This idyllic US town was full of police families – and a serial killer in their midst

This idyllic US town was full of police families – and a serial killer in their midst

Massapequa, a town whose residents take pride in its identity, is often referred to as a “cop town.” Nestled along Long Island’s South Shore, it lies just an hour’s train ride from Manhattan. The community houses NYPD detectives, multi-generational law enforcement families, officers from Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and countless other agencies. However, the discovery of body parts on Gilgo Beach in 2010 shifted the narrative, exposing a serial killer who had been operating on the island for years.

Local teens work as lifeguards at Gilgo Beach, while families gather there during summer. The gruesome finds sparked rumors that the killer might be a familiar face in the community. Was he a local? Still active? Perhaps even a cop? These questions lingered until the 2023 arrest of architect Rex Heuermann, a 62-year-old married father-of-two, finally brought clarity. His DNA, recovered from a discarded pizza crust outside his Manhattan office, confirmed his involvement in the murders of eight women. The case offered “closure” to Long Island law enforcement, according to Craig Garland, a retired NYPD detective and Massapequa resident.

“It’s a great relief,” Garland said. “There were people out there trying to pin this on a cop and… it brings great closure to the law enforcement community at large [that] this wasn’t a cop that was a serial killer.”

Heuermann’s daily commute from Massapequa Park to New York City passed Johnny McGorey’s, a popular pub for officers. The bar, situated next to a rail station, became a hub for discussions about the murder investigation. Joanne Fountain, the bar’s owner, described the homicide unit as “our Friday night regular guys,” noting their shaken state after finding bodies on the beach. “They would come in, and we would be like, ‘What the hell is going on down at the beach, at Ocean Parkway?’ ” she recalled. “Then it was all day, every day, on the news.”

Fountain highlighted a common family pattern in Massapequa, citing a bar employee whose father and grandfather were also cops. “His dad was a cop, his grandpa was a cop and he just got hired onto NYPD too,” she said. The town’s police families “eat, sleep and breathe it,” as do other first responders like firefighters and medics. This legacy was particularly tested on 9/11, when Nassau County lost around 350 lives, including many who worked in emergency services.

The Gilgo Beach case, however, strained the community in another way. John Azzata, a retired homicide head from Nassau County, described the frustration of the long search for the killer. “As an administrator and someone who was a cop, it was very frustrating that it took so long to discover… [who’s] responsible for these murders,” he said. The situation worsened when Suffolk County Police Chief Jimmy Burke, overseeing the investigation, was arrested in 2013 on charges involving sex toys, pornography, witness coercion, and a cover-up.

Burke entered Christopher Loeb’s home, a man arrested for probation violations, to retrieve stolen sex toys and pornography from his department-issued SUV. He then assaulted Loeb while in custody and attempted to conceal the incident. Burke pleaded guilty in 2016 to reduced charges and received a 46-month prison sentence. This scandal also led to convictions for former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J Spota and Christopher McPartland, the former chief of investigations, resulting in five-year sentences for both.