A Long Island architect who led a secret life as a serial killer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to murdering seven women and admitted he killed an eighth in a string of long-unsolved crimes known as the Gilgo Beach killings.

Rex Heuermann, 62, entered the pleas in a courtroom packed with reporters, police and victims' relatives, some of whom wept as he detailed his crimes for the court. He will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at a later date.

Heuermann's guilty pleas – to three counts of first-degree murder and four of intentional murder – bring finality to a case that bedevilled investigators, agonised victims' relatives and tantalised a true-crime obsessed public for years.

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Although he wasn't charged in her death, he also admitted that he killed Karen Vergata in 1996.

Heuermann strangled the women, many of them sex workers, over a 17-year span and buried their remains in remote locations, including along an isolated beach highway across the bay from where he lived, authorities said.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has scheduled a news conference for later on Wednesday.

He will be joined by victims' family members and members of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force, which cracked the case with the help of clues that included DNA lifted from a discarded pizza crust.

The investigation began in earnest in 2010 after police found numerous sets of human remains while searching for a missing woman along Long Island's South Shore, setting off a search for a potential serial killer that attracted global interest and spawned a Hollywood movie.

A message seeking comment was left on Tuesday for Heuermann's lawyer, Michael Brown.

Major public interest

There has been intense interest in the case, and reporters, investigators and members of the public packed the hearing. Reporters and camera operators swarmed Heuermann's ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and their daughter as they walked into the building.

"It's a difficult day," said Robert Macedonio, an attorney for Ellerup.

"No one can envision ever in their life standing here in a courthouse on a line surrounded by media having their ex-husband accused of seven, potentially eight homicides. It's unimaginable. There's no way to prepare for it."

In the courtroom, about half the seats were blocked off for victims' family members and law enforcement officers.

Heuermann, wearing a black blazer and white button-down shirt, gave brief answers to Tierney, the prosecutor, when asked if he understood and agreed to the charges he was pleading guilty to.

He never looked back at the packed courtroom gallery, keeping his gaze fixed straight ahead.

A shocking find

The Gilgo Beach investigation began in earnest in 2010 after police found numerous sets of human remains along a remote beach highway on Long Island's South Shore, setting off a search for a potential serial killer that attracted global interest and spawned a Hollywood movie.

Investigators used DNA analysis and other evidence to identify victims. In some cases, they were able to connect them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier.

Remains of six victims — Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor and Megan Waterman — were found in the scrub along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. The remains of another victim, Sandra Costilla, were found more than 100 kilometres away in the Hamptons.

Police also identified the remains of Vergata, which were found on Fire Island, more than 32 kilometres west, in 1996, and near Gilgo Beach in 2011.

But despite the attention, including a documentary series and the 2020 Netflix film, Lost Girls, the investigation dragged on for more than a decade, punctuated by fleeting leads and dashed hopes.

A fresh look yields results

In 2022, six weeks after a new police commissioner formed the Gilgo Beach task force, detectives identified Heuermann as a suspect by using a vehicle registration database to connect him to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.

Heuermann lived for decades in Massapequa Park, about a 25-minute drive across a causeway spanning South Oyster Bay to the sandy stretch where the women's remains were found.

Some of the victims were believed to have disappeared from that community and their mobile phones were found to have pinged towers in the area, authorities said.

After the truck discovery, a grand jury authorised more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants, allowing the task force to dig in to Heuermann's life.

Detectives collected billing records for burner phones he allegedly used to arrange meetings with the victims, retested DNA found with the bodies and scoured Heuermann's internet search history, which showed that he had viewed violent torture pornography and exhibited an intense interest in the Gilgo Beach killings and the renewed investigation. Mobile phone data showed Heuermann was in contact with some victims just before they disappeared, investigators said.

To obtain Heuermann's DNA, a task force surveillance team tailed him in Manhattan, where he worked, and watched as he threw the remnants of his lunch — a box of partially eaten pizza crusts — into a rubbish bin on the footpath.

Investigators rushed in, grabbed the box, and sent it to the crime lab, which matched DNA from the crust to a male hair found on burlap used to restrain one of the victims. He was arrested in July 2023.

After Heuermann's arrest, detectives spent more than 12 days searching his yard and home, where they found a basement vault that contained 279 weapons.

