Rex Heuermann’s Estranged Wife Breaks Silence After ‘Indescribable Catastrophe’

Asa Ellerup, the wife of Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann, is opening up for the first time since her husband was arrested.

Ellerup previously filed for divorce from Heuermann a week after he was arrested on murder charges at his Manhattan office. Her lawyer Bob Macedonio confirmed this week to PEOPLE that a complaint for divorce and summons were filed. ABC News noted that she filed the documents at Suffolk County Supreme Court.

Wife of Gilgo Beach Suspect Rex Heuermann Files for Divorce: Life ‘Completely Turned Upside-Down’

Ellerup’s lawyer issued a press release on Friday stating that she and her children “are enduring a profound and indescribable catastrophe.” The press release also included a direct statement from Ellerup who pleaded for “normalcy.”

“On behalf of my family and especially my elderly neighbors, who have also had their lives turned upside down by the enormous police presence, in addition to the spectators, and news crews. They deserve to live peacefully; they should be able to walk their dogs and go to the grocery stores without cameras shoved in their faces,” the statement read. “I am pleading with you all to give us space so that we may regain some normalcy in our neighborhood.”

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As previously reported, Heuermann was charged with the murders of Amber Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Megan Waterman, 22, and has since pleaded not guilty to the charges of first- and second-degree murder. He is also a suspect in the murder of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes. All four women worked as online escorts and were reported missing between 2007 and 2010.

Earlier this month, Ellerup’s attorney Macedonio told Fox News police arrived at the Heuermann family home in Massapequa Park an hour after his arrest and informed Ellerup and her children of the charges.

“They were home and the cops came in, and they were completely blindsided, and they told them what was going on,” Macedonio told the outlet.

He added that the ordeal “is all still a whirlwind” for the family. “Her and her children’s lives have been completely turned upside-down,” Macedonio continued, per Fox News. According to CNN, the pair married in April 1996 and resided with their daughter and Heuermann’s stepson.

Police Reveal How Rex Heuermann Reacted to Being Arrested in Gilgo Beach Murders Case

The “Long Island Serial Killer” case first came to light in December 2010 when the four women’s bodies were discovered wrapped in burlap and placed within about 500 feet of one another, buried in the marsh on Gilgo Beach. Two months later, the remains of six more bodies were unearthed along the beach.

As previously noted, four of those remains were women, one was a female toddler and one was a male in women’s clothing. Two sets of the remains were later linked to the dismembered torsos of women discovered 40 miles away.

In January 2020, authorities shared images of a black leather belt found at one of the dump locations featuring the letters “WH” or “HM.” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart revealed that the belt was “handled by the suspect and didn’t belong to any of the victims.”

And just last year, per court documents obtained by PEOPLE, “a witness to the disappearance of Amber Costello identified a first-generation Chevy Avalanche as the vehicle believed to have been driven by her killer.” A task force detective tracked down Heuermann with motor vehicle records.

“They found his car, and they found his address, and then they found out his physical description, and then they found out where he worked,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told PEOPLE. “And every time they dug further, you were getting more associations, which obviously got people excited.”

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Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison has since told CNN  that he didn’t believe the suspect’s family “knew about this double life that Mr. Heuermann was living.”

Investigators claim Heuermann used fictitious accounts and burner phones to contact sex workers. Authorities reportedly found hundreds of internet searches about raping and torturing women, child sex abuse, and rape porn, as well as searches for his victims and their families. “I think he lived this double life, and he used the anonymity of phones and computers to shield himself from the rest of society,” Tierney told PEOPLE. “Unfortunately for him — and fortunately for the rest of us — he wasn’t successful.”

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Source: HIS Education