The alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer previously charged in the deaths of six women on New York’s Long Island was charged Tuesday with the murder of a seventh alleged victim.
Valerie Mack, 24, is the latest murder victim linked to Rex Heuermann.
Mack, from New Jersey, was known for 20 years as Jane Doe No. 6. Her torso was discovered in a wooded lot in Manorville in November 2000 – and the rest of her remains were found 11 years later near Gilgo Beach – before her identification via DNA in 2020.
Mack’s remains found on Gilgo Beach were next to those of other women who authorities believe were also targeted by the 61-year-old Heuermann. He has been under arrest since July 2023 and is in prison awaiting trial.
Heuermann had pleaded not guilty to the previous charges when he appeared Tuesday for arraignment in Mack’s death.
“I am not guilty of these charges,” he said.
At a news conference with Mack’s parents, local District Attorney Ray Tierney said the victims’ family members along with “these women’s lives matter most.”
“We, as investigators, understand that,” Tierney said. “Nobody understands that better than the families.”
According to court documents, female hair found on Mack’s remains was linked through DNA testing to Heuermann’s wife and daughter.
Prosecutors said mitochondrial DNA testing on scalp hair found near Mack’s left wrist ruled out 99.65% of the North American population. Those not excluded: a daughter of Heuermann who was between three and four years old when Mack was killed – and his wife Asa Ellerup.
Outside court, Heuermann’s attorney Michael Brown disputed the evidence presented in Mack’s death, noting that hair samples collected from her body had been recovered more than a year ago. He said the DNA technology used to link her and other victims to his client has never been considered reliable in a New York case.
He also argued that Tierney’s office has not yet provided evidence that the victims’ DNA has been found in Heuermann’s home, including the many weapons and tools seized during recent searches.
“There is something strange about these allegations,” Brown said. “Something that isn’t right.”
Prosecutors have said Mack’s breasts were mutilated and her remains tied with rope in a manner similar to pornographic images on Heuermann’s electronic devices around the time she was killed.
Prosecutors also said an alleged planning document found on his devices lists “foam drain cleaner” among the supplies prosecutors believe he sought while trying to cover up his alleged murders.
Investigators also said they found a collection of physical copies of magazine and newspaper articles about the murder, including copies of Newsday, the New York Post, People and New York magazine that Heuermann kept in his Long Island home.
Prosecutors say six of Heuermann’s seven alleged victims have been linked to the suspect or his family through DNA evidence.
Prosecutors said that — in addition to the mutilation — “two persistent ragged defects” found on Mack’s chest occurred after her death. The alleged serial killer also removed a tattoo of Mack’s son’s name from her left ankle, prosecutors suspect.
Heuermann became a suspect in Mack’s murder in June when prosecutors revealed a document they had discovered that referred to Manorville — near gun clubs where Heuermann was enrolled — as a potential “dump site.”
Mack was last seen by family in October 2000. She had been a sex worker, as had the six other victims: Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla.
The remains of four of the women were discovered intact along Gilgo Beach in southern Long Island. But two others were separated – with some body parts in Gilgo Beach, Manorville and the North Sea. Investigators have long believed the deaths were linked.
Heuermann, a New York architect, was initially charged with the murders of Waterman, Barthelemy and Costello, who were killed between 2009 and 2010. He was later charged with the murders of Taylor in 2003 and Costilla in 1993.
Prosecutors have also identified Heuermann as a suspect in the death of Karen Vergata, whose remains were found in separate locations in 2011 and 1996, although he has not been charged in her death.
