Rex Heuermann to be sentenced in Long Island’s Gilgo Beach serial murders after pleading guilty
The former Manhattan architect who led a double life as the Gilgo Beach serial killer will be sentenced Wednesday after admitting to killing eight women, bringing a measure of closure to a case that haunted the Long Island coast for nearly two decades.
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Rex Heuermann is expected to be sentenced to multiple life terms when he appears in court in Riverhead, New York, around 9:30 a.m. Heuermann and family members of his victims will all have an opportunity to speak.
In early April, Heuermann pleaded guilty to counts related to seven murders and admitted that he intentionally caused the death of an eighth woman, Karen Vergata. However, as part of a plea deal, he was not charged with Vergata’s murder.
Heuermann — who lived in Massapequa Park, a middle-class suburb roughly an hour east of Manhattan — was arrested in 2023 based on a trove of evidence, including DNA traces from a discarded pizza crust found in a midtown Manhattan garbage can.
The arrest effectively reopened a case that had gone cold, perplexing investigators and leaving victims’ families in agony.
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He was charged with the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27. The women had disappeared in 2009 and 2010. All three women were sex workers whose bodies were found in Gilgo Beach in 2010. Their bodies were bound at the head, midsection and legs by burlap.
In 2024, Heuermann was charged with killing a fourth woman: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25. He was later charged with killing three more women whose remains were found on the beach parkway: Jessica Taylor, 20, who disappeared in 2003; Sandra Costilla, 28, whose remains were found in Southampton in 1993; and Valerie Mack, 24, who disappeared in 2000.
The serial killings terrified many residents on Long Island, a sprawling and densely populated suburb that is home to a mix of middle-class and wealthy families, including professionals who commute into New York City.
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