GILGO Beach suspect Rex Heuermann allegedly murdered his seventh-named victim using now-disturbing skills learned at his architect job, a forensic expert outside the case has claimed.
The Long Island serial killing suspect is under intensified scrutiny after he was linked to 24-year-old sex worker Valerie Mack’s killing on Tuesday.
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Rex Heuermann appeared in court on Tuesday after he was accused of murdering a seventh woman in a bombshell indictmentCredit: AP
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Heuermann allegedly killed sex worker Valerie Mack, 24, in 2000 and spread her body parts across Long Island, New YorkCredit: AP
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Heuermann could have used his skills as an architect when he wrote out an alleged plan to kill his victims, a forensic psychiatrist has claimed to The U.S. SunCredit: Suffolk County District Court
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Detectives found a November 2016 edition of People magazine, which featured a cover story on the killings, in Heuermann’s office, according to the indictmentCredit: Supreme Court of Suffolk County
“[The killer] has such a hatred for women, such a rage that he enjoyed it,” forensic psychiatrist Caroline Lieberman exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
“He enjoyed tearing these women apart.”
By day, Heuermann, 61, was a husband and dad of two with a successful career as an architect in Manhattan.
However, after nightfall, the two-faced criminal delved into a seedy life of killing escorts to fulfill his sadistic desires, prosecutors claim.
On Tuesday, Heuermann was accused of murdering a seventh woman, now making him one of America’s most notorious alleged serial killers.
Heuermann is fighting the charges and boldly rebutting the judge in court, saying that he was innocent. He has also pleaded not guilty to all previous charges.
His plea came hours after prosecutors released a damning indictment that claimed the architect murdered Mack, chopped up her remains, and scattered them across Long Island, New York.
Mack disappeared in late 2000, and some of her remains were found shoved in a black plastic bag and left in the Long Island Pine Barrens that November.
On April 4, 2011, the rest of Mack’s body was uncovered near Gilgo Beach, where 11 people’s remains have been found since 1996.
In 2000, detectives uncovered hair at the scene that allegedly matched Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, and the couple’s daughter.
Officials have also since discovered documents that showed his sick plan for the kill, the latest indictment claims.
The docs are a methodical “blueprint” of the killings and show a list of all the “supplies” allegedly used in the killing, including rope, a saw, cutting tools, and foam drain killer, prosecutors said.
The paper also mentions “Mill Road,” where Mack’s first remains were found. That was under the heading “DS,” which prosecutors believe means dump site.
When asked how he could dodge scrutiny for decades, Leiberman, a psychiatrist who has been sharing her expertise for decades, pointed to his career.
She believes architecture’s demanding, detail-oriented nature could create the perfect storm for a serial killer.
“Architects have to be meticulous with their planning and so, when they found his planning documents that was so fitting for an architect,” she said.
Leiberman claims “the same skills to build a house” could have been used to “kill these women.”
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A New York magazine with a story on bodies pulled from Gilgo Beach was allegedly found in Heuermann’s homeCredit: Supreme Court of Suffolk County
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Dr. Carole Lieberman claimed Heuermann’s career could have given him the skills to be an alleged serial killerCredit: The U.S. Sun
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Six of the victims linked to Heuermann were found on Long Island’s Gilgo BeachCredit: Supreme Court of Suffolk County
SICK TROPHIES
In Tuesday’s indictment, prosecutors also revealed sick trophies that Heuermann allegedly kept in admiration of the heartless murders.
They claimed detectives found a June 2011 issue of New York magazine that featured a story of the Long Island killings inside his home after they raided it.
A now-disturbing November 2016 edition of People magazine, which featured a cover story on the killings, was also found at Heuermann’s office, according to prosecutors.
After a second search of Heuermann’s home in May, officials found a New York Post newspaper from July 2003, which featured an article titled Serial Killer Eyed in L.I. Slay.
That article featured details about the disappearances and murders of Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor, whose murder Heuermann was charged with in June.
In that same search, a Newsday newspaper from November 1993 was recovered, which included an article titled Body Discovered in the Woods.
Investigators believe the homicide discussed in the article relates to Sandra Costilla’s murder.
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Suffolk County prosecutors released a graph with all the evidence allegedly linking the victims to HeuermannCredit: Supreme Court of Suffolk County
Murder victims linked to the Long Island Serial Killer
The sleepy seaside community of Gilgo Beach in Long Island, NY, was horrified after the arrest of Rex Heuermann last year for a series of gruesome murders. Here is what we know about his alleged victims:
Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25 – Brainard-Barnes was believed to be a sex worker based in Norwich, Connecticut. She went by the names “Juliana” or “Marie” and advertised her services on various platforms, including Craigslist and Backpage. She mostly worked out of hotels in Manhattan. On the day of her death on July 6, 2007, she took an Amtrak train from New London to Grand Central Terminal. She was reported missing eight days later, but it wasn’t until 2010 that her remains were found on the north side of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.
Melissa Barthelemy, 24 – Barthelemy was an aspiring hairstylist who was last seen alive on July 12, 2009. She worked as an online escort and lived in the Bronx, NYC, but primarily worked out of hotels in Manhattan. She used sites such as Adult Friend Finder and went by either “Chloe” or “VerySexyChloe” online. After she disappeared, her sister revealed she had received calls from a stranger who admitted to killing her. Her body was found on Gilgo Beach on Dec 11, 2010.
