An attorney for possible victims of the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer revealed "demonic" details about Rex Heuermann's daughter and her penchant for "sad*stic" artwork that depict scenes similar to how the women on Long Island died.
Attorney John Ray held a press conference on Thursday to share the chilling information about Victoria Heuermann, the daughter of Rex Heuermann, and the eerie similarities her art has to the murders her father has been charged with.
Ray showed a series of sad*stic images that Victoria Heuermann created herself and artwork by others that she re-posted to her Tumblr. He compared these images to the alleged Gilgo Beach murders, making specific references to how body parts are dismembered, the family's house and other cannibalistic fantasies.
Rex Heuermann remained emotionless last week when he was charged with his fifth and sixth murders, for the deaths of Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor. The 60-year-old architect was first arrested in July 2023 for the deaths of four women whose remains were found in burlap sacks along the Ocean Parkway in New York over a decade ago.
Prior to last week, Heuermann was already facing charges for the "Gilgo Four" - Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
There is speculation that his alleged serial killer spree could spread coast-to-coast.
Victoria Heuermann
Victoria Heuermann is the daughter of Rex Heuermann and Asa Ellerup. She was born a year after the couple was married.
She has been pictured alongside her mother at one of her father's court hearings.
"The evidence that we have suggests that we have been sold a story by the Heuermann family," Attorney John Ray said.
Victoria, 27, has appeared "very innocent" in situations with the press. Ray painted a different picture of her "as she really is as she portrays herself on the internet."
Following Rex Heuermann's first indictment, Victoria was seen wearing a shirt with "a human skeleton."
Victoria's "true self is a very different self," Ray said.
"These people didn't tell the truth," Ray said. "They're misleading us."
Victoria may now be linked to some of Rex Heuermann's murders, according to Ray. There is potential that she was surrounded by the murders and thought nothing of it. Dr. Gary Brucato, forensic psychologist, called this "normalization."
She also could have suffered from Stockholm Syndrome. The disease is a reaction to developing a psychological bond to a captor or an abuser.
"The jury is out on what this was about," Brucato said.
About 20% of serial killers operate in groups, according to Brucato.
Hairs on some of Rex Heuermann's victims could have been from Victoria rather than transferred by her father, Ray said. This goes against what District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced last week.
"He has no way of knowing that for certain," Ray said. "Considering what you see and what you know, that might tip the card a little bit."
Ray also pointed to language on Rex Heuermann's detailed planning notes from a Microsoft Word document that says supplies to carry out a serial murder include the need of a hair net.
"We don't know how far those connections reach," Ray said. "It opens up this door."
Brucato pointed to similar cases to Rex Heuermann, who potentially worked alongside his daughter Victoria, including the case of David Parker Ray. Known as the "Toy-Box Killer," Parker Ray is accused of torturing and killing around 50 women in his basem*nt. Women were sometimes brought by Parker Ray's daughter sometimes.
Brucato also noted the case of John Wayne Gacy, who is now thought to work in a group. Wayne Gacy murdered and raped over 30 young men and boys in Chicago.
"Until recently it was thought that he was a lone wolf," "There is a tendency to think that these people are lone wolfs that cannot have connections with other people."
Brucato believes there are multiple other individuals who have been harmed, killed, or kidnapped by Heuermann.
"There was no double life," Ray said.
The sad*stic images
Ray's office revealed seven images from Victoria's alleged Tumblr blog. Posts consist of her artwork as well as re-blogs from others. Other images were deleted by Victoria, according to Ray.
"We found that it appears that she has erased all of her sites that she has, all of her social media," Ray said. "She just missed these ones."
Victoria's mother, Asa Ellerup, has also deleted her social media accounts, Ray said.
One image shows a hanged person. A shoe is missing.
"Sandra Castillo was found with a shoe missing. This seems to be a fetish, a fetish that was indulged in by Rex Heuermann, a fetish that was depicted and looked into by his daughter," Ray said. "That's a connection."
Another photo shows a hanged person with hair that is similar to Rex's, Ray said. One image appears to be of remains that are "half eaten," which Ray said relates to the cannibalism Victoria was interested in.
"There are many pictures beside what I'm showing you that are equally bad or worse," Ray said. "We chose these pictures because of their significance in relation to Rex Heuermann as well as his daughter Victoria."
One image shows a "strange familiarity" that shows limbs and hands that are cut off, according to Ray. This show similarities to how some of Rex Heuermann's alleged victims were found.
