'He just seemed like a jerk' - Virginia businessman recalls bizarre encounter with suspected Gilgo killer Rex Heuermann
A Virginia businessman spoke exclusively to News 12's Tara Rosenblum about a brush-in he had with suspected Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann in 2018.
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A Virginia businessman spoke exclusively to News 12's Tara Rosenblum about a brush-in he had with suspected Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann in 2018.
Jeff Sample, the owner of Precision Lawn Service in Virginia, says he remembers Heuermann as a towering, aggressive architect from New York City.
"He was just arrogant, kind of the 'I'm better than you' kind of feeling," he says "He just seemed like a jerk."
Sample says he agreed to do landscaping work at the Palymra home of Heuermann's mother, Dolores.
"It was just to basically go clean up the yard because it was all overgrown and a mess, and I kind of remember him complaining. He had a big dumpster there, he asked us to throw some stuff in the dumpster and he didn't like the way we put it in," says Sample.
When the work was completed, Sample says he sent a bill to Heuermann in New York but never received payment.
"A month later still no payment. Another month later still no payment," he says.
Sample took legal action and filed a civil suit in Virginia in January 2019.
Heuermann ultimately paid the $850 he owed.
The next month, property records obtained by News 12 from the Fluvanna County Clerk's office show the same property was sold by Heuermann's mother to a buyer for $208,000 - a transaction Sample says he may have entirely forgotten had it not been for Heuermann's arrest this summer.
"When I saw him like on TV, I was like, that guy looks familiar, and then you know I put two and two together," he says.
Sample says he also remembers seeing a Chevrolet Avalanche parked outside the home that he believes is same vehicle that led detectives to Heuermann's doorstep.
