Judge refuses to dismiss case against Andrew Dykes, who is charged with killing Tanya Jackson, previously known as 'Peaches' and Gilgo Beach Victim No. 3

The murder case against a former Tennessee state trooper accused of killing and dismembering his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, a crime once thought to be the work of Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann, will go forward, a Nassau County judge ruled.

In August, lawyers for Andrew Dykes, 67, of Ruskin, Florida, asked state Supreme Court Justice Tammy Robbins to dismiss the case, arguing that county prosecutors had violated Dykes' privacy rights and failed to present evidence linking him to the alleged crime.

Dykes has been held in Nassau County jail since his arrest in December, based in part on the assertion of prosecutors that his DNA matched a sample taken from a vaginal swab of the victim, Tanya Jackson, who had also been previously known as "Peaches" during the Gilgo probe.

Just because Dykes and Jackson were lovers and had a child together, defense attorney Joseph Lo Piccolo said in his motion, that does not make him a murderer.

“There is a certain amount of innuendo, generalizations, and the like, but there’s no evidence he killed her, intentionally or otherwise,” Lo Piccolo said. “Having sexual relations with someone in the days before their death is not the same as killing them.”

Dykes pleaded not guilty to one count of second-degree murder in Jackson’s death. Her dismembered body was found in 1997 in separate locations — Hempstead Lake State Park and along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.

Investigators referred to Jackson as “Victim No. 3” or as “Peaches” for the heart-shaped fruit tattoo on her body.

Tatiana Dykes, her 2-year-old daughter, was also killed. Her body was found 14 years later, along Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach. They were believed to have been killed around the same time.

Nassau County prosecutors have not charged Dykes in the toddler's killing.

It wasn’t until April last year that police were able to identify the mother and daughter.

In his motion to dismiss the charges, Lo Piccolo took issue with several witnesses who testified before the grand jury, saying they offered speculative information or hearsay evidence.

Tammy Coleman, a friend of Jackson’s, told the grand jury that the slain mother plotted to break up Dykes’ marriage and would call his house to confront his wife about their affair.

A retired Army sergeant who served with Dykes, a medical instructor who taught anatomy in the military, testified about the type of training he received.

The judge ruled that both witnesses offered proper background information and context regarding Dykes' relationship with Jackson and his knowledge of the human body.

Before Dykes’ arrest, Nassau County detectives had interviewed him at his Florida home about Jackson’s disappearance, recording the conversation.

Defense lawyers asked that statements Dykes made be withheld from the jury at trial because Florida law does not permit private conversations to be recorded without consent from all parties.

During the conversation, Dykes told investigators that the last time he saw Jackson, she told him she was leaving New York, according to court papers. This contradicted another grand jury witness, Thomas Harris, who testified that Jackson intended to stay in New York, according to the judge’s decision.

Robbins agreed with prosecutors that Florida allows law enforcement to record conversations without consent during an investigation. The judge ordered a hearing to determine if his statements could be presented at trial.

Defense attorneys did win part of their motion to limit the prosecution’s case.

The judge agreed to hold a hearing regarding Dykes' alleged past bad acts and his dismissal from the Tennessee State Police.

Lo Piccolo said he's reviewing the judge's decision to determine if it's worth rearguing the motion at a future date.

Dykes’ son said his father was not surprised by the judge’s ruling.

“We anticipated everything going to trial ... It’s just part of the process to try,” Aundrey Dykes, 43, told Newsday over the phone from Florida. “The entire case is circumstantial and there’s no real evidence. When everything is set out and people hear the facts of the case they will say ‘Wow, why did we waste so many dollars. How did it get this far?’”

Dykes is due back in court Nov. 30.