Dubai Sheikh’s $1.8M Wedding to Pure Girl Ends in Blood When He Finds Her Real Husband

Dubai Sheikh’s $1.8M Wedding to Pure Girl Ends in Blood When He Finds Her Real Husband

…

How innocent she looked, how pure her intentions seemed.

It’s my pleasure, sir,” she said softly, her eyes downcast in a way that seemed culturally respectful rather than submissive.

“I hope I didn’t make any mistakes with the technical terms.

” Her voice carried just a hint of nervousness that made her seem endearingly human rather than polished, the perfect picture of innocence.

Over the next 4 days, their professional interactions gradually became more personal.

During coffee breaks between conference sessions, Jasm found himself drawn into conversations about her life.

She was an engineering graduate, she explained, working multiple jobs to support her widowed mother after her father died in a tragic factory accident.

Her dreams of pursuing an MBA abroad seemed impossible due to her family’s financial struggles.

Yet, she spoke about her circumstances without self-pity.

Such an innocent approach to life’s hardships.

Education is the only way to break the cycle.

She told him during one of their evening conversations after the conference sessions ended.

My father always said, “Knowledge is the one thing no one can take away from you.

” These words resonated deeply with Jasm who had built his own empire on education and self-improvement.

How could he know that this innocent philosophy was actually a carefully rehearsed script? Jasm began to see himself as her guardian angel, someone who could change her life trajectory.

When they exchanged phone numbers on his last day in Mumbai, he felt something he hadn’t experienced in years.

Genuine hope for a meaningful connection.

Their late night phone conversations became the highlight of his days back in Dubai.

Ria spoke about her simple life with such gratitude that it made Jasm’s own abundance feel hollow.

Her innocent wonder at his descriptions of Dubai life charmed him completely.

Yet there were subtle red flags that Jasm chose to ignore.

She sometimes took hours to respond to his messages claiming she was working multiple jobs.

When he asked about her exact hometown in Rajasthan, her answers remained vague.

Most telling were the background voices during their calls.

Male voices she quickly explained away as neighbors in her apartment building.

When Jasm announced his intentions to marry Ria, his family’s reaction was mixed.

His mother worried about another foreign woman.

After his previous marriage’s failure, his brothers expressed concerns about potential gold digger motives.

You barely know this girl, his brother Khaled argued during a heated family meeting.

At least let us verify her background properly.

But Jasm’s emotional defense was fierce.

Love requires trust, not suspicion, he declared.

She’s not like the others.

She’s genuinely innocent.

The cultural bridge Riya built during their video calls was masterful.

She demonstrated natural understanding of UAE customs.

Quickly learning Arabic greetings that delighted Jasm female relatives.

Her stories of charity work with poor children in Mumbai particularly moved his mother.

Such innocent dedication to helping others.

She has a good heart, his mother admitted after one video call.

And she’s not asking for anything that’s rare these days.

The family gradually found themselves enchanted by her apparent authentic goodness and innocence, exactly as she had planned from the very beginning.

By April 2015, Jasm’s decision was final.

He would spare no expense for what he believed would be the wedding of a lifetime.

The $1.

8 $8 million budget was just the beginning of what would become Dubai’s most talked about social event of the year.

The Burj Arab, that iconic sail-shaped symbol of luxury, was booked for the entire weekend in June.

Jasm wanted everything perfect for his innocent bride to be.

Riya’s family began arriving from India 2 weeks before the ceremony.

What Jasm didn’t know was that half of these people were hired actors while the others were distant relatives who had been paid handsomely to play specific roles.

Her loving uncle was actually a struggling theater performer from Mumbai.

Her devoted cousin sister was a woman Ria had met at a coffee shop just months earlier.

Even her childhood friend was part of the elaborate charade complete with fabricated stories about their school days together.

The innocent family background was as fake as her innocent persona.

The wedding preparations revealed Ria’s masterful performance skills.

She maintained the perfect balance of gratitude and grace, often breaking into tears when discussing how blessed she felt to join such a wonderful family.

During the traditional henna ceremony, she sat beside Jasm’s mother, learning about Emirati customs with what appeared to be genuine fascination.

Her innocent curiosity about every tradition seemed so authentic.

“I want to honor your traditions, Mama,” she said softly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“I want to be the daughter you always dreamed of.

” Jasm was so moved that she removed her own gold bangles and placed them on Ria’s wrists as a symbol of acceptance.

The innocent bride had won over the most important woman in the family.

Riya documented every moment on Instagram, carefully crafting posts about her journey into Emirati culture.

Her captions spoke of feeling overwhelmed by the love and acceptance and being grateful for this new chapter.

The comments poured in from around the world, praising the beautiful cross-cultural love story and the bride’s innocent approach to embracing her new culture.

But behind the scenes, warning signs were multiplying.

3 days before the wedding, Ria received an urgent call.

Her cousin needed $15,000 for emergency medical treatment.

