Gilgo Beach Serial Killing Suspect Rex Heuermann Charged With Murder of Seventh Woman

Rex Heuermann, the suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killings, has been charged with the murder of a seventh woman.

Heuermann, who was named a suspect in the infamous Long Island killings in July 2023, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Valerie Mack, according to an indictment filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court.

The skeletal remains of Mack, 24, who worked as an escort at the time of her death, were first discovered in Manorville, N.Y. in 2000. Further remains were discovered in 2011.

Heuermann appeared in court on Tuesday, Dec. 17 and pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mack.

“Your honor, I’m not guilty of any of these charges,” Heuermann said to the judge, per CBS News.

In July 2023, Heuermann was arrested, intially charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, escorts who went missing between 2007 and 2010. Their bodies were found near each other bound with duct tape or leather belts and wrapped in burlap in December 2010.

In June, nearly a year after his arrest, Heuermann was charged with the 1993 murder of Sandra Costilla and the 2003 murder of Jessica Taylor.

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Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the initial six murders. He has been held without bail at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County since the initial charges were unveiled.

The women Heuermann is accused of killing were seven of at least 11 sets of remains found in Suffolk County, N.Y. since 2010.

“The lives of these women matter,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a Tuesday press conference.

An eighth woman was eventually identified as Karen Vergata, who disappeared in 1996 when she was 34. Three other sets of remains have still not been identified, though they have been described as a mother and her toddler and an Asian man wearing women’s clothing. Heuermann has not been charged in the deaths of any of the four.