Jessica Taylor's torso was found in July 2003 in the wooded area of Manorville, where Rex Heuermann's Massapequa Park home is located. In March 2011, more of Taylor's remains, including her skull, hands and forearm, were found on Gilgo Beach.
One photograph Ray displayed was of a woman laying on her back, exactly how Shannan Gilbert was found.
"Make of that what you will," Ray said.
Excerpts of what Victoria would read shares details about butt plugs, blindfolding, being "tied down," yanking hair, using "holes," killer's preparations, bruises and cutting up a body.
"It's demonic," Ray said. "How else do you describe it?"
Shannan Gilbert's sister Sherre posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that she does not agree with "anything John Ray is doing."
She called the press conference "disrespectful" and that Ray should have focused on just her sister's case.
Rex Heuermann's family
Heuermann's wife has claimed to have not known about the serial killer's "double life." Experts told Newsweek this could have truly been the case, especially as it parallels other serial killer cases.
Ellerup married Heuermann in 1996. She says that if Heuermann did commit the murders he was "living a double life" she knew nothing about.
"After 27 years with Mr. Heuermann, Ms. Ellerup maintains the belief that her estranged husband is not capable of committing these heinous acts," Robert Macedonio, Ellerup's attorney, told Newsweek.
Ellerup filed for divorced in July 2023 shortly after her husband was charged. But she has still shown up at several of Heuermann's hearings throughout the last few months.
The Gilgo Homicide Task Force had established last week that Heuermann's wife and children were out of state at the time of Taylor's disappearance.
Photos as well as phone and financial records show that Heuermann's family were out of state during the time of Taylor's murder. They were in Virginia from July 20 to 27 that year, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
Attorney John Ray said Rex Heuermann's family's alibi of being out of the state is incorrect. They did not check in to a hotel until a few days later.
"They're human devils," Ray said. "They're evil."
Attorney Vess Mitev told Newsweek his clients, Heuermann's children, Victoria Heuermann and Christopher Sheridan have been "caught in the cross hairs of this deeply unfortunate case that they have nothing to do with other than they are related to Mr. Heuermann."
Macedonio told Newsweek the family was away from the Massapequa Park home prior to the May 20 search warrant that led at least half a dozen law enforcement agents to fill the Long Island neighborhood.
"I don't comment on frivolous sideshows by people with no clients related to this case," Mitev said in a comment to Newsweek following Ray's press conference.
Who is Shannan Gilbert?
The hunt for a possible serial killer started in 2010 when 11 sets of human remains were discovered along a property on Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County. Law enforcement first started searching along Ocean Parkway after Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker from New Jersey, vanished in 2010.
The search first turned up the remains of Barthelemy, Waterman, Lynn Costello and Brainard-Barnes. All the women were in their mid-20s.
Police found other remains during the search, including those that belonged to Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack, who were also in their 20s when they had gone missing years earlier.
Other remains discovered included those of a female toddler, an Asian male, an unidentified woman who was believed to be the toddler's mother and another woman identified as 34-year-old Karen Vergata who went missing in 1996.
Gilbert was found in late 2011, after the other 10 victims were found.
The case has long mystified police, and it captured the public's attention when Netflix released a film in 2020 called Lost Girls that was based on the murders.
Shannon Gilbert's death is riddled with mystery. Her family is convinced it was homicide.
Gilbert, 24, disappeared in Oak Beach, a quiet gated community off of the Ocean Parkway, on May 1, 2010. The 23-year-old sex worker was meeting with a client, Joseph Brewer.
Law enforcement first started searching along Ocean Parkway after Gilbert vanished in 2010. The hunt for a possible serial killer commenced when 11 sets of human remains were discovered along a property on Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County.
Suffolk County detectives said for a while that Gilbert was not one of Heuermann's victims. Suffolk County Police Department said Gilbert's death was not a murder and was "most likely an accident."
Her sister, Sherre intensely disagreed for years, pointing to 911 calls.
Three phone calls to 911, including one that was more than 21-minutes long by Gilbert, took place the night Gilbert went missing. She initially called from inside Brewer's home shortly before 5 a.m.
"There is somebody after me," she tells the dispatcher multiple times. "Somebody's after me — please," Gilbert said.
Gilbert couldn't specify where she was but said she was located on Long Island. Brewer and Michael Pak, Gilbert's driver and security, are heard telling her to go outside.
After 22 minutes and 42 seconds, the call cuts out.
A neighbor had also called 911 saying a young girl was "running around screaming."
