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.
World
Egypt: Two Britons believed to be among 16 missing as tourist boat sinks after being ‘hit by large wave’
Two Britons are believed to be among more than a dozen people missing after a boat sank in the Red Sea off the Egyptian coast.
The yacht, called Sea Story, had 44 people on board, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 13 crew.
Authorities are searching for 16 people, including 12 foreign nationals and four Egyptians, the governor of the Red Sea region said, adding that 28 other people had been rescued.
Preliminary reports suggested a sudden large wave struck the vessel, capsizing it within about five minutes, governor Amr Hanafi said.
“Some passengers were in their cabins, which is why they were unable to escape,” he added in a statement.
Survivors rescued from the Sea Story in Marsa Alam. Pic: STR/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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Passengers rescued from sunken tourist boat
The people who were rescued only suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scrapes with none needing hospital treatment.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office spokesperson said: “We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Egypt and are in contact with the local authorities.”
The foreign nationals aboard the 34-metre-long vessel, owned by an Egyptian national, included Americans, Belgians, British, Chinese, Finns, Germans, Irish, Poles, Slovakians, Spanish, and Swiss.
Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits before the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March, according to officials.
The four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht was part of a multi-day diving trip when it went down near the coastal town of Marsa Alam following warnings about rough weather.
Officials said a distress call was received at 5.30am local time on Monday.
The boat had left Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to reach its destination of Hurghada Marina on 29 November.
The Sea Story had 44 people on board. File pic: Dive Pro Liveaboard
Some survivors had been airlifted to safety on a helicopter, officials said.
The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, said it has no information on the matter.
According to its maker’s website, the Sea Story was built in 2022.
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The incident comes after the Egyptian Meteorological Authority issued a warning on Saturday about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea.
The organisation had advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.
Some tourist companies have stopped or limited operations on the Red Sea due to the potential dangers from conflicts in the region.
A motion has been filed to drop the charges against Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election result.
Mr Trump was first indicted on four felonies in August 2023: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The president-elect pleaded not guilty to all charges and the case was then put on hold for months as Mr Trump’s team argued he could not be prosecuted.
Special Counsel Jack Smith. Pic: Reuters
Donald Trump supporters storm the US Capitol
On Monday, prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith, who had led the investigation, asked a federal judge to dismiss the case over long-standing US justice department policy, dating back to the 1970s, that presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office.
It marks the end of the department’s landmark effort to hold Mr Trump accountable for the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 when thousands of Trump supporters assaulted police, broke through barricades, and swarmed the Capitol in a bid to prevent the US Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Mr Smith’s team had been assessing how to wind down both the election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Mr Trump’s election victory over vice president Kamala Harris earlier this month, effectively killing any chance of success for the case.
In court papers, prosecutors said “the [US] Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated”.
They said the ban [on prosecuting sitting presidents] “is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind”.
Mr Trump, who has said he would sack Mr Smith as soon as he takes office in January, and promised to pardon some convicted rioters, has long dismissed both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case as politically motivated.
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. Pic: AP
He was accused of illegally keeping classified papers after leaving office in 2021, some of which were allegedly found in his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The election interference case stalled after the US Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, which Mr Trump’s lawyers exploited to demand the charges against him be dismissed.
Mr Smith’s request to drop the case still needs to be approved by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
No date had been set for a trial.
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At least 1,500 cases have been brought against those accused of trying to overthrow the election result on 6 January 2021, resulting in more than 1,100 convictions, the Associated Press said.
More than 950 defendants have been sentenced and 600 of them jailed for terms ranging from a few days to 22 years.
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