Loading summary
Transcript42 lines
- [00:00]
A
You have one new message translating. Disney and Pixar's Hoppers is now available on Disney.
- [00:09]
B
You could say that again.
- [00:11]
A
Critics are calling it Pixar's funniest movie ever. And a wildly entertaining ride. Blizzard Potato. It's certified fresh and verified hot.
- [00:19]
B
Now we party. This is incredible.
- [00:23]
A
Wow.
- [00:24]
B
I am clearing the rest of the day.
- [00:25]
A
Disney and Pixar's Hoppers now available on Disney. Rated pg.
- [00:30]
C
This is crime and justice. Donna Rotuno, Gilgo Beach. Serial killer Rex Heuerman has officially been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Joining us now is FOX News Digital reporter Mike Ruiz. Mike, you are in the courtroom today.
- [00:49]
B
Yeah, Donna, you know, it was interesting being in there and then getting a chance to look at it on video after, because where I was sitting behind Rex, I couldn't see his face at all. And he looked straight ahead basically the whole time. I think he glanced over at the speakers once. The whole hearing that I saw maybe more, but all that I saw was once and I still couldn't see his eyes. So I saw him basically sit like a statue while, you know, he had eight victims. There were 10 family members that came up to speak and another three sent statements that were read by prosecutors. So he sat there basically like a statue through almost all of that. Just kind of probably he was coached to do this, but he looked a little bit, you know, straight ahead towards the bench, not really at anybody that we could tell. And there were some emotional moments in there where he barely flinched. So it was a very interesting end to this saga. You know, this case started more than 10, 16 years ago was the first body was found. The first murder was actually recorded in 1993. So. So it's been a long time before this guy got to see justice.
- [01:55]
C
The year I graduated high school. Mike, that's a, that's a really long time ago, actually. Frighteningly long, to be honest. Let's talk about. You listened to all the victim witness impact statements. Tell me what struck you the most. Was there a common theme? Was there something that jumped out at you in terms of, you know, the most emotional moments in the courtroom today?
- [02:17]
B
Yeah. So we had known that one of the victims Rex told took her phone and harassed her sister, who was 15 at the time. And Rex was calling the sister with the stolen phone. So this girl has a missing sister. Nobody knows where she is. And Rex is calling and harassing her and saying, I killed your sister. I did all these horrible things. You know, we didn't really know what he said until today. When she paraphrased it. And it's really stuff that we can't say on air. And that's how bad he was. After killing a girl, he calls her sister and says unspeakable things to her when she's 15. From the victim's phone, obviously, there was
- [02:57]
C
no way to find out who it was, given the fact that it was from a phone. Not. Not tied to him in any way.
- [03:03]
B
Right.
- [03:03]
C
You know, at the time.
- [03:05]
B
Exactly. Although it's interesting, it was the digital forensics and the phone activity that actually eventually led to him. It wasn't that phone, that phone call to the sister. But. But actually, they were able to, in 2022, when they started the task force, to look at the cold case. Right. Because this. This had been investigated for. For more than a decade. In 2010, when they first started finding the bodies, they did a phone tower dump and they pulled a bunch of stuff, and they've kind of figured out, well, we think that he's in this area just east of New York City. So they had the rough area kind of figured out. And when they looked at it again more recently, they were able to figure out that the burner phones, he had many, apparently many, many burner phones, and he had one in his pocket the day he was arrested. But for each victim that he decided he was going to kill, he had a separate phone, according to prosecutors, at least at some point. You know, because this had been going on for so long, cell phones weren't really a thing when he did the first kill. But afterward, they were able to find a way. They were able to match the burner phone that was communicating with the victims were always. Even though the phones changed, Rex's phone was always near it, no matter which victim he was talking to. If the burner phone was on and communicating with the victim, Rex's phone was on in the same place, according to the cell phone pings that they grabbed back in 2010. So they were able to piece all that together and get them.
