Gilgo Beach serial killings suspect to be charged in death of eighth victim

The New York architect charged with seven murders in Gilgo Beach on Long Island is expected to plead guilty in the death of an eighth victim, the BBC has learned.

Rex Heuermann, 62, was arrested in 2023 and has pleaded not guilty in seven killings between 1993 and 2011.

Lawyer John Ray, who represents some of the victims' families, confirmed to the BBC that Heuermann is expected to plead guilty during a court appearance on Wednesday.

He is also expected say he is guilty for the death of Karen Vergata. Vergata's partial remains were identified in 2023. They had been found on a New York beach after she vanished in 1996.

Investigations of the string of serial killings began in 2010 when police discovered the remains of up to eighteen people on Long Island's Gilgo Beach.

Officials believe that the killings stretch back to 1996, after remains discovered on Gilgo Beach matched partial remains discovered on Fire Island in that year.

Most of the victims' remains were found not far from Heuermann's Long Island home, authorities said.

The women were believed to have been sex workers at the time of their deaths.

Heuermann was arrested outside his Manhattan office in July 2023 and charged with the murders of three women - Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27.

During the following year and a half, he was charged with the murders of another four: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Jessica Taylor, 20, Valerie Mack, 24, and Sandra Costilla, 28.

Vergata - the eighth woman - is believed to have been 34 when she disappeared.

Prosecutors in Suffolk County have said that officials found a document they believed Heuermann used when planning his crimes, which included columns labelled "problems" and "supplies".

The "problems" column listed "DNA", "tire marks" and "blood stains".

The document also included killing methods Heuermann allegedly researched and lessons from past murders.

As part of their investigation, prosecutors also seized hundreds of electronic devices and 300 guns from his home.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office said in a social media post on Tuesday that it planned to hold a news conference on Wednesday, after the court proceeding, to announce a "major development" in the homicide investigation.