Without hesitation, Jasm transferred the money, touched by her innocent concern for family.

What he didn’t realize was that this money went directly into an account controlled by her real husband back in India.

During pre-wedding interviews with different family members, Ria’s childhood stories began showing inconsistencies.

She told Jazzam’s aunt that she grew up in Jaipur, but informed his brother that her childhood was spent in a small village outside Udipur.

When questioned about these differences, she would become emotional, claiming that memories of her father’s death made some details painful to recall.

Her innocent tears made everyone feel guilty for questioning her.

Most disturbing were her phone conversations in a regional Hindi dialect that she had previously claimed not to speak.

When caught, she explained it away as something she had learned from domestic workers in her building.

The innocent explanation satisfied Jasm, who was too blinded by love, to see the deception.

The wedding itself was a spectacle that would be remembered for years.

400 guests from UAE’s most prominent families filled the Burj Alab’s royal suite in June 2015.

The ceremony beautifully combined traditions with Ria appearing to seamlessly embrace every ritual.

Her innocent joy during each ceremony seemed to move everyone present.

Arabian Business magazine featured them on the cover, calling it a marriage of cultures.

Gulf News Society pages dedicated four full pages to the celebration.

As the weeks passed after the wedding, Ria settled into her new life with the skill of a professional actress.

Jasm had gifted her a luxury penthouse in Dubai Marina worth $2.

1 million where she created the perfect image of domestic bliss.

Shopping expeditions resulted in jewelry gifts totaling over $400,000.

Each piece carefully chosen and photographed for her growing social media presence.

Her innocent delight at each gift seemed so genuine.

She quickly integrated into Dubai’s elite Indian expatriate community, strategically networking with other wealthy Middle Eastern wives.

Her charity work with underprivileged children brought positive media attention to the Al-Rashid family name, making Jasm even prouder of his choice.

Such innocent dedication to helping others, everyone said.

Daily video calls with Jazzim’s mother became routine, showing her cooking traditional Emirati dishes alongside Indian specialties.

She studied Arabic intensively, impressing the extended family with her rapid progress.

When minor family disputes arose, she mediated with wisdom that seemed far beyond her 23 years.

Her innocent insights somehow always brought family members together.

“Your wife is a treasure,” Jasm’s business partners told him repeatedly.

“She has brought such stability to your life.

” These comments only reinforced his belief that he had found his perfect match.

the innocent bride who asked for nothing but gave everything.

Ria played the role of the perfect wife flawlessly.

She attended daily family calls, spent afternoons cooking, and participated in evening cultural events.

She always sought permission for purchases, appearing completely non-materialistic.

Her constant expressions of gratitude made her seem like the most appreciative person alive.

The picture of innocent devotion.

I just want to earn my place in this family through good deeds, she would say, her voice heavy with emotion.

I want to make you proud and maybe one day earn UAE residency because I’ve truly contributed to this society.

Such innocent ambitions.

By August 2015, financial integration began.

A joint Emirates NBD account was established, followed by multiple credit cards with combined limits exceeding $200,000.

Investments were created in her name for tax benefits and she was added as co-owner to upcoming downtown Dubai property developments.

The money trail that would eventually expose her began innocuously.

Regular transfers to support her mother’s kidney treatment seemed natural and compassionate.

Charitable donations to rural education organizations back home made Jasm proud of her generous spirit.

Her investment in a women’s empowerment business for underprivileged girls appeared noble and selfless.

All of it wrapped in such innocent intentions.

When she purchased ancestral family property in Rajasthan for sentimental value, Jasm saw it as touching devotion to her roots.

Her growing financial independence seemed admirable, the sign of a woman who wanted to contribute rather than just consume.

Everything appeared perfect.

Ria had successfully convinced everyone that she was exactly what she appeared to be, an innocent, grateful young woman who had found love and was determined to honor it.

But this innocence was exactly what made her so dangerous.

By September 2015, just 3 months after the wedding, Abdul Raman, Jasm’s most trusted business partner and longtime friend, noticed something troubling in the financial reports.

During their monthly review meeting, Abdul pointed to a series of international transfers that seemed unusual for their typical business operations.

“Jasm, these transfers to India,” Abdul said carefully.

“They’re happening with remarkable frequency, almost $30,000 every month since the wedding.

” “When Jazzim explained they were for Riya’s family medical expenses and charitable work,” Abdul nodded but couldn’t shake his unease.

The amounts were too consistent, too regular for genuine emergencies, especially from someone who appeared so innocently grateful for everything.

Without telling Jazzam, Abdul quietly hired Hassan Elmud, one of Dubai’s most discreet private investigators.

Hassan’s initial findings were disturbing.

Riyaz claimed engineering degree from Delhi University had no record in their alumni database.

Her previous employment history with three different companies in Mumbai showed gaps and inconsistencies that suggested fabrication.

For someone who seemed so innocently honest about everything, her background was surprisingly murky.