- [04:39]
C
I mean, for a guy who thought out things so well. Right. I mean, he was so well planned for such a long period of time. That was a really rookie mistake to make, especially given the length of time these things took place and how technology changed. You would think at some point he may realize maybe you got a burner phone for a reason, maybe leave the
- [05:02]
B
other one behind, you know what? But that's what the next guy will do, right? I mean, look at Bryan Coburger. He shut his phone off before he went and did the murders. So Rex kind of grew up as a serial killer as, like, the millennial generation grew up, you know, and you started with no cell phones and no Internet, and you ended up with everybody's on cell phones and the Internet. And he went from meeting prostitutes in person and at targeting them to arranging dating, you know, finding them on dating apps and Craigslist and things like that. So he evolved with the technology, and it was the technology that ultimately undid him because he didn't really know how it worked. But there's going to be a next generation of people who are a little more versed in that and the technology.
- [05:45]
C
It seems like in all the cases that we've been covering lately, technology ends up being the thing that really does get people one way or another. Because even, like, you look at Coburger and you think, okay, he shut the phone off. But that was another thing to look at, right? Very bizarre. The phone's off during the time this took place. Again, probably better to just leave it at home and not take it with you at all. But we're not going to give people any ideas about how to, you know, commit a better crime.
- [06:11]
A
Starting a business can seem like a daunting task unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel Heinz and Allbirds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into sign up for your $1 per month trial@shopify.com SpecialOffer Honey, what are you listening to? Mom? Your teen might not share everything with you, but teens share everything with each other. And certain everyday behaviors, like sharing food, drinks or kisses could mean sharing bacteria that can cause meningococcal disease known as meningitis. Although meningitis is uncommon, about 1 in 10 who develop it will die. Ask your teen's doctor about missing meningitis vaccinations. Learn more@meningitis.com Vaccination may not protect all recipients. Sponsored by GSK.
- [07:09]
C
Talk to Me about who else was in the courtroom besides victims, family members, prosecutors. Anybody for Rex?
- [07:16]
B
No. Rex's family did not come. His wife's attorney sat in the audience. But we were. We were told last week that his family wasn't coming. They didn't want any attention. They didn't want to detract from the victims. Basically, they said, I'm paraphrasing, but they said, this is their day, not ours. So they stayed away and left him alone to face, you know, the families of the eight women that he killed.
- [07:43]
C
My guess is they didn't want any spotlight on them for their own personal reasons, too. I mean, this is just a horrific thing. You want to be as far detached from it as possible other than looking kind of straight ahead. How was Rex when he had to answer questions from the court? How did he respond? How did the court respond to him? I know the judge was really passionate today and was very vocal about his thoughts. So talk to me about Rex. And then the way the judge interacted with Rex and the court.
- [08:14]
B
Yeah. So if any. You know, if Rex showed no emotion through all of the. The victim and witness impact statements, he seemed floored when he was asked if he wanted to talk. And he did talk briefly. He basically said he had no words and he was guilty, and he admitted to it. And then the judge was like, you know, okay, yeah, we get that you're sorry that you got caught. Maybe you're sorry for what you did to your own family, but do you have any shred of remorse for the. These eight women that you killed and for their families? And he weakly, meagerly, kind of mumbled, yes, sir, like, I do have remorse. And the judge excoriated him for that. I don't think that he was convinced that Rex had any remorse, just from where I was sitting, you know, a few rows behind him. But if you. If you look at the front view where the camera was, you can see Rex kind of surprise on his face when it was his turn and he started mumbling, and the judge told him to get up, and he stood up, and he was still mumbling. Honestly, it was really hard to hear him in the courtroom. And one of the victim's families, a member of one of their families, told him, speak up. Speak louder.
- [09:22]
C
Yeah, they wanted to hear him. This was their chance to hear what he had to say. I'm sure it said that he sat expressionless throughout the proceeding, staring blankly at his hands or the table, refusing to make eye contact with grieving family members. And then when he was allowed to speak, he muttered in a barely audible voice, I am responsible for all that was said in this room. The words I would say have no meaning, which I think is. Is probably fairly insightful, because I don't think anybody, as much as you think you want to hear from somebody in that moment, I'm not so sure anything you say makes a difference. Not only does it ease any of your pain, but it doesn't change the situation. And I think anything that he would say, even if maybe in his mind it was heartfelt or true, I don't think anybody else would accept it that way.
