Rex Heuermann, a 62-year-old architect, family man, and seemingly ordinary neighbor from Massapequa Park on Long Island, New York, will spend the rest of his life in prison. This week he received a sentence of three life terms plus an additional 100 years, with no possibility of parole, for the murder of eight women over nearly two decades.
The case, known as that of the Gilgo Beach killer, had remained unsolved for years. The first bodies appeared in 2010, wrapped in burlap on a Long Island beach. Most of the victims were engaged in prostitution, and the investigations progressed slowly. What finally gave him away was a piece of pizza he threw in the trash: the DNA matched remains found on the wrapping of one of the victims. When his wife, to whom he had been married for 27 years, found out, she filed for divorce immediately.
At the hearing, family members spoke without filters. “Nothing will ever be able to repair this”, said Jasmine Robinson, cousin of Jessica Taylor. “My daughter had dreams, and you took them away from her”, said JoAnn Mack, mother of Valerie Mack. Judge Timothy Mazzei closed the session with a phrase that said it all: “You are a disgusting, despicable, small man. And you are a coward.”
