Gilgo Killer Confesses to 8 Murders, Including 3 Former East End Cold Cases
The Gilgo Beach serial killer, Rex Heuermann, pleaded guilty to seven murders in court on April 8 and confessed to an eighth, including three former cold cases on the East End.
Heuermann, 62, of Massapequa Park, appeared very stoic and cold – unfazed by the huge turnout of reporters, victims’ family members, and curious observers – as he appeared in court alongside his attorney, Michael Brown, to plead guilty.
Heuermann pleaded guilty to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack, and Sandra Costilla. He also admitted to the murder of Karen Vergata. All eight of the victims’ full or partial remains were found along Ocean Parkway, in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties, in 2010 and 2011.
He was arrested in July of 2023 and charged with the murders of Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello. He was eventually charged with Brainard-Barnes’s murder in January of 2024.
The victims found on or near the East End are Costilla, Mack, and Taylor. Sandra Costilla’s full remains were found in North Sea in 1993. Long speculated by the press to be a victim of convicted double-murderer John Bittrolff, of Manorville, Heuermann was charged with the murder of Costilla on June 6, 2024. That same day, he was charged with the murder of Jessica Taylor, whose partial remains were found in Manorville in 2003. Further remains of Taylor were found along Ocean Parkway in 2011.
Heuermann was also named the suspect in the murder of Valerie Mack on June 6, 2024. He was officially charged with her murder on Dec. 17, 2024. Mack’s partial remains were also found in Manorville in 2000, before additional remains were found along Ocean Parkway in 2011.
The serial killer initially pleaded not guilty to all seven charges, but according to Brown, following Suffolk County Judge Timothy Mazzei’s decision to allow nuclear DNA results into trial after a weeks-long Frye hearing, Heuermann decided to change his plea. In addition to life imprisonment, he will have to work with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit to analyze his behavior.
“I am glad that this is over as far as him pleading guilty,” Elizabeth Baczkiel, mother of Jessica Taylor, said. “It took a big chunk of stress off of me and my family.”
Heuermann is due back in court June 17.
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