Son Of Gilgo Beach Murder Victim Files Suit Against Accused Killer Rex Heuermann, Family: Court Docs

RIVERHEAD, NY — Days before accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann is expected to plead guilty to killing seven women, the son of one of the victims has filed suit against Heuermann, his former wife, and their daughter, court records indicate.

A wrongful death suit filed in State Supreme Court in Suffolk County seeks relief for Benjamin Torres, the son of Valerie Mack, stating that Mack was "tortured ferociously, and her body was dismembered."

In December, 2024, Heuermann was charged in the death of a seventh victim, Mack, according to a bail application distributed by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's Office.

Mack was murdered on or about September 1, 2000 to November 19, 2000, Tierney said.

Heuermann was charged with second-degree murder, an A-1 violent felony; he was previously charged in the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, the DA said.

The suit filed by attorney John Ray for Torres said that at the time of his mother's murder, he was six years old, and he has since been "deprived of his mother's care, guidance, protection, nurture, society, and economic support."

The suit states that it seeks "recovery for the wrongful torture and murder of Valerie Mack, for the terror, restraint, pain, mutilation, and dismemberment inflicted upon her before and after death, for the concealment and mutilation of her remains, and for the profound and prolonged harm thereby inflicted" upon her son.

Torres, the suit continues, "seeks recovery" of the "monies they were given to exploit the slaughter of plaintiff and to publically attenuate defendant Rex Heuermann's atrociousness via media exploitation."

Specifically, Torres seeks compensations he said Ellerup or Victoria Heuermann may have received from a Peacock documentary they participated in, spotlighting he Gilgo Beach murders, the suit said.

Mack, the suit said, disappeared from Pennsylvania in or about 2000 while Torres was still a child.

"At or about the time of her disappearance, Valerie Mack bore distinctive identifying features, including a tattoo bearing or referencing" her son's name "on or near her foot or ankle."

The suit goes on to say that Heuermann's former wife Asa Ellerup and daughter Victoria Heuermann lived at their Massapequa residence during the relevant time period and "had regular access to the residence and its contents."

Robert Macedonio, attorney for Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann, spoke to Patch about the suit Monday night: "This is a reckless attempt by John Ray to keep himself relevant in a case where his only client Shannan Gilbert had no involvement with the Gilgo Beach homicides."

He added: "I am confident this matter will be dismissed. And I reiterate: Asa Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann have no involvement and or knowledge of the crimes Rex Heuermann has been accused of."

Of Ray, Macedonio added: "He's looking to seek a financial windfall to recoup tens of thousands of dollars of his own money he's spent over the last decade."

And, Macedonio said: "At the time of Valerie Mack's homicide Victoria Heuermann was 13 years old. What person in their right mind would think a 13-year-old would be involved with a homicide with a serial killer? I am fully confident in Ray Tierney and the Gilgo Beach task force, which has thoroughly investigated the case and cleared them of any responsibility whatsoever."

Tierney has repeatedly stated throughout course of the proceedings spanning almost three years that Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann had never been charged and had been out of town at the time the women were murdered.

Ray did not immediately return a request for comment.

"This was a reckless lawsuit brought by John Ray," Macedonio said.

Valerie Mack's remains were found in Manorville and along Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach and Oak Beach, the suit said.

On or about November 19, 2000, hunters in a wooded area of Manorville discovered black plastic bags containing a partial human body; those remains were later identified as belonging to Mack, the suit said.

Mack's body had been "brutally dismembered. She had been decapitated, both hands had been severed above the wrists, and her right leg had been cut off at approximately the mid-calf. Valerie Mack's torso, legs, and arms had also been bound with rope," the suit said.

At the Manorville scene in 2000, Valerie Mack's head, hands, and right foot were not recovered; next, on or about April 4, 2011, additional remains of Valerie Mack — specifically her skull, hands, and right foot — were discovered along Ocean Parkway, east of Gilgo Beach, and near Oak Beach, the suit said.

"Upon information and belief, the killer's splitting of Valerie Mack's remains between Manorville and Ocean Parkway was deliberate and was intended, amongst other reasons to hinder identification, impede investigation, and conceal the identity of the killer and any accomplices," the suit alleged. "Upon information and belief, the torture, murder and dismemberment of Valerie Mack was carried out for ritualistic and demonic purposes."

Because Valerie Mack had been dismembered and her identifying body parts were removed and separated, her identity remained unknown for many years, the suit said.

Law enforcement authorities referred to Valerie Mack for years as'Jane Doe No. 6' or a similar unidentified designation, the suit said.

Mack was not identified until May 2020, after the application by law enforcement authorities of modern DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy, the suit said.

Even after Valerie Mack was identified in 2020, the identity of her accused killer was not publicly charged until years later, the suit said.

Tbe suit also referenced Heuermann's reported "planning document," that "included references to, among other things, "DS-1, Mill Rd," "Small is good," "Holding area," "Build Table," "Cross bar," "Hard point," "Package for transport," "Remove head and hands," "Remove ID Marks [Tatoos (sic))," "Distroy (sic) computer files," and "Have story set," the suit said.

"Those instructions and references correspond in striking ways to the condition and disposal of Valerie Mack's remains," the suit said.

Along with wrongful death, the suit cites accusations of "deliberate, tortuous infliction of conscious pain and suffering to Valerie Mack prior to death; assault; battery; false imprisonment/unlawful restraint; interference with right of sepulchre; intentional infliction of extreme emotional distress; aiding and abetting; unjust enrichment;" and more.