But the most shocking discovery came from social media forensics.

Hassan found deleted Facebook photos from 2013 showing Ria in what appeared to be wedding attire with a man who definitely wasn’t Jasm.

Phone records revealed daily calls to a number registered to someone named Vikram Patel in Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

These weren’t occasional family calls.

They were intimate, lengthy conversations happening at times when she claimed to be sleeping.

The innocent bride was leading a very different life in secret.

Meanwhile, Riya’s behavior had begun shifting in subtle but noticeable ways.

The grateful, differential young woman was becoming increasingly confident and demanding.

She requested expensive international shopping trips to Paris and London, claiming she needed to represent the family properly at social events.

The innocent girl, who had been overwhelmed by a simple gold bracelet, was now expecting designer jewelry without asking.

When Jasm’s mother suggested she dress more conservatively for a family gathering, Ria’s response was sharp and defensive.

I think I know how to dress appropriately, she snapped, a tone she had never used before.

The sweet innocent compliance was being replaced by entitlement and irritation when questioned about anything.

Her weekend disappearances became more frequent and mysterious.

She claimed to be doing charity work in specific areas of Dubai’s Indian community, but when family members tried to visit these organizations, they found no record of her involvement.

Extended trips to India for family medical emergencies were now happening monthly, each time requiring urgent fund transfers.

The innocent explanations were becoming less believable.

Most tellingly, when asked for specific details about these emergencies, Ria became emotional and defensive.

Why are you interrogating me like I’m a criminal? She would cry.

I’m trying to help my dying mother and you want documentation? Her innocent tears were now being used as weapons to stop questions.

Jasm’s mother was the first family member to voice concerns openly.

During a private conversation with her other sons, she shared her growing doubts.

Her stories about childhood keep changing.

She confided.

She seemed so innocent and honest at first, but now I’m noticing inconsistencies everywhere.

The brother’s wives reported even stranger conversations.

Ria had begun asking detailed questions about divorce laws in the UAE, property rights for expatriate wives, and inheritance procedures.

When confronted about these topics, she claimed she was asking for a friend who was having marital problems.

The innocent curiosity about family traditions had shifted to calculated interest in legal protections.

Business advisers noticed the financial irregularities, too.

The regular transfers to India were substantial enough to affect the family’s cash flow, and the pattern suggested systematic extraction rather than occasional support.

For someone who had seemed so innocently grateful for any help, she was remarkably efficient at moving money out of the country.

Hassan’s investigation uncovered the most damning evidence yet.

Bank records showed systematic money transfers to accounts in Rajasthan that had no connection to any medical facility or charitable organization.

Property records revealed multiple purchases under variations of Riya’s name, including a luxury apartment in Jaipur, purchased in August 2015, just 2 months after her wedding to Jazzim.

The digital trail was devastating.

Hassan discovered WhatsApp conversations that had been accidentally backed up to a cloud service Ria wasn’t aware of.

The messages showed intimate exchanges with someone she called my real husband and included detailed discussions about their Dubai operation and timeline for maximum extraction.

The innocent bride had been reporting on her target like a spy.

Email communications revealed the true scope of the deception.

messages to someone explicitly identified as my real family discussed property investments, business opportunities, and plans for bringing her real husband to Dubai once they had extracted sufficient funds from the Al-Rashid family.

The innocent girl supporting her poor family was actually funding a sophisticated criminal operation.

Travel records showed multiple Dubai visits before 2015, completely contradicting her story about the Mumbai conference being her first interaction with JASM.

Employment records were entirely fabricated.

Her supposed engineering degree was purchased from a diploma mill and she had never worked for any of the companies listed on her resume.

Everything about her innocent background was a lie.

When Hassan presented this evidence to Abdul and the family, they faced an impossible decision.

Jasm was completely devoted to Ria and had already threatened to cut ties with anyone who questioned her integrity.

His emotional investment was so deep that he interpreted any criticism as personal betrayal.

He saw her as the innocent victim of his family’s jealousy.

The family consulted with Dubai’s top family law firm about fraud implications and asset protection.

They spoke with cultural consultants about managing the potential media scandal that would inevitably follow.

But they knew that revealing the truth would destroy not just Jasm’s marriage, but his faith in his own judgment.

When they finally gathered to confront Jasm with the truth in early October 2015, his reaction was more violent than anyone had anticipated.

He refused to look at photographs, bank records, or phone transcripts.

“You’re all jealous of my happiness,” he screamed.

“My wife is pure and innocent, and you’re trying to destroy her with lies.

But the evidence was overwhelming, and deep down, Jasm knew his innocent bride was anything but innocent.

The traditional al-Rashid family unity crumbled that night, setting the stage for a confrontation that would end in blood just days later, October 15th, 2015.

It had been exactly 7 months since Jasm first met his supposedly innocent bride in Mumbai and 4 months since their fairy tale wedding.

