Rex Heuermann, the man charged in Long Island’s Gilgo Beach serial killings, is expected to change his plea at his next court hearing on April 8, according to two people familiar with his decision who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plea had not yet been entered in court. The people said Heuermann intends to plead guilty.
Heuermann, 62, is currently in custody, and prosecutors have said he has been charged in connection with murdering seven women over 17 years. The AP report said Heuermann has previously told the court he was not guilty and had been scheduled to go to trial in September.
The two anonymous people also told AP that Heuermann’s decision had already been communicated to the victims’ families and to Heuermann’s own family. The report said lawyers for Heuermann did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
The AP story noted that much can still change before the April 8 court date, including that Heuermann could change his mind. It also said any guilty plea would have to be accepted by a judge.
Prosecutors have tied Heuermann to the victims using what they describe as DNA evidence, cellphone data, and evidence found during a search of his Massapequa, New York home, according to the AP report. The women identified in the AP account include Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Sandra Costilla, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor and Megan Waterman.
The AP report said the remains of several victims were found on an isolated stretch of shoreline along the parkway, while some remains were scattered in other remote areas. It said the investigation became public in 2010 after police searching for a missing woman discovered numerous sets of human remains in scrub along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.
Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify the victims and connect some of them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier, the report said. It added that investigators did not identify Heuermann as a potential suspect until 2022, when detectives began a renewed investigation into the cold case.
According to AP, detectives linked Heuermann to a pickup truck that a witness said they saw when one of the victims disappeared in 2010. The report also said detectives recovered a pizza crust Heuermann had discarded in the trash and used it to link him to DNA from a hair recovered from one of the victims’ bodies, and that cellphone data placed him in contact with some victims just before their disappearances.
The AP report further said investigators reviewed Heuermann’s internet searches and found a history that included viewing violent torture pornography and looking for information about the investigation. It also said prosecutors described files recovered from his computer as a “blueprint” for the killings, including checklists with reminders to limit noise, clean the bodies and destroy evidence.
In the months leading up to this plea expectation, the AP report said a judge in the case rejected defense motions that sought to exclude certain DNA evidence from trial and to break up the case into multiple trials. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney declined to comment when reached late Thursday, the report said, as did Gloria Allred, a prominent California lawyer representing some of the families of the victims.