Rex Heuermann and Sandra Costilla: Gilgo's Oldest Cold Case

Over three decades, Sandra Costilla's murder was assigned to the wrong man. Investigators circled John Bittrolff — a convicted killer from the area — and it never stuck. Prosecutors say the actual killer was hiding in plain sight. An architect. A commuter. A family man on Long Island. Rex Heuermann was 30 years old when Sandra was found in the woods of Southampton in 1993. If the prosecution's case holds, that makes her the very first in a pattern that wouldn't surface for another generation.Episode 1 of "The Seven" — one full episode for each woman Heuermann is charged with killing. Sandra's story is the hardest to tell because we know the least about her life. She came to New York from Trinidad and Tobago. She was 28 years old. And almost nothing else has been preserved in the public record. That erasure is part of the story — and part of the indictment against a system that let her death sit unsolved for three decades.The DNA evidence came from technology that didn't exist when Sandra was alive. Advanced analysis matched hairs on her body to Heuermann. The defense challenged it, calling the evidence "a single hair on a shirt." The judge ruled it admissible. The charge stands. And the seven-year gap between Sandra and the next known victim is a question nobody has publicly answered.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#SandraCostilla #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeach #LISK #ColdCase #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #TheSeven #GilgoBeachKiller #LongIslandSerialKiller