Rex Heuermann pleads guilty to murdering seven women

Heuermann’s guilty pleas — to three charges of first-degree murder and four of intentional murder — bring finality to a case that baffled investigators, tormented victims’ family members and tormented a true-crime-obsessed public for years.

Although he was not charged in her death, he also admitted to killing Karen Vergata in 1996.

Heuermann strangled the women, many of them sex workers, over a 17-year period and buried their remains in remote locations, including along a remote beach road across the bay from where he lived, authorities said.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has scheduled a news conference for later Wednesday.

He will be joined by family members of the victims and members of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force, which solved the case using clues including DNA recovered from a discarded pizza crust.

The investigation began in 2010 after police found numerous human remains while searching for a missing woman along the south coast of Long Island, sparking a search for a potential serial killer that attracted worldwide interest and spawned a Hollywood movie.

A message seeking comment was left Tuesday for Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown.

There was great interest in the case and reporters, investigators and members of the public attended the hearing. Reporters and cameramen swarmed Heuermann’s ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and their daughter as they walked into the building.

“It’s a difficult day,” said Robert Macedonio, an attorney for Ellerup.

“No one could ever imagine in their life that they would be standing here in a courthouse on a line surrounded by media and their ex-husband would be charged with seven, possibly eight murders. It’s unimaginable. There’s no way to prepare for that.”

In the courtroom, about half the seats were blocked off for family members of the victims and law enforcement officers.

Heuermann, wearing a black blazer and white button-down shirt, gave brief answers to Tierney, the prosecutor, when asked if he understood and agreed to the charges to which he pleaded guilty.

He never looked back at the crowded courtroom and kept his gaze straight ahead.

The Gilgo Beach investigation began in earnest in 2010 after police found numerous human remains along a remote beach highway on Long Island’s south shore, sparking a search for a potential serial killer that attracted worldwide interest and spawned a Hollywood movie.

Investigators used DNA analysis and other evidence to identify victims. In some cases, they were able to link them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier.

Remains of six victims – Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor and Megan Waterman – were found in the brush along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. The remains of another victim, Sandra Costilla, were found more than 60 miles away in the Hamptons.

Police also identified Vergata’s remains, which were found in 1996 on Fire Island, 20 miles west, and in 2011 near Gilgo Beach.

But despite the attention, including a documentary series and the 2020 Netflix film, Lost girlsthe investigation dragged on for more than ten years, interrupted by fleeting clues and dashed hopes.

A fresh look delivers results

In 2022, six weeks after a new police commissioner formed the Gilgo Beach task force, detectives identified Heuermann as a suspect by using a vehicle registration database to connect him to a pickup truck that a witness had seen when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.

Heuermann lived for decades in Massapequa Park, about a 25-minute drive along a causeway that spanned South Oyster Bay to the sandy area where the women’s remains were found.

Some victims are believed to have disappeared from that community and their cellphones were found to have pinged towers in the area, authorities said.

After the truck’s discovery, a grand jury approved more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants, allowing the task force to delve into Heuermann’s life.

Detectives collected billing information for burner phones he allegedly used to arrange meetings with the victims, retested DNA found with the bodies and searched Heuermann’s Internet search history, which revealed that he had viewed violent torture pornography and showed an intense interest in the Gilgo Beach murders and the renewed investigation. Cell phone records showed Heuermann had contact with some of the victims shortly before they disappeared, investigators said.

To obtain Heuermann’s DNA, a task force surveillance team tracked him in Manhattan, where he worked, and watched him throw the remains of his lunch — a box of partially eaten pizza crusts — into a trash bin on the sidewalk.

Investigators rushed in, grabbed the box and sent it to the crime lab, which matched DNA from the crust to a male hair found on burlap used to restrain one of the victims. He was arrested in July 2023.

After Heuermann’s arrest, detectives searched his yard and home for more than 12 days, where they found a basement safe containing 279 weapons.

On his computer, investigators found what they described as a “blueprint” for the killings, including a series of checklists with reminders to reduce noise, clean the bodies and destroy evidence.

Last year, a judge rejected Heuermann’s request to exclude DNA evidence obtained through advanced techniques that prosecutors say identifies him as the killer.

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