RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (Court TV) — The estranged wife of accused serial killer Rex Heuermann appeared at one of his hearings for the first time since his arrest in July on charges of murdering three women whose bodies were found on Gilgo Beach.
Rex Heuermann, right, appears in Suffolk County Supreme Court with his attorney, Michael Brown, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in Riverhead, N.Y. Heurmann was arrested in July on murder charges in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, three of the women whose bodies were found along a remote beach highway on Long Island, and has been named as the the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman.(James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool)
Heuermann is charged in the deaths of Melissa Barthalemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, and investigators have named him as the prime suspect in the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Asa Ellerup, Heuermann’s wife, filed for divorce shortly after her husband’s arrest. Her attorney confirmed to Court TV that she visited him for the first time in prison on Nov. 8.
Ellerup arrived at the Suffolk County courthouse on Wednesday surrounded by a documentary crew, who had previously been seen at the home she shared with her husband, The Daily Mail reported. The Daily Mail’s reporter in the courtroom said that while Ellerup avoided eye contact with the media, she and Heuermann “locked eyes” when he was escorted into the courtroom.
When asked by Court TV about any deals with production companies, Ellerup’s attorney declined to comment.
WATCH: Rex Heuermann’s Wife Visits Him in Jail
In an interview after the hearing, Heuermann’s attorney told Fox News that he appreciated having his wife there. “I don’t know if he actually saw her, but he’s appreciative that she’s here,” Michael Brown told the network. “And listen, they were married for so many years, and they raised a family together. And my understanding is, is that she doesn’t believe that he was capable or committed these acts.”
Ellerup’s attorney, Bob Macedonio, Court TV’s Vinnie Politan that his client plans to attend every court date so she can see the evidence against her husband, “She wants to actually see and hear for herself the evidence they have against Rex.”
Ellerup, through her attorney, has said that she is battling cancer and struggling financially since her husband’s arrest and has asked the state to return the hundreds of guns that were seized from the family’s home in the days after Heuermann’s arrest. Court TV obtained documents filed in Nassau County that show Heuermann has signed the deed to the house over to his wife. The documents, dated Sept. 22 and recorded on Oct. 5, make Ellerup the sole owner of the Massapequa Park property.
The property was the focus of a massive search by local and federal agencies in the days after Heuermann’s arrest, with more than 250 weapons found in a basement vault. An excavator was brought in to search the property as well.
Heuermann is next due in court on Feb. 6.