What should have been the happiest period of his life was about to become his worst nightmare.

Vikram Patel, a 29-year-old construction supervisor, had arrived in Dubai 3 days earlier on a tourist visa.

Unlike his previous visits when he had stayed hidden, this time he came with a purpose to collect his wife and the substantial funds they had extracted from their latest victim.

The innocent bride act had worked perfectly, and now it was time for the final phase of their operation.

On that fateful evening, Jasm returned home early from a business meeting, hoping to surprise Ria with dinner at her favorite restaurant.

He had been trying to repair their relationship after the family confrontation, still believing in her innocence despite mounting evidence.

As he climbed the stairs to their penthouse, he could hear voices coming from inside soft laughter and intimate conversation in Hindi.

Using his key, Jasm quietly entered the apartment.

What he saw destroyed everything he believed about his innocent wife.

Ria was in the arms of another man, counting stacks of cash on their dining table, the same table where she had served him traditional Emirati meals while playing the perfect wife.

The innocent bride he had defended so fiercely was clearly intimate with this stranger.

Discussing their successful operation in explicit detail.

The fool never suspected anything.

Ria was saying her voice cold and calculating a tone Jasm had never heard before.

He was so desperate for love, so pathetic.

It was almost too easy to play the innocent village girl.

She laughed as she kissed the man Jasm would later learn was her real husband.

Vikram, “This is more than we made from the Saudi businessman,” Vikram replied, examining bank statements spread across the table.

“Your innocent act is getting better with each target.

The pregnancy excuse should buy us another few months before we disappear.

Jasm stood frozen in the doorway.

His world collapsing as he watched his innocent bride reveal her true nature.

The woman who had cried tears of gratitude at their wedding was now mocking his desperation.

The innocent girl who had seemed overwhelmed by his generosity was discussing her pregnancy as a business strategy.

Ria Jasm’s voice cracked as he stepped into the light.

Both conspirators spun around, caught completely offguard.

For a moment, Ria’s face showed genuine fear before she quickly tried to resume her innocent facade.

Jasm, you’re home early.

This is my cousin Vikram.

I told you about him.

He’s visiting Dubai for work.

But Jasm had heard too much.

The cash on the table, the bank statements, the intimate way they had been holding each other, all of it painted a picture that even his desperate love couldn’t deny.

Cousin, he said, his voice growing dangerous.

Is that what wives call their husbands now? Vikram stood up, no longer bothering to hide the truth.

She’s my wife, you fool.

Has been since 2013.

You were just a bank account with legs.

He pulled out his phone, showing Jasm photos of their real wedding, their real life, their real love, the love Jasm thought he had found.

The innocent bride Jasm had defended against his family suspicions began laughing.

Not the soft, grateful laughter he remembered, but cruel, mocking laughter.

Did you really think someone like me could love someone like you? You’re twice my age, desperate, pathetic.

I had to close my eyes every time you touched me.

Something inside Jasm snapped.

Seven months of devotion, millions of dollars, his family’s respect.

His business reputation, all of it had been sacrificed for a woman who saw him as nothing more than a walking ATM.

The innocent bride he had protected with his life was standing there with her real husband, counting the money she had stolen while mocking his love.

You destroyed my family for this.

Jasm’s voice was barely human now.

You made me choose between my blood relatives and you and you were lying the entire time.

Your family was right about me, Ria said with a cold smile.

Too bad you were too stupid to listen to them.

The innocent bride act works every time.

That word innocent triggered something primal in Jasm.

He looked around the room and saw a heavy crystal vase he had given Riya as a wedding gift.

In that moment, seven months of manipulation, lies, and betrayal crystallized into pure rage.

“Innocent?” he screamed, grabbing the vase.

“You want to know what innocent looks like?” What happened next lasted only seconds, but would haunt Jasm for the rest of his life.

The crystal vase connected with Ria’s skull with a sickening crack.

She collapsed instantly, blood pooling beneath her head as her innocent mask finally slipped away forever.

Vikram tried to run, but Jasm was faster.

The second blow silenced him permanently.

In less than a minute, the man who had been manipulated and robbed had become a double murderer.

As Jasm stood among the wreckage of his life, staring at the bodies of his innocent bride and her real husband.

He realized the final devastating irony.

She had been right about one thing.

He was indeed pathetic.

But now he was also a killer.

The police arrived 40 minutes later, called by neighbors who had heard the screaming.

They found Jasm sitting calmly beside the bodies, still holding the bloody vase, repeating one phrase over and over.

She was supposed to be innocent.

The innocent bride had gotten her final revenge.

In destroying his trust, she had also destroyed his soul.

The trial that began in February 2016 became the most humiliating spectacle the Al-Rashid family had ever endured.

Every day as Jasm sat in the defendant’s chair charged with double murder, the newspapers screamed headlines that destroyed their reputation forever.

Respected chic murders wife and her real husband and Dubai businessman killed his already married bride.

