Suspect in Gilgo Beach serial killings is charged in the death of a seventh woman
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The New York architect facing murder charges in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings was charged on Tuesday in the death of a seventh woman.
Rex Heuermann pleaded not guilty to killing Valerie Mack, whose remains were first found on Long Island in 2000. Mack, 24, had been working as an escort in Philadelphia and was last seen by her family that year in New Jersey.
Some of Mack’s skeletal remains were initially discovered in Manorville, New York; authorities found more of her remains about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west, in Gilgo Beach, more than 10 years later. They were unidentified until genetic testing revealed her identity in 2020.
Human hair found with Mack’s remains was sent for testing earlier this year and found to be a likely match with the genetic profile of Heuermann’s daughter, prosecutors said in court papers. His daughter is not accused of any wrongdoing and would have been 3 or 4 years old when Mack died.
Heuermann, 61, is charged with killing six other women whose remains were found on Long Island. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
“The lives of these women matter. We, as investigators, understand that. No one understands that more than the families,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a news conference with Mack's parents and other victims' relatives.
The investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings dates back to 2010, when police searching for a missing woman found 10 sets of human remains in the scrub along a barrier island parkway, prompting fears of a serial killer.
Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify the victims, many of whom were sex workers. In some cases, authorities connected them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier. Police also began reexamining other unsolved killings of women found dead on Long Island.
The case has dragged on through five police commissioners, more than 1,000 tips, and doubts about whether there was a serial killer at all.
Heuermann, who lived with his wife and two children in Massapequa Park on Long Island and commuted to a Manhattan architecture office, was arrested on July 13, 2023. At that point, he was charged with murdering Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy.
Earlier this year, he was charged in the deaths of three other women — Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor.
In a June court filing, prosecutors said they had recovered a file on a hard drive in Heuermann’s basement that he used to “methodically blueprint” his killings — including checklists with tasks to tick off before, during and afterward, as well as lessons for “next time.”
In court papers on Tuesday, prosecutors said the document, which was created the same year as Mack’s murder, includes details that align with her case.
For example, it names “Mill Road” — a road near where Mack’s first remains were found — under the heading “DS,” which investigators believe stands for “dump site.”
The document also lists “foam drain cleaner” under “Supplies.” Prosecutors say that on Oct. 3, 2000, Heuermann’s phone records appear to show him making two calls to a Long Island plumbing company, and he paid another company the following month to check his mainline drain.
In recent searches of Heuermann’s home and office, authorities say they found old magazines and newspapers with articles about the Gilgo Beach killings and investigation that prosecutors believe he kept as “souvenirs” or “mementos.” Among them was a July 29, 2003, copy of the New York Post that included an article about the disappearance and deaths of Mack and Taylor.
Prosecutors are also looking into the death of Karen Vergata, whose remains were first discovered in 1996 and finally identified in 2022 after a new DNA analysis.
In September, authorities released new renderings of an unidentified victim who was found in 2011. Officials said the victim, whom for years they had identified as male, may have presented outwardly as female and died in 2006.
___ Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.
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