Asa Ellerup, estranged wife of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, battling cancer, attorney says

The estranged wife of Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex A. Heuermann has been suffering from skin and breast cancer for several years — and her health insurance is about to expire because it is tied to his job as an architect, her attorney said Friday. 

Asa Ellerup is undergoing treatment and requires an additional 12 to 18 months of care, attorney Robert Macedonio said during a news conference in Islip Terrace. 

Her husband's July 13 arrest and incarceration, the relentless publicity the case has generated nationally and abroad and the constant spotlight on the family's Massapequa Park home are adding extra stress to someone who is already facing a health challenge, her attorney said. 

“Her health insurance is due to expire in the next 60 days … so when the funds run out of his business accounts, his health insurance will no longer be available for her to treat the cancer,” Macedonio said.

Ellerup and her children — Heuermann’s daughter, Victoria, and stepson, Christopher Sheridan — returned to their home in late July after 12-day search for evidence by Suffolk police and other law-enforcement agencies to find the house trashed, Macedonio said. 

Macedonio said pipes had been removed from the home, making it impossible for the family to run water.

“Their valuables were shattered, their beds were destroyed, the places they laid their heads down at night no longer exist,” said attorney Vess Mitev, who represents the daughter and son. The family, Mitev said, is focusing "on basic needs."

Mitev and Macedonio said they will file a notice of claim within 30 days announcing their intent to file a lawsuit over the damage done to the family’s home. Mitev declined to say who the notice of claim will be filed against but said it is required to preserve the family’s rights.

“The law requires them, in order to preserve those legal rights and remedies, to file certain legal documents at certain intervals," Mitev said. "If they don’t do that, they waive those rights in the public forum. So at this point, we are announcing that the children and Ms. Ellerup, on her behalf, are going to protect those legal rights and remedies.”

Mitev said Ellerup and her children are “innocent bystanders” and “victims” whose lives have been upended by the arrest of Heuermann. 

At a news conference in Miller Place, attorney John Ray, who represents the family of Gilgo Beach victim Jessica Taylor and Shannan Gilbert, the sex worker whose frantic 911 call in 2010 ultimately led to the discovery of 10 bodies along Long Island’s South Shore, pushed back at claims that Ellerup and her children are victims.

“The Ellerup family are not the victims … Trying to make a living off this is a horrifying thing,” Ray said.

Macedonio fired back.

“Johnny Ray is trying to keep himself relevant in this case … I can assure you Ms. Ellerup and her two children are not suspects in this case,” Macedonio said.

Suffolk police detectives and other investigators from the Gilgo Beach task force have not interviewed Ellerup or her children about Heuermann's case or requested an interview, Macedonio said. Heuermann has called her several times from the Suffolk County jail where he is being held, Macedonio said. 

“They have spoken over the phone,” Macedonio said. “All those jail calls are recorded so we’ve instructed her, and I am sure his attorneys have instructed him, not to discuss the facts of the case."

Ellerup filed a divorce proceeding against the incarcerated Heuermann days after his arrest on six murder charges. The court document does not state her grounds for seeking a divorce.

Heuermann, 59, has pleaded not guilty to a six-count indictment charging him with first- and second-degree murder in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach in December 2010.

District Attorney Ray Tierney has said Heuermann is also the "prime suspect" in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose body was found in proximity to the other three women.

Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison and Tierney have said there is no evidence tying Ellerup or her children to the murders. They said Ellerup and the children were out of town when three of the women were reported missing.