The families of eight women killed by Rex Heuermann confronted the Gilgo Beach serial killer at his sentencing in Riverhead, New York, on Wednesday, more than three decades after the 62-year-old Manhattan architect began his killing spree.
Heuermann's Guilty Plea and Apology
Heuermann pleaded guilty to murdering seven women and admitted to the killing of an eighth victim in April. Just before being sentenced to life in prison without parole, Heuermann offered a weak, generalized apology for his actions.
“Everything that has been said is true,” he said. “There are no words I can say. The words I would say have no meaning.”
Judge's Response
Judge Timothy Mazzei exploded in response, calling the serial killer a “disgusting and pathetic, small man, if you are a man at all. You are a coward.”
Victims' Families Speak Out
Those sentiments were echoed in statements made by various family members of Heuermann’s victims. Kimberly Overstreet, sister of victim Amber Costello, called Heuermann “a raging, murdering sex addict”.
Liliana Waterman, the daughter of Megan Waterman, who was three when her mother was killed, recalled learning about what happened: “I came across an article about her. That was the moment I truly understood what happened. I remember asking what ‘prostitute’ and ‘pimp’ meant.” Waterman said her heart had been broken and “for years I tried to find a place where I felt like I belonged.”
Waterman’s aunt, Elizabeth Meserve, told the serial killer: “Begone, you evil demon.”
Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, told Heuermann: “You fill me with so much repugnance, I can’t stand it.” “A million years isn’t enough,” Robinson said of Heuermann’s impending sentence. “Nothing will ever make this right.”
“Justice has been done, but it can’t replace what has been taken,” said JoAnn Mack, the mother of victim Valerie Mack. “She had dreams, and you took them all away from her.”
Maureen Brainard-Barnes’s two children and sister were also in court and described how the loss of their mother had affected them. Her sister, Melissa Cann, said she had lived with “survivor’s guilt” for decades. “It was a weight I carried everywhere,” Cann said, sobbing deeply. But, she said, that guilt is “not mine to carry. It is for Rex and Rex alone.”
As sentencing concluded, Judge Mazzei said: “All right, get him out of here.” The courtroom then erupted in chants of “ogre, ogre” and rounds of applause.
Prosecutor's Remarks
Earlier in the sentencing, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told the court that Heuermann was continuing to profit from and control his ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, through her participation in a recent documentary. “He has sought to enrich and manipulate from behind bars,” Tierney said, adding: “Eight young women were needlessly and brutally murdered at the hand of this defendant.”
He described the effect on the victims’ families as “overwhelming” and that their suffering “will never end”. “This defendant is incapable of rehabilitation,” he continued.
Tierney slammed Heuermann for calling Amanda Funderburg, the sister of victim Melissa Barthelemy, with Barthelemy’s phone to taunt her. Funderberg described the call, in which Heuermann told her what he had done to her sister.
In one of the most powerful moments, Funderberg demanded that Heuermann, seated mere feet away, look at her while she spoke. “I hope you suffer in the way my sister suffered,” she said. “Save a spot in hell, I’ll see you there.”
Attorney's Comments
Outside court, John Ray, the attorney representing the family of Shannan Gilbert, whose disappearance led to the discovery of the Gilgo Four, said the victim impact statements were “extraordinarily well done”. “They had the impact on us that they should have had,” he said. “But they have absolutely no impact on him, as he himself admitted. They had no effect on him whatsoever.” Ray also said that Heuermann “very likely murdered in other states”, citing “credible evidence” from women who had come forward. “He was very much into stalking. That was one of his hobbies. He stalked women in Florida, Virginia, Philadelphia and possibly, Anchorage, Alaska. These are people who survived him but there may have been people he killed there too,” Ray said.
Conclusion of Investigation
The sentencing concludes an investigation that began in 2011 when four sets of remains were discovered along Long Island’s South Shore, later known as the Gilgo Four. Remains had previously been found in the area, leading to fears of a serial killer. All of Heuermann’s victims were sex workers, and for years, Suffolk police faced accusations of carelessness, bureaucratic incompetence and corruption for failing to identify a suspect.
A change in police leadership led to a taskforce in 2022, with the FBI brought in. Within months, Heuermann was connected to a dark Chevrolet Avalanche spotted at the time of Amber Costello’s disappearance – vehicle information that had been in police files all along. DNA and cellphone records confirmed investigators’ identification of Heuermann, and he was arrested on a Manhattan street in 2023.
Heuermann has remained largely silent throughout the judicial process. In April, when he pleaded guilty to seven charged murders and confessed to an eighth, he said only that he had used “strangulation” on all his victims – Barthelemy, Mack, Taylor, Waterman, Costello, Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla and Karen Vergata.
