Man accused in Gilgo Beach serial killings is expected to plead guilty, sources say

NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused in Long Island’s infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings intends to plead guilty in the case next month, according to two people familiar with his decision.

Rex Heuermann, a former architect charged with murdering seven women over 17 years, is set to change his plea from not guilty at his next scheduled court hearing on April 8, they said.

The two people, who have both been involved in the case, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plea has yet to be entered in court. One of the people said the victims’ families and Heuermann’s own family have already been notified of the decision.

Lawyers for Heuermann didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Still, much can happen before the court date. Heuermann simply can change his mind, and any guilty plea would also have to be accepted by a judge.

Heuermann, 62, had been scheduled to go on trial in September. He has been in custody since his arrest in July 2023 and had previously told the court he wasn’t guilty. His plan to change his plea was first reported by Newsday.

Prosecutors have said DNA evidence, cellphone data and evidence found in a search of Heuermann’s Massapequa, New York, home connect him to the victims, who were all young women involved in sex work.

Remains of several victims were found on an isolated stretch of shoreline parkway, though some remains were scattered in other remote areas.

The victims include Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Sandra Costilla, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor and Megan Waterman.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney declined to comment when reached late Thursday, as did Gloria Allred, a prominent California lawyer representing some of the families of the victims.

The investigation of a potential Long Island serial killer spilled into public view in 2010, when police searching for a missing woman discovered numerous sets of human remains in the scrub along Ocean Parkway, not far from Gilgo Beach.

Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify the victims. In some cases, they were able to connect them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier.

It would take years for investigators to identify Heuermann as a potential suspect.

A renewed investigation into the cold case first identified him as the potential culprit in 2022. Detectives linked Heuermann to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.

Then, investigators surveilling Heuermann recovered a pizza crust he’d discarded in the trash and used it to link him to DNA from a hair recovered from the one of the victim’s bodies.

Cellphone data additionally showed Heuermann was in contact with some of the victims just before their disappearances, and a review of his internet searches revealed a history of viewing violent torture pornography — and of looking for information about the investigation into the killings.

Last year, investigators recovered files from Heuermann’s computer that they described as a “blueprint” for the killings, including a series of checklists with reminders to limit noise, clean the bodies and destroy evidence.

In recent months, the judge in the case rejected motions from Heuermann’s lawyers to exclude certain DNA evidence from the trial as well as to break up the case into multiple trials.

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