Rex Heuermann, of Massapequa Park, Long Island, is expected to plead guilty on April 8. He is charged with the murders of seven people. Photo courtesy of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office
Rex Heuermann, alleged Gilgo Beach killer, is expected to plead guilty to killing seven women, sources familiar with the case told media outlets.
The plea is expected April 8, CBS News, NBC News and FOX 5 New York reported Thursday. Heuermann has a hearing scheduled for that day.
Heuermann is accused of killing seven women believed to be sex workers and whose remains were found in secluded areas of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach and parts of eastern Long Island.
There were 11 slaying in total found between 2010 and 2011, but police do not believe Heuermann committed all 11.
Heuermann is an architect who was married with children at the time. He was arrested in July 2023 and charged with three counts of first-degree murder. The other four charges came later.
He has maintained his innocence.
The trial was scheduled to begin in September.
Heuermann was first charged in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Costello, 27. Barthelemy was reported missing in 2009, and Waterman and Costello went missing in 2010.
Then in 2024, he was charged with killing four more: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Jessica Taylor, 20; Sandra Costilla, 28; and Valerie Mack, 24. Brainard-Barnes disappeared in 2007, Taylor went missing in 2003, and Mack in 2000. Costilla’s remains were found in a wooded area in Southampton in 1993.
In September, Judge Timothy Mazzei refused to try each case separately, instead charging all the cases as one. On Sept. 3, he also said that DNA evidence is admissible in the trial.
Prosecutors said Heuerman’s DNA matches hairs found on and near the women’s bodies, and he allegedly had a document that described how to “plan out his kills with excruciating detail.”
John Ray, attorney for Mack’s son, said his client was “cautiously awaiting the facts,” NBC reported.
“If the full facts do not come out, make no mistake, we are going to pursue this,” he told NBC. “It’s not over.”
