Gilgo Beach murders: Suspect Rex Heuermann in court as his adult children ‘cry themselves to sleep’
A US architect charged with murdering three women and suspected of killing a fourth has appeared in court – as his estranged wife said the pair’s adult children “cry themselves to sleep”.
Asa Ellerup, who has filed for divorce from 59-year-old suspect Rex Heuermann, said she has “no answers” for their son and daughter when they ask about his arrest.
Heuermann, who was detained on 13 July, faced court in Riverhead, New York, on Tuesday.
The suspect wore a suit jacket and khaki trousers for the hearing, and reportedly rocked back and forth on his heels as his lawyer and a Suffolk County prosecutor spoke.
The defendant, from Long Island, is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, who went missing in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, who disappeared in 2010.
(L-R) Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello. Pic: Suffolk County Police
Heuermann is also suspected of killing a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who vanished in 2007.
Her remains were found buried along the same stretch of highway near Long Island’s Gilgo Beach as the other women in December 2010.
The spot is across the bay from Massapequa Park where Heuermann grew up and lived for decades in his childhood home.
The group of women, all sex workers, were known as the Gilgo Four, and the discovery of their bodies raised fears about a serial killer in the area.
The story of a mother looking for her missing daughter, who may also be a victim of the same murderer, was the basis for a Netflix crime series called Lost Girls.
A total of 11 bodies were found by investigators dumped along Gilgo Beach over the space of about two years.
Selfies which appear to have been taken by Heuermann. Pics: Suffolk County Court
‘Treated like animals’
Speaking about the trauma of the ordeal since Heuermann’s arrest, Ms Ellerup, 59, told 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 also said she herself had been experiencing “anxiety”, adding: “I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering.”
Both adult children live in the family home. The Post said her son is 33, while her daughter, Victoria Heuermann, 26, said she felt “not human” in the aftermath of the arrest.
Ms Ellerup’s lawyer Bob Macedonio added: “She meant what they’ve done to them and the family is not even human. They were just complete animals. They treated them like animals.”
Authorities carry out an investigation at Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park, New York. Pic: AP
Investigators spent 12 days searching the property for evidence, and Asa Ellerup told the Post that when the family was allowed to return, the residence was almost unliveable.
The police search included digging up the yard, dismantling a porch and a greenhouse and removing many of the house’s contents for testing.
She said belongings were piled up in heaps, part of her bath was cut away and furniture was broken up.
“My couch was completely shredded. I don’t even know if there’s any parts to the couch,” said Ms Ellerup.
Prosecutors share ‘eight terabytes of material’
A lawyer for Heuermann’s adult children, Vess Mitev, said they were mulling taking legal action against police for the “deplorable and roughshod handling of the investigation that turned upside down their lives, their home, their very status in the social hierarchy”.
“In the haste and zeal to arrest Mr Heuermann, we believe certain things were done that shouldn’t have been done,” he added.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said at the court hearing they have given Heuermann’s lawyer eight terabytes of material – that is the equivalent of about 2,500 pages of records, along with about 100 hours of surveillance video recorded outside the suspect’s home and office.
Heuermann was seen on CCTV at a mobile phone shop in Manhattan in May. Pic: Suffolk County Court
District Attorney Ray Tierney said it was a fraction of the evidence gathered since the bodies of the four women were discovered.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance last month and was ordered to be detained without the possibility of bail.
His lawyer said the defendant denied committing the crimes.
Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.
Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.
Luigi Mangione supporters stand outside the Supreme Court. Pic: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah
Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Dozens more queued in the hallway.
Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.
Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson. Pic: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP
In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.
Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.
He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
The killing prompted some to voice their resentment at US health insurers, with Mangione attracting a cult following.
A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials were partly to blame for the incident.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have not “done anything” to end the Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump has said.
He called the French president a “friend of mine” and the UK leader a “nice guy” but said Russia had only agreed to negotiate “because of me”.
Mr Trump made the comments days before both leaders visit the White House for a meeting in which they must try to press Ukraine‘s case while keeping the US leader onside.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron in Paris: Pic: Number 10/Flickr
The president also continued his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he had “no cards” to play.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” he told a Fox radio show.
The comments come after he recently called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections” – apparently in response to Mr Zelenskyy saying his US counterpart was living in a “disinformation space” after Mr Trump claimed Ukraine had started the war.
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US and Russia hold talks in Saudi Arabia
Ukraine was also excluded from talks between the top US and Russian diplomats in Riyadh earlier this week.
They were intended to set the stage for future negotiations on ending the war, which started when Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.
Speaking on Friday evening, Mr Trump denied speculation he could visit Moscow for talks on 9 May – the day Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis.
President Trump speaks in the Oval Office on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also told reporters the Russian and Ukrainian leaders needed to “work together” to end the war.
However, the US has already dealt a huge blow to Kyiv’s position in any future talks.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that a return to pre-war borders was “unrealistic” and ruled out NATO membership as way to guarantee Kyiv’s security.
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President Zelenskyy has insisted he will not accept any deal that his country is not involved in.
Ukraine’s leader held talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, describing it later as a “good discussion”.
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Mr Kellogg struck a markedly different tone to President Trump when he called Mr Zelenskyy the “courageous leader of a nation at war”.
However, there are concerns over how much influence Mr Kellogg has, with a Ukrainian source saying there was a sense he had been sidelined.
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