SKULL IDed: Long Island serial killer suspect Rex Heuerman's office just blocks from victim 7 apartment
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.2 • 8.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 August 2023
⏱️ 40 minutes
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Summary
Another body linked to the Long Island Serial Killer has been identified.
The 34-year-old woman was named Karen Vergata, a sex worker who disappeared from her Manhattan home in 1996. Two months later, her legs were found in a plastic bag at Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach, leading to her being referred to as “Fire Island Jane Doe.”
Her skull was found 15 years later and linked to the Fire Island remains via DNA analysis,
Charges have not yet been brought in this case, as police ask for a DNA swab from Rex Heuermann.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Bernarda Villalona – NY Criminal Defense Attorney & Former Prosecutor, Villalona Law, PLLC.: @BernardaVillalona (FaceBook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads); Twitter: @VillalonaLaw
- Dr. Angela Arnold – Psychiatrist, Atlanta, GA; Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women; Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University; Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital; Voted “My Buckhead’s Best Psychiatric Practice of 2022”
- Sheryl McCollum – Forensic Expert, Founder: Cold Case Investigative Research Institute in Atlanta, GA. Host of "Zone 7"; Twitter: @149Zone7
- Joseph Giacalone – Former NYPD Sergeant SDS and Author: “ The Cold Case Handbook” and “The Criminal Investigative Function: A Guide for New Investigators 4th Edition;” Twitter: @JoeGiacalone
- Josh Zeman – Filmmaker and Producer; Director of “The Killing Season” (an 8-part series on the Gilgo killer and ties to other victims in the area from 2017)
- Dr. Tim Gallagher – Medical Examiner State of Florida; Lecturer: University of Florida Medical School Forensic Medicine; Founder/Host: International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference
- Jen Smith- Chief Reporter for DailyMail.com; Twitter: @jen_e_smith
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A major development in the so-called Long Island serial killer case in the last days yet |
| 0:21.2 | another woman has been positively identified, a 34-year-old woman. |
| 0:28.8 | What more do we know? And how long till her body will be linked to Rex Hewerman, |
| 0:36.5 | now charged in the murders of three of the so-called Gilgo Beach four, but there are many |
| 0:42.5 | other bodies. In this particular case, Karen Vergata is the most recently named victim. |
| 0:50.2 | Her legs were found several miles away at Davis Beach. Her skull is found at Gilgo where |
| 1:00.5 | the other victims had been disposed, thrown away like trash under a most stretch of beach. |
| 1:07.8 | I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation |
| 1:12.2 | in Series XM 111. What do we know? First of all, take a listen to our friends at NBC. |
| 1:19.9 | Even though accused serial killer Rex Hewerman sits in jail awaiting trial, there are still |
| 1:24.6 | many unanswered questions in the Gilgo Beach murders case. At least 11 bodies were discovered |
| 1:29.8 | on Long Island over a decade ago, and Hewerman is accused of killing three of the women. |
| 1:34.7 | Today, a breakthrough. We are here to announce that as part of the Gilgo Test Force reexamination |
| 1:40.3 | of all the evidence in the case, we are able to identify Fire Island Jane Doe as Karen |
| 1:46.5 | Vergata. With me and all star a panel, but first, I'm going to go to a special guest, |
| 1:50.7 | Joseph Jackalone, former NYPD Sergeant, Cold Case Investigator, and author of the cold case |
| 1:58.1 | handbook and the criminal investigation, investigative function, a guide for new investigators. |
| 2:04.1 | You can find him at josephjackalone.com. Can we just get real just a moment? We're hearing |
| 2:12.6 | Rex Hewerman is not being linked to this nearly identified skull. But what's the likelihood? |
| 2:20.9 | What is the likelihood, Joseph, that another killer just happened to hide a skull so close |
| 2:28.6 | in proximity to the other victims? I don't find that actually practical. From the very beginning, |
| 2:35.7 | I was a firm believer in one serial killer, not to using the same location to dump their bodies. |
... |
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