Gilgo Beach serial killer pleads guilty as victims' families grieve

[0:03] Rex Heuermann was a suburban dad and an architect [0:06] with an office on Fifth Avenue in New York City. [0:09] He's kind of dual personality. [0:13] On one side, he's this family man. [0:16] And on the other side, he's a terrifying serial killer. [0:19] This man was truly living a double life. [0:22] The prolific psychopath, this monster, [0:25] and his crimes really terrorized Long Island. [0:29] He commuted by day, he killed by night. [0:31] The chilling turn in court today involving serial killer [0:37] Rex Heuermann. [0:38] Rex Heuermann admitting to murdering eight young women [0:40] in a string of killings that went unsolved for two decades. [0:44] District Attorney Ray Tierney starts to ask Rex Heuermann [0:48] the manner in which he killed these victims. [0:51] And one after the next, he just says strangulation. [0:54] And when he's asked if he killed each victim, [0:58] he's like, yep, yes. [1:00] I mean, he's unfazed. [1:02] It is tragic to think about, and also terrifying, [1:06] that this guy who's 6'4", he is huge, [1:10] would take these women, tiny, petite women, [1:14] and strangle them. [1:17] The idea that there even was such a thing [1:19] as the Gilgo Beach serial killings [1:21] begins with a woman named Shannon Gilbert. [1:25] So Shannon Gilbert was engaging in sex work [1:28] and ended up going on a call [1:30] to a neighborhood called Oak Beach in May of 2010. [1:33] And something went wrong during the date, [1:37] and she ended up fleeing from the house. [1:39] While she was fleeing this house, [1:41] she made a 23-minute-long 911 call [1:44] in which she sounds really frantic. [1:46] Can you stop me, please? [1:49] Can you stop me? [1:50] And then, according to police, [2:00] she ends up taking off into this marshy area, [2:04] and she was never heard from again. [2:06] Then, in December of 2010, [2:09] a police officer and his canine [2:12] find a set of human remains. [2:14] But it's not Shannon Gilbert. [2:16] It's Melissa Bartholomew. [2:18] And then the next day, [2:19] they find another victim, [2:20] and then another victim. [2:22] A gruesome find about three miles away [2:25] near Gilgo Beach, [2:26] a suspected serial killer cemetery [2:28] containing four skeletons [2:30] dumped by the side of the road. [2:33] The first four women found on Gilgo Beach [2:35] were all sex workers, [2:37] and they were given the name [2:38] the Gilgo Four. [2:39] They were Melissa Bartholomew, [2:41] Maureen Brainerd-Barnes, [2:43] Megan Waterman, [2:44] and Amber Lynn Costello. [2:45] My name is Liliana Waterman. [2:55] I am the daughter of Megan Waterman. [2:58] I was three years old [3:00] when she first went missing, [3:01] and when she was found, [3:02] I was four years old. [3:07] Coming to this park [3:08] definitely makes me think about my mom. [3:11] Some of my favorite things to do with her [3:12] when I was younger [3:13] was go to the park, [3:14] spend some time. [3:16] So it's nice to come here [3:17] and just feel like she's with me. [3:21] Megan Waterman was a young woman [3:22] in her 20s from Maine [3:24] who had been working as a sex worker [3:28] and who was reported missing [3:30] in June of 2010. [3:33] The last place she had been seen [3:34] was leaving the haphog [3:37] Long Island Holiday Inn. [3:38] In the spring, [3:41] they find the remains [3:42] tied to seven other victims. [3:44] Shannon Gilbert's body [3:45] was later discovered in a marsh. [3:48] Rex Heuermann has not been connected [3:51] to or charged with her death. [3:53] Suffolk County law enforcement [3:54] suggests that she wandered into the marsh [3:57] and died under those types of circumstances. [4:01] Despite the fact of finding bodies [4:05] along Ocean Parkway, [4:06] this case went dormant. [4:09] But over a decade later, [4:10] finally, the case is reinvigorated [4:12] with the creation [4:14] of the Gilgo Beach Task Force. [4:15] They welcomed the FBI [4:17] and other resources [4:18] into this investigation. [4:19] And that's when this case [4:20] really started to move. [4:22] So early on, [4:23] law enforcement knew [4:24] some things about this killer. [4:26] The killer was taunting the families [4:28] with his victim's own phones [4:30] and burner phones. [4:31] And those calls were traced [4:33] to Midtown Manhattan [4:34] and Massapequa Park. [4:37] Rex Heuermann made one error [4:40] and