The lives of Rex Heuermann’s wife and children were turned upside down in 2023 when he was charged with the killings of several young women in Long Island, New York.
His wife of nearly three decades, Asa Ellerup, filed for divorce days after his alleged crimes came to light, and she has spoken about picking up the pieces for herself and her adult children following Heuermann’s arrest.
Heuermann, 61, was charged with multiple counts of first-degree and second-degree murder for the killings of seven women. The chilling case is being explored in a new, three-part Netflix docuseries, “Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer.”
Ellerup maintained contact with Heuermann following his arrest. In March 2024, she issued a statement through her attorney extending her “heartfelt sympathies” to the victims and their families, and saying “nobody deserves to die in that manner,” according to NBC News.
At the same time, Ellerup said in her statement that she would “listen to all of the evidence and withhold judgment until the end of trial.”
“I have given Rex the benefit of the doubt, as we all deserve,” she said.
Her attorneys noted that at the time they issued the statement, Ellerup was visiting Heuermann weekly and “still maintains that Rex is not capable of the crimes he is accused of.”
It is unclear whether she continues to stay in touch with Heuermann.
Keep reading to learn more about Rex Heuermann’s alleged crimes, and how his ex-wife and adult children, Victoria Heuermann and Christopher Sheridan, have been coping since his arrest.
TODAY.com has reached out to Ellerup’s lawyers for comment and has heard back from his children’s lawyer, Vess Mitev.
“The only comment we have is that my clients are committed more than ever to let the legal process involving Mr. Heuermann unfold, on its own terms and its own timetable. They decline to comment on hyperbole and hypotheticals and remain cautiously and firmly optimistic in the American system of jurisprudence,” Mitev said in an email to TODAY.com.
Who is Rex Heuermann?
Rex Heuermann, sometimes referred to as the “Long Island Serial Killer,” has been charged with the murders of multiple women.
Heuermann, 61, formerly ran an architecture firm in Manhattan, New York. He is accused of murdering seven young women and dumping their bodies along a stretch of Ocean Parkway in Long Island, New York, in crimes allegedly taking place between 1993 and 2010, according to a 2023 bail application filed in Suffolk County Court.
Police arrested Heuermann in July 2023 after various pieces of digital and physical evidence appeared to connect Heuermann to the killings of three women, according to prosecutors: Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27.
During their investigation, police discovered female hairs on some of the victims that they believe belonged to Heuermann’s then-wife, Asa Ellerup, which helped link the crimes to Heuermann, according to a 2023 bail application filed in Suffolk County Court.
Ellerup was out of town when at least three of the murders took place, according to the bail application, and has not been implicated in the crimes in any way.
In January 2024, Heuermann was also charged with the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25. And that June, while he was already in prison, he was charged with the past killings of three additional women: Jessica Taylor, 20, Sandra Costilla, 28, and Valerie Mack, 24.
Heuermann is currently being held at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County, New York, while he awaits trial.
If found guilty of the multiple first-degree and second-degree murder charges against him, he will face multiple life sentences without parole, according to the bail application.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
His wife, Asa Ellerup, filed for divorce in 2023
Asa Ellerup, who married Heuermann in 1996, filed for divorce soon after his alleged crimes were unearthed. She submitted the filing on July 19, 2023, according to court records, days after he was arrested and charged with the murders of Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello.
Their divorce was finalized on March 27, 2025, according to records from Suffolk County Supreme Court.
In July 2023, Ellerup issued a statement through the law firm representing her in the divorce, Macedonio & Duncan, begging for privacy for her and her neighbors.
“On behalf of my family and especially my elderly neighbors, who have also had their lives turned upside down by the enormous police presence, in addition to the spectators, and news crews,” she said in a statement, NBC News reported.
“They deserve to live peacefully; they should be able to walk their dogs and go to the grocery stores without cameras shoved in their faces,” her statement continued. “I am pleading with you all to give us space so that we may regain some normalcy in our neighborhood.”
The following month, Ellerup’s attorney, Robert Macedonio, revealed his client had been dealing with breast and skin cancer.
Ellerup “has authorized me to relate to everybody that for the past several years, she’s been suffering from cancer,” he said at a news conference in August 2023, NBC News reported at the time.
“Emotionally, she’s recovering each day not only dealing with the cancer, but this newfound life that she has to come to terms with protecting herself and children,” he also said.
He noted that Ellerup’s health insurance had been linked to Heuermann’s business and would expire in 60 days.
Ellerup does not appear to have publicly shared updates about her health since her lawyer released this statement.
As of November 2024, Ellerup was planning to sell the Long Island home she had once shared with Heuermann and move to South Carolina, Ellerup’s lawyers shared with The New York Times.
They share 2 children, including Ellerup’s son from a previous relationshipEllerup and Heuermann share one daughter, Victoria Heuermann. They also co-parented Ellerup’s son from a previous relationship, Christopher Sheridan.
Prior to Heuermann’s arrest, his daughter worked for his Manhattan architecture firm, The New York Times reported. Following her father’s arrest, she struggled to find a job, Vess Mitev, the attorney representing her and Sheridan, told The New York Times.
Following the arrest, Ellerup and her children continued to live in the family’s Massapequa Park home.
Ellerup opened up about the emotional toll of the case on her children in a July 2023 interview with The New York Post.
“My children cry themselves to sleep. I mean, they’re not children. They’re grown adults but they’re my children, and my son has developmental disabilities and he cried himself to sleep,” she said.
The children’s lawyer told Newsweek last year that this was a “very, very dark time in their lives.”
“They’re two young adults that are caught in the cross hairs of this deeply unfortunate case that they have nothing to do with other than they are related to Mr. Heuermann,” he said.
Mitev also told The New York Times in late 2024 that the children continued to be harassed because of the case.
“Chris can’t even walk his dog down the block. He gets photographed, people stop and take pictures, he’s catcalled, the whole thing,” he said.
“They can’t even check the mail,” he also said. “That kind of scrutiny is not for my clients. They never asked for it.”
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