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By Mandy Taheri
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Rex Heuermann, the killer who pleaded guilty to the murder of seven women and admitted to killing an eighth in the Gilgo Beach case earlier this year, was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday.
“I am responsible for all that was said in this room today," he said, adding, "the words I say have no meaning." His comments came after members of the victims' families spoke about their loved ones and addressed Heuermann.
Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, said in the courtroom ahead of his sentencing, “A million years isn’t enough. Nothing will ever make this right."
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What To Know About Rex Heuermann and the Gilgo Beach Murders
Heuermann, 62, from Long Island, worked as an architect. In April, he pleaded guilty to seven murders and admitted to an eighth killing, bringing a measure of closure to the decades-long Gilgo Beach case. He admitted to the slayings of Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack, and Karen Vergata.
Heuermann admitted in court that he strangled all eight of the women and dismembered some of them before disposing of their bodies. He killed the women, many of them sex workers, over a 17-year time span.
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The investigation lasted over a decade, until detectives identified Heuermann as a suspect in 2022 using a vehicle registration database to connect him to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.
A surveillance team followed Heuermann to Manhattan, collected a discarded box of partially eaten pizza crusts, and then sent them to a crime lab for DNA analysis. The DNA matched a male hair found on burlap used to restrain one of the victims.
Heuermann was arrested in July 2023.
Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge Timothy Mazzei said to Heuermann, "you've been described as a very big man, but you know what you are disgusting and a despicable, small man," adding, "you're a coward."
Why Is Asa Ellerup Not Attending Rex Heuermann’s Sentencing?
Heuermann's ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, who was married to him for 27 years, did not attend the sentencing as expected; her lawyer, Robert Macedonio, had previously told Newsweek in a statement that she would not be there.
Ellerup, who shares 29-year-old daughter Victoria with Heuermann, "believes this day should be centered on the victims, their families, and the profound impact these crimes have had on their lives," the statement provided to Newsweek says.
It continued, "Out of respect for those who have endured unimaginable loss and suffering, she does not wish her presence to distract from the purpose of these proceedings."
The courtroom was filled with the victims' family members, many of whom gave impact statements.
The statement concluded: "Her thoughts remain with the victims and their loved ones as they continue their pursuit of justice, healing, and closure. At this time, Ms. Ellerup will have no further comment and respectfully requests privacy."
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Ellerup and Heuermann were wed in April 1996. Ellerup filed for divorce in July 2023, shortly after Heuermann's arrest.
Ellerup was out of town during the murders and is not associated with any wrongdoing. Heuermann said he killed seven of the victims in their basement.
Last year, Victoria Heuermann told producers of the Peacock documentary series The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets that she believed her father was most likely responsible for the murders. Heuermann's stepson, Christopher Sheridan, was also not at the sentencing.
Who Were the Gilgo Beach Victims?
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Maureen Brainard-Barnes
Brainard-Barnes was a 25-year-old living in Norwich, Connecticut, when she went missing. It is believed that she took an Amtrak train from New London to New York City on July 6, 2007. She spent her time in the city working as a prostitute, advertised on Craigslist, Backpage and other sites. Her body was found on the north side of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach on December 13, 2010.
She was a mother of two. Brainard-Barnes' sister, Melissa "Missy" Cann, said in court Wednesday that her sister "was not just murdered" but was the victim of "calculated, unimaginable evil," according to CNN.
“I was only 7 years old when I lost my mother and for the next 3 years she was missing," Nicolette Brainard-Barnes, one of her daughters, told the court on Wednesday, local journalist Mary Murphy reported.
Sandra Costilla
Two hunters discovered 28-year-old Costilla's body in a wooded area in North Sea, Southampton, on November 21, 1993. She had been strangled to death and left partially clothed. Her remains were in the woods for several days prior to being discovered.
Authorities identified Costilla by using her fingerprints, which had been entered into the system after she was arrested for jumping over a subway turnstile in 1992. Costilla was from Trinidad and Tobago but had been living in New York prior to her disappearance, according to court records obtained by Newsweek. She had a young son.
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Jessica Taylor
Taylor, 20, was a sex worker near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. Taylor's remains were found in July 2003 in the wooded area of Manorville, where Heuermann's Massapequa Park home is located. In March 2011, more of Taylor's remains, including her skull, hands and forearm, were found on Gilgo Beach.
Violet Swager, Taylor's cousin, addressed Heuermann during the court hearing on Wednesday, saying, per CNN, “You hunted her, and I hunted you.” Robinson, another cousin, said, "Heuermann, you fill me with so much repugnance it’s suffocating, but I can’t let you overtake me and I will stand strong for my cousin."
“A million years isn’t enough," Robinson said. "Nothing will ever make this right.” Today would have been Taylor's 43rd birthday.
Melissa Barthelemy
Barthelemy, 24, went missing in July 2009. She was last seen at her basement apartment on Underhill Avenue in the Unionport section of the Bronx. The escort advertised on Adult Friend Finder and other sites, according to the police. She would meet clients at bars, restaurants and hotels on Manhattan's West Side. Barthelemy's body was found on December 11, 2010.
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Megan Waterman
Waterman, 22, was a sex worker and resident of Scarborough, Maine. An investigation found Waterman was staying at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge on June 6, 2010. She had a 3-year-old daughter.
Amber Lynn Costello
Costello was 27 when she went missing in September 2010. Costello advertised sex work on Craigslist and Backpage, according to police. She was last seen leaving her home on September 2, 2010.
Those who saw Costello leave that day reported they had seen the man before, telling police that he drove a first-gen Chevy Avalanche—a key clue that prosecutors said helped lead them to Heuermann.
Valerie Mack
The 24-year-old escort was last seen in 2000, and her partial remains were found in Long Island later that year in a wooded area of Manorville. Additional remains were found in 2011 near Gilgo Beach. These remains were found less than 1.5 miles from where some of Taylor's remains were found.
Mack resided in Philadelphia at the time of her killing. Her family last saw her in the spring or summer of 2000 in Port Republic, New Jersey. She was never reported missing. She had a child in 1994 at the age of 17. She was arrested for prostitution several times between 1996 and 2000.
Ed Mack, Valerie's adoptive father, said during the sentencing statement, per local journalist Mary Murphy: "Mr. Heuermann, you have done horrendous things to Valerie’s earthly body but you have not touched her immortal being."
Her adoptive mother, JoAnn, said, "She is living her life with her savior, but what you have gained is nothing."
Karen Vergata
Vergata was a 34-year-old Manhattan woman believed to have been working as an escort when she disappeared around February 14, 1996. No missing-person report was filed, and she remained unidentified for more than 27 years until investigators identified her through genetic genealogy in 2023.
She was strangled and then dismembered by Heuermann, according to police. She had two sons.
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