Gilgo Beach killings document: Alleged serial killer Rex Heuermann served divorce papers and is not contesting end of marriage

Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann has been served with divorce papers inside the Suffolk County Jail and is not contesting the end of his marriage, a document obtained by Newsday shows.

Heuermann, 60, of Massapequa Park, signed the admission of service on Sept. 22, when he was served the summons and complaint in his pending divorce from his estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, according to the document and online court records.

Ellerup filed for divorce six days after Heuermann was arrested July 13 on murder charges in the killings of three women whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach 13 years ago. The couple has been married for 27 years.

“I do not intend to respond to the Summons, or appear in the action, or answer the Complaint and I waive the twenty (20) day period provided by law to appear and answer the Complaint,” read the document that Heuermann signed. “I consent to the entry of a default judgment of divorce against me. … I waive the service of all further papers in this action except for a Judgment of Divorce.”

Heuermann does not have an attorney on record in the divorce proceeding. Heuermann’s attorney in his pending criminal case, Michael J. Brown, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Brown said last week that Heuermann communicates by phone with Ellerup.

Robert Macedonio, Ellerup’s divorce attorney, confirmed that Heuermann had been served but declined to comment further. A spokeswoman for the jail did not immediately respond.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with first and second-degree murder in the killings of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello, whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach beginning in 2010. 

Prosecutors have said Heuermann, who worked as a Manhattan architect before his arrest, is also the “prime suspect” in the slaying of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found with the other three victims. All four of the women — the first of 10 sets of remains found along Ocean Parkway that are believed to be the work of one or more serial killers — were sex workers. 

Heuermann appeared briefly in court last week in Riverhead — his third courtroom appearance since his July arrest — during which prosecutors revealed that a cheek swab, obtained from Heuermann by court order since he’s been in custody, matched a mitochondrial DNA profile that authorities who were surveilling Heuermann developed from a pizza crust and “used napkin” that allegedly was discarded in Manhattan. Prosecutors have said that the mitochondrial DNA profile developed from the abandonment sample — the pizza and napkin — could not be excluded as a match to a hair found at the bottom of burlap used to “restrain and transport” the remains of Waterman, one of the victims.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said last week that the cheek swab DNA “just erases all doubt.”

Prosecutors have also said cellphone site data and burner phones purportedly used by Heuermann link him to the crimes.

Brown, Heuermann’s criminal defense attorney, has said his client has professed his innocence and is actively working on his defense.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.