In the autumn of 1993, the life of 28-year-old Sandra Costilla was tragically cut short. On November 21st of that year, two hunters walking through a wooded area in North Sea, a hamlet within Southampton, New York, made a grim discovery: the partially clothed body of a woman. Authorities were able to identify the deceased as Sandra Costilla, a native of Trinidad and Tobago who had been living in New York. An autopsy would later reveal that she had been strangled to death.
At the time of her death, police had little to go on, describing her as a 'drifter' with a last known address in Queens.
For years, Sandra Costilla's case remained cold, another unsolved homicide filed away. The investigation, however, gained a new focus years later when authorities began to look at John Bittrolff, a local carpenter, in connection with a string of murders on Long Island. Bittrolff was eventually convicted in 2017 for the murders of two other women, Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee, whose deaths bore striking similarities to Costilla's. All three women were of a similar build and had been strangled and left in wooded areas. Due to these parallels, Bittrolff was publicly named as the prime suspect in Sandra Costilla's murder, though he was never formally charged.
The narrative of Sandra Costilla's death took a dramatic and unexpected turn in June 2024. Rex Heuermann, a Manhattan architect already charged in the Gilgo Beach serial killings, was indicted for her murder. This new development came after investigators re-examined evidence from the 1993 crime scene. DNA from hairs found on Costilla's body was a match to Heuermann. The charging of Heuermann not only provided a new direction for the decades-old case but also suggested a much earlier start to his alleged killing spree than previously believed. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
