New York — The Manhattan architect who lived a secret life as Gilgo Beach serial killer He has spent the past three years alone in an isolation cell, reading crime novels and occasionally being visited by his lawyers or family, according to the sheriff who oversees the prison.
Rex Heuerman also had a brief correspondence with Keith Hunter Jesserson, L.D The notorious “Happy Face Killer.” said Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Tolon, who admitted to killing eight women across the country in the 1990s.
It was Jesserson, who is serving multiple life sentences without parole in Oregon, who first wrote to Heuerman at the Riverhead, New York, prison, where he has been held since birth, the sheriff said. He was arrested in July 2023.
Heuerman responded, but did not respond to several follow-up messages from Jesserson, according to Toulon, who spoke to The Associated Press before Heuerman was sentenced on Wednesday.
He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to killing seven women and admitting in April to killing another woman.
Toulon said “other fanatics” had also tried to reach out, but Heuerman denied “all visits or any contact,” including from media seeking interviews.
Gloria Allred, an attorney for some of the Long Island victims’ families, dismissed Heuerman and Jesserson as “losers” and “cowards” and urged people to commit to ending violence against women.
“They both killed someone’s daughter, someone’s mother, someone’s sister,” she said in a statement. “They chose the most vulnerable victims.”
Most of Heuerman’s victims were sex workers, whose dismembered remains were found off Remote Ocean Drive near Gilgo Beach, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Manhattan.
Jesperson met many of his victims while working as a truck driver. He was nicknamed the “Happy Face Killer” because he drew smiley faces on sarcastic letters he sent to the media and the police.
Heuerman was an avid reader in prison, but Toulon said the prisoner’s preference for violent crimes and mystery novels — some about serial killers — concerned him.
Some of the works he has recently borrowed from the prison library include “Portrait in Death” by J.D. Robb, “Secret Prey” by John Sandford, “Picture Me Dead” by Heather Graham, “N is for Noose” by Sue Grafton, and “Chosen to Die” by Lisa Jackson, according to Toulon.
“He doesn’t take sports books or cook books, you know,” the sheriff said. “He chooses to read about this.”
Toulon, who was elected in 2017 after decades working in the New York City Department of Corrections, said Heuerman’s behavior remained unchanged during more than 1,000 days of incarceration.
“He doesn’t seem comfortable in his cell,” the sheriff said. “No emotion, no despair.”
“Every time you see him, you get the same stoic look he has when you see him in the courtroom,” Toulon continued. “There is no regret.”
The massive Heuerman lives in a standard 6-by-9-foot cell equipped with a metal sink, a metal toilet and a bed with a “very thin mattress,” according to Toulon.
He said the cells in the unit are all in front of the correctional officers’ eyes. The department also boosted staffing after Heuerman’s arrest, but has intentionally not assigned any female correctional officers to the unit, and no employees are allowed in unless they are cleared to work there.
“One of the things we wanted to ensure when he was detained in our custody was that justice would be served in the courts and not in our prisons,” Toulon said.
Toulon said inmates in the unit receive three meals a day, all in their cells. There is no common area, and they can only see the communal television through the bars of their cells.
Heuerman remains isolated any time he leaves his cell, with officers stopping all other inmate movements to avoid interactions, he said.
He showers alone, and while he gets fresh air in the prison yard up to six days a week on his own, he’s not particularly active, according to Toulon.
“He doesn’t play basketball, he doesn’t do any sprints. He doesn’t do any dips, pull-ups, sit-ups or push-ups,” Al-Sharif said. “He’s basically walking around in circles in the yard.”
Heuerman sees visitors in a designated meeting area where his handcuffs are removed and where inmates are allowed to hug or kiss their visitors once at the beginning and end of the meeting. He sat face to face with his ex-wife Asa Ellerup, their eldest daughter Victoria, his lawyer, his therapist and a few others.
“He doesn’t have an extensive visit list,” Toulon said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment on Heuerman’s life behind bars. Nor his family.
His ex-wife and two adult children said through their attorneys that they will not attend the sentencing hearing, where some of the victims’ families are expected to confront Heuermann and make emotional statements.
“Out of respect for those who have suffered unimaginable loss and suffering, she does not wish her presence to distract from the purpose of these proceedings,” said Robert Macedonio, Ellerup’s attorney. “Her thoughts remain with the victims and their loved ones as they continue their quest for justice, healing and closure.”
___
Follow Philippe Marcelo on X: @vilmarcelo.