Admitted Gilgo Beach, New York, serial killer Rex Heuermann was confronted in court by angry and emotional family members of his victims as he was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.Prosecutors said Heuermann targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies near Long Island's Gilgo Beach over the course of 17 years.In April, Heuermann pleaded guilty to killing seven women. He also admitted to an eighth murder, though he was not formally charged with the eighth.Here's what we know about his victims:Victims of admitted Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann, top row, Maureen Brainard, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello, bottom row, Sandra Costilla, Valerie Mack, Karen Vergata, and Jessica Taylor.Suffolk County Police DepartmentSandra CostillaThe first victim was Sandra Costilla, who was killed in 1993.Costilla was a native of Trinidad and Tobago and had been living in New York. Her remains were found in the town of North Sea on New York's Long Island, officials said.Sandra Costilla, a victim of admitted Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann.Suffolk County Police DepartmentInitially, authorities suspected a different killer, but the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said advanced DNA linked Heuermann to a hair lifted from Costilla’s shirt.Karen VergataIn April, Heuermann admitted to the murder of 34-year-old Karen Vergata. Unlike the other seven victims, Heuermann was not formally charged with Vergata’s death, but he did admit to it as part of the plea agreement.Vergata went missing in February 1996, and authorities believe she worked as an escort at the time, prosecutors said. Some of her remains were found in April 1996 on Long Island's Fire Island, prosecutors said, and additional remains were recovered in April 2011 on Long Island's Tobay Beach.She was survived by two sons, officials said.Karen Vergata in a photo Suffolk County police displayed at a press conference, Aug. 4, 2023, to announce that Gilgo Beach Jane Doe #7 has been identified as Vergata, a 34-year-old female who went missing on Feb. 14, 1996.Suffolk County District Attorney's officeValerie MackValerie Mack was killed in 2000.A hunter's dog discovered Mack's decapitated body in a wooded area of Manorville, on Long Island, on Nov. 19, 2000, court documents said. Her remains were bound with rope inside a black plastic bag which was wrapped with duct tape, according to court documents. Both of her hands had been severed from her body and one of her legs was cut off, court documents said.Valerie Mack, a victim of admitted Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann.Suffolk County Police DepartmentThe rest of Mack's remains were found more than a decade later, in April 2011, along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach, authorities said.Prosecutors said they linked Heuermann to Mack's death in part through a mitochondrial DNA analysis of a female hair found on Mack's body. It matched the profiles of Heuermann's wife and daughter, court documents said.Prosecutors said they also linked Heuermann to Mack's death through evidence recovered on some of the electronic devices they seized from Heuermann that include his "significant collection of violent, bondage and torture pornography" dating back to at least 1994. This online collection included images of mutilation and tying up women with ropes, two things prosecutors said are consistent with injuries inflicted on Mack and how she was bound, officials said.Mack's parents, Ed and JoAnn Mack, said at sentencing that Heuermann robbed their daughter of the chance to achieve her dreams."I would like to say to Mr. Heuermann, what you have done to our family is beyond what words can express," JoAnn Mack said. "Even though justice is done, it cannot replace what you have taken from us."Jessica TaylorJessica Taylor, 20, went missing in July 2003, according to Suffolk County police.Taylor was decapitated and her arms were severed from her torso, possibly in an attempt to hide her identity, according to court documents.Jessica Taylor, a victim of admitted Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann.Suffolk County Police DepartmentSome of her remains were found in July 2003 in Manorville on Long Island and some were recovered in March 2011 near Gilgo Beach, police said.At sentencing, Taylor's cousin, Violet Swager, remembered her as "fierce, kind, compassionate, beautiful and intelligent."Popular ReadsSwager said to Heuermann, "You chose small women because you’re nothing more than a weak, disgusting coward."Maureen Brainard-BarnesMaureen Brainard-Barnes was 25 when she vanished in 2007, according to Suffolk County police."She had bright, blue eyes. She was very outgoing, very outspoken," her friend Sara Karnes told ABC News' "20/20." "Every time I talk about it, it doesn’t get any easier."Brainard-Barnes' remains were found at Gilgo Beach in December 2010, police said.Maureen Brainard-Barnes, a victim of admitted Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann.Suffolk County Police DepartmentInvestigators found DNA belonging to Heuermann's then-wife in hair recovered from a belt used to restrain Brainard-Barnes, according to the indictment. Heuermann's family was out of state when Brainard-Barnes was killed, prosecutors said, and his wife was not suspected to be involved in her death.Brainard-Barnes' daughter, Nicolette Brainard-Barnes, who was 7 years old when her mother was killed, told reporters when Heuermann was charged, "While the loss of my mom has been extremely painful for me, the indictment by the grand jury has brought hope for justice for my mom and my family."Nicolette Brainard-Barnes and her brother said in April that they accept the plea deal. Maureen Brainard-Barnes’ sister, Missy Kahn, added that "Maureen was never forgotten" and "the guilty plea brings solace."To her sister, she said, "I would never stop searching for justice for you. ... Justice has finally found its way to you."Melissa BarthelemyMelissa Barthelemy, 24, went missing in July 2009, according to Suffolk County police.Melissa Barthelemy, a victim of admitted Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann.Suffolk County Police DepartmentBarthelemy's sister, Amanda Funderburg, had received several taunting phone calls in 2009 that were believed to be from her sister's killer, according to authorities.At sentencing, Funderberg turned to stare down Heuermann in the courtroom, telling him, "You can look at me while I'm talking -- it has been about 17 years since we've spoken."She called him an "ogre" and a "repulsive monster."Barthelemy's remains were found in Gilgo Beach in December 2010, police said.Megan WatermanMegan Waterman, 22, went missing in June 2010, according to Suffolk County police.Megan Waterman, a victim of admitted Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann.Suffolk County Police DepartmentHer remains were found in December 2010 in Gilgo Beach, police said."It's just been a heavy weight, not knowing exactly who did it, how it happened, not knowing if I could walk past him someday and not know that that was him," Waterman's daughter, Liliana Waterman, told ABC News this year. "Hearing him admit that he killed my mom and all those other girls, it definitely felt like a weight had been lifted off of me."Amber Lynn CostelloAmber Lynn Costello, 27, went missing in September 2010, according to Suffolk County police.Her remains were found in Gilgo Beach in December 2010, police said.Amber Lynn Costello, a victim of admitted Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann.Suffolk County Police Department