An architect from New York enters a not guilty plea to the seventh Gilgo Beach murder charge

Rex Heuermann, a New York architect, entered a not guilty plea to the seventh murder charge in the infamous Gilgo Beach massacre.

On Tuesday, a New York architect who was already charged in the notorious Gilgo Beach murders was indicted for the death of a seventh lady.

Valerie Mack’s bones were initially found on Long Island in 2000, and Rex Heuermann has been charged with her murder. Mack was last seen by her family in New Jersey the same year while working as an escort in Philadelphia.

near 2000, Mack’s partial skeletal remains were discovered near Manorville, New York, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Gilgo Beach, where more of her remains were found more than ten years later. In 2020, DNA testing proved her identity.

Prosecutors said that human hair discovered alongside Mack’s remains earlier this year was examined and determined to match Heuermann’s daughter’s genetic profile. There is no suspicion of any culpability against Heuermann’s daughter, who would have been three or four years old when Mack died.

Heuermann entered a not guilty plea to the accusations on Tuesday in a Riverhead, New York, courthouse, saying, “Your honor, I am not guilty of any of these charges.”

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office was scheduled to host a press conference alongside state and local law enforcement after the court hearing.

Heuermann is also charged with the murders of six additional women, the bodies of whom were discovered on Long Island.

In 2010, while looking for a missing lady, authorities found ten sets of human remains along a barrier island parkway, sparking suspicions of a serial killer and starting the Gilgo Beach killings investigation.

The victims, many of whom were sex workers, have been identified by investigators using DNA analysis and other evidence, and their remains have been linked to those discovered elsewhere on Long Island. Five police commissioners, more than 1,000 tips, and skepticism over the likelihood of a serial killer have all contributed to the case’s persistence.

On July 13, 2023, Heuermann was arrested. He lived in Massapequa Park, Long Island, with his wife and two kids, and commuted to his architecture office in Manhattan. In addition to the murders of Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, and Melissa Barthelemy, he was also charged earlier this year with the murders of three additional women: Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. He has entered a not guilty plea to every accusation.

In a June court filing, prosecutors said that Heuermann’s killers “methodically blueprinted” their murders using files on a hard drive discovered in his basement, including checklists and lessons for “next time.”

Authorities found old magazines and newspapers with articles on the Gilgo Beach killings during recent searches of Heuermann’s home and workplace. Prosecutors say he preserved these items as “mementos” or “souvenirs.” One such item was a copy of the New York Post from July 29, 2003, which featured an article regarding Mack and Taylor’s deaths and disappearance.

The death of Karen Vergata, whose bones were discovered in 1996 and identified in 2022 by new DNA analysis, is also under investigation by prosecutors.

Authorities revealed new drawings of an unnamed victim found in 2011 in September, claiming the victim, who was previously thought to have been male, may have appeared as a woman and passed away in 2006.