Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty Wednesday to seven counts of murder in the Gilgo Beach serial killings, bringing an end to one of New York state's most notorious cold cases.

The 62-year-old former architect from Massapequa Park entered the pleas in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead before Judge Timothy P. Mazzei. He pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello, and four counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor, and Valerie Mack. He also admitted killing an eighth woman, Karen Vergata, though no formal charge had been filed in her case.

Heuermann confirmed under questioning from Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney that he strangled each victim after hiring them as escorts, bound their bodies in burlap, and dumped the remains in remote areas, including along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach, Manorville, and Southampton. The killings spanned from November 1993, when Costilla disappeared, to September 2010, with Costello's death.

The victims included: - Sandra Costilla, 28, killed in 1993. - Karen Vergata, 34, killed in 1996. - Valerie Mack, 24, killed in 2000. - Jessica Taylor, 20, killed in 2003. - Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, killed in 2007. - Melissa Barthelemy, 24, killed in 2009. - Megan Waterman, 22, killed in 2010. - Amber Costello, 27, killed in 2010.

Many of the women worked in sex work and advertised on Craigslist. Their remains were discovered starting in December 2010, when a police search for a missing person uncovered four bodies wrapped in burlap along a quarter-mile stretch of beach. Further searches revealed additional sets nearby, totaling 11 victims in the immediate area and others scattered in the woods.

Heuermann was arrested on July 13, 2023, in Manhattan after a multi-year task force revived the stalled investigation. Investigators linked him through DNA from discarded pizza crusts and bottles matching hairs on victims, cellphone pings from burner phones used to contact escorts, and his Chevrolet Avalanche matching witness descriptions. He had maintained his innocence through multiple indictments but changed course ahead of a fall trial.

In court, Heuermann spoke confidently, confirming the pleas were voluntary and in his best interest. Cameras captured his responses before being switched off. His ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and daughter attended; Ellerup later expressed shock through her attorney, stating she never believed he was capable of the acts.

Tierney hailed the investigators as the best in the world and credited victims' families for pushing the case forward despite early investigative setbacks marked by dysfunction and corruption. "We're sorry," he told relatives, who filled the courtroom and wept during the hearing. "This case closes and another opens. There are still bodies on that beach."

Sentencing is set for June 17. Prosecutors expect multiple consecutive life sentences without parole, ensuring Heuermann dies in prison. The plea deal bars further prosecution for these eight victims, and he agreed to cooperate with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit.