Gilgo Beach serial killer sentenced to life: Angry families speak out, judge orders Rex Heuermann removed
Rex Heuermann will serve consecutive life sentences in prison.
Anguished relatives of the Gilgo Beach, New York, serial killing victims aimed decades of anger at their loved ones' killer, Rex Heuermann, at his sentencing on Wednesday before the judge demanded officers remove the former architect from the courtroom.
"I can't even put into words the eviscerating hatred I have for you," said Jasmine Robinson, cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, who would have turned 43 on Wednesday. "You fill me with so much repugnance."
Another cousin, Violet Swager, remembered Taylor as "fierce, kind, compassionate, beautiful and intelligent."
She said to Heuermann, "You chose small women because you’re nothing more than a weak, disgusting coward."
Heuermann, 62, who gave his own brief statement in court, was sentenced to consecutive life sentences in prison.
In April, he pleaded guilty to killing seven women: Taylor, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Valerie Mack and Sandra Costilla. He also admitted to killing an eighth woman, Karen Vergata, though he was not formally charged in her death.
Brainard-Barnes' sister Missy Cann broke down in tears as she read a statement prior to the imposition of the sentence.
"You are a coward who preyed on vulnerable, innocent women," Cann said.
Mack's parents, Ed and JoAnn Mack, said Heuermann robbed their daughter of the chance to achieve her dreams.
"I would like to say to Mr. Heuermann, what you have done to our family is beyond what words can express," JoAnn Mack said. "Even though justice is done, it cannot replace what you have taken from us."
Barthelemy's sister, Amanda Funderberg, recalled how Heuermann tormented her after the murder by calling her and saying he was letting Barthelemy's body rot.
Funderberg turned to stare down Heuermann in the courtroom, telling him, "You can look at me while I'm talking -- it has been about 17 years since we've spoken."
She called him an "ogre" and a "repulsive monster."
Heuermann gave his own brief statement in court, saying, "There are no words I can say."
"The words I would say have no meaning and I’m going to leave it there," he said softly.
Someone in the gallery shouted, "Speak up!"
When Heuermann said nothing more, an incredulous Judge Timothy Mazzei asked, "Are you a little bit sorry for what you did [to] these poor, innocent women? Are you at least a little bit sorry for that?"
Heuermann responded quietly, "Yes I am."
"You're a disgusting and despicable small man, if you're a man at all," the judge said. "And you're a coward!”
After Mazzei pronounced the consecutive life sentences, the judge told the court officers to "get him outta here!"
The victims' families broke out into applause, shouting "ogre, ogre," before Heuermann was cuffed and led out of the courtroom.
In April, Heuermann agreed to serve three consecutive life sentences followed by four consecutive sentences of 25 years-to-life, according to prosecutors. Part of Heuermann's plea agreement also requires him to be interviewed by the FBI's behavioral analysis unit.
Prosecutors said the New York City architect targeted sex workers, strangled them and dumped their bodies near Long Island's Gilgo Beach over the course of 17 years. The Gilgo Beach cases went unsolved for years, until Heuermann's arrest in 2023.
Waterman's daughter, Liliana Waterman, said after court that speaking at sentencing was "a day that I've been thinking of my whole life."
"The chance to finally speak up for her, it gives me comfort for her," she said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters after sentencing that his "greatest wish for this case" is for the victims' families to enjoy "great lives."
"They stood by their loved ones and did a wonderful job. And now it's time for them to heal and to go on and realize the tremendous potential that they all have, 'cause they're absolutely extraordinary people," he said.
