A chilling phone call tipped off police but it still took 33 years to snare ‘ogre’ serial killer
For years, the killings linked to New York’s Gilgo Beach seemed to exist in a horrible kind of limbo. Bodies were found along a remote stretch of Ocean Parkway on Long Island, the list of victims kept growing and the case drifted in and out of momentum. All without a clear suspect.
That all changed back in July 2023, when architect Rex Heuermann was arrested near his Midtown Manhattan office. Although the 6’4″ Heuermann was protesting his innocence at the time.
Nearly three years later, he returned to court on Wednesday (March 8) and changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.
Heuermann admitted to strangling seven women to death. He also confessed to killing another victim, Karen Vergata, despite not facing charges over her death.
Prosecutors said he was responsible for the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack.
To the courtroom’s surprise, Heuermann admitted to three counts of first-degree murder and four of intentional murder.
He then copped to the 1996 killing of Vergata, a Manhattan mother-of-two. Her remains were found west of Gilgo Beach and on Fire Island more than a decade apart.
The investigation that finally led to Heuermann had spanned decades. Its earliest known victim in the case was Sandra Costilla, whose remains were found in November 1993.
But the case only truly exploded into public view in 2010, after 23-year-old Shannan Gilbert – who had been working as an escort – disappeared. Gilbert had made a frantic 911 call in which she said: ‘There’s somebody after me… somebody’s after me, please!’
She vanished in the early hours after fleeing a client’s home on Long Island. When police searched for her near Gilgo Beach, they found human remains, but not Gilbert.
Within days, four other victims had been discovered. They became known as the Gilgo Four — Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello and Megan Waterman.
All four were in their 20s and all had worked as sex workers. Their remains were found along Ocean Parkway in December 2010, turning a missing person search into one of the most notorious serial killer cases in New York history.
More remains were found in the surrounding area over the following months.
Gilbert’s body was eventually found in December 2011. Authorities have long maintained that her death was accidental and she hasn’t formally been linked to Heuermann, though her family disputes that conclusion.
For years, the wider case remained unsolved. It was also dogged by a number of controversial internal problems, including allegations that former Suffolk County police chief James Burke hindered cooperation with federal authorities before later resigning and serving prison time on unrelated charges.
The breakthrough came after the case was re-energised under new leadership.
A task force formed in 2022 took a fresh look at old evidence and started joining up a number of clues that had been sitting dormant for years.
One of the biggest was a witness account from Amber Costello’s disappearance. A man seen in connection with her final movements had been described as ‘ogre-like’ and linked to a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche.
That vehicle helped point investigators towards Heuermann, a long-time Long Island resident who lived in Massapequa Park, about 20 minutes from Gilgo Beach.
He was a married father-of-two and ran RH Consultants & Associates, commuting into Manhattan for work.
Police said burner phones used to contact victims were traced to areas near his home and office.
Prosecutors also said accounts believed to have been used by Heuermann were used ‘to access and/or conduct searches related to pornography, rape, torture, and sex workers several thousand times’.
Then came the DNA evidence that changed everything. In January 2023, surveillance teams watched Heuermann throw out a pizza box outside his office on Fifth Avenue. They quickly grabbed it.
DNA taken from the leftover crust was matched to a hair found on burlap used to wrap Megan Waterman’s body. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney later said: ‘On March 14, 2022, the name Rex was first mentioned.
‘A New York state investigator was able to identify him in a database and from that point on we used the power of the grand jury, over 300 subpoenas and search warrants, looking into this individual’s background to bring us to this day.’
Heuermann was arrested on July 13, 2023. Prosecutors said cellphone data, burner phone activity, witness accounts and DNA all helped place him in contact with multiple victims.
As the case expanded, more charges soon followed. In June 2024, he was charged over the deaths of Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor, then in December 2024 he was charged with killing Valerie Mack.
In 2024, prosecutors also said a hard drive recovered from the basement of Heuermann’s home contained what they described as a ‘blueprint’ for murder.
Tierney said investigators believed it was ‘this planning document that was used by Heuermann to plot out his kills with excruciating detail.’
He later said: ‘His motivations, meticulous planning, and clear intent were obvious. His intent was nothing short but to murder these victims.’
Attorney John Ray, who represents some victims’ families, called Heuermann a ‘stalker’.
Tierney also said: ‘The lives of these women matter. No one understands that more than the families.’
Other than his hulking size, Heuermann didn’t stand out in any really obvious way. To neighbours, he was quiet and largely unremarkable.
But others who encountered him in professional settings described a different side. Some said he could be intense and arrogant, with a presence that left people unsettled.
One colleague said he had a ‘swagger’ and carried himself with an attitude that said: ‘I’m the expert, you’re lucky to have me.’
Heuermann had initially denied all allegations. But this week his new guilty plea marked a rather huge turning point in a case that’s dragged on for years.
What began as a search for one missing woman ended with admissions from the man at the centre of one of America’s most haunting serial killer investigations.
Timeline of events
November 20, 1993 – Sandra Costilla is found dead and later identified as the earliest known victim linked to Heuermann
2000 – Valerie Mack disappears, with partial remains later found in Manorville and additional remains discovered more than a decade later near Gilgo Beach
July 26, 2003 – Jessica Taylor is found dismembered in Manorville, with further remains discovered along Ocean Parkway in 2011
2007 – Maureen Brainard-Barnes disappears after being contacted repeatedly by a burner phone
July 2009 – Melissa Barthelemy disappears
July 17, 2009 – Barthelemy’s sister receives the first of several taunting calls from a man using Melissa’s phone
May 1, 2010 – Shannan Gilbert disappears after making a 21 minute 911 call
June 6, 2010 – Megan Waterman is last seen leaving a hotel in Hauppauge after contact with a burner phone
September 2, 2010 – Amber Lynn Costello disappears after leaving home to meet a client described as ‘ogre-like’
December 2010 – Police discover the remains of ‘The Gilgo Four’
May 2011 – The number of discovered remains in the area rises to 10
December 2011 – Shannan Gilbert’s remains are found, though authorities do not link her death to Heuermann
2022 – A new task force revisits the case and focuses on old leads including burner phones and a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche
January 2023 – Investigators recover DNA from a pizza crust Heuermann threw away outside his Manhattan office
July 13, 2023 – Heuermann is arrested
June 2024 – Heuermann is charged with the murders of Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor
December 2024 – Heuermann is charged with the murder of Valerie Mack
April 8, 2026 – Heuermann pleads guilty to killing seven women and admits an eighth murder