Two sex workers have claimed that Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann was “violent” and “aggressive” during encounters, authorities said this week — as it was revealed that the disgraced father of two has been meeting with a clergyman behind bars.

The two women were interviewed by Suffolk County’s anti-human trafficking unit at the Riverhead and Yaphank jails late last month, Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. told Newsday.

Each said she had one meeting with Heuermann, and that they found the 6-foot-4, 240-pound architect “violent” and “aggressive,” he continued.

“A person of that size being a little aggressive was probably frightening,” Toulon added.

Neither woman was injured during the encounters, he said.

Toulon did not specify whether the two women met Heuermann before, during or after he is believed to have strangled at least three other women and left their bodies off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach, about 20 minutes from his Massapequa Park home.

Since his arrest for the infamous crimes on July 13, Heuermann has been housed at the Suffolk County jail facility in Riverhead, where he is meeting with a clergyman once a week, Toulon told the outlet.

The South Shore native is no longer on suicide watch, the sheriff clarified.

“I have not seen any emotion from him, [he is] very emotionless,” he said.

“You wonder what is going on … Is there something going on inside that is brewing?” 

Heuermann is on a special unit, where corrections officers are keeping him safe from other inmates — and himself.

“He’s not just another inmate to me, and forget about the notoriety of this case,” Toulon said. 

“I’m really trying to look into his soul to see what is it about this guy that’s not about the other (900) inmates I’m dealing with.”

Heuermann spends 18 to 20 hours a day in his 60-square-foot cell, where he has access to books, television, newspaper and mail, the sheriff explained.

Who were the Gilgo Beach victims?

Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann — a New York City architect and married dad of two — was arrested in connection with the long-unsolved Gilgo Beach murders. The arrest is tied to the so-called “Gilgo Four,” women found wrapped in burlap within days of each other in late 2010.

The years-long investigation that led to the arrest revolved around the discovery of more than 10 sets of human remains along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County between December 2010 and April 2011.

Most victims were petite female sex workers with green or hazel eyes. But there were also two exceptions: a 2-year-old girl and a young Asian man.

Melissa Barthelemy, 24

• Barthelemy was a sex worker who lived in the Unionport section of the Bronx and dreamed of one day opening her own beauty salon. She was last seen alive in her basement apartment on Underhill Avenue on July 12, 2009. Heuermann was charged for Barthelemy’s murder in July 2023.

Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25

• Brainard-Barnes was living in Norwich, Connecticut. She went missing after taking an Amtrak train from New London, Connecticut, to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on July 6, 2007. Her remains were found in December 2010. Heuermann was charged for Brainard-Barnes’ murder in January 2024.

Amber Lynn Costello, 27

• Costello, 27, was a sex worker and heroin addict who lived in West Babylon, New York, at a home with a woman and two men. She advertised on Craigslist and Backpage to support her and her roommates’ drug habits. Costello was found on December 13, 2010, after having been last seen leaving her home September 2, 2010. Heuermann was charged for Costello’s murder in July 2023.

Megan Waterman, 22

• Waterman, a 22-year-old mom of one, was last seen on June 6, 2010. She lived in Scarborough, Maine, and earned a living as an escort. She was last seen by her family boarding a New York-bound Concord Trailways bus in Maine. Her body was found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach. Heuermann was charged for Waterman’s murder in July 2023.

10

Jessica Taylor, 20

• Remains belonging to Jessica Taylor, a 20-year-old woman working as an escort in New York City, were found in a wooded area in Manorville on July 26, 2003. Her additional remains — initially labeled “Jane Doe No. 5” — were discovered on March 29, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.

Valerie Mack, 24

• Valerie Mack was 24 years old and living in Philadelphia when she went missing. She worked as an escort, using the alias “Melissa Taylor.” Relatives last saw Mack in the spring or summer of 2000 in Port Republic, New Jersey, but she was never reported as missing to the police. Her partial skeletal remains were found in Manorville in September 2000 but were initially known as “Jane Doe No. 6.” More bones were found on April 4, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.

