♪ ♪ ♪ [ singing in spanish ] ♪ ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." tonight, late-breaking news before we came on the air. a political leader of hamas, ismail haniyeh, has been killed

in iran. plus, the accused gilgo beach killer back in court. the mountain of new evidence unearthed by prosecutors. >> an additional 60,000 pages of copies of documents and materials recovered -- >> byron: chilling details they say links rex heuermann to at least six female victims. >> this wasn't a quick death. they were tortured. >> byron: his lawyers saying his client is not guilty. could he be linked to more unsolved cases? and former olympian marion jones. >> marion jones against debbie ferguson. it's the u.s. against the bahamas -- >> byron: once known as the fastest woman in the world, winning five medals at the sydney games until a doping scandal derailed her career. >> i have betrayed your trust. >> byron: decades later on a road to redemption, using inner strength that guided her to help others. >> i have this opportunity to tell people, you don't have to stay in your failure. it's not forever. >> byron: what she says is the hardest realization to live with. >> first woman to win five track and field medals in a single olympics. and people want to know, do you feel you could have achieved that without the drugs?

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the political leader of hamas, ismail haniyeh, has reportedly been killed in tehran. abc's marcus moore joins us from beirut. marcus? >> reporter: this is a major development here in the middle east. there's been no immediate claim of responsibility, but hamas officials are already pointing the finger at israel. haniyeh was a key figure in the regional resistance to israel and playing a major role in the negotiations on a cease-fire deal in gaza. now, his death comes just hours after israel killed a top hezbollah official here in beirut. israel saying it was in retaliation for a strike that killed 12 children at a soccer field on the occupied golan heights over the weekend. hezbollah has denied any involvement in that, and we'll have to wait to see how these events may impact stability here in the region, byron? >> byron: we'll continue to follow this story as it develops. we turn now to the high-profile case of the accused

gilgo beach killer, rex heuermann. tonight he's back in his cell on long island while he waits for his next court date. prosecutors continue to sift through a mountain of evidence and 7,000 tips to build their case against the suburban new york architect authorities say lived a gruesome double life. rex heuermann, the man charged with a string of gruesome killings going back decades, is back in a long island courtroom today. >> this is a case where -- obviously captured the public's imagination. >> byron: prosecutors turning over thousands of pages of evidence and over 7,000 tips to heuermann's defense team. >> an additional 60,000 pages of copies of documents and materials recovered from the july 2023 search warrant -- >> byron: for years, communities across long island lived in fear. >> four bodies and counting. >> police are worried they have a serial killer on the loose. >> byron: after four bodies wrapped in burlap were dumped in a marshy area along this long

island beach in 2010, the bodies found within a quarter mile of each other. they became known as the gilgo beach murders. >> rex, did you do it? >> byron: the killer remained on the loose until last year when heuermann, an architect, was arrested outside his manhattan office and charged with the murders of the so-called gilgo four. michael brown is his attorney. >> he still wants his day in court, he wants his trial. >> byron: his client being held at the suffolk correctional facility while awaiting trial. >> this is an individual who is a professional. he has no prior criminal history. he was used to getting on a train in the morning, going to work, supporting his family, coming home at night. now you took this individual, and he's in a cell by himself. >> byron: today's conference comes less than two months after heuermann was charged with two additional murders, bringing the total to six. at the time prosecutors also releasing a chilling document they say are sickening instructions heuermann wrote to

himself. "hit harder." "use heavy rope." "get sleep before hunt." "remove marks from torture." also included, what prosecutors are calling a blueprint for murder. >> meticulous planning and clear intent is obvious. his intent was nothing short but to murder these victims. >> byron: investigators revealing more chilling details about the alleged serial killer. >> heuermann had a significant collection of violent bondage and torture pornography, which was dating back to 1994. and that material was very similar to the condition that the two latest victims were left in. >> byron: heuermann allegedly reminded himself to "consider a hit to the face or neck next time" and "things to remember, sound travels." when you see words like "more sleep" and "noise control equals more play time," you can't help but think what those victims went through in their final moments. this wasn't a quick death.