The most devastating revelation wasn’t just that Jasm had committed murder, but that the entire Dubai elite society now knew he had been married to another man’s wife for 4 months without knowing it.

The whispers in mosques, business meetings, and social gatherings were merciless.

How could the Al-Rashid family be so blind? People asked.

Their son married a woman who was already someone else’s wife.

What kind of family doesn’t even verify a bride’s background? Jasm bore the brunt of this social destruction.

The woman who had once hosted charity events for Dubai’s most prominent families now couldn’t show her face anywhere.

Former friends crossed the street to avoid her.

Her weekly tea gatherings once attended by ministers wives and business leaders mothers were suddenly empty.

Your daughter-in-law was already married when she entered this family.

The whispers followed her everywhere.

She was pregnant with another man’s child while living in your home.

How did you not know? How did your son not know? The shame was unbearable.

The innocent bride had made fools of them all.

The business impact was immediate and devastating.

Within weeks of the murder, major contracts worth over $80 million were cancelled.

Business partners who had worked with the Al-Rashid family for decades suddenly found excuses to terminate their relationships.

We cannot be associated with a family whose judgment is so poor that they welcomed another man’s wife into their home.

One former partner explained to local media, the family’s oil services empire began crumbling.

Employees quit in droves, not wanting their resumes associated with the al-Rashid name.

Khaled and Omar, Jazzim’s younger brothers, tried desperately to save the business, but the damage was too extensive.

By the end of 2016, the company that had employed over 3,000 people was forced to close most of its operations.

The social ostracism was complete and permanent.

The Al-Rashid family, once invited to every important wedding, business opening, and cultural event in Dubai, found themselves completely excluded from society.

Their children faced the worst consequences.

Jasm’s nephew was expelled from his prestigious international school when parents complained about having a murderer’s family member in their children’s class.

His niece’s engagement was broken when her fiance’s family discovered the connection.

“We cannot allow our son to marry into a family that was so easily deceived by a criminal,” they stated publicly.

“If they couldn’t tell their daughter-in-law was already married, what other secrets might they be hiding?” The crulest blow came 18 months after the trial.

Jasm’s mother suffered a massive heart attack while grocery shopping.

Witnesses said she collapsed immediately after overhearing two women discussing how the al-Rashid mother was too stupid to realize her son had married another man’s wife.

She died in the hospital 3 days later, never having visited her son in prison.

The shame had literally killed her.

Her funeral was attended by fewer than 20 people.

The woman who had once been respected throughout Dubai’s charitable community was buried in relative obscurity.

Even in death, the whispers continued.

She died of shame because her family was fooled by a girl who was already married.

The younger generation suffered the most lasting damage.

Khaled’s children changed their last name to their mother’s family name to escape the stigma.

Omar moved his family to London, unable to bear the constant reminders of their destroyed reputation.

“We can’t stay here,” he told local media before leaving.

“Everyone knows us as the family that was tricked by a married woman.

” By 2018, the Al-Rashid mansion in Emirates Hills was sold at auction to pay legal fees and remaining debts.

The property that had hosted Dubai’s elite for decades became a private residence for a family from India.

The bitter irony not lost on anyone who remembered the scandal.

The case became a cautionary tale told throughout the UAE.

Remember the Al-Rashid family? Parents would warn their sons.

They thought they were welcoming an innocent bride, but she was already married with a husband and child.

Their son became a murderer.

Their mother died of shame and their family name was destroyed forever.

Jasm received 15 years for double manslaughter.

But the real sentence was served by his entire family.

The verdict against him was just the beginning of their punishment.

In 2020, 5 years after the murders, a local newspaper ran a follow-up story titled, “Where are they now?” It revealed that most Al-Rashid family members had either left Dubai or changed their names.

The business empire was completely gone, sold in pieces to pay creditors and legal costs.

Today, Jasm sits in Dubai Central Jail, still 3 years away from possible parole.

In rare interviews, he speaks about the innocent bride who destroyed everything his family had built over generations.

She appeared so pure, so grateful, he says.

But her innocence was just a mask.

She killed my mother as surely as I killed her.

The innocent bride had achieved her ultimate victory.

Even in death, she had obliterated an entire family.

dynasty.

Sometimes the most dangerous weapon isn’t a gun or knife.

It’s an innocent smile that hides a heart full of malice.

The Al-Rashid family learned too late that innocence can be the most destructive force of all.

Hi there.

I’m Gemma Bath, and you’re listening to True Crime Conversations.

Just a few weeks ago, an American serial killer was sentenced to life without parole.

It brought to an end a case that spans decades.

A case we covered in detail on this podcast in 2024, when there were only charges involved.

To recap, in 2011, a total of 11 human remains were found on or around Gilgo Beach on Long Island, New York.

In 2023 and 2024, one man was charged with murdering seven of them.

His name is Rex Heuermann, and he was a local architect who hid in plain sight for years before his eventual arrest in July 2023.

