US architect pleads guilty to Gilgo Beach killings

Rex Heuermann, 62, will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at a later date

Rex Heuermann at Suffolk County Court in April 2024. Heuermann strangled the women, many of them sex workers, over a 17-year span and buried their remains in remote locations. Picture: James Carbone/Newsday via AP, File

A US architect who led a secret life as a serial killer pleaded guilty to murdering seven women and admitted he killed an eighth in a string of long-unsolved crimes known as the Gilgo Beach killings.

Rex Heuermann, of Long Island, New York, entered the pleas on Wednesday.

The 62-year-old will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at a later date.

Heuermann’s guilty pleas — to three counts of first-degree murder and four of intentional murder — bring finality to a case that bedevilled investigators.

Although he was not charged in her death, he also admitted that he killed Karen Vergata in 1996.

Heuermann strangled the women, many of them sex workers, over a 17-year span and buried their remains in remote locations, including along an isolated beach highway across the bay from where he lived, authorities said.

The investigation began in earnest in 2010 after police found numerous sets of human remains while searching for a missing woman along Long Island’s South Shore, setting off a search for a potential serial killer that attracted global interest and spawned a Hollywood movie.

A message seeking comment was left on Tuesday for Heuermann’s lawyer, Michael Brown. 

Reporters and camera operators swarmed Heuermann’s ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and their daughter walking into the building.

“It’s a difficult day,” said Robert Macedonio, a lawyer for Mrs Ellerup.

“No one can envision ever in their life standing here in a courthouse on a line surrounded by media having their ex-husband accused of seven, potentially eight homicides.

“It’s unimaginable. There’s no way to prepare for it.” 

In the courtroom, about half of the seats were blocked off for victims’ family members and law enforcement officers.

Heuermann gave brief answers when asked if he understood and agreed to the charges he was pleading guilty to.