Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was back in a Long Island courtroom Wednesday, though it may be a while before his trial begins — and it might not be just one trial, with DNA testing the focus of the case for now. NBC New York’s Greg Cergol reports.
The home of the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer will soon be vacant.
Rex Heuermann's estranged wife is moving out of their Massapequa Park house and will be moving to South Carolina, according to her attorney, Robert Macedonio.
He said his client, Asa Ellerup, has "lost her attachment to her house of 30 years" after the search by federal agents in connection to the deaths of multiple women.
"To start the healing process, she wants to move on," the attorney said in a statement.
Ellerup filed for divorce from Heuermann just days after he was initially arrested. Her adult children she shares with Heuermann are expected to join her in South Carolina eventually.
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The house was not for sale, Macedonio clarified, as of yet.
Macedonio previously said that a search of the home over the summer was primarily focused on the basement. He said the family was out of state when the search was conducted. Macedonio declined to say what was taken from the home during that search.
In May, investigators returned to Heuermann’s single-story home in Massapequa Park, where they had recovered a cache of weapons during an initial search following his arrest in July 2023. During the most recent search, which lasted several days, investigators placed paint chips and other materials into evidence bags and removed a large rectangular object covered in a blue cloth.
The 60-year-old Heuermann was first arrested in July 2023 in the deaths of four women whose remains were found in burlap sacks along a remote stretch of Ocean Parkway more than a decade ago. The bodies of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Melissa Barthelemy and Megan Waterman, were found during a search for a missing escort, Shannan Gilbert, who later was found dead in a marsh.
He was later charged in the killings of Jessica Taylor in 2003 and Sandra Costilla a decade before that, prosecutors announced in June.
