Split Second Murders

The Gilgo Beach serial killings were a series of murders on Long Island, New York, between 1993 and 2010. The case gained national attention in late 2010 and 2011, when police searching for a missing woman, Shannan Gilbert, discovered the remains of ten victims along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach and in nearby areas of Suffolk and Nassau counties. Four of these victims—Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard‑Barnes, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello—were found in December 2010 in close proximity and became known as the "Gilgo Four". Six additional sets of remains were located in March and April 2011, several of which were later connected to earlier unsolved cases. Gilbert's disappearance in May 2010 prompted the initial search, though her cause of death remains disputed and is not conclusively linked to the other victims. Between 2023 and 2024, Rex Heuermann, a Manhattan architectural consultant and resident of Massapequa Park, was charged with seven of the murders; those of the Gilgo Four as well as the killings of Sandra Costilla, Valerie Mack, and Jessica Taylor. In April 2026, Heuermann pleaded guilty to seven murders and admitted to an eighth, that of Karen Vergata. In June 2026, Heuermann was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He is currently incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville, New York.