Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann corresponds with Happy Face Killer, reads grisly novels in jail, Suffolk sheriff says

Rex A. Heuermann is an avid reader of grisly novels who still gets weekly visits from his ex-wife and has corresponded with a convicted murderer in the three years he has been the most notorious person living in a Long Island jail.

The admitted Gilgo Beach serial killer has become a solitary figure behind bars, a large man trying to make his world as small as possible, jail officials said. He has not befriended other inmates,  officials said. He does not chitchat with correction officers. He does not attend religious services, support groups or classes. His only vice appears to be the cookies he buys from the jail commissary.

His disposition has also not changed since he arrived at Suffolk County’s Riverhead Correctional Facility, where Heuermann has spent more than 1,000 days in voluntary segregation after his arrest on July 13, 2023, and since April 8, when he pleaded guilty to strangling eight women during a 17-year killing spree, Suffolk Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. said in an exclusive interview with Newsday at the Riverhead jail in May. 

"He’s shown no emotion this entire time that he’s been incarcerated," said Toulon, the official entrusted with keeping Heuermann safe in a facility that also serves hundreds of other prisoners and where Heuermann is awaiting sentencing. "No remorse, no, ‘What am I doing here?’ No, ‘I didn’t do this.’ No head against the bars, no head in his hands. He’s been very stoic."

Heuermann, 62, pleaded guilty to murdering seven women and acknowledged he had also killed an eighth in a case that shocked Long Island and the nation, both for the cruelty of the crimes and the shortcomings of Suffolk County law enforcement in the early years of the investigation. Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei is expected to sentence him to life in an upstate prison, without the possibility of parole, on June 17 in Riverhead.

"He will go off in a bus and come home in a body bag," Toulon said.

In April, he pleaded guilty to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and Sandra Costilla, and admitted to the uncharged killing of Karen Vergata.

Macabre fiction and thrillers

Heuermann was a Manhattan architect with a family. Now he spends most of his time in a 6-by-9-foot cell, the sheriff said.

"This is the weirdest individual I’ve ever dealt with in 44 years in this business," Toulon said, rolling out Heuermann's routine and hidden jail life.

For exercise, the Massapequa Park resident walks by himself in the jail’s recreation yard. "He won’t play basketball, he won’t do dips, he won’t do pushups," Toulon said. "I don’t think he’s that athletic."

Heuermann likes to read mostly macabre fiction and thrillers, according to Toulon. The titles of the books he has checked out of the jail’s library during his incarceration are chilling.

Some of the titles he has read include "Blood on the Beach," by Robin Stevenson and Sarah N. Harvey, "Portrait in Death," by J.D. Robb, "Secret Prey," by John Sandford, "The Dead Girl," by Melanie Thernstrom and "Heart of Evil," by Heather Graham.

"He’s not reading books about self-help," Toulon said.

Heuermann has received very little mail during his incarceration, but one correspondent does stick out: Keith Hunter Jesperson, the "Happy Face Killer," who is serving a life sentence in Oregon for killing eight women. Jail officials do not read inmates’ mail, so it’s not known what the two killers have discussed.

"It just goes to show this network of killers in the United States that wants to communicate with each other because of the horrific crimes that they have committed," Toulon said.

The visitors

Heuermann’s ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, continues to visit about once a week, even after the couple’s divorce was finalized in March 2025, Toulon said. His daughter, Victoria Heuermann, is a less frequent visitor. His attorney, Michael J. Brown, and his therapists also visit him frequently. Brown did not return a call for this story.

Heuermann denied a request to meet with at least one other notorious Long Islander while sitting in jail: Christopher Loeb.

Loeb, who was beaten by former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke in 2012 after he stole a bag containing sex toys, porn, ammunition and other items from Burke’s vehicle in 2012, tried to visit Heuermann shortly after his 2023 arrest, Toulon said. Burke, who led the department as it stumbled through the early years of the Gilgo Beach investigation, spent more than two years in prison on assault and obstruction of justice charges. The former chief was released in 2018 but arrested again in 2023 for indecent exposure and committing a lewd act.

Toulon said he has dealt with many notorious criminals during his decades-long corrections career — including mob boss John Gotti, subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz and "Preppy Killer" Robert Chambers — but Heuermann appears to be different, the lawman told Newsday.

Even the toughest killers break down when they realize they have lost their freedom and will be separated from their families for many years, Toulon said.

But not Heuermann.

Imprisonment conditions may change

Toulon said housing the serial killer has not been too challenging — but his staff has had to make some accommodations. Movement in the jail stops while correction officers move Heuermann through the facility because he could be a target for anyone who knew his victims or simply wants to build up street credibility by injuring or killing him.

Toulon also does not assign female correction officers to Heuermann’s unit, given the nature of his crimes. "He doesn’t want to fight," Toulon said. "He wants to be able to overpower his victims, and he won’t do that with a man."

The only emotion Heuermann displays is a "stupid smirk," which Toulon said suggests a sense of superiority, perhaps fueled by the fact he was able to avoid detection for so many years.

"I do think he believes he’s smarter than everyone else," the sheriff said.

Incarceration conditions may change soon after sentencing, Toulon said. Heuermann will learn he is just another inmate after Mazzei sentences him. The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has not assigned him to a prison, but he is likely to be incarcerated a long way from Long Island, which will limit visits.

He may be placed in a protected area, but he will still be surrounded by other inmates who may threaten to hurt him if he doesn’t buy commissary items for them. He will have to constantly look over his shoulder to avoid assaults from people who knew sex workers and want retribution — or simply want to make a name for themselves, officials said.

"He’s going to be in prison for the rest of his life," Toulon said. "So it could be next year, it could be three years from now. I don’t wish death on anyone. I wish for him a slow, long incarceration."