Rex Heuermann Has Pleaded Guilty to 8 Gilgo Beach Murders—What Will Become of Crumbling Home Where He Tortured His Victims?

Long Island architect Rex Heuermann has pleaded guilty to the murders of eight women, bringing an end to a yearslong hunt for the persons responsible for the chilling crimes, which have widely become known as the Gilgo Beach killings.

Appearing in a packed Suffolk County courtroom Wednesday, Heuermann, 62, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and four counts of intentional murder, while also confessing to the murder of an eighth woman, Karen Vergata, whose death he had not officially been charged with.

Heuermann appeared unemotional as he entered his plea, according to The Associated Press, which reports that he will be sentenced in June to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As part of his plea deal, Heuermann will not be charged with Vergata's murder.

When questioned by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, he confessed to having strangled all eight of his victims—who were murdered between 1993 and 2010—and dismembering some, before dumping their bodies in various locations across Long Island, where they were later discovered.

Several relatives of Heuermann's victims—Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Costello, 27, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Jessica Taylor, 20, Sandra Costilla, 28, and Valerie Mack, 24—were present in the courtroom.

Heuermann was arrested in Manhattan in July 2023, after the police built up a trove of evidence—which was later added to after they raided the family's Massapequa Park, NY, home, where prosecutors say they found a basement vault that contained 279 guns. Authorities later deduced that Heuermann had tortured several of his victims on the lower level of the dwelling.

Authorities ultimately spent 12 days searching the property, including the yard, where Tierney said in 2023 they found "a tremendous amount of information" to link Heuermann to the crimes.

However, Heuermann maintained his innocence for years until reports began to emerge early Wednesday that he had changed his plea.

At a press conference following the hearing, Tierney issued an apology to the families of the victims, many of whom worked as escorts, while praising those involved in finally bringing Heuermann to justice.

Tierney further described how the murderer had painted himself as "the harmless father next door" in a bid to hide his horrifying crimes, telling reporters: "He thought that by killing them he could silence them forever and get away with murder. But he was wrong."

Heuermann's defense attorney, Michael Brown, revealed that his client does not plan to reveal details about how his crimes were committed during his sentencing hearing, but said that he chose to plead guilty because he wanted to spare the victims' families the ordeal of going through a lengthy trial.

"He certainly wanted to save the families of the victims the ordeal of going to trial, coupled with saving his family from that," Brown explained.

The attorney noted that Heuermann, who shares daughter Victoria Heuermann and stepson Christopher Sheridan with his ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, had spoken to his family about his desire to avoid a trial.

Ellerup, who filed for divorce from Heuermann in 2023, soon after he was arrested in connection with the Gilgo Beach killings, appeared in the courtroom to watch her former spouse enter his guilty plea, before sharing a very brief statement in which she expressed her sympathy for the families of his victims.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families," she said. "Their loss is immeasurable, and the focus should be on them at this time in the moment."

Ellerup was joined in court by her daughter, who was seen breaking down in tears as her father entered his guilty plea.

While she did not address reporters after the hearing, Victoria has previously spoken out about her father's case in the 2025 documentary "The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets," in which she described Heuermann as "an open book."

Victoria further described her life at home with her father, whom she admitted would sometimes come home from work "frustrated," but insisted was never violent in their house.

That house is understood to have remained largely vacant for the last 18 months, after Ellerup revealed in November 2024 that they were all planning to move out of the home and relocate to South Carolina, where the family already owned property that had been purchased as a retirement house.

According to The New York Times, a large shipping container was seen outside the single-story property soon after Ellerup shared her plans, leading many to believe she had vacated the home for good.

However, there is still a large question mark over what will become of the home now that Heuermann has confessed to the crimes.

Ellerup's lawyer, Robert Macedonio, stated in November 2024 that his client was planning to list the property as soon as her divorce from Heuermann was finalized, revealing that she no longer felt any "emotional attachment" to the house.

"People constantly stop in front of the house to gawk and point and take pictures," he said. "She’s lost any emotional attachment she had to the premises because of everything that’s gone on, and the only way she can start recovering is to move."

But while Ellerup reached a settlement with her former spouse in March 2025, property records show the dwelling has not yet been put on the market and remains in her name.

Several of Heuermann's neighbors have expressed their desire that the property be demolished so that those who remain in the community can start to move past the horrors that are said to have taken place inside it.

"The best thing that could happen is they knock that house down and build a brand-new one so that the memory of all this is obliterated," local resident Albert Cella told The New York Times in 2024.

Like many properties involved in horrifying crimes of this nature, Heuermann's dwelling has also become something of a "dark tourism" hot spot, drawing significant attention from true crime obsessives who have visited the site in their droves in the years since his arrest.

Vess Mitev, a lawyer for Heuermann and Ellerup's children, told the Times that neither Christopher nor Victoria felt comfortable walking around the local neighborhood after their father's arrest, claiming that they routinely found themselves being "photographed" and "catcalled" in the street.

While the family did move back into the home in the aftermath of the police raid, Mitev hinted that they had grown tired of being the constant focus of so much negative attention.

It is unclear exactly what state the property is in, however Macedonio previously claimed to the outlet that the dwelling sustained significant damage when it was being searched by the authorities, who he alleges tore up floorboards, removed pipes, and even destroyed a bathtub that was left held together by duct tape.

At the time, he stated that Ellerup did not have enough money to pay for the necessary repairs to the dwelling and it is unclear whether any work has been done to the property since Heuermann's arrest.

Given the property's harrowing history, Ellerup could face something of a struggle to find a buyer should she choose to put the home on the market.

Under New York State's "stigmatized property" laws, any listing agent who takes on the property would not be required to disclose its harrowing history—although the dwelling's notoriety would likely make this moot. Any remaining damage or defects would need to be revealed to a prospective buyer, however.

John Succoso, a real estate professional representing Massapequa and greater Long Island with Douglas Elliman, previously told Realtor.com® that he did not believe the property's dark past would prevent it from selling—noting that it may well be purchased by a builder who wants to replace the existing home with a much more modern property.

"I've been in the real estate business for 30-plus years; every home will sell, including the 'Amityville Horror' house," he said. "It's sold three times since I was in the business and every time for money. Will the Gilgo home sell? There will be a stigma. It may sell for less than a similar home, but every house eventually sells."