The case picked up steam in 2022 when investigators linked a vehicle that had been registered to Heuermann to the scene of one of the killings. As police began monitoring Heuermann, investigators recovered an abandoned pizza box from a New York City garbage can in January 2023 that included his unfinished crusts. DNA from the crusts was then linked to male hair found on one of his victims.
The finding propelled prosecutors to charge Heuermann with the deaths of four women in July 2023. A year later, he was charged with two other killings. He initially pleaded not guilty to those crimes.
Prosecutors had alleged that a search of his home turned up a document he used to “methodically blueprint and plan out his kills with excruciating detail”.
That document showed Heuermann’s “intent was specifically to locate these victims, to hunt them down and to bring them under his control and to kill them”, prosecutors said in 2024.
In the plea agreement signed yesterday, Heuermann admitted killing Sandra Costilla, 28, in November 1993. He picked her up in his vehicle and strangled her before leaving her body in Southampton.
He confessed to killing Karen Vergata, 34, in 1996 by strangling her and dismembering her body. He took her remains to various locations.
Although some of Vergata’s remains were discovered in 1996, her skull was not found for another 15 years, in the Gilgo Beach area. She was not identified until 2023 after genetic screening.
In autumn 2000, Heuermann drove to pick up Valerie Mack, 24. He strangled her and dumped her remains at two different locations, including Gilgo Beach.
Some of her remains were discovered by hunters in November 2000, but others were not found until 2011 near Gilgo Beach. Mack was positively identified in 2020.
In July 2003, Heuermann strangled and dismembered Jessica Taylor, 20, and scattered her remains in two locations, according to prosecutors. Some of her remains were discovered a few days later, but others were not found until 2011.
He further admitted killing his next victim in July 2007 after seeing an online advertisement from Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was 25.
After he arranged to meet her, he strangled her and wrapped her body in three belts, the district attorney’s office said. Her remains were discovered in 2010 near Gilgo Beach.
He killed sex worker Melissa Barthelemy, 24, in 2009, wrapped her body in burlap and tape and left it near Gilgo Beach.
He also used burlap and tape to transport the body of Megan Waterman, 22, whom he killed during the summer of 2010 after the two met at a Holiday Inn. Her body was found six months later near Gilgo Beach.
Heuermann killed his final known victim in September 2010. He had driven to pick up Amber Costello, 27, at her home and then strangled her, disposing of her remains near Gilgo Beach.
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.
