Home Podcasts The Gilgo Beach Murders: The Case Against Rex Heuermann
The Gilgo Beach Murders: The Case Against Rex Heuermann

The Gilgo Beach Murders: The Case Against Rex Heuermann

True Crime Today 480 Episodes Jul 14, 2026

For nearly two decades, the remains of young women kept turning up along the desolate stretches of Long Island — in the scrub brush off Ocean Parkway, in wooded areas out east, in places no one was supposed to find them. And for most of that time, no one was held accountable. I'm Tony Brueski, and this podcast is my deep dive into one of the most chilling serial murder cases in modern American history — the Gilgo Beach murders and the case against Rex Heuermann, the New York architect now charged with the killing of seven women spanning from 1993 to 2010. This isn't a case summary. It's the full picture — the women who were allegedly targeted and discarded, the investigative failures that let a suspected killer allegedly operate in plain sight for decades, and the forensic breakthroughs that finally led to an arrest in July 2023. I break down the evidence prosecutors have built — DNA analysis, cellphone data, digital files allegedly recovered from Heuermann's own computer — and the defense strategy aimed at dismantling it. I cover the courtroom battles, the rulings on evidence admissibility, and every development as this case moves toward its next chapter.

Episodes

Rex Heuermann's Therapist Hid THIS For Years
Rex Heuermann's Therapist Hid THIS For Years Jul 14, 2026 1087 This episode goes deeper into the detail from the Rex Heuermann case that's generated more questions than almost anything since his guilty plea: the therapist who worked closely with his family, and what she was reportedly hiding the entire time. Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty to eight murders and is now serving three life sentences plus a hundred years at Clinton Correctional. But according to rep
Who Was Amber Costello Before She Became The Key To Rex Heuermann's Arrest?
Who Was Amber Costello Before She Became The Key To Rex Heuermann's Arrest? Jul 13, 2026 1827 Amber Costello was twenty-seven, from North Carolina, battling addiction, and living with roommates in West Babylon. Friends described her as generous and funny. Her sister said publicly she forgives Rex Heuermann — and that Amber would have too. And without her case, Heuermann might still be walking free. This look back puts Amber first — her life before the case file — and then traces how the e
Why Did Rex Heuermann Tell His Daughter The Two Worlds Never Crossed?
Why Did Rex Heuermann Tell His Daughter The Two Worlds Never Crossed? Jul 12, 2026 2299 She asked the question no daughter should ever have to ask: did you ever think about me when you were doing this? Rex Heuermann said no. The two worlds never crossed. Victoria Heuermann heard that answer sitting across from her father in a jailhouse room — after he'd just admitted to killing eight women in the house where she grew up — and she forgave him on the spot. This look back sits with bot
Heuermann's Guilty Plea May Rest on THIS
Heuermann's Guilty Plea May Rest on THIS Jul 10, 2026 1058 Rex Heuermann confessed to eight murders in front of his ex-wife and daughter, in sessions run by a counselor who had no legal right to be there. Legal analyst Eric Faddis returns to dig deeper into what that could mean for Heuermann's case going forward, starting with the theory that could actually carry weight on appeal: did he plead guilty specifically to keep his family off the witness stand,
Heuermann's Treating Therapist Was Never Licensed
Heuermann's Treating Therapist Was Never Licensed Jul 10, 2026 1108 For nearly three years, Allison Winter sat across from Rex Heuermann inside the Suffolk County Jail, week after week, counseling him and his family through some of the most consequential moments of his case. She was there around the time he privately confessed to his son and wife. What she wasn't, according to prosecutors, was a licensed clinical social worker.Winter now faces eighteen felony cha
Is Rex Heuermann Still Controlling The Narrative From Behind Bars?
Is Rex Heuermann Still Controlling The Narrative From Behind Bars? Jul 8, 2026 2532 A man who spent decades organizing murder into checklists and phases may have organized his exit from the justice system the same way. This look back sits with the uncomfortable possibility at the center of Rex Heuermann's guilty plea: that it wasn't a confession — it was one last piece of planning.One thousand days of maintaining his innocence. Every motion denied. Every legal door closed. And t
What Happens To Rex Heuermann's Family Now That He's Confessed?
What Happens To Rex Heuermann's Family Now That He's Confessed? Jul 7, 2026 1999 She sat in the last row. Her ex-husband stood at the front of a packed courtroom and admitted to killing eight women over seventeen years — while she shared a bed with him, raised their daughter with him, built what she thought was a life. Rex Heuermann's guilty plea is now the legal record. And Asa Ellerup, the woman who once called him her hero, walked out of that courtroom into a wrongful deat
Who Were Maureen And Melissa Before Rex Heuermann Took Their Lives?
Who Were Maureen And Melissa Before Rex Heuermann Took Their Lives? Jul 6, 2026 1721 Maureen Brainard-Barnes was a songwriter. Her sister said she never got to show the world how talented she was. She was twenty-five, a mother of two, facing eviction and fighting for custody when she rode the train from Connecticut to Manhattan in July 2007 because she had run out of options. Her daughter Nicolette was seven. Nicolette would later stand at the indictment hearing and speak publicl
What Happened Inside The Heuermann Home When Rex Pleaded Guilty?
What Happened Inside The Heuermann Home When Rex Pleaded Guilty? Jul 5, 2026 2509 Asa Ellerup called Rex Heuermann her savior. Their daughter Victoria publicly said she believes he most likely committed the killings. And on April 8, 2026, he stood in a courtroom and confirmed it — pleading guilty to seven murders and admitting to an eighth while his ex-wife and daughter sat in the gallery. This look back sits with what that moment did to a family already fractured by opposite
Who Were Valerie Mack And Jessica Taylor Before Rex Heuermann Took Their Lives?
Who Were Valerie Mack And Jessica Taylor Before Rex Heuermann Took Their Lives? Jul 4, 2026 2021 Valerie Mack was born into loss. Placed in foster care as a child, adopted by the Mack family, estranged from her own son by her early twenties. She was working in Philadelphia when she vanished — and after she was found, it took twenty years for anyone to learn her name. Jessica Taylor was twenty years old, working near Port Authority in the same Midtown neighborhood where Rex Heuermann ran his
Who Was Sandra Costilla Before Rex Heuermann Pleaded Guilty To Her Murder?
Who Was Sandra Costilla Before Rex Heuermann Pleaded Guilty To Her Murder? Jul 3, 2026 1897 Sandra Costilla was twenty-eight years old when her remains were found in the woods of Southampton, Long Island, in 1993. For thirty years, her case sat cold. Investigators pursued the wrong suspect. Nobody connected her death to the Gilgo Beach killings. And then DNA technology that didn't exist during her lifetime linked her to Rex Heuermann — and pushed the entire timeline of his alleged crime
What Did Rex Heuermann Say When Asked How He Killed Eight Women?
What Did Rex Heuermann Say When Asked How He Killed Eight Women? Jul 2, 2026 2226 One word. When prosecutors asked Rex Heuermann in a Riverhead courtroom how he killed eight women over seventeen years, he answered with a single word: strangulation. No emotion. No elaboration. Victims' families packed the gallery, weeping, while the man who had maintained his innocence for nearly three years matter-of-factly confirmed what investigators had spent decades trying to prove. This l

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