Gilgo Beach murders: Accused serial killer Rex Heuermann charged with 7th murder

RIVERHEAD, Long Island (WABC) — Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann has been charged in the death of a seventh woman.

Heuermann is charged with one count of second-degree murder in connection with the slaying of Valerie Mack, according to a superseding indictment released Tuesday.

Mack, whose remains were first found on Long Island in 2000. Mack, 24, had worked as an escort in Philadelphia and was last seen by her family that year in New Jersey.

A hunter’s dog discovered some of Mack’s remains in a wooded area in Manorville on November 19, 2000. The remains were in a black plastic bag wrapped with duct tape.

The bag contained additional plastic bags containing Mack’s dismembered body.

“Additionally, both of her hands had been severed from her body, above the wrists, and the victim’s right leg had also been severed from her body at mid-calf,” according to a bail application accompanying the new indictment. “Ms. Mack’s torso, legs and arms were also bound with rope.”

The rest of her remains were found more than a decade later, in April 2011, along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.

Heuermann pleaded not guilty to killing Mack.

“Your honor, I am not guilty of any of these charges,” Heuermann said.

He appeared shackled in a suit and was only in front of the judge for a few moments. Judge Timothy Mazzei continued to hold Heuermann without bail.

The defense was given until next month to file motions regarding evidence. The defense has questioned the DNA methods used by prosecutors and may try to limit admissibility at trial. The defense is also considering whether to ask the judge to separate any of the murder charges from others.

Prosecutors said they linked Heuermann to Mack’s death in part through a mitochondrial DNA analysis of a female hair found on Mack’s body. It matched the profiles of Heuermann’s wife and daughter, the bail application states. At the time of Mack’s murder, Heuermann’s daughter would have been between 3 and 4 years old.

Prosecutors said they also linked Heuermann to Mack’s death through evidence found on some of the 350 electronic devices they seized from him, which include his “substantial collection of violent, bondage and torture pornography” dating back to at least 1994.

That online collection included images of breast mutilation and the tying of women with rope, two things prosecutors said were consistent with injuries to Mack’s chest and how she was bound.

Investigators said they found a document they believe Heumerann used to “plan” his killings. The document was created in 2000, the year Mack was killed. Under a section titled “supplies,” Heuermann allegedly listed “rope/cord,” “saw/cutting tool,” “foam drain cleaner.” Under a section labeled “DS,” believed to stand for “dump site,” Heuermann allegedly listed one of the locations where Mack’s remains were found.

The document also contained a “body preparation” section with a note to “remove the head and hands,” according to the bail application. That relates to the condition of Mack’s remains, prosecutors said.

“These women’s lives matter. We, as investigators, understand that. Nobody understands that more than the families,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a news conference with Mack’s parents and other victims’ relatives.

Heuermann is charged with killing six other women whose remains were found on Long Island.

The investigation into the Gilgo Beach murders dates back to 2010, when police searching for a missing woman found 10 sets of human remains in scrub along a barrier island parkway, prompting fears of a serial killer.

Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify the victims, many of whom were sex workers. In some cases, they linked them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier. Police also began investigating other unsolved murders of women found dead on Long Island.

The case has dragged on through five police commissioners, more than 1,000 tips and doubts about whether there was a serial killer at all.

Heuermann, who lived with his wife and two children in Massapequa Park, Long Island and commuted to an architectural office in Manhattan, was arrested on July 13, 2023 and charged with the murders of Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy. He was charged in the deaths of three other women — Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor — earlier this year. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

ALSO READ: Gilgo Beach murder: Complete timeline of events leading to Rex Heuermann’s arrest

Prosecutors said Tuesday in a court filing accompanying the superseding indictment that Heuermann kept newspaper and magazine clippings about the Gilgo Beach serial killings.

The items were found during searches of Heuermann’s dilapidated home in Massapequa Park, according to the filing.

They include a People cover “Bodies on the Beach: Hunt for the Long Island Serial Killer” found in a cardboard box shortly after Heuermann’s arrest in 2023.

In a more recent search, May 2024, prosecutors said they found a 2003 edition of the New York Post with an article titled “Serial Killer Eyed in LI Slay” and a 1993 copy of Newsday with an article headlined “Body Discovered in Woods”.

“Rex A. Heuermann sought, purchased and kept these publications as souvenirs or reminders of his crimes,” prosecutors said.

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Some information from ABC News and the Associated Press

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