Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann uttered 3 chilling words before judge gave him three life sentences
Topics: True crime
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: James Carbone-Pool/Getty Images
Topics: True crime
Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann was sentenced to three life terms in prison on Wednesday, as he was called 'a disgusting and despicable small man' by the judge.
The killer pleaded guilty to the murder of eight sex workers between 1993 and 2010 in April. Heuermann confessed to murdering all but one of the women in his basement in his family home in Massapequa Park while his wife and two children were away.
Today, victim impact statement from their relatives were heard in Court.
Heuermann, a former architect in Manhattan, pleaded guilty to the murders Sandra Costilla, Valerie Mack, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Jessica Taylor. The 63-year-old also admitted the killing of Karen Vergata in 1996.
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In court, Judge Timothy Mazzei asked if the killer had anything to say before sentencing, as he was ordered to 'stand up,' when addressing the court, the New York Post reports.
“I am responsible," he said.
“There are no words I can say, but I am responsible for what was said today,” he said. “The words I would have no meaning and I’m going to leave it there at this time."
"I know that you’re sorry you got caught,” the judge responded, before adding: “I assume that you’re sorry for what you did to your wife and children."
However, he then asked Heuermann if he was sorry for what he did 'to these poor innocent women – eight women you strangled to death,' as he added, 'at least eight that we know of.'
The judge then called the killer 'a disgusting and despicable coward,' before handing him the sentence.
"Get him out of here!" he then shouted, which was greeted by cheers in the crowd.
Heuermann wasn't seen as a suspect by police until 2022. The Gilgo Beach Task Force traced a truck's registration from a 2010 witness statement.
He arrested by Suffolk County police after his DNA from a pizza box tied him to the murders. The DNA matched a hair which was found on fabric which had been used to restrain one of the victims.