Investigators believe Gilbert got disoriented in marsh reeds while running in the dark. Much of the marshland is impassable. Some of Gilbert's belongings were found along a path.
A private pathologist hired by the Gilbert family found insufficient evidence to confirm a cause of death. Renowned forensic pathologist Michael Baden, however, said Gilbert had suffered injuries "consistent with homicidal strangulation."
A taxi driver said in a sworn statement previously that she believes she saw Gilbert and Heuermann at the Sayville Motor Lodge. Gilbert allegedly told the cab driver that she met Heuermann on Craigslist and was promised financial assistance.
Who is Jessica Taylor?
Taylor, 20, was a sex worker near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.
Taylor's remains were found in July 2003 in the wooded area of Manorville, where Heuermann's Massapequa Park home is located. A woman walking her dog found Taylor's nude body just off of Halsey Manor Road and the Long Island Expressway.
During the examination of Taylor's body, male human hairs were found, "specifically from a surgical drape that had been underneath the victim," according to court records obtained by Newsweek. They were determined to be from the head of a person with "Caucasian/European characteristics." The hairs were unsuitable for further DNA testing."
In March 2011, more of Taylor's remains, including her skull, hands and forearm, were found on Gilgo Beach.
At the time of Taylor's disappearance, Heuermann worked in the same vicinity as where Taylor was known to "street walk," or work as a sex worker, according to court records obtained by Newsweek.
"Records seized during the execution of prior search warrants reveal Heuermann was in fact present in midtown Manhattan on July 21, 2003 the same date Ms. Taylor disappeared," the document reads.
When police were investigating the area in the days following Taylor's disappearance, investigators spoke to a witness who had seen a "dark-colored Chevrolet pickup truck backed in to the same wooded area where Ms. Taylor's body was later found," according to court records.
Heuermann purchased a 2002 dark-colored Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck in March 2002. While the make and model of Heuermann's vehicle is the same as his 2002 vehicle, the exterior color is different.
In the days after Taylor's disappearance, Heuermann searched a Newsday article called "Cops Seek Help in IDing Manorville Body," which was about the discovery of Taylor's remains. That online activity was subsequently deleted, according to the bail application.
On July 29, 2003 Heuermann searched online for a new Chevrolet Avalanche. The forensic analysis also showed he attempted to delete this query.
Who is Sandra Costilla?
Two hunters discovered 28-year-old Costilla's body in a wooded area in North Sea, Southampton, on Nov. 21, 1993.
She had been strangled to death and left partially clothed. Her remains were in the woods for several days prior to being discovered.
Authorities identified Costilla by using her fingerprints, which had been entered into the system after she was arrested for jumping over a subway turnstile in 1992.
Costilla was from Trinidad and Tobago but had been living in New York prior to her disappearance, according to court records obtained by Newsweek.
Police called Costilla a "drifter." Her last known address was in Queens, but it is thought she wasn't living there at the time of her death. Police never said if Costilla was a sex worker but called her lifestyle "substantially similar."
Who is Maureen Brainard-Barnes?
Brainard-Barnes is believed to be the first victim among the "Gilgo Four." The 25-year-old was living in Norwich, Connecticut when she went missing. It is believed that she took an Amtrak train from New London to New York City on July 6, 2007.
She spent her time in the city working as a prostitute, as advertised on Craigslist, Backpage and other sites.
The weekend she went missing, Brainard-Barnes traveled with another woman to the city. The other woman, however, went back home early.
On July 9 Brainard-Barnes called a friend in Connecticut minutes before midnight. She said she was going to meet someone outside of the motel. Suffolk Police Department said that was not her typical operating procedure.
A friend reported Brainard-Barnes missing five days later.
Her body was found on the north side of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach on Dec. 13, 2010.
Who is Melissa Barthelemy?
Barthelemy, 24, went missing on July 12, 2009. She was last seen at her basem*nt apartment on Underhill Avenue in the Unionport section of the Bronx.
The escort advertised on Adult Friend Finder and other sites, according to the police. She would meet clients at bars, restaurants and hotels on Manhattan's West Side.
Barthelemy told a friend the night she went missing that she was going to meet a man and would be back in the morning. The friend did not know any other details about the meet up beyond that Barthelemy was a sex worker.
Barthelemy's mother reported her missing to the New York Police Department on July 18 after not being able to reach her for a few days.
Cellphone records show Barthelemy went from the Bronx to Manhattan on July 12. Her cellphone signal was picked up in Long Island as well.
Suffolk County Police Department said Barthelemy's sister got a series of taunting phone calls. They were believed to come from her killer.
