Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann’s wife has been in touch with him since his arrest: lawyer
The estranged wife of Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann has been in touch with her husband since his bombshell arrest — but has yet to be interviewed by investigators in the case, her divorce attorney said this week.
Asa Ellerup has had “personal” conversations with her husband over the phone while he awaits trial in Suffolk County jail, her lawyer Robert Macedonio told Newsday on Tuesday.
“They have spoken,” he said, though he declined to provide further details about the conversations.
But he stressed that his client was taken aback by her husband’s arrest on July 13 in the notorious murders.
“She was completely blindsided by the whole event,” Macedonia said.
“It was like getting hit by a Mack truck walking on 42nd Street. Obviously, her head was just spinning.”
When asked if Ellerup, 59, planned to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into the Gilgo killings, Macedonio told the outlet that he “can’t even speculate” on the issue.
“We haven’t been asked,” he said, though he also noted that Ellerup, who has been married to Heuermann for over two decades, would have spousal immunity and could not be compelled to testify against him about events that occurred before or during the marriage.
A spokesperson for Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney declined to comment to the outlet on whether investigators were speaking to Heuermann’s family, which also includes a son, Christopher, 32, and a 27-year-old daughter, Victoria.
Tierney, however, previously told reporters that there was “no indication” that the towering architect’s family knew of his alleged crimes.
Heuermann, 59, pleaded not guilty on July 14 to the strangulation murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, whose bodies were later discovered along Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach in December 2010.
He is also the prime suspect in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was the first of the so-called “Gilgo Four” to disappear.
Ellerup, who is originally from Iceland, was away from the couple’s Massapequa Park home with Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello are believed to have been killed, Heuermann’s initial arrest warrant noted.
In his conversation with Newsday, Macedonio said his client did not know her husband allegedly solicited sex workers, and does not remember the events surrounding those specific dates beginning in 2008.
“It’s trying to recollect events more than 10 years ago. She hasn’t had the opportunity to sit down and think about it. She’s trying to locate passports to jog her memory,” he noted.
The family’s ramshackle house on First Avenue is now “uninhabitable” after police spent almost two weeks scouring it for evidence, Macedonio continued.
“The floors are ripped up. Mattresses were taken. The couch was cut open. There’s holes in part of the walls. Right now, they’re going through everything, sorting through everything, trying to obtain new mattresses,” he said.
After a brief hearing on Tuesday, Heuermann remains in custody at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead.
“[Ellerup] has not visited him at the facility yet,” Macedonio said ahead of the proceedings.
He did not comment on whether Ellerup wants or plans to contact Heuermann in the future.
The Islip-based attorney added that “people from all over the world” have reached out to his law firm, some of whom even sent packages for Ellerup.
Earlier this week, the daughter of the infamous Happy Face Killer even launched a GoFundMe to help with Ellerup’s divorce expenses and other needs.
“She’s taking it day by day,” Macedonio said of his client.
“She’s gaining a little bit of self-confidence now and realizes she has to be strong for her children.”
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