New Details: Rex Heuermann’s lawyer says his clien...

New Details: Rex Heuermann’s lawyer says his client cried when a video was shown in court

Rex Heuermann was sentenced Wednesday, June 17, to three consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus additional prison time, for the murders of seven women

Rex Heuermann.Credit : James Carbone-Pool/Getty

Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann showed little emotion as he was sentenced Wednesday to multiple life terms in prison, but his attorney said the convicted killer had cried while discussing the murders in private.

Before the sentence was imposed, Heuermann briefly addressed the court.

“There are no words that I can say,” Heuermann told the packed courtroom in Riverhead, on Long Island. “The words I would say have no meaning.”

Judge Timothy Mazzei then asked whether Heuermann was sorry for what he had done to his victims. “Yes, I am,” Heuermann replied.

Though Heuermann appeared stoic in court, his attorney later claimed that wasn’t always the case.

“He definitely showed emotion and cried when we discussed the actions,” defense attorney Michael Brown told reporters after the hearing. “So I think there’s some sincerity about him being emotional.”

The expression of remorse carried no weight in the courtroom. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney described Heuermann as “a remorseless and sadistic serial killer who only cares about himself.”

That sentiment was echoed in the victim-impact statements delivered by or on behalf of the loved ones of the seven women Heuermann pleaded guilty to killing.

Heuermann was sentenced to three consecutive terms of life without the possibility of parole for the first-degree killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. He also received consecutive sentences of 25 years to life for the second-degree murders of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla and Valerie Mack.

In April, Heuermann also admitted to killing Karen Vergata in 1996, though he was never charged in her death. Heuermann admitted to killing the women and discarding their remains in Suffolk County between 1993 and 2010.

Authorities discovered the remains of Barthelemy, Waterman, Brainard-Barnes and Costello along a stretch of Ocean Parkway on Long Island in 2010. The women had disappeared between 2007 and 2010. Investigators linked Heuermann to their murders through burner phones and DNA evidence, among other evidence.

Costilla was Heuermann’s earliest known victim. She was killed in 1993, the same year hunters discovered her remains in Southampton.

In 2022, authorities formed a new multi-agency task force to reexamine the case. Investigators soon identified Heuermann as a suspect, and he was arrested in July 2023 and charged with first-degree and second-degree murder in the deaths of Costello, Waterman and Barthelemy.

After the sentencing, Brown, Heuermann’s attorney, told reporters he was surprised Heuermann didn’t have more to say.

“I did expect that he would say more,” Brown said. “But that was his choice.”

After Heuermann admitted to killing eight women in April, Brown said he believed Heuermann would speak at sentencing. On Wednesday, however, he said he did not know whether Heuermann would address the court until the moment he did.

Brown said he had spent more time discussing the crimes with Heuermann than anyone else. Of his purported tears of remorse, Brown said, “Does that make things better? No, it doesn’t.”

During the first hour of the hearing, loved ones of the seven women Heuermann pleaded guilty to killing described him as a predator, coward and demon who preyed on vulnerable women. They said their pain and sorrow had outlasted Heuermann’s conviction.

Tierney said he did not believe Heuermann was remorseful.

“I have no doubt this defendant is sorry,” Tierney said. “He is sorry he got caught.”