Barthelemy's body was found on Dec. 11, 2010. She was the first victim the police physically found.
Who is Megan Waterman?
Waterman was a sex worker and resident of Scarborough, Maine. Her family watched the 22-year-old board a New York-bound bus with a man who may have been her pimp.
An investigation found Waterman was staying at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge on June 6, 2010. She left around 1:30 a.m. to meet a client, according to the police. However, she told her pimp that she was going to a convenience store.
Two days later, Waterman's family reported her missing to police in Maine. They said it was unlike her to not check-in on her then-3-year-old daughter.
Who is Amber Lynn Costello?
Costello is the oldest of the "Gilgo Four" victims. She was 27 when she went missing in September of 2010.
She was a heroin addict at the time and was living with another woman and two men, who were similarly addicted to drugs.
Costello moved to New York from Clearwater, Florida. Police said she completed a 28-day drug rehabilitation program but had relapsed prior to going missing.
They lived on Long Island. In order to support their addictions, Costello and the other woman advertised as sex workers on Craigslist and Backpage, according to police.
Costello was last seen leaving the home she shared on America Avenue on Sept. 2, 2010. She was going to meet a client, who was picking her up at the house. Costello didn't have a cellphone on her at the time.
She was never reported missing.
The Microsoft Word document
A Microsoft Word document with 87 disturbing details has come to light, shedding more insight into the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer's organized plans for how to murder including supplies such as cat litter and tarps, dump site locations, recon reports, and body prep.
This new evidence emerged as the district attorney's office charged Heuermann with two additional murders on Thursday.
New digital evidence revealed Heuermann had a "significant collection of violent, bondage, and torture p*rnography" dating back to 1994, according to court records obtained by Newsweek. The images include breast mutilation, vagin*l torture, the sexualization of decapitated women and bondage. These "notably and largely coincide with how the remains" of two of the victims were discovered in the decades-long search.
A hard drive recovered from Heuermann's basem*nt hosted a Microsoft Word document called "HK2002-04," which appears to be the alleged serial killer's "planning document," according to court documents. The Word document was recovered on March 7, according to District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
"This was a significant investigative finding," Tierney said at Thursday's press conference after the alleged Gilgo Beach killer was formally charged in a Long Island courtroom. "The task force believes that this is a planning document that was used by Heuermann to methodically plan his kills with excruciating detail."
The detailed document of an alleged serial killer's plan read included typos throughout. Newsweek published the items as written in the document.
A "problems" section seems to be a guide to avoid apprehension, including items like DNA, tire marks, finger prints, photos, and plastic bags. The court documents suggest the "supplies" section is what is "needed to carry out the serial murder."
"DS" has been determined to mean "dump site."
The discovery of Jessica Taylor and another potential Gilgo Beach victim, Valerie Mack, were at two separate "dump sites."
Mack's body along with Costilla and Taylor's are mentioned in the new court documents to "largely coincide" with the violent, bondage and torture p*rnography that Heuermann collected dating back to 1994.
"TRG" appears to refer to target or victims, with a point noting "Small is good." There are "pre-prep," "prep" and "post event" sections for Heuermann's checklist. He also noted "recon reports," "take down / pick up," and "body prep" with notes about removing "ID marks (tatoos (sic))."
Heuermann made a list of what to remember "next time" and what to dispose of.
Lastly, a "notes" section comes from the book "Mind Hunter" by John Douglas, specifically the first edition published in 1996. The book profiles serial killers.
Who is Rex Heuermann?
Detectives finally nabbed Heuermann in 2023 after he tossed a pizza box with leftover crust into a Manhattan trash can. The DNA from the crust matched genetic material found on the women's remains.
Heuermann graduated from the same local high school as actor Billy Baldwin who tweeted after the news broke about his 1981 classmate's arrest, describing it as "mind-boggling."
After getting a bachelor's degree from the New York Institute of Technology, Heuermann started his architecture firm RH Consultants in 1994. He did most of his architectural work in New York City, according to a company biography and the firm's website.
Police have found Heuermann owned a book of other serial killers, authored by John Douglas, according to court records obtained by Newsweek.
Heuermann is currently being held at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County, about 50 miles from his home.
Suffolk County Sheriff Dr. Errol Toulon Jr. said Heuermann busies himself with reading books, reading his discovery, watching TV and sleeping, according to an Oxygen article.
He has been separated from other inmates "for his safety," according to the article. Toulon called him "very compliant."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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