Murders and attempted murders

Long Island Killer Gets Life for 8 Murders

Was this a catastrophic police failure or proof that the justice system ultimately works?

Published JUN 18

Long Island Killer Gets Life for 8 Murders

Story

Above: Rex Heuermann attends a sentencing hearing in Riverhead, New York on June 17. Image credit: James Carbone-Pool/Getty Images

The Facts

Rex Heuermann, a 62-year-old Long Island architect, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on June 17 for murdering eight women between 1993 and 2010. Judge Timothy Mazzei handed down three consecutive life sentences plus four consecutive terms of 25 years to life — the maximum under New York law.
The Wall Street Journal
FOX News
Heuermann pleaded guilty in April to seven murders and admitted to an eighth — that of Karen Vergata, 34, who disappeared in 1996 — though he was never charged in her death. His victims were Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack, Sandra Costilla and Vergata.
New York Post
Sky News
Before sentencing, Heuermann told the court, "There are no words I can say. I am responsible for what was said in this room today." Judge Mazzei asked whether he was "at least a little bit sorry" for strangling eight women, to which Heuermann nodded and replied, "Yes."
The Wall Street Journal
Rolling Stone
Investigators cracked the cold case in 2022 after linking Heuermann to a pickup truck seen near a victim's home in 2010. DNA from a pizza crust he discarded in a Manhattan trash can was later matched to hair fragments found on victims' remains, leading to his arrest outside his Manhattan office in July 2023.
Daily Mirror
CBC
Victims' family members delivered impact statements at the hearing. Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, told Heuermann, "You fill me with so much repugnance, I can't stand it," while Melissa Cann, sister of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, said she had lived with "survivor's guilt" for decades.
Guardian
BBC News
As part of his guilty plea, Heuermann agreed to cooperate with the FBI's behavioral analysis unit to help identify other serial killers. He has spent the past three years in a segregated cell at Suffolk County jail, where he read crime novels and briefly corresponded with Keith Hunter Jesperson, known as the "Happy Face Killer."
USA Today
ABC News
News Nation Now

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

The Suffolk County Police Department's decades of bungling let Rex Heuermann kill eight women while evidence sat untouched in their own files. A witness description of his truck existed since 2010, yet it took a complete leadership overhaul and a new task force in 2022 to act on it — and justice came in weeks. These women deserved better, and the systemic failure to treat sex workers as worthy victims made that delay possible.

BBC News

Guardian

Narrative B

Rex Heuermann methodically planned eight murders over two decades, keeping kill kits, a how-to document on his hard drive and hundreds of weapons in his home — this was calculated evil, not a failure of policing. Once investigators got serious in 2022, they cracked the case in six weeks using evidence Heuermann carelessly left behind, including a discarded pizza crust. The system ultimately worked, delivering the maximum sentence possible under New York law.

New York Post

USA Today

FOX News