Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann admitted in a Long Island court on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, to murdering eight young women during a nearly two-decade spree — after adamantly denying the charges against him since he was arrested in 2023. Heuermann, 62, pleaded guilty to slaying seven victims before State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei at the Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Court Complex in Riverhead, L.I., short after 11:00 a.m. He admitted to also killing an eighth victim he had not been charged with.
When asked by the judge if he was pleading guilty voluntarily and of his own free will, Heuermann, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a patterned tie, replied, “Yes,” while nodding his head, the New York Times reported.
He faces life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date.
Several of the victims’ family members sitting in the packed courtroom wept as Heuermann detailed his crimes.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney, asked Heuermann how he caused the deaths of some of the victims including Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, to which he replied, “strangulation,” with a calm demeanor, according to The Times.
Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup and daughter, Victoria, were in the courtroom for the plea.
In addition to the seven women Heuermann had already been charged with murdering, he admitted killing an eighth victim — 34-year-old mother of two, Karen Vergata, whose remains were initially found on Fire Island in April 1996, with additional remains found in April 2011 near Gilgo Beach.
Vergata, who is believed to have been working as an escort in Manhattan at the time of her disappearance on Valentine’s Day 1996, struggled with addiction and was estranged from her family. As the years went by and no one heard from her they became increasingly worried.
Advances in DNA testing allowed investigators to finally identify her remains, previously known only as “Fire Island Jane Doe” in 2022 using a genetic genealogy review.
“You never know when it’s going to be the last time you see someone,” her stepsister Brenda said after the remains were identified. “We wondered what happened to her. But she had a habit of just not being in contact. We just assumed [she was dead]. No one heard from her in 20 years.”
The hulking serial killer, who lives in Massapequa Park, L.I., had maintained his innocence since his arrest in Midtown Manhattan on July 13, 2023, for the slayings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello.
The three women were part of who investigators designated the “Gilgo Four” — the first four bodies found in December 2010, wrapped in burlap within a quarter-mile of each other along Ocean Parkway.
Police said it was a Long Island pimp — and pizza crust DNA — that steered investigators toward Heuermann, a husband and father who had been living quietly in the suburbs and commuting to Manhattan, where he worked as an architect.
The pimp described the suspect’s vehicle as a green Chevrolet Avalanche during a spring 2022 meeting with investigators.
Cops retrieved DNA from a pizza crust found in a Manhattan trash can near Heuermann’s work office and matched it with a hair found on Waterman’s body.
In January 2024, Heuermann was charged with the death of the final “Gilgo Four” victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was 25 when she died. Brainard-Barnes, who worked as a sex worker, was reported missing in July 2007 after arranging to meet with a customer.
Heuermann murdered the Connecticut mother while his wife, Asa Ellerup, and children were vacationing in Atlantic City, according to court records.
Brainard-Barnes’ daughter remembers her as a sweet woman who read to her every night before bed.
“I was only 7 years old when my mother was murdered,” Nicolette Brainard-Barnes said at a 2024 news conference. “There are countless times I needed her and she was not there. I wish she was here today, but she was taken from us.”
Heuermann was later additionally charged with killing 20-year-old Jessica Taylor, 28-year-old Sandra Costilla, and 24-year-old Valerie Mack.
When Heuermann was indicted for murdering Mack in December 2024, he defiantly denied it in court. “Your Honor, I am not guilty of any of these charges,” Heuermann blurted out, shaking his head.
-by Emma Seiwell
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