Before Rex Heuermann’s name was tied to a string of murders, he was best known for his cringeworthy corporate architecture.


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On Friday, Heuermann was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder in connection with the Gilgo Beach killings, specifically the deaths of Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy, all of whom were sex workers in their early 20s, per BBC News.



Heuermann is also a prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who along with Costello, Waterman and Barthelemy are known as the Gilgo Four. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but he remains in jail after Judge Richard Ambro denied bail due to “the extreme depravity” of his crimes, according to NBC New York.



Despite once describing himself as an understanding person, a trait he said stemmed from his career in architecture — “I think it’s taught me more about how to understand people,” Heuermann once told YouTube creator Antoine Amira of his line of work — Suffolk County Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Carter likened him more to Satan.


“He’s a demon, and it’s really hard to get into the mind of somebody that’s capable of committing the crimes that he committed,” Carter told CNN following Heuermann’s arrest, denouncing the killings as the “worst” he had “ever seen.” “This person intended to do what he did to these victims,” Carter elaborated. “And that is why I say that’s one of the worst, if not the worst.”


Given the publicity around Heuermann over the last few days, it didn’t take the internet long to find his architectural stylings online, particularly the NYC buildings he’s responsible for. “OK YOU GUYS i’ve been looking at serial killer architect’s portfolio. He designed a Target in SoHo,” Carolina A. Miranda, the Los Angeles Times’ art and design columnist, observed on Twitter, encouraging New Yorkers to “just think about that the next time you pop in for garbage bags and a six pack.”




Beyond Heuermann’s penchant for cliche, rustic design aesthetics — “Homeslice was into exposed brick. Put that in your HGTV show,” Miranda wrote — several elements of his portfolio (from terrible lighting to 1990s wall decals) may have hinted at his alleged interest in homicide.




“Recessed lighting is definitely serial killer,” Miranda argued, alongside a snap of a Savoir Beds showroom that Heuermann designed. “This probably has one of those light switches with like 37 different settings except for on and off.”




But she was truly able to put it all together when she discovered that the SoHo Target Heuermann designed was once home to a failed startup: “All of this means that there are really only degrees of separation between serial killer architects, tech bros and conceptual artists.”