RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (TCN) — Rex Heuermann, a 62-year-old former architect who pleaded guilty to seven murders in April, will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
On April 8, Heuermann pleaded guilty to seven counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla, and Valerie Mack. He also admitted to killing an eighth victim, Karen Vergata.
USA Today reports that on June 17, Heuermann was given three consecutive sentences of life without parole for the killings of Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello, and four consecutive terms of 25 years to life in prison for the killings of Brainard-Barnes, Taylor, Costilla, and Mack.
Heuermann spent 17 years living a secret life as a serial killer, often targeting sex workers, strangling them, and leaving them across the bay from his home.
The investigation into the killings began in 2010 when the search for a missing woman uncovered several sets of human remains, leading authorities to believe that a serial killer was active in the area. A break in the case came when the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force identified Heuermann through DNA on a piece of pizza crust he’d thrown away.
WBAL reports Heuermann has spent the three years since his apprehension in a segregated cell. According to the outlet, Heuermann reportedly spends time reading crime novels and allegedly corresponded with another serial killer.
Many family members of the victims gave statements at the sentencing. WBAL reports Taylor’s cousin Jasmine Robinson said, “A million years is not enough.”
Amanda Funderberg was 15 when her sister, Barthelemy, disappeared. WBAL reports that at Heuermann’s sentencing, she said, “I hope you suffer.” She had reportedly received a phone call from Heuermann shortly after he killed her.
Liliana Waterman, Waterman’s daughter, was 3 years old when her mother disappeared. According to WBAL, at sentencing she said, “In an instant, my world was shattered.”
Before he handed down the sentence, Suffolk County Judge Timothy Mazzei told Heuermann, “You’re a disgusting and small man, if you’re a man at all. You’re a coward,” according to WFXT.
WBAL reports Heuermann has agreed to work with the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit as part of his guilty plea. The FBI hopes his participation will help them to catch other serial killers in the future. NBC reports that as part of the plea deal, Heuermann was not charged with the murder of Vergata.
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