Suffolk County authorities say they couldn’t get Rex Heuermann off Long Island fast enough, shipping him upstate to rot in prison the morning after he received the maximum possible punishment for the Gilgo Beach murders under New York law.
The 62-year-old former New York City architect received three consecutive sentences of life without parole, to be followed by four terms of 25 to life, after District Attorney Ray Tierney says he built a “Dexter”-style kill room in his basement, where he killed seven of his eight known victims.
“The sentence is appropriate for his crimes, and obviously he got what he deserved,” his ex-wife Asa Ellerup said through her attorney, Bob Macedonio.
PSYCHED OUT: Accused assassin Luigi Mangione’s defense team floated a psychiatric defense in court this week, then backtracked a day later. The former Ivy Leaguer would have had to concede that he did shoot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in the back to deploy an “extreme emotional disturbance” defense under New York law, experts say. If successful, it would have dramatically reduced his potential sentence upon conviction at the state level — but could’ve put him at risk in his federal trial, slated for next year.
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BECKY’S BACK: The former court clerk whose misconduct helped overturn Alex Murdaugh’s murder conviction is now asking a federal judge to toss his $600,000 lawsuit against her. Lawyers for Rebecca Hill argued in a filing Thursday that Murdaugh has no right to recover the money he spent defending himself during a 2023 trial over the murders of his wife and son.
‘TOSSED TO THE WOLVES’: “Happy Face” killer Keith Jesperson has some prison advice for fellow serial murderer Rex Heuermann, warning the “ogre”-like monster that “little guys work out too, to beat up us big guys.” Heuermann can expect to get in some prison fights, he says.
WHERE’S NANCY GUTHRIE?: The mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie remains missing more than 135 days after her suspected abduction from her Tucson home. Some cybersecurity experts believe she may have been the victim of a “wrench attack,” where a hacker coordinated with local thugs to try and extort bitcoin from her daughter. The trend is on the rise, experts say, and increasingly involves vulnerable victims related to wealthy targets, rather than the earners themselves.
GET TO WORK: “Hell on Wheels” killer Mackenzie Shrilla is now serving up prison meals. The 21-year-old, convicted of slamming her Toyota Camry into a building on purpose and killing her boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and their 19-year-old friend Davion Flanagan in 2022, has landed a job behind bars. Aside from prison food, she is serving concurrent sentences of 15 years to life behind bars.
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UP NEXT: Karen Read is due in court for three separate hearings next week connected to the O’Keefe family’s wrongful death lawsuit. Read was acquitted a year ago this week of all homicide-related charges stemming from her ex-boyfriend John O’Keefe’s frigid death during a 2022 blizzard.
Tyler Robinson will also hear from Judge Tony Graf, who is expected to rule on a defense motion to punish prosecutors for making extrajudicial remarks about the case against Charlie Kirk’s accused assassination.
Barry Morphew is also due back in court in Colorado in connection with the death of his wife, Suzanne.
