He fought against what he described as ‘magic’ DNA technology after hairs belonging to his wife and daughter were found on the victims’ bodies.

He pointed the finger at two other potential suspects including another Long Island serial killer and a former corrupt police chief.

And he pushed to throw out some of the charges - or at least sever the seven murders into separate trials.

But now, the fight seems to be drawing to a close.

In a shocking twist in the Gilgo Beach serial killer case that has long plagued Long Island, Rex Heuermann is expected to plead guilty to the murders of eight women over a decades-long campaign of terror dating back to 1993.

The 62-year-old architect and married father-of-two was arrested in July 2023 and charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27. He was later charged with the murders of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Jessica Taylor, 20, Sandra Costilla, 28, and Valerie Mack, 24, taking his suspected victim count to seven.

All seven young women were believed to be working as sex workers when they vanished between 1993 and 2010.

Now, in yet another reported break in the case, sources have told Newsday that Heuermann will also admit to the murder of an eighth victim, Karen Vergata, for which he has never been charged.

With his guilty plea now seeming almost certain, the first in what could be multiple lawsuits has already been brought by one of the victim's families - Mack's son Benjamin Torres, whose mother disappeared when he was just six years old. 

Fears of a serial killer emerged back in December 2010 when the remains of the first of 11 bodies were discovered along the remote stretch of Ocean Parkway, close to Gilgo Beach. Some victims had been dismembered, their partial remains also found in other areas of Long Island. Others had been bound, wrapped in burlap and dumped in the dense brush. Costilla’s body had been found elsewhere, in a wooded area in North Sea, Southampton, in 1993, and for years was not thought to be connected to the case.

Thirteen years passed from the discovery of the trail of bodies along Gilgo Beach before investigators zeroed in on Heuermann through cellphone evidence, a tip about a pickup truck and DNA from a discarded pizza crust.

In the almost three years since his arrest, Heuermann has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all charges, with his former wife Asa Ellerup standing by him and publicly doubling down on his innocence.

But now, the 62-year-old - a lifelong Massapequa Park local who commuted to Midtown Manhattan for work - is expected to change his plea to guilty during a hearing in Suffolk County Court, Riverhead, on April 8, avoiding a lengthy, high-profile trial that was set to begin in September.

A surprise guilty plea 

To top legal experts, the move is curious given that Heuermann has nothing to lose by going to trial.

‘In a pragmatic sense, he has nothing to lose. Even if he only has a one in 5,000 chance of being acquitted, if he pleads guilty he's going to get the same sentence he would get if he went to trial and lost. There's no doubt he will die in prison,’ Texas-based criminal defense attorney Sam Bassett told the Daily Mail.

In many cases, prolific criminals plead guilty as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for a more favorable sentence. Last year, Bryan Kohberger struck an agreement to plead guilty to the murders of four students in Idaho sparing him from the death penalty and instead being handed life with no possibility of parole and waiving his right to appeal. In 2003, Green River Killer Gary Ridgway agreed to cooperate with investigators, leading them to the remains of several undiscovered victims, in return for avoiding the death penalty.

But, for Heuermann, there is no deal to strike. 

New York state does not have the death penalty and it is near-impossible that he would receive anything other than life with no possibility of parole for multiple murder charges.

In this case, the leverage ‘is not the classic "life versus death" negotiation,’ Duncan Levin, criminal defense attorney and former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office, told the Daily Mail.

Rather than being able to negotiate a lesser sentence, Heuermann's plea and any bargaining power he may have is more about 'controlling the process, finality, and the terms of the admission,' he added.

One of the big questions is what exactly Heuermann will admit to - whether, in pleading guilty, he could finally spill the secrets of his alleged crimes including his motive, details of the seven murders for which he has been charged, and even confess to other unsolved killings.

When Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to being the BTK serial killer responsible for at least 10 murders in Wichita, Kansas, he stood up inside the courtroom and shared graphic details about his killing spree.

In Kohberger’s case, the prosecution has faced strong criticism from some of the victims’ families for not forcing him to reveal his motive or the details of his crimes as part of his plea.