On his computer, investigators said, they found what they described as a "blueprint" for the killings, including a series of checklists with reminders to limit noise, clean the bodies and destroy evidence.

Last year, a judge rejected Heuermann's bid to exclude DNA evidence obtained through advanced techniques that prosecutors say proves he's the killer.

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One local joked the Council didn’t pay its power bill.

Riders on a theme park rollercoaster were left stranded in mid-air after the ride became stuck on the tracks at a Gold Coast theme park.

Village Roadshow Theme Parks confirmed there was a ride stoppage on the DC Rivals HyperCoaster at Warner Bros Movie World this afternoon, after a ride sensor was activated.

"At all times throughout the stoppage, the guests on board were safe and our team were in constant communication with them," a spokesperson said.

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About a dozen riders were able to exit the ride about two hours after it became stuck near the top of the rollercoaster track.

"The guests on board exited the ride from the safe stop zones with the help of our team, before walking down the lift hill," the spokesperson said.

"The safety and wellbeing of our guests is our highest priority and ride stoppages are proof rides systems and operators are doing as they are designed and trained to do to keep our guests safe."

A video posted to Facebook showed the rollercoaster stuck near the peak of the track, with dark umbrellas protecting passengers from the heat.

The DC Rivals HyperCoaster is regarded as the "tallest, longest and fastest HyperCoaster in the southern hemisphere".

The ride travels at speeds up to 115km/h and reaches heights of almost 62 metres.

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"They've got the umbrellas out, it's very hot today," witness Shane Treloar said in a video posted to Facebook.

"Something's happened to the rollercoaster and they've got stuck. They've got the rescue crew up there, I'd say.

"It's hot on the ground, could you imagine being up there? Very hot."

The mercury was forecast to reach 30 degrees on the Gold Coast today.

Riders were stranded mid-air on the the same rollercoaster in January 2024 after a scarf became tangled in the wheels.

Nearby theme park Dreamworld was the scene of the country's deadliest theme park disaster in October 2016, when four riders were killed following a mishap on the Thunder River Rapids Ride.

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The lucky numbers have been drawn.

"Do you want to go to heaven?" 

It was the last question a young girl heard before she was thrown into a river wearing her princess dress and school shoes.

She had been standing on a bridge over the Georges River in Sydney's south west with another girl in September 2023 when Hoda Elabady posed the query, according to court documents.

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"No, I have a bright future," the child replied, revealing her dream to be a police officer when she grows up.

Elabady then picked her up and threw her into the water 1.8 metres below the bridge, a court was told.

The 39-year-old then asked the second girl whether she wanted to "go to God" before also throwing her from the bridge. 

She faced a NSW District Court today after pleading not guilty to two counts of attempting to drown the girls with intent to murder. 

Elabady could not be held responsible for her actions due to her severe mental illness, her lawyer previously argued.

She lives with schizophrenia and was experiencing acute psychosis which involved hallucinations telling her to kill the girls and die by suicide.

Elabady had watched from above, anger plastered on her face, as the two girls struggled to remain above the water, Judge Huw Baker said.

"Please let us back up," one of the girls yelled.

Instead the woman attempted to die by suicide, sustaining significant injuries to her legs and lower body, the court was told.

Standing on something submerged in the river, with nothing but a stick to help them stay afloat, the girls hugged each other and tried to signal for help.

A passer-by finally heard their calls at midday and pulled them from the water before they were taken to hospital, Judge Baker said.

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"(We) recognise the bravery of the two young girls who, for a very terrifying two hours, were in the water in the Georges River in what can only be described as the most horrific and terrifying circumstances," he said.

The judge found Elabady had tried to drown the children but could not be held criminally responsible for her actions because of her mental illnesses. 

She is believed to have been living with an untreated mental impairment since she was 17 years old, according to mental health experts cited in court.

Elabady's mental health deteriorated in the months before the incident, the court was told.

She began telling others she had been talking with an angel and one day said the "evil touched me" before revealing a mark on her thigh.

One of the specialists had "absolute medical confidence" she did not know what she had done was wrong, Judge Baker noted.

She currently shows no overt symptoms of psychosis and, with ongoing treatment, he said she would not pose a risk to herself or the community.

If you or someone you know is in need of support contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue. In the event of an emergency dial Triple Zero (000).

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