has dropped dramatically over the past few years. It had 25 students in 2023, with many coming from nearby Vanceboro, which closed its own school in 2015.

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As the student population dwindled, the cost of sending students to Topsfield climbed. With fewer students to defray the costs, Vanceboro officials realized they would be paying $23,000 per student by the last school year. So they opted to direct students to nearby Danforth, where tuition was only $11,000 per student.

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East Range lost seven students from Vanceboro, bringing its enrollment below 10. Under Maine law, that means the district may offer students the option to go elsewhere. Parents of the remaining students in grades 5 through 8 took the option and sent their kids to Baileyville. This school began the year with eight students; three have since pulled out.

In Topsfield, Johnson teaches four of the remaining five, holding lessons for pre-K through second grade in one classroom. Another one down the short hallway is home base for the other teacher. She focuses on the school’s lone fourth grader and occasionally teaches one of Johnson’s first graders, who is learning at an advanced level.

The other teacher, who holds a special education certificate despite having no students with those needs, plans to leave at the end of the school year. If the school stays open, that will leave Johnson responsible for educating Topsfield’s youngest students, though the school will need to budget for a part-time special education teacher just in case.

If the school stays open next year, it will need to replace its departing special education teacher, though it’s unclear if there will be any special education students. Credit: Daniel O’Connor / BDN

After 11 years at the school, Johnson is not sure what she will do if voters shut it down.

“We’ll see what happens here,” she said.

Topsfield’s school board, which operates as a part of the Eastern Maine Area School System, is offering its residents a choice: continue funding the school only for students between preschool and second grade at an estimated cost of $434,000 next year or send all students elsewhere, which would cost less than $200,000.

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At Wednesday’s hearing, the attendees leaned heavily toward the latter option. Deborah Mello said she moved from Rhode Island to Topsfield years ago to escape high taxes.

“It’s not feasible for the town of Topsfield,” she said. “We cannot afford it and it’s not like the children don’t have a school to go to.”

Others bemoaned the burden of legal requirements for the small district, including the need to provide special education teachers even if they don’t need one. Board members also mentioned that in 2028, the district will become responsible for educating 3-year-olds under a new state law. That adds another layer of uncertainty to future budgeting.

More than a dozen Topsfield residents showed up to a public hearing about the school’s future on Wednesday. Most favored shutting the school down. Credit: Daniel O’Connor / BDN

“It sounds like we’ve been burdened something severely by this program and that program by the Department of Education, to the point where a small school can’t even exist,” resident Alan Harriman said.

“And that’s been happening for a long time,” East Range board chair Peggy White responded.

Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.

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New Hampshire

NH Lottery Pick 3 Day, Pick 3 Evening winning numbers for April 19, 2026

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The New Hampshire Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Sunday, April 19, 2026 results for each game:

Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 19 drawing

Day: 8-6-2

Evening: 8-8-9

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Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 19 drawing

Day: 7-6-9-2

Evening: 6-5-8-4

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

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When are the New Hampshire Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Pick 3, 4: 1:10 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. daily.
  • Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
  • Megabucks Plus: 7:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
  • Gimme 5: 6:55 p.m. Monday through Friday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Hampshire managing editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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New Jersey

NJ Lottery Pick-3, Pick-4, Cash 5, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for Sunday, April 19

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The New Jersey Lottery offers multiple draw games for people looking to strike it rich.

Here’s a look at April 19, 2026, results for each game:

Pick-3

Midday: 8-7-3, Fireball: 9

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Evening: 5-0-8, Fireball: 0

Check Pick-3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick-4

Midday: 4-7-7-9, Fireball: 9

Evening: 5-9-7-8, Fireball: 0

Check Pick-4 payouts and previous drawings here.

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Jersey Cash 5

20-25-35-38-45, Xtra: 35

Check Jersey Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Millionaire for Life

32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Quick Draw

Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.

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Cash Pop

Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the New Jersey Lottery drawings held?

  • Pick-3: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Pick-4: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Jersey Cash 5: 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Pick-6: 10:57 p.m. Monday and Thursday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Jersey Sr Breaking News Editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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