Unidentified Asian man

• The skeletal remains of a yet-to-be-identified Asian man were found along Ocean Parkway on April 4, 2011. It is estimated that the man was between 17 and 23 years old at the time of his death. He was approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall with bad teeth.

‘Peaches’ and her daughter

• An African American woman’s partial remains were discovered in Hempstead Lake State Park back in 1997, and she had become known as “Peaches” because of a bitten tattoo of a peach on her left breast. On April 4, 2011, police uncovered the remains of a toddler, who was about 2 years old at the time of her death. DNA testing confirmed that one of the skeletons was that of the 2-year-old girl’s mother, “Peaches.”

Karen Vergata

• A victim previously referred to as Jane Doe No. 7 has been identified as 34-year-old Manhattan woman Karen Vergata. Vergata is believed to have disappeared around Feb. 14, 1996; two months later, her legs were found in a plastic bag at a park near Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach. At the time of her disappearance, Vergata was believed to have been working as an escort. Two sets of Vergata’s remains were identified in August 2023.

Shannan Gilbert, 23

• Gilbert was a Craigslist escort who lived in Jersey City, traveled with her driver Michael Pak from Manhattan to meet a client, Joseph Brewer, at his home in the Oak Beach Association on the morning of May 1, 2010. She spoke with two neighbors before disappearing. Her body was discovered in a marsh near Oak Beach — about half a mile from where she was last seen alive — on December 13, 2011.

Jessica Taylor, 20

• Taylor, a 20-year-old woman working as an escort in New York City, were found in a wooded area in Manorville on July 26, 2003. Her additional remains — initially labeled “Jane Doe No. 5” — were discovered on March 29, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.

Sandra Costilla

• Costilla was murdered in 1993 but had not been included among the so-called Gilgo Beach victims — until now. Investigators suspected convicted serial killer John Bittrolff in Costilla’s death, but he was never charged in her slaying — which remains one of several unsolved Long Island murders.

He also goes for walks alone in a small recreation area.

Meanwhile, jail staff are instructed to monitor the suspect closely for signs of physical or emotional distress — including crying, pacing his cell, or putting his hand to his head.

“When [inmates] see the four walls of their cell start to close in, there is not much more that they can do,” said Toulon, who previously worked in New York City corrections.

“Three months ago, he was walking around the streets in New York City, he was eating at a deli … It starts to weigh on someone who is incarcerated.

“I don’t want them to ever be complacent with anything, with any of his requests,” he said of the corrections team at Riverhead, adding that Heuermann is a “very unique person.”

“If they feel it is unusual, bring it to a supervisor’s attention. If he is not acting right, make sure he gets the proper medical treatment.

“It’s more important to me that Mr. Heuermann has his justice in the courts and not in the jails.”

When Heuermann does appear in court, Toulon said, he uses a “certain area” to walk from his cell to the courtroom without using a vehicle.

Toulon, who started Suffolk County’s anti-human trafficking arm shortly after being appointed sheriff in 2017, added that the department is still interviewing dozens of sex workers at jails in Nassau County in hopes of turning up more evidence in the Gilgo investigation.

Officers are also set to start questioning known sex workers at Rikers Island, he explained.

Heuermann, 59, was arrested near his office in Manhattan on July 13.

He pleaded not guilty to the strangulation murders of Melissa Barthlemey, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, whose remains were found concealed in burlap off Ocean Parkway in December 2010.

Heuermann is also the prime suspect in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was the first of the so-called “Gilgo Four” to disappear.

Earlier this week, a young woman in South Carolina reportedly told police that Heuermann was the last man she saw with her mother, who vanished from the Palmetto State in 2017.

Heuermann — who is married and has two adult children — was initially linked to the infamous Gilgo case through his distinctive Chevrolet Avalanche, which was later seized at his South Carolina property.

The architect was also tied to burner cellphones used to contact the victims and their families, while DNA evidence taken from a discarded pizza crust and napkin subsequently linked him to genetic material found on the burlap around Waterman’s remains.

Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown, has previously professed his client’s innocence.

Prior to his bombshell arrest, Heuermann had no criminal record.