RIVERHEAD — Rex Heuermann was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday for the murders of eight women in the Gilgo Beach serial killings, a New York state court judge ruled.
The 62-year-old former Manhattan architect, who pleaded guilty in April to seven of the murders and admitted responsibility for an eighth, appeared in Suffolk County Supreme Court as victims' families delivered emotional statements before the sentencing, officials said.
Heuermann was convicted in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and Sandra Costilla. He also admitted to killing Karen Vergata, though he was not formally charged in that case, prosecutors said.
The remains of most of the victims were discovered wrapped in burlap near Gilgo Beach on Long Island in 2010 and 2011. Heuermann was arrested in 2023 after a long investigation involving DNA evidence, cellphone records and other forensic links, according to authorities.
State Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei imposed the sentences, which included consecutive life terms without parole. The judge described Heuermann as a "disgusting, despicable and small man" and a "coward" before ordering him removed from the courtroom, court officials reported.
During the hearing, family members of the victims confronted Heuermann, with one relative calling him a "demon," according to accounts from those present.
Heuermann gave a brief statement in court, reportedly taking responsibility for the crimes.
The case drew national attention as one of the most notorious serial killings in the New York region. The victims were primarily women who worked as escorts, and their deaths spanned more than a decade beginning in the 1990s.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's office handled the prosecution. Heuermann's defense had previously entered the guilty pleas as part of an agreement that resulted in the life sentences.
Following the sentencing, some family members expressed a measure of closure after years of uncertainty. No further legal proceedings are expected in the case.