He’d been using up to 100 burner phones to lure women, mainly sex workers, before torturing them, killing them, and burying them.

Some were dismembered.

The women were aged between 20 and 34, and they were killed between 1993 and 2010.

Their names were Sandra Costilla, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Bartholomew, >> >> Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.

We now know of an eighth victim, Karen Vergata, killed in 1996, who Heuermann admitted to murdering earlier this year.

To understand more about the evidence police found that led them to Heuermann, how they caught him, and more about the victims, I suggest dipping back into our original episode.

It’s linked in our show notes.

But in the meantime, we asked our original guest, Alexis Linkletter, who has a podcast called Unraveled, unpacking this case in detail, to come back on our show and fill us in on the latest from court.

Here she is.

Alexis, last time we spoke, it was October 2024.

At that point, Rex Heuermann had been charged with six murders.

And then, a few months after our interview, there was a seventh murder charge.

Were you expecting that momentum to continue because there were 11 bodies found in and around Gilgo Beach? >> I was expecting that momentum to continue.

I had always been of the mind that all of the remains found along Ocean Parkway were connected to Rex Heuermann.

Um but in the months that followed, I discovered that I was wrong about that.

>> Can you tell us a bit about that because two of the three remaining murders that we have an attributed were attributed to someone else.

>> Correct.

So, there were two victims who had long been unidentified and they were known as Peaches and Baby Doe.

And they were linked genetically in, I believe, around like the early um the early side of like the 2010s, um they were able to link them genetically and confirm that they were a mother and daughter.

Now, the remains were found really far apart from each other.

The mother’s torso was found in an area close to New York City where her appendages were found along Ocean Parkway.

And the toddler was found along Ocean Parkway about 250 ft from the remains belonging to a woman named Valerie Mack who Rex Heuermann was charged with.

Now, a little while after um Rex Heuermann was charged with that seventh victim, these two victims were identified as Tanya Jackson is the mother and Tatiana Dykes is the baby.

And not long after that, um the neighboring county to where the Long Island serial killer case basically is unfolding, which is called Suffolk County, the neighboring county in a different jurisdiction, charged a different man with the murder of Tanya Jackson who was known as Peaches.

Nobody has been charged for the baby.

Um and presumably I mean we think obviously they believe if this man killed the mother they killed the child as well.

So it was a big shock to everybody familiar with the case.

I don’t think anyone was expecting that.

Um I’m still in shock over it because there are so many coincidences tied to where these remains are found.

I find it really hard to believe that two different people would have chosen such precise locations for this.

>> And then the the third victim known as Asian Doe no one has been charged over that death.

>> No one has been charged with the death of Asian Doe.

There is a renewed push once again to try to figure out who they are.

Although when I was attending in court the plea hearing for Rex Heuermann.

So when he pled guilty there was a giant press conference afterwards and one of my colleagues asked the district attorney whether or not the DA believed that Rex Heuermann could be responsible for the murder of Asian Doe.

And the district attorney has sort of like an interesting personality but he said this to my colleague.

He said it doesn’t matter what I believe it matters what I can prove.

And it kind of made us feel like they believe he did that.

They haven’t proven it yet and especially because in these batches of evidence that the district attorney was sharing with the public along the way, you know, over the three years since he’d been arrested to go along with all the new indictments there are many many Google searches that have been provided to the public that Rex Heuermann made and a lot of them were about Asian victims.

And a lot of them were about Asian trans victims, which many people believe that Asian Doe was living their life as a woman because they were biologically male but found in women’s clothing.

>> Originally, Human was going to trial.

That was what we’ve been waiting for.

He’d plead not guilty.

It was shaping up to be enormous.

The sheer scope of you know, the number of victims, the years he was active, the evidence.

Can you kind of help paint that picture because at one point his defense team wanted five different trials? Like this was going to be huge.

>> It was going to be huge because with every new arrest, I mean, with every new indictment they made, you know, he was indicted for the murder of a woman named Sandra Castilla.

She was murdered in 1993.

Prior to that, the earliest victim we all thought that he was responsible for was 1996.

So, the timeline of when he was murdering kept broadening.

And so did the MO.

Um a lot of these victims were dismembered.

Some of them were not.

Um with Sandra Castilla, the woman that he was indicted for the seventh victim, um she had sharp force injuries and was left in the woods, not where any of the other victims were found.

For a long time everyone thought a different serial killer was responsible.

So, for that reason, we’re talking so many geographic areas, so many different MOs.

And his attorney did attempt to sever the trials into five separate trials.

He attempted several times to get evidence thrown out because the evidence against him is vast as well, but there was new DNA technology that was used in a lot of this DNA analysis.

So, it was going to be huge.

That’s why I mean, it took 3 years, all of the pre-trial hearings.

It was going to be a massive trial and it was going to be complicated, but the evidence against him is overwhelming.

So, I think he saw the writing on the wall.

