Convicted Long Island killer John Bittrolff calls on prosecutors to review case after Rex Heuermann was charged with 'eerily similar' murder

A Long Island man convicted of two murders in the early 1990s is requesting a review of his case after suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was charged with an “eerily similar” murder during the same time period, a report says.

John Bittrolff, who was convicted of the murder of Rita Tangredi in 1993 and of Colleen McNamee in 1994, is pushing for his rehabilitation after Heuermann was charged with the 1993 murder of Sandra Costilla – a murder in which Bittrolff was long suspected.

Bittrolff's attorney, Lisa Marcoccia, called the crime scenes of the three murders “eerily similar” and asked the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office to conduct DNA testing on hair found at the Tangredi and McNamee crime scenes, according to letters obtained by Newsday. She also asked the district attorney's office to release forensic evidence from the Costilla crime scene.

“All three women – Sandra, Rita and Colleen – were killed during the same time period… all three women were found in a wooded area, their legs were splayed, their hands were above their heads, each missing a shoe,” Marcoccia told Newsday.

“Colleen and Sandra both had their shirts pulled over their faces, and prosecutors [office] also claimed that there were wood chips on all three bodies … any reasonable person [would believe] One person was responsible for all three murders.”

District Attorney Ray Tierney, who was not yet in office at the time of Bittrolff's indictment and conviction, denied Marcoccia's requests.

“I've looked at these cases,” Tierney told the outlet. “If I thought there was a problem with them, I would do something.”

Before Bittrolff's arrest in 2014, Suffolk County investigators had long stated publicly that they believed the person responsible for the deaths of Tangredi and McNamee was also responsible for Costilla's murder.

Marcoccia, who had previously filed two unsuccessful motions to overturn Bittrolff's conviction, sent Tierney a letter on June 6, the same day Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder in Costilla's death.

In the letter, she asked prosecutors to release Heuermann's records related to the Costilla case, including all forensic analysis performed at the Costilla crime scene and any information obtained with equipment relevant to all three murders, the outlet reported.

“The prosecutor’s goal is not to win cases, but to seek justice,” Marcoccia wrote in the letter.

After receiving no response, she submitted a second letter to prosecutors on June 18, reiterating her demands. Two days later, her request was denied by Assistant District Attorney Guy Arcidiacono on the grounds that there is “no legal or factual basis for providing you with these materials.”

“As you know, Rex Heuermann has been charged with the murder of Costilla,” Arcidiacono wrote in a letter obtained by Newsday.

“Whether or not your client was ever investigated for the murder of Costilla, it is obvious that he was not charged in this case. Neither the fact that he was not charged nor that Mr. Heuermann was charged exonerates Bittrolff's murder convictions.”

The link between Heuermann, 61, and Costilla was made through a mitochondrial DNA test on hair found at the crime scene. The link between Bittrolff and Tangredi and McNamee was made through a DNA test on semen found in the two's bodies, officials said.

Heuermann was arrested on July 13, 2023, for the brutal murder of three women and charged with the murder of three more women the same year.

His murder trial is scheduled to begin in September in Suffolk County Superior Court.

Meanwhile, Marcoccia believes further testing of the DNA evidence could help Bittrolff in his appeal.

“Unidentified hairs were found on Rita and Colleen's bodies and were never examined,” Marcoccia said, according to the outlet.