LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (TCN) — Former New York City architect Rex Heuermann has pleaded guilty to murder for killing seven women and admitted to killing another.
In court on April 8, 62-year-old Heuermann pleaded guilty to seven counts of murder, the BBC reports. In addition, he admitted to killing an eighth woman and transporting her body. He waived his right to appeal and agreed to cooperate with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit to help them better understand criminal behavior as part of his deal with prosecutors.
Heuermann spent 17 years living a secret life as a serial killer, WMUR reports. During that time, he strangled his victims and often left their remains along the remote Gilgo Beach, across the bay from where he lived with his family. Many of the women he targeted were sex workers.
The investigation began in 2010, according to WMUR. Police searching for a missing woman in the area found multiple sets of human remains, which led them to suspect a potential serial killer was active. The Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force later identified Heuermann using DNA from a piece of pizza crust he had thrown away.
Heuermann was arrested at his office and taken into custody on July 13, 2023.
Heuermann’s ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, witnessed the proceedings on April 8. According to her attorney, Robert Macedonio, the BBC reports, “She has said consistently since day one, she wants to hear this and see this play out in the courtroom, and that’s what’s going to happen today. She wants the hear the words out of her husband’s mouth, or ex-husband’s mouth. If he’s guilty, she wants to hear it come out of his mouth, not have it reported in the media or podcasts or print.”
According to the BBC, the judge will decide Heuermann’s sentence on June 17. Prosecutors say he should receive three life sentences without parole for killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, and he should receive a 100-year sentence for the additional four victims he pleaded guilty to killing: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla, and Valerie Mack. The killing of the eighth woman, Karen Vergata, will be covered by the other sentences, according to prosecutors.
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