>> Did you think Huermann was going to change his plea? That that is something that he would do? >> Um my instinct was no, but I heard early on from a source that he was considering that because I was of the the mind that well, what does he have to lose? You know, we don’t have the death penalty in New York State.

So, why not? Why not sit there through the attention and the media circus and soak all of that in.

I didn’t see a downside for him.

But, the more I’ve unders- gotten to know sort of his life through interviews with people who knew him and I’ve you know, developed a friendship with Rex Huermann’s wife wife’s attorney.

His name is Bob Macedonia and I talked to him quite frequently.

I realized that people like Huermann are much more on a spectrum than I believed initially.

And that he did appear to do this to spare his own family further embarrassment because a lot more evidence was going to be paraded out publicly had he gone to trial.

And I think a lot of that was going to make things look way worse.

So, weirdly, I mean, I didn’t think men like him were capable of caring about their families.

But, it seems to some degree he is or at least he’s capable of making these decisions to control a narrative around him.

>> Because in the last year or so, we have learned a lot more about Huermann’s wife and daughter in particular because they spoke to a documentary, right? What did you learn about them seeing that? [clears throat] >> Wow, so I was in that documentary um and I was fascinated.

You know, we have never seen the aftermath of an arrest of a serial killer who was living a double life that up close and personal before.

And that deal for them came together so quickly.

So, we really saw them in shock at first in total denial.

Um So, what I’ve learned about that family is that his wife had no idea.

Their marriage was very traditional as far as like their gender roles.

She didn’t ask questions.

He was the breadwinner.

He went to the city.

He commuted about an hour and a half each day.

He had kind of a separate life in Manhattan.

And because he sort of had control of their household and relationships, he would buy her a ticket to go somewhere and say you’re going on this trip, bring the kids.

And he was doing these things when she wasn’t home.

Um it’s hard to believe that someone could hide that much from their spouse and children, but it seems he has.

And the timeline fits together where he murdered a woman days before he married her.

And he was murdering far long before he married her.

So, in my opinion, I think he chose her cuz he knew he could get away with this with the type of personality she had.

>> Well, he certainly has been hiding in plain sight for decades, so that wouldn’t be a surprise.

>> No.

>> Can you talk us through how news of this plea deal played out? How close to trial was he? And how did you find out it was happening? You said you had a bit of an inkling.

>> Oh, yeah, I knew beforehand.

I had heard from a source long before, probably, you know, 6 months before it actually happened.

And I asked, you know, the DA at one of the court appearances about it, you know, during one of the press briefings afterwards, and then people started asking about it, saying, “Oh, is that really on the table? Is that really going to happen?” And then the rumors kept circulating.

Um so, I knew.

And the trial, I think, was going to take place I mean, they were talking about 2026, but I mean, it’s hard to know.

I mean, the judge was getting impatient with all of the the pre-trial um hearings.

But, you know, probably probably a handful of months out the trial was set to start.

>> Did we know that he was going to admit to an eighth victim as part of that plea deal? >> We suspected it.

>> Right.

>> Um we didn’t know for sure until we were there until it happened.

But, everyone suspected that he murdered Karen Vergata.

That’s the woman he admitted to killing and, you know, that was part of the deal.

I always believed that he was responsible for her murder.

So, a lot of us who followed the case suspected that, but we weren’t sure till that day.

>> Can you tell us what the actual plea deal that he agreed to was? >> Yeah, so he [snorts] admitted to the victims he was charged with killing, seven of them, and then he admitted to Karen Vergata, who he was just accepting responsibility for.

And in return, he is receiving three consecutive life sentences.

He cannot be prosecuted any further for any of these eight victims.

However, he can be prosecuted if any other murder victims are linked to him in the future, like when his DNA is put in CODIS.

If there are any other hits, he can be prosecuted for any other any other crimes, which again makes me think that the district attorney believes there are more victims.

And what’s odd and what really ruffled some feathers was that part of this deal was that he is to cooperate with the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, which means he’s going to be interviewed by the FBI, and he part of the deal is that he’s supposed to be completely candid and honest.

But, a serial killer doesn’t care about deals or what their their commitments.

We can never know whether he’ll be telling the truth.

And I think that bothered a lot of people, too, because he’s fascinated by the FBI.

They found a copy of Mindhunter in his house and his planning document.

He was taking notes from Mindhunter.

” And if you’re not familiar, Mindhunter was written by a former FBI agent named John Douglas, who basically was a founding member of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit and coined the term serial killer.

So, a lot of people think that Rex Heuermann’s very excited by this and it’s giving him some narcissistic validation.

>> It’s hard because I can see why people would be upset by that.

But then on the other side, we do need to learn from people like this so that we can catch them in the future and stop them in the future.

>> Yeah, there is value in it, I think, especially because serial killers like Rex Heuermann are very rare.

>> Mhm.

