Gilgo Beach serial killer branded ‘disgusting, small man’ by judge as he's sentenced to life in prison
Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after admitting to brutally murdering eight women.
Heuermann , 62, received the maximum sentence in a New York court today, and was given three life sentences for first-degree murder, plus 25 years to life on four second-degree murder charges, all to run consecutively.
He pleaded guilty in April to charges that he murdered seven women: Barthelemy, Mack, Taylor, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and Sandra Costilla.
Heuermann also admitted in court to killing an eighth victim, Karen Vergata, though he was never charged in her death.
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Heuermann’s horrific crimes spanned from 1993 to 2010, but the New York architect wasn’t apprehended until more than a decade later.
The case began as a series of what looked like unconnected, and largely unmarked disappearances of young women, but then turned into a murder investigation after police began discovering the victims’ skeletal remains along a coastal parkway near Long Island’s Gilgo Beach.
Heuermann was finally captured in 2023, after police were able to tie him to the crimes using DNA obtained from a pizza box.
The married father-of-two, originally denied he was the killer, but later changed his plea to guilty.
Speaking after he was sentenced today, Heuermann said: “There are no words I can say.
“I am responsible for all that was said in this room today. The words I would say have no meaning.”
The judge lashed out at the killer during sentencing
After passing his sentence, Judge Timothy Mazzei asked Heuermann if he was truly remorseful for the horrendous crimes he had committed before lashing out at the killer.
“I know that you’re sorry that you got caught. I assume that you’re sorry for what you’ve done to your wife and children.
“Are you a little bit sorry for what you’ve done to these poor, innocent women? Eight women that you strangled to death? At least eight that we know of? Are you at least a little bit sorry for that?
“You’ve been described as a big man, but you are a disgusting and despicable small man, if you’re a man at all.
“And you’re a coward.
“Take him out of here!”
The courtroom, which was packed with victims’ loved ones, then erupted into cheers.
As part of his guilty plea, Heuermann agreed to co-operate with the FBI’s behavioural analysis unit to help catch other serial killers.
Claire Reid