How the sentencing unfolded today
• Rex Heuermann, the Long Island serial killer who fatally strangled eight women, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Wednesday.
• Victims’ families gave emotional statements in Suffolk County Court in New York, tearfully offering tributes to their loved ones and describing the brutal impact of their loss. Heuermann himself briefly addressed the court, marking the end of a case that dates as far back as 1993 and has haunted Long Islanders for years.
• In 2010, the remains of four women were found on an isolated stretch off Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach, earning them the nickname the “Gilgo Four.” In April, Heuermann confessed he killed those women and four others, discarding their remains.
Our live coverage has ended. You can read more about the sentencing here.
Emotional statements and long-awaited justice: What happened at Rex Heuermann's sentencing
Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole, two months after pleading guilty to murdering seven women – and admitting to killing an eighth – over a 17-year period.
Family members of most of the victims made emotional statements in court, sometimes even addressing Heuermann himself, who did not have much reaction.
Here’s a recap of what happened at the hearing:
- The sentence: The judge delivered sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole for three counts of first-degree murder and 25 years to life for each of the four other counts – second-degree murder – all to run consecutively. This is as prosecutors requested.
- What Heuermann said: “There are no words I can say. I am responsible for all that was said in this room today. The words I would say have no meaning,” he said. Judge Timothy Mazzei told Heuermann, “You’re a disgusting and small man, if you’re a man at all. You’re a coward.”
- What prosecutors said: Heuermann is a “remorseless and sadistic serial killer who only cares about himself,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said. Tierney pointed to a planning document where, prosecutors said, Heuermann “methodically blueprinted” how to select, kill and dispose of his victims.
Here is what some of the victims’ families said:
- Liliana Waterman said she was only 3 years old when her mother, Megan Waterman, was officially reported missing. “The damage he caused extends far beyond the day he committed this crime,” she said.
- Elizabeth Meserve, Waterman’s aunt, used her impact statement to advocate for strengthened protections for victims and their loved ones. She said Heuermann “was not a fearsome predator, but rather a cowardly opportunist.”
- Amanda Funderburg described her sister Melissa Barthelemy as “a fighter for love, for family, for a better life.” She snapped at Heuermann: “You can look at me while I’m talking.” Heuermann, who had largely not been making eye contact with the speakers, looked over briefly.
- Jessica Taylor’s cousins vowed to stand strong for the woman they said “was pure sunshine” and a “spunky, smart, beautiful friend.” Jasmine Robinson told Heuermann: “You fill me with so much repugnance it’s suffocating, but I can’t let you overtake me and I will stand strong for my cousin.”
- Melissa Cann said her sister Maureen Brainard-Barnes was the victim of “calculated, unimaginable evil.” She told the court she has lived with survivor’s guilt for more than a decade and said the “pain is unbearable.” But she came to understand “the guilt is not mine to carry, and it never was.”
- Dyllan Haggett was only 1 year old when Heuermann murdered his mother, Brainard-Barnes. “I never had her when I needed her,” he said. “She never got to see who I have become.”
- “While justice cannot bring (the victims) back, it ensures they are no longer forgotten and brings our families peace knowing the person responsible for our irreversible pain can never harm anyone else,” Sandra Costilla’s sister Ruth Ramos said in a statement read by the district attorney.
CNN’s Holly Yan, Rebekah Riess and Eric Levenson contributed reporting to this post, which has been updated with the latest information.
Correction: An earlier version of the photo caption in this post incorrectly spelled Violet Swager’s last name.
Heuermann to be transferred out of Suffolk County "quick," district attorney says
Rex Heuermann is expected to be transferred out of Suffolk County, New York, “quick,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
“I think he’s going to be going by the end of this week,” Tierney said, noting that he did not know where Heuermann would be transferred. “That’s a state Department of Corrections situation.”
Defense attorney Michael J. Brown said Heuermann would likely first be moved to a reception facility, from which he would be sent “to whatever appropriate facility Department of Corrections feels is appropriate.”