>> There are other kind of serial killers, you know, there used to be more, you know, but because of technology, serial killers operating through digital means like Rex Heuermann was, bringing women into his house to murder them.

I mean, that’s not really happening anymore.

Um the most recent serial killer prior to his arrest was, I think, the Golden State Killer and he stopped murdering in 1986.

But then, you know, he murdered 10 people and then it was cold, right? And they didn’t know who he was.

But for people to be murdering into 2009, 2010 the way he was, it’s highly highly unusual now.

So, I think, yeah, I think the FBI wants to understand like the compulsive nature of his crimes because he didn’t really have the self-preservation and the the self-control to stop when he should have.

>> And the fact that he got away with it for that long, given the world we live in and how connected we are and, you know, the internet, it it is quite unbelievable, really.

>> It’s really disturbing.

It’s really disturbing and, you know, because he stopped in 2010, it really would have been impossible.

You know, now with the way our phones are cameras are everywhere tracking, I think it he really got lucky in that time period because he was using burner phones and he was using, you know, sock puppet emails, you know, fake email accounts.

But that’s still now, I feel like if someone was doing that right now, they’d be caught.

So, it’s unusual.

>> Which is good, we should say.

>> Yes, we That’s very good.

>> Up next, Alexis takes us inside Houlihan’s plea hearing, describing the atmosphere in the courtroom and what he said during the proceedings.

You arrived at the court for the plea hearing at 4:45 am to be there while it all unfolded, which means you did get to see everything.

What was that experience like? What was that room like when you walked into it? >> So, for the sentencing or for the plea hearing? >> Plea hearing.

>> So, the plea hearing, um, it was a really it was strange.

Like, it was more intense than the sentencing.

It was a longer day.

It was really stressful.

And people were there for I mean, we were there for like hours and hours and hours.

Um, it was Yeah, it was intense, you know, it was strange It’s It was strange that he was admitting it.

It’s just it’s all just very shocking.

I still can’t believe that he did it and they caught him and he admitted it.

>> Did he verbally admit it in that hearing? >> So, what he did was he provided an allocution and sometimes allocutions are the deal that is made is that they’re going to go into detail about what they did there on the spot.

It’s my understanding that prior to his plea, he did what was called a proffer, which you basically admit everything.

Um, it can’t be used against you in court.

It’s just for it to strike a plea deal.

But in court, he did an allocution with yes or no answers or one-word answers.

So, the DA would ask, you know, did you do this? Did you cause the death of Megan Waterman or Melissa Bartholomew on this date? Yes, he would say, and then they would say, by what means? And he would say, strangulation.

And they did that eight times in a row.

Um but he wasn’t required to go into any further detail.

He really just admitted that he did it and said how he did it.

>> And the families were all there to hear that? How did they react? >> I’m not sure all the families were there.

Um you know, it’s very emotional.

You know, I I still I don’t know how the families do it, you know, sitting close to a man who took the life of your daughter or sister.

It’s like the thought’s unbearable.

Um the families are strong and do everything with grace.

So, there are things that are said, you know, um especially during the sentencing.

It was a lot of things were said by the family in the room.

Um but yeah, no, it was it’s devastating to witness, you know, and you don’t wish it on anyone.

>> The plea hearing was obviously the first step.

Then we had the sentencing.

Did you, as someone that has worked on this case for so long, did you think that that plea hearing gave you or anyone there closure? >> Um no, I don’t think I don’t think closure is possible, you know? It’s like with something so senseless, um and something so pathetic I mean, he’s so pathetic.

It’s like he’s this giant man targeting small women to feel powerful and in control.

And it’s what he did wasn’t hard.

What he did was cowardly, you know? So, I think it’s just I can’t imagine closure is ever going to be had.

It’s like we don’t know the rest of it.

We’ll never know, but I think for the families, it’s like for them it was a demarcation line, like, I’m done with you.

I’m going to be focusing on my loved one’s memory, and now I don’t have to think about you anymore cuz you’re going to going to be in a cage.

>> After court, there were a huge number of press conferences.

His defense, his wife, who we hadn’t really heard from, the DA.

What stood out to you the most from that flurry of press conferences? >> So, his wife, Alissa Rurup, did address the media.

You know, she hasn’t done much of that.

And what I thought was really interesting is like the second she was done, she had a prepared statement that she read from.

And immediately reporters were questioning again, how could you not know? How did you not know what was happening right in front of you? And there is still so much suspicion looming over her.

And what I want to keep conveying is that, you know, it’s unbelievable for people that she couldn’t have known.

But clearly she didn’t, because if the district attorney had evidence that she had knowledge or or was involved, he would have delighted in charging her.

So, they have gone every over every shred of evidence.

Her cell phones, her computers, there’s just no indication that she knew.

And I I think what I don’t think she should be blamed for not knowing, but I do think that she do is scare people.

Um that you could be living with someone lying to you to that degree.

I mean, she was.

And she’s not the first woman to be duped by a serial killer like this.