Recent Developments in Boston and Long Island Murder Cases
Boston Cold Case Arrest
Richard Vega, 59, a convicted sex offender, has been charged with the 1988 rape and murder of Judy Chamberlin in South Boston. Chamberlin, 30, was found in the basement of the former Fargo building on D Street on July 28, 1988. A grand jury indicted Vega on August 30, and he will be arraigned later this month in Suffolk Superior Court. Vega's DNA, collected after a 1980 conviction, matched evidence from the crime scene. Previously deemed "sexually dangerous" and imprisoned since 1990 for another rape, Vega became a key suspect in 2011. The indictment resulted from an initiative, the Project for Unsolved Suffolk Homicides (PUSH), which reexamines cases dating back to the 1960s.
Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Case
Rex Heuermann, a 60-year-old architect, will face charges for another murder in court this week. Already accused of the 2009-2010 murders of four women known as the “Gilgo Four” (Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes), Heuermann was linked to these killings through DNA evidence and other investigative findings. The new charge follows recent searches of his Long Island home and a wooded area in Manorville, New York. The bodies of the four victims were discovered along Ocean Parkway on Long Island between late 2010 and early 2011. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty and is held without bail. The investigation continues as authorities probe potential connections to other victims.
Both cases highlight the long-term efforts and advancements in forensic technology in pursuit of unresolved crimes.