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Rex Heuermann Expected to Plead Guilty to Seven Gilgo Beach Murders Today

The expected plea would cap a decades-old case built on advanced DNA analysis.

Overview

  • Heuermann, 62, is slated to appear in Suffolk County Court at 11 a.m. Wednesday to change his plea to guilty on seven counts, according to multiple outlets, with no deal and a possible life-without-parole sentence.
  • Newsday reports he is also expected to admit killing Karen Vergata, whose remains were found in 1996 and 2011, though he has not been charged in her death.
  • A 2022 task force linked him to the victims using DNA from a discarded pizza crust, hair evidence, burner-phone and cell-site records, and digital files prosecutors described as a planning document.
  • On Monday, Valerie Mack’s son, Benjamin Torres, filed a wrongful-death suit against Heuermann and also named his ex-wife Asa Ellerup and daughter Victoria; their attorney says they had no knowledge or involvement.
  • A judge must accept any plea before sentencing is set, and investigators say not all 11 sets of remains found in the broader Gilgo Beach search are tied to one killer.