So could Heuermann finally reveal everything once and for all?

An eighth Gilgo Beach victim 

In yet another twist in the case, it has emerged that Heuermann is expected to also plead guilty to an eighth victim for which he has not yet been charged.

Vergata, a 34-year-old mother-of-two working as sex worker, disappeared on February 14, 1996 in Manhattan. Three months later, her legs and feet were found inside a black garbage bag at Blue Point Beach, a secluded area of Fire Island.

In 2011, her skull was then discovered among the remains found along Ocean Parkway.

For years, her identity was a mystery and she was known only as 'Fire Island Jane Doe' before she was finally identified in August 2023.

It is not clear what may have led Heuermann to potentially admit to Vergata's murder - or whether prosecutors are eyeing him for other unsolved murders. 

But, according to Levin and Bassett, even if he pleads guilty, there is no legal requirement for Heuermann to come clean about all of his crimes - and prosecutors have no power to force him to do so.

‘As for whether he will be forced to reveal everything, the answer is probably no,' Levin explained.

A guilty plea requires a legally sufficient factual allocution to the crimes being admitted, but it does not ordinarily require a full public confession, a comprehensive narrative, or disclosure of every possible victim or detail investigators would still like to know,’ Levin explained. 

‘Unless disclosure is made an explicit condition of the agreement, defendants can plead guilty without fully answering the larger mystery. So the big open question is not just whether he pleads, but how much the plea requires him to say.’

And given there is no lesser sentence on the table and no plea deal to strike, there is likely little to negotiate.

Instead, it is down to Heuermann - if he is in fact guilty - to voluntarily decide whether or not to share his dark secrets.

‘When he enters his plea, that is the end of it. He is convicted and is not required to do anything further under the law,’ Bassett said.

‘He could voluntarily do that. Maybe that's one of the decisions he's made: to come clean and give a full confession, but that certainly can't be required.'

He added: ‘I would guess that the decision he has made is independent of any legal benefit.’

In fact, in pleading guilty and confessing to his alleged crimes, Heuermann will likely open himself up to further potential legal action - both criminal, if there are additional crimes, and civil.

Victim's son files lawsuit 

On Monday night - two days before the court hearing - the first wrongful death lawsuit was filed by one of the victims' families.

Attorney John Ray filed the suit on behalf of Mack's 32-year-old son Torres, who was six years old when his mother was murdered and dismembered in 2000.

Mack's torso, legs and arms were first found in black plastic bags in a wooded area of Manorville in November 2000. Further remains were then found along Ocean Parkway in April 2011. She was identified in 2020 through forensic genetic genealogy. 

In the suit, filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court, Torres alleges that he was 'deprived of his mother's care, guidance, protection, nurture, society, and economic support' because of her murder.

'This action seeks recovery for the wrongful torture and murder of Valerie Mack, for the terror, restraint, pain, mutilation, and dismemberment inflicted upon her before and after death, for the concealment and mutilation of her remains, and for the profound and prolonged harm thereby inflicted upon Plaintiff,' the suit alleges.

As well as suing Heuermann for wrongful death, the suit also names his ex-wife Asa Ellerup and their daughter Victoria Heuermann and seeks the $1 million proceeds they earned from a Peacock docuseries.

Suffolk County prosecutors have long maintained that the family was away from home at the time of the murders - and neither Ellerup or Victoria have been accused of any wrongdoing.

However, in the suit, Torres alleges that the mother and daughter did 'at some point in time knew of, concealed, deliberately ignored, or consciously avoided learning of material facts concerning the assault, murder, dismemberment, concealment, and disposal of Valerie Mack.'

The suit also makes the shocking claim that Mack's torture, murder and dismemberment 'was carried out for ritualistic and demonic purposes.'

As well as clawing back the money the family earned from Peacock, Torres wants justice, Ray said. ‘There’s no such thing as closure. No one closes these things out but can we produce satisfaction that the truth, the whole truth, will have been told.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to Heuermann's attorney Michael Brown for comment.

