Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann charged with seventh murder

Rex Heuermann, the suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killings, has been charged with the murder of a seventh woman.

Heuermann, who was named as a suspect in the infamous Long Island murders in July 2023, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Valerie Mack, according to an indictment filed in Suffolk County Superior Court.

The skeletal remains of 24-year-old Mack, who was working as an escort at the time of her death, were first discovered in Manorville, New York in 2000. Further remains were discovered in 2011.

Heuermann appeared in court on Tuesday, December 17 and pleaded not guilty to Mack’s murder.

“Your honor, I am not guilty of any of these charges,” Heuermann told the judge, according to CBS News.

In July 2023, Heuermann was arrested and initially charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, two companions who went missing between 2007 and 2010. Their bodies were found tied close together with tape or leather belts and wrapped in burlap in December 2010.

In June, nearly a year after his arrest, Heuermann was charged with the 1993 murder of Sandra Costilla and the 2003 murder of Jessica Taylor.

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Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the first six murders. He has been held without bail at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County since the initial charges were announced.

The women believed to have killed Heuermann were seven of at least 11 remains found in Suffolk County, New York, since 2010.

“These women’s lives matter,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a news conference Tuesday.

An eighth woman was eventually identified as Karen Vergata, who disappeared in 1996 at the age of 34. Three other remains have still not been identified, although they have been described as a mother and her toddler and an Asian man in women’s clothing. Heuermann was not charged in the deaths of any of the four.