Gilgo Beach Killer Admits to Eight Murders

Rex Heuermann, the 62-year-old former New York City architect accused of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer, pleaded guilty on April 8, 2026, to seven counts of murder in Suffolk County Court. The hearing lasted approximately 30 minutes and marked a dramatic reversal—Heuermann had maintained his innocence for nearly three years since his arrest in July 2023.

The guilty plea resolves eight murders spanning from 1993 to 2011. Heuermann admitted to strangling seven victims whose murders were charged: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Valerie Mack, Sandra Costilla, and Jessica Taylor. He also confessed to an eighth uncharged murder: Karen Vergata, killed in 1996.

During his plea allocution, Heuermann confirmed his guilt methodically, answering "Yes" to each charge as prosecutors presented details of how he met his victims, strangled them, and disposed of their bodies across Long Island locations including Gilgo Beach, Manorville, and Southampton.

The case against Heuermann carries particular horror in the murder of Melissa Barthelemy. After killing and dumping her body, Heuermann used a burner phone to contact her sister with taunting calls. He revealed intimate knowledge of Barthelemy's appearance and whereabouts, calling from crowded Manhattan locations. In his final call on August 26, 2009, he told her sister he was watching Barthelemy's body "rot"—a psychological cruelty that haunted investigators for years.

Sandra Costilla's murder, dating to November 1993, exemplifies Heuermann's long criminal history. The 28-year-old mother of a five-year-old son was strangled, and her remains were discovered in North Sea, Southampton, approximately one week after her death by hunters.