they were tortured. >> reporter: the two new murder charges coming after an exhaustive search of heuermann's home in mass pika, long island, outside new york city, where investigators seized 320 electronic devices, including the computer the document was found on. >> i can't express what this day means after waiting and hoping for answers. >> reporter: one of the new murder charges was for jessica taylor, a sex worker who disappeared in 2003. >> this year has been 21 years since she was taken from us, longer than the chance that she got to be alive. >> her body was recovered july 26th, 2003. she was decapitated, and her hands and arms were severed. just below the elbows. eight years later, her arms and skull were found in ocean parkway -- >> reporter: taylor found decapitated in the woods in manorville, new york. more of her remains found at gilgo beach near heuermann's

other alleged victims. the second new charges for the death of sandra castilla, a 28-year-old, remains found in southampton. she was killed in 1993. >> the victim suffered numerous sharp force injuries, 25, which we believe were postmortem. >> reporter: prosecutors said advanceddna testing and hairs found on the victims established a link between heuermann and these victims. with one of the crimes taking place more than 30 years ago, prosecutors are broadening their timeline, re-examining more accounts of missing women. >> with the universe of information that we have not only in this case but other cases, how can we work towards solving some of these cold cases? >> byron: heuermann has pleaded not guilty. to all of the charges. the gilgo beach murders rocking this tourist destination known for sandy beaches and long stretches of marshlands, something the former police commissioner showed my colleague, deborah roberts. >> deborah: how easy would it be

for somebody to come and dump remains out in this area? >> this is a -- i hate to say it, but not a bad place to do it. the road is fairly straight. you can see traffic coming for miles. at night, you'd see headlights of cars coming. back then, there was no guardrail here. you could pull your car right up against the brush. discard human remains in there and drive off. >> byron: the bodies of the first four victims identified as melissa barthelemy, megan waterman, amber costello, maureen brainard-barnes. >> she didn't deserve this like nobody else's mother, sister, daughter deserves this. she really was a fabulous person. just lost in life. >> byron: the women all in their 20s, petite, sex workers. >> the manhunt for a serial culler under way on new york's long island -- >> the fbi preparing high-resolution cameras to fly over the area where police found human remains -- >> byron: the case went cold. a serial killer stayed on the loose.

but then years later, a new task force restarted the investigation. >> what's important about these cold case task forces is to have outside parties with a fresh perspective come in and look at the evidence for the first time on their own with no preconceived notions. we saw that happen here. >> byron: investigators zeroed in on their suspect, rex heuermann, a married father of two and an architect, using dna technology, his car, and cell phone data. prosecutors said the killer contacted his victims using burner phones and later took the victims' cell phones, sometimes using their phones to call and torment his victims' families. those cell phone records narrow the area where the suspect could be, tracking him to locations near heuermann's office in midtown manhattan and his home in massapequa park. detectives looked to see who in that area owned a distinctive vehicle allegedly tied to one of the murders. a chevrolet avalanche.

>> there was a document from one of the victims where days before the victim was murdered, there was a john described as an ogre. it was rex heuermann's description to a "t." even more importantly, it described this john going out to a black pickup truck, but the specifics about this pickup truck are important. it was described in a way that would only match one vehicle particularly, and that's a chevy avalanche. >> byron: the avalanche reduced the pool of possible suspects from thousands to dozens. then police say they found a pizza crust in his trash can outside of heuermann's office which they used to take a dna sample. that sample matching dna from a hair found on one of the victims, according to police. >> rex, did you do it? >> byron: they arrested heuermann, 6'4", outside his manhattan office in 2023. initially charging the now 60-year-old with the death of the so-called gilgo four. >> rex heuermann is a demon that walks among us.

>> byron: prosecutors say heuermann was living a double life. the public saw a father of two and architect who commuted into new york city. >> i'm an architectural consultant, i'm a troubleshooter, born and raised on long island -- >> reporter: heuermann appearing in this youtube video over two years ago around the time investigators formed the new task force and began to suspect he could be a killer. court documents claim that he allegedly used fake names to sign up for multiple emails, which he used to search for sex workers, child and torture pornography. he even had a tin der profile looking for dates or hookups. heuermann allegedly searched "why hasn't the long island serial killer been caught?" and "long island serial killer update." heuermann is due back in court in october. when we come back, we're one on one with former olympian marion jones, once known as the fastest woman in the world, now

