A Long Island serial killer who terrorized communities for nearly two decades finally admitted his crimes in a stunning courtroom reversal, confessing to murdering eight women whose bodies were discovered along Gilgo Beach and other locations.
Rex Heuermann, 62, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in Suffolk County Court to seven murders spanning 17 years and admitted to intentionally causing the death of an eighth woman, Karen Vergata, who disappeared in February 1996. The architect, who had maintained his innocence since his arrest in July 2023, changed his plea during a hearing in Riverhead, N.Y., bringing one of New York’s most haunting cold cases to a dramatic close.
The case gained national attention between December 2010 and April 2011, when police searching for missing escort Shannan Gilbert discovered 10 sets of human remains along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach and in nearby areas of Suffolk and Nassau counties.
Standing in a dark suit with his hands shackled behind his back, Heuermann admitted to meeting all eight women, strangling them, and dumping their bodies across Gilgo Beach, Manorville, and Southampton. As part of his plea agreement, he will not face charges for Vergata’s murder, though he acknowledged causing her death. He also agreed to cooperate fully with the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit to help catch other serial killers.
The victims include Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Costello, 27, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Jessica Taylor, 20, Valerie Mack, 24, and Sandra Costilla, 28. Four of these women—Barthelemy, Waterman, Costello, and Brainard-Barnes—disappeared between 2007 and 2010 and became known as the “Gilgo Four.” Their bodies were bound at the head, midsection, and legs with burlap.
Heuermann faces life in prison without parole for three murders, plus an additional 100 years to life for the remaining four murder convictions. His sentencing is scheduled for June 17.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney held a news conference at the Suffolk County Police Academy gymnasium following the hearing, where hundreds gathered including victims’ family members, law enforcement officials, and journalists. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina called Heuermann a “sadistic, soulless, murderous monster.”
Tierney condemned Heuermann’s attempt to portray himself as an ordinary suburban father while leading a secret life as a killer. The defendant “walked among us, play-acting as a normal suburban dad when, in reality, all along, he was obsessively targeting innocent women for death,” Tierney said.
Heuermann’s defense attorney, Michael Brown, told reporters his client experienced a “sense of relief” in finally admitting to the crimes. Brown said Heuermann wanted to spare both the victims’ families and his own family the ordeal of a trial, which had been set to begin in September 2026.
The hearing drew Heuermann’s estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, and their daughter, Victoria, who sat in the last row of the packed courtroom. Outside the courthouse, Ellerup briefly addressed reporters, offering condolences and requesting privacy. Her attorney, Robert Macedonio, said she and Victoria had no knowledge or involvement in the killings.
Family members of the victims also spoke after the hearing. Melissa Cann, sister of victim Maureen Brainard-Barnes, expressed relief at the guilty plea while emphasizing that the focus should remain on the victims. She offered encouragement to other families still searching for answers: “Keep going. Your loved ones matter. They are not forgotten, and one day answers can come.”
The case gained widespread attention after the search for Shannan Gilbert, who was 24 when she disappeared in May 2010 after placing a frantic 911 call from the Oak Beach home of one of her clients. Her disappearance led authorities to discover the other victims. Heuermann is not charged with Gilbert’s death, and his defense attorney confirmed Heuermann “had nothing to do with Shannan Gilbert.” Authorities believe Gilbert’s death may have been accidental.
Heuermann lived in Massapequa Park, N.Y., roughly an hour east of Manhattan, where neighbors knew him as a seemingly ordinary resident. Authorities initially charged him in July 2023 with the deaths of Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello after DNA from a discarded pizza crust matched evidence found on victims. He faced additional charges for killing Brainard-Barnes in January 2024, Taylor and Costilla in June 2024, and Mack in December 2024.
The guilty plea spares prosecutors the challenge of presenting evidence from crimes committed as far back as the 1990s and provides definitive answers to families who waited more than 30 years for justice in one of the longest-running serial killer investigations in New York history.