Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty today to murdering eight women whose remains were discovered along Gilgo Beach on Long Island's south shore, according to BBC News.

Family members of the victims cried in the courtroom as the 61-year-old architect admitted to the killings that terrorized the community for more than a decade.

The Gilgo Beach case first broke open in December 2010 when a police officer training a cadaver dog discovered the first set of remains. Over the following months, investigators found additional bodies along Ocean Parkway, a desolate stretch of barrier beach between Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park.

Heuermann was arrested in July 2023 outside his Manhattan architecture office. Prosecutors built their case using cell phone records, DNA evidence, and digital forensics that placed him at the crime scenes.

The guilty plea marks a significant development in one of New York's most notorious unsolved cases. For years, the murders remained a mystery despite extensive investigation and national media attention. Families of the victims had waited more than 15 years for answers.

Heuermann lived in Massapequa Park with his family, just miles from where the bodies were discovered. Neighbors described him as unremarkable — a detail that made the revelations all the more disturbing.

Sentencing details have not yet been announced. Heuermann faces multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.