Gilgo Beach killings: Ex-wife of suspected serial killer Rex A. Heuermann wants to know how her hair ended up on bodies, attorney says

The former wife of accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann wants to know how her hair ended up on the bodies of women he is accused of killing, her attorney said Tuesday as she attended a hearing about the admissibility of DNA evidence extracted from those hairs.

Attorney Robert Macedonio, of Islip Terrace, said that question is what's driving his client Asa Ellerup to return to court after finalizing her divorce from Heuermann.

"She has to live the rest of her life knowing that her hair was found on dead bodies," Macedonio told Newsday with Ellerup and her daughter, Victoria Heuermann, at his side before the start of testimony Tuesday. "How did the hair get there? And how do they know it's their hair?"

Ellerup said in exclusive comments to Newsday that she feels the need to still attend the court appearances, even as a Suffolk judge signed the former couple's divorce agreement Tuesday, because she can't base her opinions about the case on "some piece of paper that says words on it," a reference to bail letters prosecutors have released summarizing the case against Heuermann. 

"I don’t think the Rex I know is capable of doing these heinous crimes," Ellerup exclusively told Newsday. "And I’m here to see the evidence and hear what they have to present in the courtroom."

Suffolk prosecutors have said they believe the hairs found at the crime scene were transferred to the bodies from another surface and have theorized Heuermann, 61, may have brought his victims into the family's Massapequa Park home.

Ellerup made her brief remarks after spending the morning sitting just a handful of yards away from Heuermann during the hearing.

Macedonio said the recent release of a Netflix documentary series that, in part, alleged police corruption may have slowed the Gilgo Beach investigation, has Ellerup further questioning Heuermann's involvement.

"It raises more concerns and questions than there were previously," Macedonio said of his client watching the documentary and consuming other media content. "She wants to see this play out in the courtroom and better understand the process."

Macedonio confirmed a Suffolk judge signed Ellerup and Heuermann's divorce agreement Tuesday afternoon. The agreement, which is sealed under New York law, will now be filed with the clerk of the Supreme Court making it official, he said.

Tuesday was the first time Ellerup appeared in court since the series "Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer" began streaming March 31.

The second episode of the series included allegations that former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke, who was appointed in January 2012, months after the remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway, prevented federal investigators from assisting in the investigation. Burke and former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota were both later convicted for their roles in covering up a December 2012 beating of a handcuffed prisoner by Burke and others after the man was accused of breaking into his police vehicle and stealing personal property.

Macedonio said watching the documentary made Ellerup, who is the subject of her own upcoming documentary series for Peacock, aware of the past allegations of corruption.

"This whole era of corruption was at the height of this investigation," Macedonio said.

Prosecutors have said DNA analysis of rootless hairs in 2023, long after Burke and Spota left office, connected Heuermann to six of his seven alleged victims. Four of those hairs likely belonged to Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann. Prosecutors said in the past Ellerup, Victoria Heuermann and Ellerup's son from a prior marriage had no involvement in the killings.

Hair likely to have come from Ellerup was found on the buckle of a belt used to restrain the body of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, prosecutors said in a June bail letter. Additional hairs likely belonging to Ellerup were found on tape "in the area of the head" and also "outside the head area" of Megan Waterman. Hair likely belonging to Victoria Heuermann was found on tape in the area of the head of Amber Costello, police said. All three women's remains were found in 2010.

"They are the only people in that courtroom that their DNA was on homicide victims of a serial killer," Macedonio said of the Heuermann family.

Prosecutors have said the nuclear DNA evidence was later corroborated by mitochondrial DNA analysis performed by a second lab.

Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann sat in the third row of the audience Tuesday listening to nearly four hours of testimony from Richard Green, founder of the lab that provided Suffolk investigators with the DNA analysis of the hairs.

Green testified to the complex process his lab uses to extract nuclear DNA from rootless hair samples of unknown individuals, like those found at the Gilgo Beach crime scenes, and how it is then compared with a sample taken directly from a known individual. The lab's proprietary software then determines a likelihood ratio that the hair sample originated from the known person, Green testified.

Green, a tenured professor of biomolecular engineering, said Suffolk County has paid his company, Astrea Forensics, $130,000 for its work on the Gilgo Beach investigation. He said he was not paid for his testimony at the hearing or the work he did with prosecutors to prepare to testify Tuesday.

Green also said during questioning from Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Santomartino that Astrea has not been accredited as a forensic lab, but it has begun that process, which he expected to continue into 2026.

Heuermann's defense team has asked Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei to bar Astrea's DNA evidence from trial, arguing the whole genome sequencing technique used by the lab is not scientifically sound.

The defense has noted that Astrea is not accredited, its proprietary technology has never been tested in New York courts and that it hasn't been subject to the necessary peer review for admissibility.

The Frye Standard for admissibility of scientific evidence, the standard used in New York, tests novel scientific evidence and "requires that before being admitted, the prosecutor must prove the evidence's general acceptance by the scientific community," according to the National Institute of Justice.

Prior prosecution witness testimony in the hearing, which began March 28, has aimed to establish the general acceptance of the methods used by Astrea. Prosecutors have said they believe the DNA evidence should be admissible, though they conceded the hearing was necessary to "demonstrate the general acceptance" of the evidence.

Green's testimony will continue Wednesday with additional questioning from Santomartino before cross-examination from the defense.

Heuermann's lead defense attorney, Michael J. Brown, of Central Islip, said the testimony of Green could continue into Thursday.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Green may be the final witness called by the prosecution. Brown said the defense will likely call at least two witnesses. 

With James Carbone

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.