Gilgo Beach serial killer: man who killed 8 women is sentenced to life in prison in New York

Rex A. Heuermann pleaded guilty to murdering seven women and admitted to killing an eighth in a series of crimes known as the Gilgo Beach murders
James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool
Rex Heuermann, known as the Gilgo Beach serial killer, was sentenced this Wednesday (17) to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the crimes.
Heuermann, an architect from Long Island, had been arrested in 2023 after confessing to murdering eight women on a beach in New York, in the United States.
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➡ The crimes became known as the Gilgo Beach murders and were committed over 17 years. The cases drew attention and inspired a documentary series and a film.
This Wednesday's sentence ended the extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York's most intriguing mysteries.
"Justice has been served, but it cannot replace what was taken," said JoAnn Mack, mother of victim Valerie Mack. "She had dreams, and you destroyed them."
Heuermann, who has remained largely silent during her court appearances since her arrest, also had the opportunity to speak Wednesday.
His ex-wife and his two adult children did not attend the sentencing hearing, having informed, through their lawyers, that they would stay away out of respect for the families of the victims.
Architect from Long Island, in the United States, and family man, Rex Heuermann, aged 62, led an apparently ordinary life - but hid a routine marked by brutal crimes.
Last year, after being arrested, he pleaded guilty to murdering seven women and admitted to killing an eighth.
He lived for decades in Massapequa Park, on suburban Long Island, about a 25-minute drive from one of the places where his victims' remains were found.
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What Heuermann's confessions were like
In April, Heuermann presented the confessions in a courtroom packed with reporters, police officers and victims' families, some of whom cried as he detailed the murders.
Heuermann's guilty pleas - to three counts of first-degree murder and four counts of manslaughter - closed a case that tormented investigators, has distressed victims' families and fascinated true crime-obsessed audiences for years.
Although he was not formally charged with her death, he also admitted to killing Karen Vergata in 1996.
"This has been a long journey of hope - the hope that one day we would be here and say her name with justice on her side," said Melissa Cann, sister of victim Maureen Brainard-Barnes, at a news conference hours after the April hearing as she fought back tears. "Today, this long and painful journey has brought us to this moment."
In court, Heuermann admitted that he strangled all eight victims and dismembered some of them before disposing of the bodies.
Wearing a black jacket and white shirt, Heuermann was direct and emotionless as he answered questions from Suffolk County Prosecutor Ray Tierney and the judge. He never looked back at the packed audience.
Many of the women were sex workers.
Killer's ex-wife attended the confessions
Asa Ellerup, center, wife of Rex Heuermann, and Ellerup's lawyer, Robert Macedonio, right, arrive at the exit of the courtroom
AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
The ex-wife of Heuermann, Asa Ellerup, and the couple's daughter attended the hearing in April and were surrounded by reporters as they entered and left the courtroom. Ellerup said his thoughts and prayers are with the victims' families and asked for privacy for his own family at what he called a "very difficult time."
Ellerup and his daughter, Victoria, had no knowledge of or involvement in the crimes, their lawyer, Robert Macedonio, said at the time.
Heuermann's lawyer, Michael Brown, said the decision to plead guilty was Heuermann's own, in part to spare the victims' families and his own family the suffering of a trial.
Asked by a reporter whether Heuermann was remorseful, Brown responded, "I hope so. [...] I imagine that at sentencing he will have something to say."
As part of the plea bargain, Heuermann agreed to cooperate fully with the FBI's behavioral analysis unit as part of an academic and scientific exercise.
A shocking discovery
The discovery of several sets of human remains along the south shore of Long Island beginning in late 2010 triggered a search for a possible serial killer that attracted global interest and inspired a Hollywood film.
Remains of six victims - Melissa Barthelemy, Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Valerie Mack, Taylor and Megan Waterman - were found in vegetation 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, found on Fire Island more than 20 miles west in 1996 and near Gilgo Beach in 2011.
Despite widespread attention, including a documentary series and the 2020 Netflix film "Lost Girls," the investigation dragged on for more than a decade, marked by passing hints and dashed hopes.
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Source: G1