A prominent Long Island, New York architect pleaded guilty in court on Wednesday to taking the lives of eight women in attacks dating back to the 1990s in the Gilgo Beach area. Rex Heuermann’s guilty plea brings an end to a notorious serial killer case that stumped investigators until DNA evidence helped lead to his arrest in 2023. Heuermann, now 62, confessed in the courtroom that he had strangled the women, most of whom were in their 20s, and dismembered some of them before discarding their bodies wrapped in sheets.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office had charged him with seven murders, which occurred between 1993 and 2010, and Heuermann was scheduled for trial in the fall. During his appearance on Wednesday, he admitted to an eighth killing that was not among the charges, while prosecutors stated he is expected to receive a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole when he returns to court in June.
The Gilgo Beach murders gained national attention after police discovered multiple sets of human remains in 2010 and 2011 along a secluded stretch of Gilgo Beach, about 30 miles east of New York City, not far by car from Heuermann’s home.
The investigation, which failed to identify a suspect for years, inspired films and documentaries. Investigators were able to link Heuermann to the case partly using DNA collected from a pizza crust that a surveillance team saw him discard while following him in Manhattan.