Wife of Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann files for divorce a week after his arrest in connection to Long Island murders

• Asa Ellerup, 59, filed for divorce at Suffolk County Supreme Court on Wednesday, and was seen at a Best Buy with their daughter Victoria, 26 
• She had been married to Rex Heuermann, 59, for over two decades: he was arrested on Thursday and charged with three murders of sex workers in 2010
• Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said Ellerup and their two children were ‘disgusted’ and ’embarrassed’ by his arrest 

The wife of the Long Island architect arrested on Thursday on suspicion of murdering a string of women filed for divorce on Wednesday.

Asa Ellerup, 59, had been married to Rex Heuermann, 59, for several decades and the pair raised two adult children.

She emigrated to the United States from Iceland as a child, and grew up near Heuermann on Long Island.

Ellerup was away when the women were murdered, and neighbors said they were rarely seen together. It has now emerged he owns two other homes – in Las Vegas, and South Carolina – and police are investigating whether he could be connected to any unsolved killings there.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said Ellerup and the two children were ‘disgusted’ and ’embarrassed’ by his arrest.

Bob Macedonio, Ellerup’s attorney, told Fox News their life had been ‘turned upside down’.

On Wednesday, Ellerup filed a matrimonial complaint in Suffolk County Supreme Court. She was seen on Wednesday at a Best Buy with their daughter Victoria Heuermann, 26, in photos obtained by Fox News.

Asa Ellerup, 59, is seen with her daughter Victoria Heuermann, 26, on Wednesday, the day she filed for divorce from Rex Heuermann

Ellerup was walking with a cane on Wednesday as she was spotted with her daughter, Victoria Heuermann, 26

Ellerup was born in Iceland but emigrated to the United States as a child, and marries Rex Heurmann over 20 years ago

Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested outside his Manhattan architects firm on Thursday, and on Friday was charged with the murder of three women. He is the prime suspect in a fourth

The Heuermann-Ellerup home in Long Island is pictured on Saturday, as investigators remove items from the house

Under New York State law, all filings in divorce proceedings are sealed from public scrutiny, but the cases and party’s names are docketed and posted.

Asa Ellerup v. Rex Heuermann is listed as an ‘uncontested’ matrimonial filing dated Wednesday, with a complaint, summons and ‘notice concerning continuation of health care coverage’ filed and processed — although are not made public.

The filing was first reported by The Daily Beast.

‘This is all still a whirlwind,’ said Macedonio, her lawyer. ‘Her and her children’s lives have been completely turned upside-down.’ 

Macedonio said that police arrived at Ellerup and Heuermann’s home on Thursday evening an hour after his arrest and informed them of the charges, then seized their passports, computers, phones and iPads.

‘They were home and the cops came in, and they were completely blindsided, and they told them what was going on,’ he said. 

Ellerup attended Farmingdale High School and married briefly in her 20s, divorcing in the early 1990s in Queens. 

It was unclear whether she had a professional life outside the home. 

Their daughter Victoria Heuermann, 26, worked with her father as a receptionist.

Their son’s identity is not known. The New York Times said he has special needs.

The family kept themselves to themselves, and neighbors said no one recalled ever being invited in to their home.

Ellerup’s sister Johanna Ellerup, a pharmacist who lives seven miles from their Long Island home, told DailyMail.com on Tuesday they did not know where she was.

Their mother has died, and their father still lives in the house where Asa and Johanna Ellerup grew up.   

‘We have not heard from her, we don’t have an address for her,’ said Johanna Ellerup. 

‘We don’t know anything.’

She added that her father is elderly ‘and this is overwhelming’ for him.’

‘Honestly, I swear we know less than you,’ said Johanna. 

‘We know nothing. We don’t know anything.’

Dr. Johanna Ellerup, a pharmacist who lives just seven miles from the Long Island home Rex Heuermann shared with her sister, Heuermann’s wife, says she has not heard from her

An elderly man believed to be Asa Ellerup’s father, Frode, was seen at Johanna’s home 

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said he does not believe Heuermann’s family was aware of his double life. His daughter, Victoria, is pictured

The first victim, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was discovered by Suffolk County Police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, was found two days later

Maureen Brainard-Barnes was 25 years old when she went missing (left). Amber Lynn Costello was 27 years old. Their bodies were found near Barthelemy’s the same day

Asa Ellerup was said to have been traveling during the murders of Megan Waterman, Amber Costello and Melissa Barthelemy, whose bodies were found dumped on Gilgo Beach.

She was visiting Maryland, New Jersey, and Iceland.

When sex worker Melissa Barthelemy disappeared from her Bronx home on July 12, 2009, travel records show that Asa was in Iceland.

She left for her homeland on July 8, 2009 and remained there until August. 

A year later, Megan Waterman, a 22-year-old prostitute, was last seen on June 6, 2010.

Records suggest her phone likely travelled to Massapequa Park, and the cell site location was near Heuermann’s home.

Ellerup was in Maryland during this period, traveling from New York on July 4, 2010 and returning four days later, according to cellphone billing records.

Amber Costello, a 27-year-old also working as a sex worker, was last seen by acquaintances on September 2, 2010.

Ellerup was again traveling at the time, leaving home on August 28 and returning from New Jersey on September 5, billing records show, according to court documents.

Heuermann was arrested Thursday night for the murders. Police are now investigating whether he may be related to any other unsolved crimes

A member of the Crime Lab is seen investigating items outside of Heuermann’s Massapequa home on Tuesday

Police remained on the scene Tuesday of Heuermann’s Long Island home

The home of Rex Heuermann was first searched by police after his arrest on July 13, 2023

Investigators are searching Heuermann’s home for any ‘trophies’ he may have left from his alleged victims

Neighbors have described Asa and her children as a quiet, cheerless family

New York State Police officers are seen carrying a vast array of evidence out of Rex Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park, NY, on Monday afternoon, July 17, 2023

On Thursday night, Long Island serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann walked carefree through the street in Midtown Manhattan before he was arrested

On Monday night, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said he does not believe Heuermann’s family was aware of his alleged crimes.

He described to CNN’s Erin Burnett how the family reacted to the news that he had been arrested and charged in the murders of three sex workers, whose bodies were found in burlap sacks at the beach. 

He is also the primary suspect in a fourth murder.

‘They were disgusted. They were embarrassed,’ said Harrison. 

‘So if you ask me, I don’t believe they knew about this double life that Heuermann was living.’

At the IGA supermarket in Massapequa where Asa and her children would frequently shop, cashiers knew them as a quiet, cheerless family.

And even though Asa would visit the store several times a week, they said Heuermann never accompanied her and their children.

‘He never came with them,’ store manager Mery Salmeri told the New York Times. 

‘I’m not sure what that says about them.’

She added that Ellerup often looked depressed, and the family would pay for their groceries using food stamps.

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