The estranged wife of Rex Heuermann, the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer who’s been charged with a quartet of murders, said in a statement Wednesday that her husband is “not capable” of carrying out the grisly crimes he’s accused of.
Asa Ellerup added in a statement through her lawyers that she’s giving Heuermann “the benefit of the doubt” until she can hear prosecutors present evidence in his criminal trial.
“I will listen to all of the evidence and withhold judgment until the end of trial,” she said, adding that she extends her “heartfelt sympathies” to the slain women—known as the “Gilgo Four”—and their families.
“Nobody deserves to die in that manner,” she said.
It’s a pivot for Ellerup, who filed for divorce from Heuermann less than a week after he was arrested in July and appeared to be distancing herself from the murder suspect. They’ve been married for 27 years.
That divorce has yet to be finalized, however, and Ellerup now appears poised to support her estranged husband until she’s shown hard proof that she should do otherwise.
Ellerup said in her statement that she’s visited Heuermann on a weekly basis at the Suffolk County Jail since he was busted last summer.
A spokesperson for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office threw cold water on that claim, however, telling the New York Post that it was “not an accurate description.” Instead, the spokesperson said Ellerup had been logged as a visitor just seven times in seven months.
Heurmann has been charged with the slayings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found on the Long Island beach in 2010. He’s also been tied to other murders but not charged.
Ellerup does not face any criminal charges, with investigators saying each alleged murder occurred when she was out of town. One of her attorneys, Bob Macedonio, told 48 Hours in September that she “had no idea any of this was going on.”
“Nobody wants to think that they’ve been living with, sleeping next to a serial killer for the past 25 years,” he said.
