Gilgo Beach murders: Rex Heuermann due back in court; wife opens up after home 'destroyed'

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
'Everything is destroyed': Gilgo Beach murder suspect's wife opens up
The wife of suspected Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann opened up to ABC News after returning to her Massapequa Park home last week.

LONG ISLAND (WABC) -- The estranged wife of accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann is speaking out, just days after returning to her Massapequa Park home after police cleared it as a crime scene.

ABC News obtained pictures of Rex Heuermann's Massapequa Park home, which were taken by his wife Asa Ellerup, following the house's search by authorities.

The photos depict the fallout of the authorities' search of the alleged serial killer's home, and were taken after Ellerup and her two adult children returned home last week after initially clearing the premises.

Suffolk County has ended the search of Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann's house and will be leaving Massapequa Park "shortly." Reporter Stacey Sager has more.

Ellerup told ABC News in a phone call that it feels like "everything is destroyed" as she and her two kids, who are now adults, adjust to the reality that their family member has been arrested for allegedly being a serial killer.

"My children have been crying themselves to sleep. And I've been crying myself to sleep too," she said. "Every time my kids go through something... they open a box. Every single time they cry."

Ellerup told Eyewitness News that her life is in turmoil after the chaos and destruction of the last couple weeks.

She says the boxed belongings, left behind by authorities, that they encountered when they arrived back home are a constant reminder of Heuermann's alleged crimes.

"Everything is destroyed," she said. "It's worse than glass breaking on the floor."

ALSO READ: Gilgo Beach murders: Complete timeline of events leading up to Rex Heuermann's arrest

Ellerup added that her son, who she said is developmentally delayed, has been sleeping in a chair at night.

Heuermann's children have hired a lawyer who will work with the lawyer hired by Ellerup.

"The innocent victims here include the children of Mr. Heuermann and Ms. Ellerup. The deplorable conditions they are now left to live in after the roughshod, wholesale upending of their home by police investigators is absolutely unacceptable and will be addressed shortly," attorney Vess Mitev said. "At this time, my clients ask that their privacy be respected as best it can be in this tempest, which is not of their making."

Meanwhile, Heuermann, who has been charged with the murders of three woman and is suspected in a fourth, is appeared in court in Riverhead on Tuesday for a discovery hearing.

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