allowed his vehicle [4:42] to be spotted in one instance. [4:45] And he drove [4:46] a distinctive Chevy avalanche. [4:49] And from that vehicle, [4:52] investigators were able [4:54] to winnow down who bought it. [4:57] And they used cell phone records [4:59] to track down [5:00] who may have been driving it [5:02] in certain areas. [5:04] Ultimately, [5:04] that leads them to Rex Heuermann. [5:08] Rex Heuermann was arrested [5:09] in front of his Midtown office. [5:12] He was on the sidewalk. [5:14] He had no idea this was coming. [5:15] Rex Heuermann was even profiled [5:17] in an online video [5:18] about being an architect [5:19] in Manhattan. [5:20] Rex Heuermann, [5:21] I'm an architect. [5:22] I'm an architectural consultant. [5:24] I'm a troubleshooter. [5:25] And all the while, [5:26] every time he sent his family [5:28] on vacation, [5:29] he was murdering innocent women. [5:32] Law enforcement suspected early on [5:34] that these women were killed [5:36] inside the Heuermann home. [5:40] The Heuermann house is weird. [5:42] It's in this nice neighborhood [5:45] with manicured lawns. [5:46] And then there's this dilapidated thing [5:49] where Rex Heuermann lived. [5:51] And investigators went all over it. [5:55] They find a locked room [5:57] in the basement [5:57] that looks almost [5:58] like a murder room. [5:59] Aza Ellorup [6:00] and their daughter, [6:01] Victoria, [6:02] reportedly got paid [6:03] to appear in a documentary [6:05] about Rex Heuermann. [6:07] A lot of media, [6:10] they're calling [6:11] the vault [6:12] the kill room. [6:14] The vault was [6:15] always locked. [6:18] This is the steel door. [6:19] It had a combination lock. [6:27] Prosecutors said [6:28] from the outset, [6:30] it appeared his wife, [6:31] his daughter, [6:32] and his stepson [6:33] did not know [6:34] about his deviant [6:37] double life. [6:38] When the young women [6:39] were killed, [6:41] there's evidence, [6:42] prosecutors said, [6:42] that the family was away. [6:46] Rex Heuermann's wife [6:47] and family [6:47] were not charged [6:49] in connection [6:49] with his crimes. [6:51] When Rex was arrested [6:53] and they started [6:54] to go through his computer, [6:55] they found this planning document. [6:57] It's called [6:57] the Hunt and Kill [6:58] Planning Document. [6:59] This was basically [7:00] a blueprint for murder [7:03] created by a guy [7:05] who liked to make blueprints, [7:07] an architect, [7:08] and it laid out [7:09] every step of his process. [7:11] One reminder said, [7:13] hit harder. [7:14] Another said, [7:15] use thicker rope, [7:17] constantly updated, [7:19] with lists of supplies, [7:22] with locations of dump sites. [7:25] What was so terrifying [7:26] is certain lines [7:28] that he would use. [7:29] Get more sleep [7:30] for more playtime. [7:32] It really made you understand [7:36] how terrifying this guy was. [7:41] Prosecutors had an overwhelming [7:43] amount of evidence [7:43] for this case. [7:45] Rex Heuermann's defense attorney, [7:46] Michael Brown, [7:47] although tried, [7:48] he lost every single question [7:50] that he raised. [7:51] And so as he sits there [7:52] and sees what the prosecution [7:54] can use against him, [7:55] all of the information [7:56] that they can throw at him, [7:58] I think the writing [7:58] was on the wall, [7:59] and he knew [7:59] it's time to take a plea. [8:01] As part of his guilty plea, [8:04] Heuermann is going to have to sit [8:06] with behavioral analysts [8:08] from the FBI. [8:09] They're going to study [8:10] the mind of Rex Heuermann [8:12] and perhaps get a window [8:14] into this monstrous serial killer. [8:19] The reverberations of his crimes [8:21] will never disappear. [8:22] You know, [8:23] that kind of stuff, [8:24] the ripple effects, [8:25] never end. [8:26] With the pain he's caused people, [8:27] with the fear [8:28] he's instilled in the communities [8:30] that were affected. [8:32] He is nothing [8:33] but a serial murderer, [8:36] callous, cruel, [8:39] no conscience. [8:41] I have no sympathy for him. [8:44] Hearing him admit [8:45] that he killed my mom [8:48] and all those other girls, [8:49] it definitely felt like [8:51] a weight had been [8:52] lifted off of me. [8:57] For a much deeper look [8:58] into this story, [8:59] including the mementos [9:00] police say Heuermann kept, [9:02] watch The Monster at the Beach, [9:03] now streaming on Disney Plus [9:05] and Hulu.