Gilgo Beach Suspect Rex Heuermann Expected to Accept Guilty Plea Deal

Victims' relatives had been notified that Rex Heuermann is expected to plead guilty in April — a development that would close one of the most disturbing serial murder cases in Long Island history without a trial.

Defense attorney Michael J. Brown and Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney are negotiating a deal that could result in Heuermann pleading guilty at his court appearance on April 8. When reached for comment, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office had no comment. The parameters of the reported agreement remain unclear.

The 62-year-old former Manhattan architect has been charged with the deaths of seven sex workers who vanished between 1993 and 2010. Heuermann was arrested on July 13, 2023 and initially charged in the murders of Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy. In January 2024, he was charged in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and less than five months later was charged with murdering Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor. In December 2024, an indictment was unsealed charging Heuermann in the death of Valerie Mack.

Heuermann had pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to stand trial in September in Riverhead, where he has been held since his July 2023 arrest. The April 8 hearing had been scheduled for a defense motion filed in the case; if Heuermann does change his plea at that time, the judge would set a date for sentencing. Newsday, which first reported the expected plea change, noted that it did not obtain any details of a possible plea deal and that it could fall apart by April 8, or that the judge could decline to sign off on it.

Heuermann did not appear at a routine court appearance last week; his attorney said at the time that he was having health issues.

Heuermann and his attorneys had tried to separate the sprawling case into as many as five separate trials, arguing the killings involved different time frames, torture and mutilation techniques, and dump sites. The defense also contended that jurors would struggle with the "volume and complexity" of the evidence if all seven killings were tried together, and argued that Heuermann risked being improperly convicted by the "cumulative effect" of the evidence. The judge denied the motion, siding with prosecutors who argued the killings were committed in a similar manner and that evidence in the cases overlaps.

Prosecutors said Heuermann's DNA was a match for hairs found on and near the victims' bodies. Prosecutors also revealed a "planning document" found during a search of Heuermann's Massapequa home that provided details on how to carry out the killings and avoid capture. Heuermann's defense failed to convince Judge Timothy Mazzei to toss the DNA evidence before his change of plea; he faces up to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors said the crimes involved torture, mutilation and dismemberment.

The case dates back more than three decades. The deaths of Valerie Mack, 24; Jessica Taylor, 20; Megan Waterman, 22; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Sandra Costilla, 28; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27, remained unsolved until the case was reopened in 2022. The victims were all described as "petite" women, many around 5 feet tall and barely over 100 pounds. In 2010, Shannan Gilbert placed a frantic and incoherent 911 call, begging for help and claiming someone was after her, then vanished. Before police found her remains, they found 10 other bodies along Ocean Parkway. Her death remains the only one that investigators believe was accidental.