{"id":1936,"date":"2026-06-18T08:03:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1936"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:03:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:03:39","slug":"rex-heuermann-is-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-new-yorks-gilgo-beach-serial-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1936","title":{"rendered":"Rex Heuermann is sentenced to life in prison for New York\u2019s Gilgo Beach serial killings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After decades waiting for justice, relatives of women murdered by New York\u2019s Gilgo Beach serial killer laid into him Wednesday before he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his admitted crimes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA million years isn\u2019t enough,\u201d Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, said. \u201cNothing will ever make this right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rex Heuermann clasped his hands on the defense table in an eastern Long Island courtroom, looking straight ahead and lightly tapping his fingers. The Long Island architect, who lived a secret life of violence for years before admitting he killed eight women, was arrested in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou fill me with so much repugnance, I can\u2019t stand it,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n

RELATED STORY | <\/b>The decades-spanning timeline of the Gilgo Beach killings and the case against Rex Heuermann<\/b><\/p>\n

Amanda Funderburg, victim Melissa Barthelemy’s sister, urged Heuermann to look at her as she spoke.<\/p>\n

He glanced in her direction, but his eyes were slightly downcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you suffer,\u201d said Funderburg, who recounted getting a taunting phone call from him days after Barthelemy disappeared, when Funderburg was 15 years old.<\/p>\n

The sentencing caps an extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York’s most perplexing mysteries \u2014 one that began as a series of seemingly unconnected and largely unmarked disappearances of young women, but became the focus of true-crime documentaries, books and podcasts after police began discovering the victims’ skeletal remains in the sandy scrub along a coastal parkway.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice has been done, but it can\u2019t replace what has been taken,\u201d said JoAnn Mack, the mother of victim Valerie Mack. \u201cShe had dreams, and you took them all away from her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heuermann, who has remained largely silent through multiple court appearances since his arrest, also had a chance to speak Wednesday. His ex-wife and two grown children weren’t at the sentencing, having said through their lawyers that they’d stay away out of respect for the victim\u2019s families.<\/p>\n

Heuermann, 62, pleaded guilty in April to charges that he murdered seven women: Barthelemy, Mack, Taylor, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and Sandra Costilla.<\/p>\n

Heuermann also admitted in court to killing an eighth victim, Karen Vergata, though he was never charged in her death. He said he strangled his victims, many of them sex workers, and dismembered some of their bodies.<\/p>\n

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | <\/b>How pizza crust DNA led to the arrest of Gilgo Beach murders suspect<\/b><\/p>\n

Brainard-Barnes\u2019 two children, who were 7 and 1 when she disappeared, underscored Wednesday how her absence shaped their lives and how she never got to know the adults they grew up to be. Her sister, Melissa Cann, said she lived with \u201csurvivor\u2019s guilt\u201d for decades, wondering whether she could have done something more to protect Brainard-Barnes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was a weight I carried everywhere,\u201d Cann said, sobbing deeply. But, she said, that guilt is \u201cnot mine to carry. It is for Rex and Rex alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liliana Waterman was 3 when her mother, Megan Waterman, vanished. The daughter said she didn\u2019t fully understand what had happened until she was about 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an instant, my world was shattered,\u201d she said. \u201cWas she in pain? Was she scared?\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the women disappeared between 2000 and 2010, and most of their remains were found on a parkway not far from Long Island\u2019s Gilgo Beach, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Costilla\u2019s remains were found in 1993, more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) away in the Hamptons, while Vergata\u2019s remains were found in 1996 on Fire Island, more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Gilgo Beach.<\/p>\n

The case spilled into view in 2010, when investigators started to find remains along Ocean Parkway while looking into the disappearance of another sex worker, Shannan Gilbert, whose death was ultimately ruled an accidental drowning.<\/p>\n

The case went cold until 2022, when detectives linked Heuermann to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.<\/p>\n

Eventually, they matched DNA from a pizza crust Heuermann discarded in a Manhattan trash can to genetic material extracted from highly degraded hair fragments found on the women\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n

Investigators amassed other evidence, including cellphone and tracking data showing Heuermann arranged meetings with some victims shortly before their disappearances. After Heuermann’s arrest, prosecutors recovered what they described as a \u201cblueprint\u201d for the killings from his computer files.<\/p>\n

As part of his guilty plea, Heuermann agreed to cooperate with the FBI\u2019s behavioral analysis unit to help catch other serial killers.<\/p>\n

Heuermann has spent the past three years alone in a segregated cell at the Suffolk County jail, reading crime novels, occasionally being visited by his lawyers or family, and striking up a brief correspondence with the infamous \u201cHappy Face Killer,\u201d according to Sheriff Errol Toulon.<\/p>\n

Read more Chandler installs LiDAR pedestrian detection system at busy intersection<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rex Heuermann, a New York architect who murdered women for years until police realized that their deaths were the work of a serial killer, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"yoast_head":"\nRex Heuermann is sentenced to life in prison for New York\u2019s Gilgo Beach serial killings - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1936\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rex Heuermann is sentenced to life in prison for New York\u2019s Gilgo Beach serial killings - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rex Heuermann, a New York architect who murdered women for years until police realized that their deaths were the work of a serial killer, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1936\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T08:03:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"Rex Heuermann is sentenced to life in prison for New York\u2019s Gilgo Beach serial killings\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T08:03:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936\"},\"wordCount\":835,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/37d01fba01fea469c922a29ee2e1da3e.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"National News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936\",\"name\":\"Rex Heuermann is sentenced to life in prison for New York\u2019s Gilgo Beach serial killings - Arizona Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/37d01fba01fea469c922a29ee2e1da3e.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T08:03:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1936#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/37d01fba01fea469c922a29ee2e1da3e.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/37d01fba01fea469c922a29ee2e1da3e.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600,\"caption\":\"FILE - Rex Heuermann appears in Judge Timothy Mazzei's courtroom at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y., for a status conference, Feb. 25, 2025. 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