Gilgo Beach serial killer has communicated with another serial killer from jail

Admitted Gilgo Beach, New York, serial killer Rex Heuermann likes to read about serial killers to pass the time in jail and has received correspondence from a fellow serial killer, according to Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon.

Heuermann, who pleaded guilty to strangling eight women to death during a 17-year killing spree, is awaiting sentencing later this month at the Riverhead Correctional Facility, where he has been in custody since his 2023 arrest.

Heuermann is an avid ready of books and periodicals, Toulon told ABC News. Recently, Heuermann has read "Chosen to Die" by Lisa Jackson, a novel about detectives hunting a serial killer in Montana; "Portrait in Death" by Nora Roberts, about a lieutenant pursuing a serial killer; and "The Dead Girl," a memoir by Melanie Thernstrom about murder, the sheriff said.

One person Heuermann has communicated with is Keith Hunter Jesperson, a serial killer from the 1990s known as the Happy Face Killer. The sheriff said Jesperson "reached out a few times" and Heuermann wrote back at least once. The contents of their correspondence are unknown.

Heuermann is largely confined to a 6 feet-by-9 feet cell, Toulon said.

The sheriff said Heuermann's demeanor has not changed in the three years he has been in jail. He said the former architect remains stoic and never shows any despair. 

After more than 40 years in law enforcement, Toulon said he has "never seen an inmate like this." 

"No change of emotion, no change in facial expressions. I really think he's a sociopath," Toulon said.

Heuermann's daughter, ex-wife, attorney and therapist have been his only regular visitors, the sheriff said.

In April, Heuermann appeared in court and admitted to the murders of eight women. Heuermann pleaded guilty to killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and Sandra Costilla, and he also admitted to killing Karen Vergata, though he was not formally charged in her death.

Prosecutors said he targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies near Long Island's Gilgo Beach.

Part of his plea agreement required Heuermann to be interviewed by the FBI's behavioral analysis unit, though Toulon said that has not happened yet.

Heuermann is expected to be sentenced to life in prison at a hearing on June 17.