“I would expect it would be a maximum security prison, because he’s now convicted and sentence on seven murders,” Brown said.
CNN has reached out to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for additional information.
“I am responsible for all that was said,” Rex Heuermann says
After a series of scathing and gut-wrenching statements from victims’ families, the judge asked Heuermann if he would like to speak.
“There are no words I can say,” he said. “I am responsible for all that was said in this room today. The words I would say have no meaning.”
Judge Timothy Mazzei asked whether Heuermann was truly remorseful.
“I know that you’re sorry that you got caught. I assume that you’re sorry for what you’ve done to your wife and children,” Mazzei said, his voice growing louder with every sentence.
“Are you a little bit sorry for what you’ve done to these poor, innocent women? Eight women that you strangled to death? At least eight that we know of? Are you at least a little bit sorry for that? Yes?”
“Yes,” Heuermann replied.
The judge sighed deeply, then called Heuermann “a disgusting and small man — if you’re a man at all.”
Investigators are still trying to solve the case of Gilgo Beach victim “Asian Doe"
While some loved ones took comfort in Heuermann’s sentencing, the fate of another Gilgo Beach case remains a mystery.
The skeletal remains of a person referred to as “Asian Doe” were found near Gilgo Beach in 2011 and have never been identified.
Investigators believe the victim died years earlier from blunt force trauma, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has said. He deflected a question about whether he believes Heuermann was also responsible for that person’s death.
Shortly after Heuermann was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole, Tierney told reporters he had no updates in the case of Asian Doe.
Authorities are trying to identify Asian Doe – potentially using investigative genetic genealogy — to give the victim “some dignity and also give us some investigative leads,” Tierney said.
“Now it's time for them to heal,” DA Tierney says of victims' families
Now that Rex Heuermann has been sentenced, it’s time for the victims’ families and loved ones “to heal and to go on and realize the tremendous potential that they all have,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
“I want them … to wreak their revenge by going on and having great lives, by being happy, by being fulfilled, by being satisfied that they stood by their loved ones and did a wonderful job,” Tierney said outside the courthouse where Heuermann was sentenced.
“My greatest wish for this case, is that the victims continue their journey, continue to heal and go on and live the lives that they all … deserve,” Tierney added.
Rex Heuermann sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole
Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after admitting to killing eight women over a 17-year period, in a case that put a spotlight on investigations into missing sex workers.
The judge delivered sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole for three counts of first-degree murder, and 25 years to life for each of the four other counts, second-degree murder, all to run consecutively. This is as prosecutors requested.
“Alright, get him out of here,” the judge said, as Heuermann was handcuffed and escorted out of the room.
The sentence comes two months after Heuermann pleaded guilty to murder in the deaths of seven women in a spree dating from 1993 to 2010. He also admitted to killing an eighth woman.
"You're a coward!" judge tells Heuermann
“Are you a little bit sorry for what you did to these poor innocent women, eight women that you strangled to death, at least eight that we know of? Are you at least a little bit sorry for that?” Judge Timothy Mazzei asked Heuermann after the impact statements.
Heuermann nodded yes.
“Alright, get him out of here,” the judge said.
Prosecutor: Rex Heuermann is a "remorseless and sadistic serial killer"
Rex Heuermann is not sorry for the women he killed — “he is sorry he got caught,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
Heuermann is a “remorseless and sadistic serial killer who only cares about himself,” Tierney said.
Requesting Heuermann receive the maximum sentence under the law at the sentencing hearing Wednesday, Tierney pointed to a planning document investigators uncovered. The document is where Heuermann “methodically blueprinted” how to select, kill and dispose of his victims, prosecutors said.
“Who this defendant truly is, is seen in that planning document,” Tierney said.
The document is written like a math problem or a shopping list, Tierney said, and it makes “clear that those victims meant nothing to this defendant.” He read parts of it aloud in court.
The prosecutor also said Heuermann continually purchased burner phones and created new email accounts that he thought could not be traced back to him. He used the phones until the day he was arrested to patronize sex workers and commit murder, Tierney said.
