Current:Home > InvestFastexy:Gilgo Beach Murder Suspect's Wife Files for Divorce Following His Arrest -Infinite Edge Learning
Fastexy:Gilgo Beach Murder Suspect's Wife Files for Divorce Following His Arrest
Poinbank Exchange View
Date:2025-04-06 23:41:44
Suspected Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann is facing another legal case following his arrest in connection to three murders from over a decade ago.
Heuermann's wife,Fastexy Asa Ellerup, filed for divorce from the 59-year-old in the Suffolk County Supreme Court on July 19, her attorney Robert Macedonio told NBC News.
The filing comes days after Heuermann was taken into police custody and charged with the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27—three women whose remains were discovered in 2010 along a remote highway near Gilgo Beach, N.Y.
On July 14, Heuermann pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.
"There is nothing about Mr. Heuermann that would suggest that he is involved in these incidents," his defense attorney Michael J. Brown told E! News in a statement. "And while the government has decided to focus on him despite more significant and stronger leads, we are looking forward to defending him in a court of law before a fair and impartial jury of his peers."
Police said in a bail application obtained by E! News they linked Heuermann to the case using a DNA sample taken from a pizza box he threw out and a DNA sample from hair found on burlap used to wrap Waterman's remains. As the court document stated, "It is significant that Defendant Heuermann cannot be excluded from the male hair recovered near the 'bottom of the burlap' utilized to restrain and transport Megan Waterman's naked and deceased body."
Investigators also said in a bail application for Heuermann that they found female hair not belonging to any of the victims in their remains. The DNA sample lifted from the unknown hairs matched DNA believed to belong to Heuermann's wife, who was out of town during the killings, per police.
Authorities have ruled out Ellerup as a suspect, though they believe "it is likely that the burlap, tape, vehicle(s) or other instrumentalities utilized in furtherance of these murders came from Defendant Heuermann's residence, where his wife also resides, or was transferred from his clothing," according to the court docs.
In addition to the DNA samples, police said they found cellphone billing records belonging to Heuermann that appear to correspond to cell site locations for burner phones used to arrange meetings with the three victims.
The bail application read, "Significantly, investigators could find no instance where Heuermann was in a separate location from these other cellphones when such a communication event occurred."
Heuermann remains in police custody after a judge remanded him without bail.
E! News has reached out to Heuermann and Ellerup's attorneys for comment on the divorce filing but hasn't heard back.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
For more true crime updates on your need-to-know cases, head to Oxygen.com.veryGood! (62)
Related
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- ‘Star Trek’ actor George Takei is determined to keep telling his Japanese American story
- Why Teen Mom's Mackenzie McKee Says Fiancé Khesanio Hall Is 100 Percent My Person
- Michigan willing to spend millions to restore Flint properties ripped up by pipe replacement
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Yankees manager Aaron Boone comes to umpire Ángel Hernández's defense after backlash
- 'Moana 2' trailer: Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson set sail in Disney sequel
- How to tell if your older vehicle has a potentially dangerous Takata air bag under recall
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Amy Homma succeeds Jacqueline Stewart to lead Academy Museum
Ranking
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Jon Bon Jovi says Millie Bobby Brown 'looked gorgeous' during wedding to son Jake Bongiovi
- What are leaking underground storage tanks and how are they being cleaned up?
- Could DNA testing give Scott Peterson a new trial? Man back in court over 20 years after Laci Peterson's death
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- These US companies are best at cutting their emissions to fight climate change
- Wheel of Fortune’s Pat Sajak Has a Must-See Response to Contestants Celebrating Incorrect Guess
- 3 Black passengers sue American Airlines after alleging racial discrimination following odor complaint
Recommendation
Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
Alligator still missing nearly a week after disappearing at Missouri middle school
Thunder GM Sam Presti 'missed' on Gordon Hayward trade: 'That's on me'
Amy Homma succeeds Jacqueline Stewart to lead Academy Museum
Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
Statistics from Negro Leagues officially integrated into MLB record books
From electric vehicles to deciding what to cook for dinner, John Podesta faces climate challenges
Taylor Swift fans wait in 90-degree temperatures for doors to open in Madrid