Victoria Heuermann’s ‘Demonic’ Artwork: Breakdown of the Sadistic Images

An attorney representing possible victims of the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer explained how newly released “demonic” artwork potentially connects Rex Heuermann and his daughter to the Long Island murders.

Attorney John Ray held a press conference on Thursday to share the “sadistic” images that Victoria Heuermann, the daughter of Rex Heuermann, was creating and viewing. He points out the eerie similarities to the murders her father has been charged with.

“The evidence that we have suggests that we have been sold a story by the Heuermann family,” Ray said. “These people didn’t tell the truth.”

Rex Heuermann remained emotionless last week when he was charged with his fifth and sixth murders, for the deaths of Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor. The 60-year-old architect was first arrested in July 2023 for the deaths of four women whose remains were found in burlap sacks along the Ocean Parkway in New York over a decade ago.

Prior to last week, Heuermann was already facing charges for the “Gilgo Four” – Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

Ray’s office revealed seven images from Victoria’s alleged Tumblr blog. The attorney then sent Newsweek over 20 additional pieces of art work.

The art

Posts on the account @vinnandimadtur consist of her artwork as well as re-blogs from others. Other images were deleted by Victoria, according to Ray.

“We found that it appears that she has erased all of her sites that she has, all of her social media,” Ray said. “She just missed these ones.”

Victoria’s mother, Asa Ellerup, has also deleted her social media accounts, Ray said.

A June 10, 2018 post by Victoria shows a ceramic skull around other pottery roses. There’s also a drawing of Victoria that is darker and more ominous with purple and yellow colorings.

A Tumblr post on Dec. 12, 2019 is a “work in progress oil on canvas.” The image appears to be of a woman’s naked body that has bit marks taken from her naval and torso areas. Directly next to them is a more monstrous looking being with blood shot eyes and fanged teeth.

Victoria also followed a lot of accounts that posted a variety of images, including one by @ex0skeletal-undead that shows decapitated heads and bodies.

Another is nude, deceased woman impaled by antlers in an area that seems to be a marsh. Ray said this was a similar position as how Shannan Gilbert was found.

One image shows four hanged people in what seems to be a corridor. A shoe is missing to one of the people depicted.

“Sandra Castillo was found with a shoe missing. This seems to be a fetish, a fetish that was indulged in by Rex Heuermann, a fetish that was depicted and looked into by his daughter,” Ray said. “That’s a connection.”

A few image shows a basement covered in bloody handprint and blood smears.

Ray said he believes it’s similar to Heuermann’s house.

Another photo shows a hanged person with hair that is similar to her father’s, Ray said. The image shows a woman that is bound and tortured in a dimly-lit basement. The murderer bares a knife and mutilated the victim’s breast.

There’s one image of a mass grave of skeletons.

Multiple images show a “bloodied, dissected body.”

One is of a person being tortured with needles and sharp implements with the person’ s throat cut open. Victoria reposted @lilaira’s image with the text “‘is this about death or sex’ what do you mean ‘or'” as well as “bro has never stood at the crossroads where death and sex meet and realised (sic) that they’re two sides of the same coin.”

Victoria also reblogged texts about brutalization, including hanging from chains, amputating arms and legs and skinning a victim at their throat “so it can be kissed and licked.”

Many reblogged posts “sexualize murder,” according to Ray. One even shows items like rib cutters, toothed forceps, scissors and a bone saw and called them “sex toys.”

One image shows a “strange familiarity” that shows limbs and hands that are cut off, according to Ray. This show similarities to how some of Rex Heuermann’s alleged victims were found. The image shows the “preparation” of a decapitated body. Ray mentioned that it is notably a trunk and limbs removed at the elbow with hands separated from it.

One image appears to be of remains that are “half eaten,” which Ray said relates to the cannibalism Victoria was interested in.

There are a few with a “cult-like cannibalistic ritual.”

“There are many pictures beside what I’m showing you that are equally bad or worse,” Ray said. “We chose these pictures because of their significance in relation to Rex Heuermann as well as his daughter Victoria.”

How this could happen

There is potential that she was surrounded by the murders and thought nothing of it. Dr. Gary Brucato, forensic psychologist, called this “normalization.”

She also could have suffered from Stockholm Syndrome. The disease is a reaction to developing a psychological bond to a captor or an abuser.

“The jury is out on what this was about,” Brucato said.

About 20% of serial killers operate in groups, according to Brucato.

Hairs on some of Rex Heuermann’s victims could have been from Victoria rather than transferred by her father, Ray said. This goes against what District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced last week.

“He has no way of knowing that for certain,” Ray said. “Considering what you see and what you know, that might tip the card a little bit.”

Brucato pointed to similar cases to Rex Heuermann, who potentially worked alongside his daughter Victoria, including the case of David Parker Ray. Known as the “Toy-Box Killer,” Parker Ray is accused of torturing and killing around 50 women in his basement. Women were sometimes brought by Parker Ray’s daughter sometimes.

Brucato also noted the case of John Wayne Gacy, who is now thought to work in a group. Wayne Gacy murdered and raped over 30 young men and boys in Chicago.

Brucato believes there are multiple other individuals who have been harmed, killed, or kidnapped by Heuermann.

“Until recently it was thought that he was a lone wolf,” he said. “There is a tendency to think that these people are lone wolfs that cannot have connections with other people.”