Heuermann visited sex worker websites, pornography sites depicting the torture and dismemberment of women, and read about the Gilgo Beach murders, Tierney said.
“He thought he was being smart, he wasn’t being smart at all,” the district attorney said, calling Heuermann a “psychopath.”
“This defendant cares only about himself and his sick interests. He is not capable of caring about anything else, and that includes his own family,” Tierney said.
Prosecution recommends Heuermann receive maximum sentence under the law
The prosecution is requesting that Rex Heuermann receive three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole on counts 1 through 3 of the indictment, followed by four consecutive sentences of 25 years to life, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
Heuermann pleaded guilty in April to the murders of seven women and admitted to an eighth killing.
The prosecution is also requesting that Heuermann receive the maximum sentence allowed by law, Tierney said, arguing that Heuermann earned it based on the impact on victims and their families.
“Eight young women were brutally and needlessly murdered by the hands of this defendant,” the district attorney said, praising the victims’ family members who had just spoken in court.
Victim impact statements have concluded
The families of seven of Rex Heuermann’s victims have finished giving their impact statements to the court.
“That was spectacularly impactful and I want to thank the victims … for their words in the courtroom and for their support of us,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said after the conclusion of the emotional statements.
Families take solace knowing a serial killer “can never harm anyone else,” sister says
While many relatives spoke directly to Rex Heuermann in court ahead of his sentencing, the sisters of victims Amber Costello and Sandra Costilla offered statements that were read aloud by prosecutor Ray Tierney.
“Although my sister was a sinner, she was forgiven,” Costello’s sister Kimberly Overstreet wrote.
Costilla’s sister Ruth Ramos said she took comfort knowing Heuermann will be locked up for the rest of his life.
“While justice cannot bring (the victims) back, it ensures they are no longer forgotten and brings our families peace knowing the person responsible for our irreversible pain can never harm anyone else,” Ramos said.
Megan Waterman's daughter describes emotional toll of growing up without mother
Liliana Waterman has spent 16 Mother’s Days without her mother, Megan Waterman, she told a packed courtroom at the sentencing hearing of her mother’s killer.
Liliana said she was only 3 years old when her mother was officially reported missing in Maine on June 8. Family members said at the time that it was unusual for Megan Waterman not to check on her daughter.
Waterman’s body was found less than a year later. As a child, Liliana wondered: “I knew she was trying to live a better life for me. Was this somehow my fault?”
Liliana grew up without stability, moving frequently and unable to escape the tragedy of what happened to her mother. “I am constantly confronted by reminders of the worst thing that’s ever happened to me” through the news, podcasts and social media, she said.
“The damage he caused extends far beyond the day he committed this crime,” she said. “Today’s proceedings do not erase what happened, and nothing ever will. But today brings accountability.”
"You can look at me while I'm talking," victim's sister snaps at Heuermann
Melissa Barthelemy was 24 years old when she was last seen on July 12, 2009. Had she not been killed by Rex Heuermann, she would be 41, her sister, Amanda Funderburg, told the court Wednesday at the serial killer’s sentencing hearing.
As she described her sister as “a fighter for love, for family, for a better life,” Funderburg stopped and addressed Heuermann directly.
“You can look at me while I’m talking,” she said.
Heuermann, who had largely not been making eye contact with the speakers, looked over briefly before turning his head straight ahead again.
Funderburg said she now suffers from anxiety, depression and PTSD following her sister’s death. She is afraid of meeting new people, she said, and would stare at her phone waiting for a call from Heuermann.
A series of “taunting” calls — in which a male caller admitted to killing and sexually assaulting Barthelemy — were made from Barthelemy’s phone to her family members in the summer of 2009 from the vicinity of Heuermann’s midtown Manhattan office, according to the bail application.
“I hope you suffer to the fullest extent,” Funderburg said, adding that the media called Heuermann an “ogre,” and “that’s truly what you are.”
