Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann and estranged wife Asa Ellerup reach divorce settlement

Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann and his estranged wife have reached a settlement in their divorce proceeding, according to court records.

The divorce paperwork, signed by both Heuermann and Asa Ellerup, was filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court Thursday evening. A judge will review the settlement and if deemed appropriate, sign off on the divorce, making it final.

The terms of the divorce settlement, like all divorces in New York State, are not public.

Ellerup’s divorce attorney Robert Macedonio, of Islip Terrace, confirmed exclusively to Newsday that his client and Heuermann have reached a settlement and he had submitted the final paperwork.

Macedonio declined to discuss details.

"After 29 years of marriage, Ms. Ellerup realizes it’s time to move on with her life and focus on a future for her and her children," Macedonio said.

The divorce was uncontested and Heuermann did not have legal representation in the matter.

The settlement comes as Heuermann is scheduled to appear in court Friday for a pretrial hearing to determine if DNA evidence, which authorities say links Heuermann to several of his alleged victims, will be admissible at trial.

Macedonio said his client will be in attendance.

"She’ll be attending tomorrow's Frye hearing in Riverhead and is still withholding judgment on Rex’s guilt until all evidence is played out in the courtroom," Macedonio said.

Heuermann, 61, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and Sandra Costilla.
Heuermann's criminal defense attorney Michael J. Brown has maintained his client's innocence and raised questions about the scientific acceptance of the prosecution's DNA evidence. Brown did not return a request for comment on Heuermann's divorce settlement.

Ellerup filed for divorce against Heuermann, an architect, six days after he was arrested on July 13, 2023, outside his midtown Manhattan office.

The couple made their home in Massapequa Park.

Newsday reported in November that Ellerup and her two adult children were moving out of their Massapequa Park home, which Heuermann bought from his parents for $195,000 in 1994, and heading to a family property of several acres in Chester, South Carolina. Heuermann's brother lives on adjacent land.

Macedonio said then that Ellerup no longer felt a connection to the home after authorities extensively searched it for multiple days after Heuermann's arrest, which he called a "violation of her property rights."

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.