The Gilgo Beach Murders: The Case Against Rex Heuermann Podcast By True Crime Today cover art

The Gilgo Beach Murders: The Case Against Rex Heuermann

The Gilgo Beach Murders: The Case Against Rex Heuermann

By: True Crime Today
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For nearly two decades, the remains of young women kept turning up along the desolate stretches of Long Island — in the scrub brush off Ocean Parkway, in wooded areas out east, in places no one was supposed to find them. And for most of that time, no one was held accountable. I'm Tony Brueski, and this podcast is my deep dive into one of the most chilling serial murder cases in modern American history — the Gilgo Beach murders and the case against Rex Heuermann, the New York architect now charged with the killing of seven women spanning from 1993 to 2010.

This isn't a case summary. It's the full picture — the women who were allegedly targeted and discarded, the investigative failures that let a suspected killer allegedly operate in plain sight for decades, and the forensic breakthroughs that finally led to an arrest in July 2023. I break down the evidence prosecutors have built — DNA analysis, cellphone data, digital files allegedly recovered from Heuermann's own computer — and the defense strategy aimed at dismantling it. I cover the courtroom battles, the rulings on evidence admissibility, and every development as this case moves toward its next chapter.

But more than anything, this podcast is about the women at the center of it all. Sandra Costilla. Valerie Mack. Jessica Taylor. Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Melissa Barthelemy. Megan Waterman. Amber Costello. They had names. They had people who loved them. And they deserve more than a headline.

New episodes drop regularly as the case develops. If you want to understand the Gilgo Beach murders — the facts, the failures, and what justice actually looks like when it finally shows up — you're in the right place.

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

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Episodes
  • Rex Heuermann — Gilgo Beach Killer LISK: Plea, Evidence, and Unanswered Questions
    Apr 3 2026

    Rex Heuermann is reportedly expected to plead guilty to the alleged murders of seven women. After nearly three years of maintaining his innocence, the accused Gilgo Beach Killer and Long Island Serial Killer is apparently done fighting — and the reasons why tell you everything about how this LISK case was built.

    Defense attorney and former felony prosecutor Eric Faddis joins me for the complete breakdown of the Rex Heuermann case. We trace the prosecution's strategy from the 2022 cold case reopening through every charge, every denied motion, and every pretrial ruling that narrowed the Gilgo Beach Killer defense's options until a plea reportedly became the only path left.

    We examine the evidence in detail — the deleted Word document allegedly recovered from Heuermann's hard drive with sections on supplies, targets, disposal sites, and "Mindhunter" references. The DNA matched through whole genome sequencing, admitted in New York for the first time. The pizza crust surveillance. Faddis explains why the LISK defense challenged the DNA but not the document — and which piece of evidence he believes broke the accused Long Island Serial Killer's resolve.

    And we address what the Gilgo Beach Killer plea doesn't resolve. The remaining victims. Shannan Gilbert. The Bittrolff reversal on Sandra Costilla. The behavioral evidence — the planning, the timing, the alleged compartmentalized existence. Whether law enforcement keeps investigating. Whether the alternative suspect argument has any legal life. And whether a plea without a trial can ever be called justice.

    This is the definitive Rex Heuermann conversation. Every angle. Every question. No filter.

    Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

    Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

    Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

    Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

    Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

    X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

    This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

    #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeachKiller #LISK #LongIslandSerialKiller #EricFaddis #GuiltyPlea #DNAEvidence #ShannanGilbert #GilgoBeach #TrueCrimePodcast

    Show more Show less
    57 mins
  • Rex Heuermann Plea: The LISK Questions That Stay Unanswered
    Apr 3 2026

    Rex Heuermann is expected to plead guilty to the alleged murders of seven women. But the Gilgo Beach Killer investigation uncovered eleven sets of remains — and the accused Long Island Serial Killer is not believed to be responsible for all of them. Shannan Gilbert's case remains uncharged. The Sandra Costilla murder was once attributed to convicted killer John Bittrolff before prosecutors reversed course and charged Heuermann.

    Defense attorney and former felony prosecutor Eric Faddis joins me to examine what a Gilgo Beach Killer guilty plea doesn't resolve. We walk through the remaining LISK victims and whether law enforcement continues investigating once the primary defendant is resolved. We examine the Bittrolff reversal in detail — what it means when the prosecution's own prior theory contradicts their current charges — and whether that argument has any legal life in a potential appeal.

    Faddis addresses the behavioral evidence — the alleged timing of killings when Heuermann's family was away, the planning document references, the internet search history — and what the totality of that evidence suggests about how the accused Long Island Serial Killer allegedly compartmentalized his existence. We talk about the systemic failures that allowed someone to allegedly target marginalized women for nearly two decades. And we close with the question at the center of the Gilgo Beach Killer case: is a plea without a trial justice — or is it just an ending?

    For anyone who has followed the Rex Heuermann case from the beginning, this is the conversation about what happens after the plea.

    Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

    Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

    Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

    Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

    Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

    X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

    This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

    #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeachKiller #LISK #LongIslandSerialKiller #ShannanGilbert #JohnBittrolff #EricFaddis #GilgoBeach #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast

    Show more Show less
    20 mins
  • Rex Heuermann's Deleted Blueprint and the DNA That Caught the Gilgo Beach Killer
    Apr 3 2026

    Prosecutors in the LISK case recovered a Word document from Rex Heuermann's basement hard drive — allegedly created in 2000 — that outlined how to select victims, dispose of remains, and avoid capture. They matched the accused Gilgo Beach Killer's DNA to hairs found on and near multiple victims using whole genome sequencing, admitted for the first time in New York history. And the original break came from a pizza crust the accused Long Island Serial Killer discarded during surveillance.

    Defense attorney and former felony prosecutor Eric Faddis joins me to walk through both pillars of the Gilgo Beach Killer evidence. We examine the planning document's alleged contents — sections on supplies, problems, disposal sites, targets, and references to "Mindhunter" — and why the LISK defense reportedly never challenged its authenticity. We trace the DNA chain from a piece of trash to matches across multiple crime scenes spanning years. And we break down the Frye hearing that admitted whole genome sequencing — what the defense argued, what the judge ruled, and why it matters.

    Faddis explains what the forensic recovery of deleted files from over 350 seized devices actually involves, where the science has vulnerabilities, and which piece of evidence he believes is the reason Rex Heuermann is reportedly pleading guilty.

    For anyone who wants to understand the evidence at the center of the Gilgo Beach Killer case — this is the deep dive.

    Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

    Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

    Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

    Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

    Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

    X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

    This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

    #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeachKiller #LISK #LongIslandSerialKiller #PlanningDocument #DNAEvidence #EricFaddis #GilgoBeach #WholeGenomeSequencing #TrueCrimePodcast

    Show more Show less
    16 mins
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