By Christina Maxouris, CNN
(CNN) In her greater than 27 years of marriage to Rex Heuermann, Asa Ellerup in all probability did not know concerning the horrible double life her husband is charged with being alive, Suffolk County’s prime police officer says.
“In case you ask me, I do not suppose they knew about this double life that Mr. Heuermann was main,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison stated of the suspect’s household.
However authorities are usually not ruling something out but and are persevering with to collect info “to see if the household may need recognized precisely what Mr. Heuermann was as much as,” Harrison advised CNN’s Erica Hill on Monday.
Final week, Heuermann, 59, was arrested and charged with homicide in reference to the murders of three of the “Gilgo 4,” a bunch of 4 girls whose stays have been discovered alongside a brief stretch of Gilgo Seaside on Lengthy Island in 2010. He’s additionally the prime suspect within the disappearance and homicide of the fourth lady, however has not but been charged in that case.
On Wednesday, lower than per week since her husband’s arrest, Ellerup filed for divorce, her lawyer, Robert Macedonio, advised CNN. She didn’t remark additional on the matter.
She was shocked to listen to what her husband is accused of, Harrison stated.
However she unknowingly performed a key position in her husband’s arrest: It was his DNA, amongst different proof, that authorities say helped hyperlink Heuermann to the crimes.
Here is what we learn about his spouse, their life collectively, and the surprising position she performed within the case.
The 2 have been married for 27 years.
Heuermann and Ellerup have been married in April 1996, the suspect stated in a 2018 assertion. Since then, they’ve lived in Heuermann’s red-and-green childhood residence in Massapequa Park, a Lengthy Island suburb, with their daughter and Heuermann’s stepson.
However regardless of his lengthy keep within the neighborhood, and although Heuermann’s life was lengthy rooted in the identical neighborhood, few particulars concerning the household have been recognized to neighbors.
Neighbors described the home as creepy and the household as distant, in line with the lengthy Island Press, a month-to-month journal serving Lengthy Island.
“The household may be very reserved, quiet,” neighbor Frankie Musto advised the publication. “We by no means noticed something suspicious.”
In his 2018 deposition, Heuermann stated that he had been married as soon as earlier than. That marriage, he stated, lasted three years they usually had no youngsters.
They discover spouse’s hair with the three victims
When the victims have been first found, authorities recovered strands of degraded hair, however DNA testing on the time failed to supply the solutions investigators hoped for.
Technological enhancements quickly helped produce outcomes.
Hair now believed to belong to Ellerup, which had allegedly been unintentionally carried by the suspect on his clothes, was discovered on or close to all three victims, prosecutors alleged within the bond request, citing DNA proof.
That DNA got here from 11 bottles inside a trash can exterior Heuermann’s residence, the courtroom doc says. Authorities had been watching Heuermann and his household for months after they recognized him as a suspect in early 2022, throughout which era they collected DNA samples from gadgets the household dumped.
Though her hair was discovered with the victims, Ellerup and her daughter have been touring when the murders happened and Heuermann was “alone within the tri-state space,” Suffolk County District Legal professional Ray Tierney stated throughout a information convention Friday.
“It’s totally important in that it limits him,” felony protection lawyer Joey Jackson advised CNN’s Jake Tapper of the discovering. “If the suspect’s spouse is out of city, then why would her hair be there if he is on the town?”
Suffolk County authorities say DNA proof additionally linked Heuermann to a male hair discovered within the burlap sack the place the stays of a sufferer have been discovered.
Stunned, disgusted, embarrassed
Harrison advised CNN on Monday that he was knowledgeable that after authorities advised Ellerup and his daughter concerning the crimes Heuermann is accused of, the 2 have been “shocked, disgusted, ashamed.”
His response, he stated, is the rationale he believes they have been unaware of what he was doing.
“However time will inform,” he added. “And as soon as once more, there are nonetheless many extra inquiries to be requested of household and buddies.”
CNN has made a number of makes an attempt to contact Heuermann’s spouse and daughter.
Following his arrest, Heuermann was remanded with out bail. He pleaded not responsible by means of his lawyer. His subsequent courtroom date is scheduled for August 1.
Heuermann has not had guests on the Suffolk County Correctional Facility the place he’s being held since his arraignment Friday, Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. advised CNN’s Brynn Gingras. He’s allowed to make two telephone calls a day, however it’s unclear if he has related with anybody, the sheriff added.
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CNN’s Patricia DiCarlo and Rob Frehse contributed to this report.