Megan Waterman, 22 – Waterman was a single mother living in Scarborough, Maine, when she went missing. A sex worker who advertised her services on Craigslist and Backpage used the aliases “Lexxy” and “Sexy Lexi.” She vanished on June 6, 2010, after leaving a Holiday Inn hotel located in Hauppauge, Long Island. Two days later she was reported missing, and her body was found on December 13 of that same year.
Amber Lynn Costello, 27 – Costello lived in West Babylon, Long Island, at the time of her disappearance. She advertised on Craigslist and Backpage, reportedly to support her heroin addiction. She had entered a detox program shortly before his disappearance before relapsing. She was last seen alive on September 2, 2010, and her body was discovered on Ocean Parkway on December 13, 2010.
Jessica Taylor, 20 – Taylor was an escort working in Midtown, New York when she was reported missing on July 19, 2003. She was reportedly spotted at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan between July 18 and 21. On July 26, 2003, parts of her body were found in Manorville. More of her remains were discovered on March 29, 2011, during the search for Shannan Gilbert.
Sandra Costilla, 28 – Costilla was a native of Trinidad and Tobago living in New York at the time of her disappearance. Investigators called Costilla a “drifter” and her last known address was in Queens. Costilla’s remains were uncovered in the woods in Southampton on November 20, 1993. Costilla had numerous sharp force injuries to her face, torso, breasts, left thigh, and vaginal area.
Valerie Mack, 24 – At the time of her disappearance, Mack was working as an escort under the alias “Melissa Taylor.” She was last seen alive in the spring of 2000 in New Jersey, but her family didn’t report her missing. Parts of her body were discovered by hikers in September 2000 in the Long Island Pine Barrens, but she was not identified and was instead given the nickname “Jane Doe No. 6.” The rest of her remains were recovered on April 4, 2011, near Gilgo Beach.
There have been several other murder victims tied to a Long Island Serial Killer, but no connection has been found to Rex Heuermann, and he is not a suspect in their deaths.
Karen Vergata, 34 – Vergata was a sex worker living on West 45th St. in Manhattan at the time of her disappearance on Valentine’s Day, 1996. She had called her father that day to wish him a happy birthday. Parts of her body were found at Davis Park on Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach on April 20 that year, but at the time, she wasn’t identified and was known as “Jane Doe No. 7.” Her skull was found on Ocean Parkway on April 11, 2011.
Additional victims – Four other remains of possible victims were also recovered but have not been officially named.
HORROR CRIME SCENE
Mack disappeared in 2000, and some of her remains were discovered on November 19 in the Long Island neighborhood of Manorville by hunters.
Her body had been tied up and decapitated. She was missing part of her right leg, and her hands were chopped off.
At the time, she was just known as Manorville Jane Doe., but in 2020, genetic testing revealed Mack’s identity.
Mack was from Atlantic City, New Jersey, and grew up in the foster care system. She was moved around several families before the Mack family adopted her.
In 1994, when she was 17, she had a child and moved in with her baby’s father in Wildwood, New Jersey.
Not long after she moved in, she started traveling frequently to Philadelphia, where she worked as an escort and advertised her services online.
Leiberman believes that Mack’s background made her a massive target, as fewer people could’ve been looking for her.
“It’s easiest to find sex workers. You call them up, and they come to you,” she said.
“They are often people who are less likely to have families who are worrying about them.”
Who was Valerie Mack?
VALERIE Mack was a foster child, mother, and sex worker, who was allegedly murdered by the Long Island serial killer around 2000, cops said in a bombshell indictment.
On December 17, 2024, prosecutors officially linked her death to suspect Rex Heuermann.
Mack was working as a sex worker in Philadelphia when she disappeared in 2000. Her family last saw her in New Jersey that same year.
She was born in Atlantic City and was placed in foster care at an early age. She moved around from several families before she was adopted by the Mack family.
In 1994, when she was 17, she gave birth to a son and moved in with her baby’s father in Wildwood, New Jersey. Soon after, she started traveling frequently to Philadelphia.
Police believe that Mack was a sex worker in Philadelphia and Atlantic City between 1996 and 2000.
She had a few run-ins with the law for prostitution charges at that time and was last arrested around June 2000.
Mack went by the alias Melissa Taylor and advertised her escort services online. She also walked the streets to pick up work.
On November 19, 2000, Mack’s partial remains were discovered in Manorville, New York, on Long Island, by hunters. At that time, she was just known as Manorville Jane Doe.
Her remains were decapitated, and she was missing both of her hands and part of her right leg, prosecutors said in an indictment. Her torso, legs, and arms were all bound with rope.
On April 4, 2011, the rest of Mack’s body was uncovered near Gilgo Beach, where 11 people’s remains have been found since 1996.
In 2020, genetic testing revealed Mack’s identity.
In December 2024, Mack was named as the seventh alleged victim of Heuermann – a disgraced architect who was first hit with murder charges on July 13, 2023.
GILGO VICTIMS NAMED
Heuermann is accused of murdering the “Gilgo Four” – Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello – who were all sex workers in New York City.
Their bodies were discovered over a period of months between 2010 and 2011 on Gilgo Beach, but their case went cold for over a decade.
In July 2023, Heuermann was arrested from his architecture firm, cracking the case wide open.
He is the only person to face charges related to the crimes; his wife, Asa Ellerup, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said they’re still investigating Heuermann and could bring more charges in the future.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Heuermann’s lawyer for comment on the new charge.
