In brief
Rex Heuermann, a 62-year-old architect from Long Island, is poised to enter a guilty plea regarding the murders of seven women, many of whom were sex workers. The case, which has fascinated the public and haunted victims' families for years, will see a news conference scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the implications of this development and the efforts taken by law enforcement to solve the case. The investigation, known for its complex nature and the use of forensic evidence such as DNA from a pizza crust, has captivated attention through media and film adaptations, culminating in his arrest in July 2023.
A Long Island architect accused in a string of long-unsolved slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday, closing a case that bedeviled investigators, agonized victims’ relatives, and tantalized a true-crime obsessed public for years.
Rex Heuermann, 62, is charged with murdering seven women, many of them sex workers, over a 17-year span. A guilty plea would put him in prison for the rest of his life.
His decision to plead guilty was confirmed by three people familiar with it. They spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the plea has yet to be entered in court. Heuermann will be sentenced at a later date.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday afternoon, following a morning court hearing. He will be joined by members of victims’ families and of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force, which cracked the case using DNA lifted from a discarded pizza crust.
Investigators used DNA analysis and other evidence to identify victims. In some cases, they were able to connect 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 along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. The remains of another victim, Sandra Costilla, were found more than 60 miles away in the Hamptons.
Despite the attention the case received, including a documentary series and the 2020 Netflix film, “Lost Girls,” the investigation dragged on for more than a decade.
In 2022, detectives identified Heuermann as a suspect via vehicle registration linked to a witness's report about a pickup truck seen around the time one of the victims disappeared.
After Heuermann’s arrest in July 2023, detectives spent over 12 days searching his home, where they found a vault containing 279 weapons and evidence suggesting premeditated killings.
Advanced DNA techniques have proven invaluable throughout the investigation, encompassing years of scrutiny and meticulous forensic examination.