- [10:10]
B
You know what was interesting is the DA kind of weighed in on this, too. Rex had apparently been trying to control his victims.
- [10:18]
A
Right?
- [10:19]
B
He's a controlling personality, and physically, they were all half his size. They were young, couldn't put up a fight. He lured them in with. Under pretenses. And then he was kind of trickling information out through the family, through his therapist, through his attorney, getting information to the public that the DA kind of said, look, this is his attempt to control the narrative. And, you know, he said nothing that Rex really says matters. What matters is what he said before he was caught, what he told the sister when he stole the phone and called her up, you know, what he told the victims to lure them to their deaths. Those were the things that the DA said mattered and nothing that he was going to say after admitting to the crimes. And in court there today.
- [11:08]
C
I want to go over exactly what the judge said, because this is. This is pretty strong. And maybe the judge listened to a lot of the criticism that we all gave during Kohberger, because, of course, that was the big complaint, right, was that Coburger gets this. This sentence that allows him to plea and save his life and he doesn't get the death penalty. And, you know, which wasn't an option in New York, but here, you know, in. In Idaho, it was. And everybody was upset that Brian Coburger wasn't forced to answer to anything. So maybe the judge here was hoping that he could get Rex to answer for something. But what's really interesting is, you know, I. As a defense lawyer, I'm probably not preparing Rex for that exchange because it is fairly odd for the judge to ask questions other than, how do you plead? Right. So it's really. They say, if you'd like to make a statement, you can, but it's very strange to have pointed questions asked to the defendant. And. And the judge said. The judge looked directly at him and asked, are you sorry? Are you at least a little sorry? Heman gave a low yes and nodded. Then the judge said, you are a disgusting and despicable small man. If you are a man at all, you are a coward. Get him out of here. I mean, that's pretty. That's pretty tough from a judge. I think people want to see more of that these days.
- [12:26]
B
Yeah. And I had heard that this was a tough judge. I Had no experience with him before. And it looks like that that rumor was accurate. I mean, he. He controlled this case. The defense raised a lot of stuff along the way. They tried to throw out new techniques for the DNA, the rootless hair DNA, that's a big thing that's coming up in other cases now. This was the first case that it was part of the. And it moved along at a speedy pace. Finally, the judge earlier this year said, okay, we're going to set a trial date. We're going to move this along. And Rex turned around and ended up pleading. And not only did he plead to the seven murders he was charged with, he also took responsibility for an eighth uncharged murder.
- [13:04]
C
Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's. That's pretty astounding, too, right? I mean, at that point, what do you have to lose? I mean, he probably just could have dug his heels in and said plea to these and that's enough. You got to interview the DA Afterwards, Is that right? Yes.
- [13:20]
B
We learned some new stuff from him, actually. And, you know, one of the things is there's going to be more evidence. There is more evidence that we haven't seen that they didn't have to bring out yet that they would have used if they had to go to trial. I don't know what all of it is. I do know he talked a little bit about Rex's document. You know, the infamous kind of how to guide. Rex was keeping notes to himself on how to do the crimes. He wrote down where there are traffic cameras in his community. He wrote down things like, you know, supplies he needed to clean up. He wrote down pretty sickening notes. You know, small is good. Punch in the face, like, just twisted stuff. And the document was actually deleted on his computer when they served a search warrant. After they arrested him, they got the computers and they did this kind of deep dive into the digital forensics. And they were able to find the deleted file, which was like, the name was a code. It was HK and then a number. And the number was something connected to the date of when he created it. And there were multiple versions of this over the years. So he had been kind of improving his methodology. But HK, we found out, now stands for Hunt and Kill. That was his Hunt and Kill guide. That's what the HK Stood for in that. And when they recovered it, they actually found evidence in the document that sent them back to the house, like, more than a year after they had searched it and arrested him. The family had been living there the whole time, but they knew something specific that they Wanted to look for in the basement of the home, which is where he was killing seven of the eight victims. And he had a line in there about using tape versus using thumbtacks to hang the drop cloth. And they, you know, like Dexter Morgan style. Like, literally. The DA Said that Dexter Morgan, the show came up when they were talking about this because of how similar it was, and he was hanging the drop cloth in the basement. He made a perfect square in the area where he was killing people. And they went back and found, with a blue light, evidence of the tape on the ceiling where he was hanging the drop cloth.
