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Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann expected to plead guilty — including to new murder

accused-gilgo-beach-serial-killer-rex-heuermann-expected-to-plead-guilty-—-including-to-new-murder
Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann expected to plead guilty — including to new murder

Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann is expected to confess to a string of grisly cold-case sex worker slayings Wednesday — including a newly revealed eighth victim, according to sources and reports.

Heuermann, 62, is due to plead guilty to the notorious murders in Suffolk County court, which will require him to admit to the crimes — ending one of the most notorious serial murder cases in the New York metro area in recent decades, law enforcement sources told The Post.

The Massapequa Park architect is charged with killing seven sex workers between 1993 and 2010, including four women known as the Gilgo Four, after the murders went unsolved for years until the cases were reopened and Heuermann was busted outside his Manhattan office in July 2023.

Rex Heuermann and his attorney Michael J. Brown appear in court.

Rex Heuermann is charged with killing seven Long Island sex workers between 1993 and 2010. Newsday

Collage of seven female portraits, including Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor, and Valerie Mack, alongside a Suffolk County Police Department patch.

The seven women allegedly murdered by Rex Heuermann, all of them sex workers on Long Island. Suffolk County Police Department

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has linked Heuermann — largely through DNA — to the deaths of Valerie Mack, 24, Jessica Taylor, 20, Megan Waterman, 22, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Sandra Costilla, 28.

But in a stunning development, the hulking architect is also expected to plead guilty to the murder of Karen Vergata, a sex worker who had not been linked to the accused killer, Newsday reported Tuesday.

Vergata, 34, made a haunting final call to her family on Feb. 14, 1996, before she disappeared, with her legs found two months later on Blue Point Beach on Fire Island and her skull discovered in April 2011, not far from the Gilgo Four along Ocean Parkway.

Karen Vergata with long dark hair styled in pigtails with red ties, smiling slightly.

Long Island murder victim Karen Vergata was initially identified only as Jane Doe No. 7. AP

She was originally known only as Jane Doe No. 7 before she was identified through DNA testing in 2023.

Asked about the alleged plea deal, Vergata’s son, Eric Doherty, told The Post Tuesday: “I’m not sure of what my reaction is going to be. We will have to see to believe it.”

All of the victims peddled sex through online ads in the metro area before disappearing.

Mack’s son, Benjamin Torres, filed the first victim lawsuit against Heuerman on Monday, seeking compensation for “the wrongful torture and murder” of his mom, the complaint said.

The sources did not reveal why Heuermann is allegedly set to now plead guilty to the murders, but at his most recent court appearance last month his lawyer, Michael Brown, said the accused killer was on crutches and dealing with “health issues” behind bars.

Suffolk County Crime Scene and Homicide Detectives investigating a ravine at Gilgo Beach.

The battered bodies were dumped along desolate stretches of Long Island between 1993 and 2010. New York Post

Overhead shot of a red house with a gray roof and a blue tent in the backyard.

Authorities searched Rex Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home twice after his 2023 arrest. New York Post

The alleged pending plea deal represents a turnaround from Tierney’s vow in August that there were no discussions to settle the case before trial — where Heuermann would face a multi-life sentence.

The maximum sentence on a second-degree murder conviction in New York State is 25 years to life, with sentences to run consecutively for each individual case, or up to 175 years to life in Heuermann’s case.

The case captivated the region for decades, and was the subject of “Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets,” a three-part Peacock documentary that includes exclusive interviews with Heuermann’s family.

Tierney, Brown and Suffolk County officials would not comment on the reported guilty plea.

Additional reporting by Steven Vago

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