Rex Heuermann, the serial killer convicted of the Gilgo Beach murders, was disciplined for possessing drugs in the New York state prison where he is serving a life sentence, news outlets reported.
Heuermann admitted to killing Norwich resident Maureen Brainard-Barnes and seven other women.
Heuermann was caught trying to smuggle something into the prison in July, The New York Post reported. He later was found with unspecified drugs, the outlet reported, citing disciplinary records. The Post report said the records did not say what drugs Heuermann possessed, nor what he was attempting to smuggle into prison.
The 62-year-old is serving his sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in upstate New York that's about 30 minutes south of the Canadian border.
CT Insider left a message seeking comment with the office of Michael J. Brown, the defense attorney who represented Heuermann.
Newsday, a Long Island news outlet, reported the contraband found in Heuermann's cell was a small, soaked piece of paper that tested positive for synthetic marijuana. The outlet cited an anonymous source "familiar with the investigation." The outlet reported Heuermann was sent to an isolated cellblock, and temporarily had his mail suspended. The report said Heuermann also could lose access to his commissary account if he were to get in more trouble.
The report comes as prison and jails around the country have grappled with a range of drugs smuggled in by lacing paper with the substances - in some cases even using legal correspondence. In one instance, federal authorities charged a Massachussetts lawyer and three other defendants after they said the lawyer was caught with 10 sheets of paper that were discolored, thick and appeared to have been wetted and dried "consistent with papers soaked in synthetic marijuana," the U.S. attorney's office said. The lawyer, Theresa Marie DiJoseph, was sentenced to home confinement and probation last year after pleading guilty.
Heuermann, an architect who lived on Long Island, pleaded guilty in April to murdering seven women and admitted to killing an eighth. The case became known as the Gilgo Beach killings after the remains of six victims were located near the beach beginning in 2010. The investigation dragged on for years until investigators identified Heuermann as a suspect in 2022, soon after a task force was started to re-examine the case.
Investigators were able to tie Heuermann's DNA to the crimes by matching a hair from evidence in the killings to pizza crusts discarded by Heuermann.
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This article originally published at Gilgo Beach serial killer caught with drugs in prison, reports say.