As expected, accused Long Island Serial Killer Rex Heuermann amended his not guilty plea inside a Riverhead courtroom, admitting before his wife and daughter he was the one who killed at least eight women whose bodies he later dumped along a highway near Gilgo Beach.
The hulking former architect, 62, has been in custody since his arrest in July 2023. Up until now, Heuermann had maintained his innocence.
Heuermann hobbled into the courtroom, an eyewitness inside the courtroom revealed to Us Weekly, and smiled at his ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and his daughter, Victoria Heuermann, who were accompanied by civil right attorney Gloria Allred.
“The court has been made aware that the defendant may enter a guilty plea today, which was probably the worst kept secret in this building,” Judge Timothy P. Mazzei said from the bench at the start of the hearing.
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Rex is pleading guilty to killing eight women: Valerie Mack, 24; Jessica Taylor, 20; Megan Waterman, 22; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Sandra Costilla, 28; Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and Karen Vergata, 34.
As part of his plea agreement, Rex will be sentenced to three consecutive life sentences plus another 100 years.
The serial killer has also agreed to cooperate with members of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.
The killings occurred between 1993 and 2010.
In court, Rex was questioned by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, and admitted to strangling his victims in the basement of his Massapequa home — some of whom he acknowledged dismembering.
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“Strangulation,” Rex uttered when asked how he killed the eight women. A source inside the courtroom confirmed Rex showed no emotion on his face as he admitted to the brutal murders.
Reporters hounded Ellerup and Victoria after the hearing, following the women into the court parking lot.
Asa did say allegedly tell reporters she felt bad for the victims but would not speak beyond that.
News of the plea deal surfaced last month, when relatives of some of Rex’s alleged victims informed Long Island daily Newsday they had heard from prosecutors that an April 8 hearing was set.
Rex, who was married and has two adult children, was arrested in July 2023 outside his Manhattan office in connection to three of the Gilgo Beach murders. Asa divorced the serial killer within months of his arrest.
Investigators spent weeks going through every inch of Rex’s house, collecting evidence and discovering a stockpile of guns in the basement.
On Monday, April 6, lawyer John Ray filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Rex, Asa, and their kids on behalf of Benjamin Torres, the only child of Mack.
The civil filing contends Mack’s death deprived Torres of his “mother’s care, guidance, protection, nurture, society and economic support.”
