Gilgo Beach killings: Estranged wife of Rex Heuermann, Asa Ellerup, children, moving out of Massapequa Park home, attorney says

Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home is about to be vacant.

Heuermann’s estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, and her two adult children are packing up and moving out of the home, Ellerup’s attorney said Wednesday. The home was the subject of extensive searches by law enforcement following Heuermann’s July 13, 2023, arrest on murder charges.

"Asa does not feel the connection to the home she once had after the execution of the two search warrants and the violation of her property rights," Robert Macedonio, Ellerup’s divorce attorney, said.

A storage container was spotted outside of the unkempt red home on First Avenue, and Macedonio confirmed the family was heading to family-owned property in South Carolina.

"The house is not for sale at this time," said Macedonio, of Islip Terrace, who could not say when the house might go up for sale. "Asa and the children, Victoria and Christopher, will be spending more time in South Carolina and the storage container is there because they are removing personal items that they plan to relocate to South Carolina with them."

Victoria Heuermann, who worked at her father’s midtown Manhattan architecture firm before he was arrested, is Ellerup and Rex Heuermann’s only biological child; Christopher Sheridan is Ellerup’s child from a previous relationship.

"South Carolina is a place where they’ve established a presence and certainly they’re going to be staying down there much more," Vess Mitev, the Stony Brook-based attorney for the children, said. "We don’t have a time frame, but certainly they’re in the process of establishing a presence in South Carolina."

Asked why they were moving, Mitev said: "Well, obviously that home is associated with a very dark chapter in their life."

Ellerup filed for divorce from Heuermann, whom she had been married to for 27 years, just days after his arrest. But Ellerup has continued to communicate with Heuermann, who is not contesting the divorce, by phone and through jail visits. Ellerup has also shown up for some of her estranged husband’s court dates. The divorce proceeding is still pending.

Heuermann, an architect in Manhattan before his arrest, bought the home from his parents in 1994 for $195,000, Newsday previously reported, citing property records. Ellerup and her children are relocating to a home on several acres of land in Chester, South Carolina, which Heuermann owned at the time of his arrest. The home is on land adjacent to property owned by Heuermann’s younger brother Craig Heuermann.

A spokesperson for Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who is prosecuting Rex Heuermann, did not comment on the family’s move. Tierney has said publicly that neither Ellerup nor her children are suspects in the killings.

Heuermann, 61, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the killings of six women that prosecutors said began in 1993 and targeted sex workers. The six victims are Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Prosecutors have also named Heuermann as a suspect in the killing of Valerie Mack.

Heuermann has been held without bail at the Suffolk County jail in Riverhead since his arrest.

Prosecutors have said they linked Heuermann to the killings through DNA and other evidence. Heuermann’s attorney Michael J. Brown has maintained that his client is innocent and questioned the reliability of the prosecution’s DNA testing and results. Brown declined to comment Wednesday.

Macedonio said the home was "destroyed" after police cut up the floors and removed the plumbing while searching for evidence right after Heuermann was arrested. Police found a cache of more than 200 guns, some of them inside a vault. Police later returned to the home for another search in May. In a search of Heuermann’s basement, investigators also found a hard drive with what prosecutors labeled an alleged manifesto on how to kill without detection by law enforcement.

In September, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office returned a number of personal items belonging to Heuermann’s family that were seized during the searches.

On Wednesday afternoon, a storage pod was parked in the driveway of the Heuermann home and a Halloween banner still hung on the front porch.

Victoria Heuermann returned home Wednesday afternoon, but did not answer when a reporter knocked on the door of the red home with faded, peeling paint. A trailer, visible from the street, was parked in the backyard.

Neighbors said Wednesday that they have been exasperated by the scene surrounding the house since Heuermann’s arrest, including two weeks-long searches by police, news media camped out on the street, true crime gawkers and crews regularly filming for a documentary.

Etienne deVilliers, 69, who has lived next to the Heuermann family for about 30 years, said Ellerup had apologized to him in recent months for being unfriendly and rejecting his offer to help following Heuermann’s arrest.

"That conversation was the longest I ever have had with her and she said she couldn’t leave due to their financial situation," he said.

Film crews have returned to the home in recent days and he said there have been up to eight cars outside while the camera crews filmed them walking in next door.

The family has stayed at the home only intermittently recently, he said. DeVilliers said he would occasionally trim the hedges in front of their home when they became overgrown.

But in the 16 months since the house was first searched, deVilliers said photographers have hidden behind bushes and gawkers have continued to pass by, ignoring "no stopping and standing signs" erected by the village on the street. He said it’s become an attraction similar to the "Amityville Horror" house nearby.

"I’m sick and tired of this," deVilliers said. "It’s gotten monotonous and reached the breaking point with photographers hiding in bushes across the street. Some people just crossed the line."