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♪ >> byron: welcome back. marion jones once seemed to have it all until a fall from grace stripped her of her olympic medals and her self-esteem. but jones went deep and found the inner strength not only to carry on but to help others get up, dust off, get the wind at their backs, and propel themselves forward. here's abc's robin roberts. >> how are you? how you feeling today? >> i'm so happy. i'm in such a good season in my life. >> i know how tough it is for me being a former sportscaster, not

being there. how about as a former athlete, not being at the olympics? >> there's definitely a lot of mixed emotions when it comes to me watching it. obviously some tough times and moments that are hard. >> reporter: once considered the fastest woman in the world -- >> marion jones against debbie ferguson. it's the u.s. against the bahamas. >> reporter: the five-time olympic medalist, marion jones, a household name during the 2000 sydney games. had any daydreams about winning the five? >> oh my gosh. every hour of every day. >> reporter: but from her greatest successes came a doping scandal that ended her competitive career. >> so it is with a great amount of shame that i stand before you and tell you that i have betrayed your trust. >> reporter: now from her darkest days to the hope she shares through coaching and mentorship while proudly living life on her own terms, revealing this truth last month on tiktok.

>> i do identify with the lgbtq community. >> reporter: where did you find the courage to let people know that part of your life? >> i didn't realize it was a thing, really, right? i'm going to tell you, i have been away for over a decade from the spotlight. and have been living my true and authentic self. and again, it was my time to just finally be done with the mask. and the disguise. and again, it was purposeful. i hid certain things at certain parts of my life because i thought at that time that's what i needed to do. >> reporter: the all-around athlete made news wherever she went. we followed her journey on abc news. have you ever, ever taken any type of sports performance-enhancing drug? in the midst of her tumultuous fall from grace.

two decades later, marion's gearing up for her second chance. 2008, you're convicted of lying to prosecutors about the use of performance-enhancing drugs. first woman to win five track and field medals in a single olympics. and people want to know, do you feel you could have achieved that without the drugs? >> the answer is very easy for me. 1,000%, i was blessed with just an enormous amount of talent. but knowing that it didn't need to happen the way that it did always will stick with me as a moment that is hard. >> reporter: at first, the athlete adamantly denying the allegations. >> trust me, if i had had a positive test, you guys would have known. >> reporter: years later, confessing to taking steroids. consequences followed. marion stripped of her five olympic medals. >> we disqualified marion jones from the five events she

participated in in sydney -- >> reporter: marion serving six months in prison for lying to federal agents about using steroids and her involvement in a separate check fraud case. you've been out of the spotlight for so long. why come back now? >> i needed to step away. i needed to step away to reflect on why certain choices were made. now what? now moving forward. when i was in 49 days of solitary confinement, right, i was sitting there saying, okay, marion, right? >> reporter: what got you through those darkest, darkest moments? >> i had moments, robin, where i didn't know what tomorrow would look like for me. this idea that my mom, who came to this country from a small, beautiful country by the name of belize with these hopes and dreams for her kids, and i was not going to allow my poor choices to waste her dream. again, you could allow all of this to just put you under, or

you can use what your mom has always said about you, that you're something special and that you're unique, and how are you going to use your life, your experiences now to help people? >> reporter: now marion's embarking on a new initiative for entrepreneurs, coaching them through life and business mentor ship plus fitness training. >> although many people cannot relate to being an olympic athlete, an olympic champion, a convicted felon, everybody can relate when it comes to failure in their lives. so not only do i coach and teach and mentor entrepreneurs on how to pull themselves up when they're dealing with stuff and how you create balance with all of it. i'm loving it. i'm so passionate about it. >> reporter: with a renewed spirit, the mother of three proudly watches the games and no

longer looks back at her past. >> i love sitting with my daughter and watching simone biles and all the rock star female athletes that are there right now. i think a lot of people are surprised when i say that when i watch the games, it's happy moments that i relive. >> reporter: what do you think people can learn from your story and personalize it for themselves, whatever their something may be? >> i hope when people see my story, ultimately they say, you know what? yeah, she went through some stuff. a lot of it because of her own choosing and her own choices. but she didn't stay there. she didn't allow it to ultimately consume her. there were poor choices that were made along the way, but i put in work, i sacrificed, and the moment for me can never be taken away. >> byron: our thanks to robin. when we come back, simone biles and her teammates leading the u.s. to the top of the podium in paris and making history.

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♪ >> byron: finally tonight, teamwork making the dream work for the women's u.s. gymnastics team at the paris olympics. simone biles leading her teammates to olympic gold in paris. the team notching the all-around title after biles capped off the day with a triumphant floor routine -- >> her motion, the music. makes another pass. >> byron: becoming america's most-decorated olympic gymnast. but sharing the glory, crediting teammates jade carey, jordan chiles, and suni lee with making it all possible. congratulations to them all. that's "nightline" for this