BRENTWOOD – Perhaps the most historic criminal development in Long Island’s history reached a close on Wednesday, as Rex Heuermann, 62, of Massapequa Park, pled guilty to murdering eight women over a period of over thirty years.
District Attorney Ray Tierney (R) announced that Heuermann pled guilty to three counts of murder in the First Degree and four counts of murder in the Second Degree. As part of his allocution, he also publicly admitted to killing an eighth victim, Karen Vergata.
Since the mid-1990s, the swirlings of the “Gilgo Killer” have been in headlines, when women, primarily sex workers, began to go missing. In 1993, Sandra Costilla disappeared; in 1996, Karen Vergata; in 2000, Valerie Mack; in 2003, Jessica Taylor; in 2007, Maureen Brainard-Barnes; in 2009, Melissa Barthelemy; in 2009, Megan Waterman; and in 2010, Amber Lynn Costello. Then in 2010, Shannan Gilbert disappeared in Oak Beach after calling 911, which created a larger buzz on where these missing women had gone and prompted a large-scale search.
During the search for Gilbert, police discovered the remains of four women along Ocean Parkway, which led to what is now known as the “Gilgo Four.” From there, Suffolk Police collected remains around the same area, and the number of victims grew to over ten individuals, including unidentified remains.
This is where national attention grew as Suffolk Police continued the case but made little progress. In 2022, we saw a new multi-agency task force on the case using new technology, phone data, and digital forensics that hadn’t been brought to the case yet, which people saw as a turning point.
This new task force, led by D.A. Tierney, returned to the beginning to review all the evidence. At this point, cell phone data became critical, as one of the biggest breakthroughs came from the victim, Melissa Barthelemy, analyzing a burner phone. Patterns of the burner’s phone were tracked between locations, Massapequa Park and Midtown Manhattan.
Through phone data analysis, key witness accounts, advanced digital and forensic techniques, surveillance, DNA collection, and coordinated multi-agency efforts, the arrest of Heuermann in Manhattan in July 2023 was made possible. He was arrested originally for the victims Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello, but Brainard-Barnes was later added.
After over two decades, justice has finally been served for the victims’ families.
On the First Degree Murder charges, Heuermann faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for each charge, applying to Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello. For the Second Degree Murder charges, he faces twenty-five years to life for each charge, applying to Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Valerick Mack, and Sandra Costilla. In the case of Karen Vergata, a plea deal was struck to have the charges for her murder covered by the previous charges.
“This man [Heuermann] walked among us, acting as a normal suburban dad, when in reality, all along, he was obsessively targeting innocent women for death,” said Tierney at the Brentwood Campus of Suffolk Community College, flanked by dozens of law enforcement and prosecutorial personnel to his left, and family members of the victims to his right.
“Ultimately, this case is really about these victims and their stories; it’s not about the defendant,” said Tierney. “We have a lot to be thankful for despite these emotions.”
Tierney expressed his gratitude to the families who began working with him when he was a federal prosecutor before his 2021 election as Suffolk District Attorney. Federal, state, and local law enforcement partners and investigators have worked tirelessly for close to fifteen years when all evidence is considered.
Among many Tierney specifically named was Clyde Wells, a forensic scientists of the Suffolk County Crime Lab who collected the hairs from the victims in the case and pushed for mitochondrial and DNA testing – two elements that not only solidified the prosecution’s case but allow Gilgo Beach to serve as a pioneer in state and national case law regarding avant garde forensic technology.
“This case closes and another one opens, and there are still bodies on that beach,” said Tierney, as several more victims remain either unlinked to a suspect or unidentified altogether. “There’s no rest for the weary. We are going to continue to work with our partners and try to obtain closure for as many families as we can.”
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina minced no words with his characterization of the Gilgo Beach serial killer.
“Today, he was exposed for exactly what he is: a sadistic, soulless, murderous monster,” said Catalina.
Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon (D) expressed his thanks to his staff for “uproot[ing] an entire jail security system to accommodate an individual of this magnitude.”
Heuermann has been housed in Riverhead and will remain there until he is sentenced.
Attorney Gloria Allred, who has represented the victims’ families, said that the women turned to sex work to provide for their families.
“It wasn’t what they wanted to do, but it was what they felt forced to do, because they had no meaningful alternatives,” said Allred, accusing Heuermann of only caring for himself and “executing what he thought was his perfect blueprint for murder.”
Allred then called up the families of each victim to verbally accept the plea deal. All families were enthusiastic and relieved to see their nightmare finally reach its end. Maureen Brainard-Barnes’ daughter, Nicolette, and son, Dylan, accepted the plea on behalf of their mother.
“Today, it’s not about the person responsible. Today, it’s about the women’s lives who were stolen. It’s about their voices, their future, and their families. the love that still surrounds them,” said Melissa “Missy” Cann, who added she’s lived for nineteen years in the “space between heartbreak and hope.”
Cann spoke to her sister directly, “Through every year, every setback, every unanswered question, I carried you with me, and I kept that promise. And today, it has been done. Justice has finally found its way to you. Your voice was never silenced, your story never forgotten, and your life will always mean more than the tragedy that took you.”
Tierney added that Heuermann decided to plead guilty to spare the victims’ families the “ordeal” of having to endure a trial.
Heuermann is due back in court for sentencing on June 17.