Ellerup's attorney Bob Macedonio told the Daily Mail that Heuermann's family members had ‘absolutely no involvement whatsoever’ in his alleged crimes.

'The individual responsible acted alone. Rex Heuermann has been indicted and charged with a series of homicides and will have his day in court to answer those charges,' he said. 'My clients have fully cooperated with law enforcement from the very beginning, and there is no evidence that implicates them in any way. None.'

Macedonio said that Victoria would have been three at the time of Mack's murder as he slammed the 'reckless' lawsuit for adding to the 'personal trauma' suffered by Ellerup, Victoria and Christopher. Their ‘hearts are with the victims and their families,' he said.

Vess Mitev, who represents Victoria and her brother Christopher, told the Daily Mail he is 'entirely unsurprised and yet bewildered at the same time' by the claims made in the suit. ‘It is frivolous litigation on its face and [it] will be met with a motion for sanctions if this suit actually continues, and is served upon my clients,‘ he said.

Mitev accused Ray of filing the suit 'to garner media attention and to somehow attempt to remain in the spotlight and piggy-back on the actual grief and tragedy that has befallen people.’

It remains to be seen if more lawsuits will follow after Heuermann's anticipated guilty plea.

What's behind the plea deal? 

But, according to the legal experts, it seems that Heuermann has simply come to the conclusion that he is in a battle he cannot win.

‘The defense may have concluded that the evidentiary case is overwhelming and that there is little strategic value in putting the victims’ families, the public, and ultimately the defendant through a long trial he is unlikely to win,’ Levin said.

‘A plea now would strongly suggest a late-stage decision to avoid that public reckoning and lock in a known outcome.’

After all, as the case has headed to trial, Heuermann has faced a series of hammer blows to his defense.

Last year, Heuermann's defense lost an attempt to toss crucial DNA evidence from the case, after hairs on six victims were found to belong to Ellerup, Victoria and another individual connected to Heuermann.

Heuermann also lost his bid to split the charges into separate trials.

Bassett believes that these rulings might have made Heuermann realize he would 'almost certainly be convicted if he goes to trial.'

'He might have decided enough is enough and it’s time to get on with his life in prison,' he said.

There could however be other reasons for a change in plea at this stage, such as a 'moment of conscience' to not want to put people through a weeks-long trial, or an element of trying to control the narrative around his alleged crimes by restricting how much evidence is made public, Bassett added.

Since Heuermann’s arrest, prosecutors have released some chilling pieces of evidence in court filings.

Among them is a ‘planning document’ found on a hard drive in Heuermann’s home which prosecutors describe as a blueprint for selecting, killing and disposing of victims. The document includes sections titled ‘body prep’ detailing how to clean and dismember bodies and remove tattoos.

Disturbing porn searches were also revealed including ‘autopsy photos of female,’ ‘tied up fat girl porn,’ ‘skinny white teen crying porn’ and ‘stories of rape audio.’

While these haunting details are already out there, a high-profile, weeks-long trial would put this evidence - and more - ‘under a magnifying glass.’

‘When you go to trial, you put your family through the trial as well so he perhaps doesn't want his family to see all that evidence and suffer the public scrutiny too,’ Bassett said.

Ultimately, if he does plead guilty and confess to his alleged crimes, only Heuermann knows his reasons for doing so now.

‘Somebody who commits these types of crimes probably has a different viewpoint of reality from you and I, so you don't really know what's going on inside their head,’ Bassett said.

However, a lot of options could still play out inside the courtroom.

Heuermann could change his mind, continue to plead not guilty and take the case to trial.

He could plead guilty but volunteer no details of his crimes.

Or, if he is guilty, he could come clean and reveal everything about eight victims, the murders, his motives and his possible links to other unsolved cases - finally giving some answers to the families of the young women who were murdered and dumped around Long Island.

‘People often look to the justice system for complete closure on their emotions, and it always comes up short,’ Bassett said.

‘But it does provide some level of closure as to the legality, so the families hopefully don't have to continue to relive what happened.’