"He was not a fearsome predator, but rather a cowardly opportunist,” victim's aunt says
Elizabeth Meserve, the aunt of victim Megan Waterman, used her impact statement to advocate for strengthened protections for victims and their loved ones and highlight “immeasurable hardships” the family suffered as a result of Waterman’s murder.
“He not only took Megan’s hopes and dreams, he also shattered our family,” Meserve said in court ahead of Rex Heuermann’s sentencing.
Today, Meserve said, “reflects years of perseverance and hard work from many people.” She added she believed the case could have been closed earlier had certain former Suffolk County officials acted differently.
“Begone cowardly demon.”
Victim’s son was a baby when his mom was killed. She “never got to see who I have become”
Dyllan Haggett was only 1 year old when Heuermann murdered his mother, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. He said he doesn’t even remember her, and his earliest memories were filled with sadness.
“I never had her when I needed her,” Haggett said. “She never got to see who I have become.”
Brainard-Barnes’ daughter, Nicolette, was a young girl when her mother was killed.
Since then, her life has turned into a cycle of therapy, medication, extreme paranoia and PTSD.
“I will never be someone who can relax because I had such fear at such a young age,” she said.
The families of some victims have said they believe their cases were not taken seriously in the past because the women were sex workers.
But “like every sex worker, my mom was an entire human being,” Nicolette said.
“(Heuermann) took a mother, a daughter, an aunt, a friend, someone who was deeply loved and cannot be replaced. She loved, she struggled, she mattered. And she deserved the chance to keep living.”
Heuermann is reactionless as victims' families speak
As the family members of his victims speak in court one by one, Rex Heuermann sits at the defense table without reaction, remaining still, one hand over the other.
While the prosecuting and defense attorneys are all turned in their chairs facing the speaker and listening, Heuermann has been looking straight ahead or facing down, away from the speakers, throughout.
“You hunted her and I hunted you,” Jessica Taylor’s cousin tells Heuermann
Noting that Jessica Taylor would have celebrated her 43rd birthday Wednesday, her cousins vowed to stand strong for the woman they said “was pure sunshine” and a “spunky, smart, beautiful friend.”
“We were weekend warriors. 80s and 90s kids. Nintendo, movie nights, learning the tootsie roll, drinking soda milk, watching Tales from the Crypt,” Taylor’s cousin Jasmine Robinson recalled.
Robinson and Violet Swager then turned their attention to Heuermann, expressing disgust for their loved one’s killer.
“Heuermann, you fill me with so much repugnance it’s suffocating, but I can’t let you overtake me and I will stand strong for my cousin,” Robinson said.
“I’m so grateful for this day of justice and I know she is too. … Happy birthday, Jess,” Swager said.
Victim’s sister says she suffered “unbearable pain” and survivor’s guilt for over a decade
Maureen Brainard-Barnes “was not just murdered,” her sister Melissa “Missy” Cann said. She was the victim of “calculated, unimaginable evil.”
“That pain is unbearable,” Cann said, sobbing, in court ahead of Rex Heuermann’s sentencing. “I have lived with survivor’s guilt for over a decade … asking myself: ‘What if I had done something differently? Where would she be today?’”
But Cann said she now understands who’s at fault for her anguish.
“It has taken me years to know the truth. My actions did not cause my sister’s death. The guilt is not mine to carry, and it never was,” she said. “The burden belongs to Rex, and Rex alone.”
“You took away every chance she ever had,” victim’s mother says
The adoptive mother of one of Heuermann’s victims, Valerie Mack, had sharp words for Heuermann in court Wednesday – but also told him he failed to “touch her soul.”
“You can never give back what you took from her and her son. You took away a lifetime for him of his mother’s love,” JoAnn Mack said during victim impact statements ahead of Heuermann’s sentencing.
“What you have done to our family is beyond what words can express,” she added.
But “no matter what sense of power or control you felt over Valerie’s body, you were never able to touch her soul,” the mother said. “Unless you get yourself right before God, Valerie is the one who is free today, and you are not.”
