Former wife of Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann won't attend next week's sentencing, attorney says

The former wife of Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann will not be present when he is sentenced to life in prison Wednesday, her attorney announced.

Asa Ellerup has declined to attend the hearing to not distract from the impact the crimes have had on Heuermann’s eight admitted victims and their families, attorney Robert Macedonio said in a statement to Newsday.

“Out of respect for those who endured unimaginable loss and suffering, she does not wish her presence to distract from the purpose of these proceedings,” Macedonio said. “Her thoughts remain with the victims and their loved ones as they continue their pursuit of justice, healing and closure.”

Heuermann, 62, will receive three consecutive life sentences for the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, to which he pleaded guilty on April 8 to first-degree murder charges because they were killed within two years of one another. He is also expected to be sentenced to a consecutive sentence of 100 years to life imprisonment for second-degree murder charges in the killings of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla and Valerie Mack. Heuermann has also admitted to the uncharged killing of Karen Vergata.

Heuermann’s defense attorney, Michael J. Brown, of Central Islip, has declined to say if Heuermann will speak during the sentencing, which could last into the afternoon as the court will first hear from the victims' family members.

“It’s going to be a very emotional, long day,” Brown said. “We expect there’s going to be a lot of raw emotion exhibited. And we understand that these families have been waiting a long time for this moment, some for 30-plus years.”

Brown declined to say if Heuermann has met with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, which studies the minds of serial killers, as he must do as part of his plea agreement. The FBI, in a statement to Newsday, also would not say if those interviews have taken place.

“Due to ongoing investigative work and sentencing pending, the FBI declines to comment at this time,” read an email from the FBI National Press Office. 

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the sentencing when asked for details, including how many people will speak.

Heuermann, who had appeared to live a  normal life as an architect and married father in Massapequa Park while clandestinely killing women in his basement when his family was on vacation, pleaded guilty to the murders, which date back as far as 1993, before State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei. He said he strangled each of the women and dumped their remains in Suffolk County, with investigators finding bodies near Gilgo Beach, Manorville and North Sea.

Heuermann confessed to Ellerup about the killings in August 2025, about eight months before he entered his guilty plea, she revealed in a documentary series streaming on Peacock. The couple continues to regularly speak though they divorced soon after his 2023 arrest.

Ellerup also revealed for filmmakers that she now sleeps in the basement room where most of the murders took place.

"I’m here because I do feel spiritual," she said in the closing moments of the series. "I am trying to say, spiritually in my own way, that I am really sorry for what these victims went through."