Wife of alleged serial killer 'files for divorce' after he's charged with murder
The wife of Rex Heuermann, the alleged Long Island serial killer, has allegedly filed for divorce.
The Long Island architect has been charged with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders.
The 59-year-old is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello and is also considered the prime suspect in another killing, authorities said.
Heuermann, who was married with a daughter and a stepson, is a licensed architect with a Manhattan-based firm that, according to its website, has done store buildouts and other renovations for major retailers, offices and apartments.
Rex Heuermann has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello the following year (Getty Images)But now his wife Asa Ellerup is allegedly filing for divorce amidst the charges, Daily Beast writer Pilar Melendez said on Twitter.
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They wrote: "The wife of Gilgo Beach serial murder suspect, #RexHeuermann, has filed for divorce in Suffolk County Supreme Court. The docket states that the divorce will be "uncontested.""
The site reports that records from Suffolk County Supreme Court show the divorce petition was lodged today. Heuermann’s defence lawyer, Robert Macedonio, is listed as the attorney representing him in the proceedings. The documents imply that the divorce is unlikely to be contested.
Prior to Rex's arrest, Asa reportedly lived in the same Massapequa Park home as her husband.
She reportedly attended Farmingdale High School and previously worked at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
Asa was seen standing by Rex in the courtroom where he pleaded not guilty to murder charges on July 14, 2023.
Heuermann, 59, was arrested last week after cops allegedly linked a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.
Detectives later recovered Heuermann's DNA from a pizza crust he discarded in Manhattan and matched it to genetic material found with the bodies, which were bound and hidden in thick underbrush along a remote beach highway, prosecutors allege.
Rex Heuermann has been identified as the suspect in the case (BONJOUR REALTY/Youtube)Heuermann's lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf at an arraignment last week in state court in Riverhead. Judge Richard Ambro ordered him jailed without bail, citing "the extreme depravity" of his alleged conduct.
Heuermann's lawyer, Michael Brown, said they'd just learned about the charges Friday morning. He said Heuermann told him "I didn't do this."
In recent months, Heuermann sought to keep tabs on the probe and "searched obsessively" on the internet for facts about the Gilgo Beach killings, including the names of women he's accused of killing, as well as podcasts and documentaries about the case, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
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The pizza box pulled out of the trash (County Court of Suffolk County State of New York)Mr Tierney said authorities moved to charge Heuermann now with three of the killings "out of concern for this defendant fleeing and the danger to the community." They are continuing to work toward charging him in the death of a fourth Gilgo victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Until his arrest, Heuermann continued to use burner phones, pick up sex workers and search the internet for sadistic materials, including sexually exploitive images of children, Tierney said. He also has access to 92 handguns, the prosecutor said.
"This is a day that is a long time in coming, and hopefully a day that will bring peace to this community and to the families - peace that has been long overdue," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said during an unrelated appearance on Long Island.
Barry Auslander said the man who lived in the house commuted by train to New York City each morning, wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase.
"It was weird. He looked like a businessman," said Auslander. "But his house is a dump."
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