- [15:27]
C
Wow. Wow, that's so eerie. I mean, the. The DA Talked about this sport of hunting. In his notes, Heuerman reminded himself to sleep before the hunt, discussed hitting harder and treating the taking of human life purely as a sport. He noted that if he could hear birds outside his house, people outside could hear what was happening inside. I mean, really just something else. I mean, the DA Talked about how he was smug, confident, and not smear. Not nearly as smart as he thinks he is, which I think was probably pretty spot on, given our communication regarding the phones. What happens next for Rex?
- [16:09]
B
Yeah, so he's. Before the end of the week, he'll be in prison. We don't know the exact timing of the transfer, but they said they want to get him out of the Suffolk County Jail as quickly as possible. There are no prisons on Long island, so he'll be upstate New York somewhere. They didn't tell us which one yet. And he is going to. He's agreed, as part of the plea deal, to sit down with the FBI's Behavior Analysis Unit so they can clinically study him and try to figure out, you know, ways to stop the next one before it advances this far.
- [16:40]
C
Did the judge address that at all to him? Did he say anything about, you know, it would behoove you to be honest or make sure you're open with them, or did he. Did he acknowledge that at all?
- [16:50]
B
I didn't hear that today. I don't know if they talked about it at the prior hearing where he accepted the plea, you know, and pleaded guilty. So, you know, I didn't hear the judge kind of telling him, hey, be straight with these guys. But you have a feeling that even if he's not, they're gonna know and they're gonna analyze him anyway. I mean, these guys are experts. This is what they do. I think you go into any conversation with a serial killer being skeptical of how honest they're going to be with you.
- [17:21]
C
Yeah. I think odds are they're not going to be. And you go in there completely aware of that, and I think that's part of the whole disorder. Right. So I don't want to leave you without mentioning a couple of the powerful statements made by the victims. One was the sister of Melissa Bartholomew, and she said, don't even bother saying you were sorry. I hope you suffer. Thank you. Save me a spot in hell, because I'll see you there. So that's pretty, pretty tough. We also heard from the daughter of Megan Waterman, who cried and talked about how learning of her mother's murder, murder when she was just nine years old, what that did for her and how terrible. She's not happy with the media and the docu series and things. Making money off of this she's talking about. Then we heard from the cousin of Jessica Taylor. Jessica Taylor, excuse me, expressed the enduring trauma in hearing words like torso, headless, handless, and that was applied to someone that she loved. She pointed out that he created a planning document specifically to kill her cousin. And then we heard of the sister. We heard from the sister of Maureen Barnes, and she spoke of a decade of survivor's guilt and a brother who died of grief while still searching for the killer of Maureen. She told Heman, you are a coward. Your name will not never rise above the women you stole from this world. So a very powerful day in court today. Rex Heuerman is going exactly where he deserves to go and will never see the light of day. Mike, thank you, as always. You're our favorite reoccurring guest on the podcast.
- [18:59]
B
Thank you for having me. And I do. I do want to just add one thing about, you know, Melissa's sister.
- [19:05]
C
Yeah, please.
- [19:05]
B
Melissa's sister Amanda, who told Rex, you know, wait for me in hell. She's the one who got the phone calls when she was 15, and she called him out not only for that, but she said, look at me when I'm talking to you. And he didn't. She said, we talked 17 years ago. You know, she brought this back up, and I think this was. This was part of it for her, especially to be able to confront this demon. You know, everybody, I think many of the families got up and, you know, they. They talked about their religion and their faith and how the victims are going to be with Jesus. Now, this guy got a different message from Melissa's sister, and he couldn't look at her when she was delivering it.
- [19:54]
C
Well, this has been decades of torture for these families, and hopefully today they felt some level of closure and got to say their peace. Now they at least know what happened to their beloved family members. We will keep them in our prayers and again, M, I so appreciate it.
- [20:08]
B
Thank you for having me and have a good one. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying Big Wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway, give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for
- [20:36]
A
three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile. Com.