Therapist for Gilgo Beach serial killer charged with practicing without license

Alison Winter, identified as the therapist for accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, faces felony charges for practicing clinical social work without a required license in New York. Prosecutors said Winter received $60,000 in insurance reimbursements from 2018 to 2024 despite lacking a clinical social work license.

More than $50,000 of the payments came through Cigna, which requires licensed masters-level clinicians for independent network participation.

Billing and licensing details Winter also obtained payments from UnitedHealthcare and Medicare, according to court documents. She earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University in 1999, but a New York State Education Department verification search shows no license under the Master Social Worker category.

A Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman told the Daily Caller that Winter was charged with grand larceny in the second degree, grand larceny in the third degree, scheme to defraud, and 14 counts of unauthorized practice of a profession.

Background and next steps Winter was already facing the charges when she heard Heuermann’s alleged confession to eight murders, Newsday reported. Heuermann was sentenced to life without parole on June 17 for the killings of eight women between 1993 and 2010.

Winter operated a psychotherapy practice in Sayville, New York, according to Healthline. The practice sign has been removed and Google lists it as permanently closed. Her next court date is July 21. Melissa McCardle, a licensed clinical social worker and dean at Molloy University, told Newsday that New York State requires a license to practice psychotherapy as a social worker and that three years of supervised employment are needed after the master’s degree before independent certification.