LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann allegedly sued an elderly driver for $5 million as her furious boyfriend claims he "staged" a car accident near his Long Island home. "It was a staged accident," claimed Steve VonDuerring who said Heuermann "didn’t even get hurt."

In 2017, the New-York based architect who was taken into custody on Friday, July 14 in connection to the death of three women, filed a lawsuit against VonDuerring's girlfriend, Barbara O'Sullivan, according to the New York Post.

Did Rex Heuermann stage a car accident?

The 59-year-old architect who ran the company Rex Heuermann Consultant and Associates claimed he was seriously hurt after O'Sullivan struck him with her vehicle as he walked home from the train station in Massapequa Park on a rainy night. "She just tapped him. He didn’t fall down, and he sued," said VonDuerring, whose girlfriend was sued for $5 million in the lawsuit Heuermann filed at the Nassau Supreme Court.

The alleged staged car accident was among four such lawsuits the murder suspect filed in the state court. In each case filed between 2014 and 2022, Heuermann sought $5 million after he claimed he was injured by a car he had been hit by. During one of the case hearings, VonDuerring accompanied his girlfriend and he claimed the architect was "was making up lies — he couldn’t use his arm. He said his arm was bad, his back was bad, he couldn’t go up and down a ladder," and added, "We saw him putting up his Christmas lights after that."

'I don't know why they gave him money'

VonDuerring and O'Sullivan captured images of the suspect with his holiday lights. According to court documents, they submitted the photographs as part of the legal proceeding. The insurance company paid Heuermann $55,000 as the case was later settled. "I don't know why they gave him money,"

In a deposition O'Sullivan provided, she claimed she was driving just five miles per hour when the serial killings suspect "walked right out in front of" her. At the time of the accident, she said Heuermann walked with his head down, and when she asked him if he was ok, he replied, "I don’t know, I have to wait and see." As per Heuermann's deposition in the case, he claimed that the wounds sustained from the accident caused him to miss his work.

Heuermann faces first-degree murder charges

Heuermann was arrested for the alleged murder of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, and is considered a prime suspect in the death of the 'Gilgo Four' who is identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the first degree and three counts of murder in the second degree.