Gilgo Beach killer murdered 7 women in home, ex-wife says in documentary

Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, who pleaded guilty to murdering eight women on Long Island over the course of nearly two decades, admitted to his now ex-wife that he killed seven of the women in their home, she said in a new documentary.

Heuermann, who originally pleaded not guilty to seven murders, changed his plea to guilty on April 8 and also confessed to an eighth murder. The 62-year-old architect killed the women between about 1993 and 2010, according to his admissions.

Asa Ellerup, who was married to Heuermann for 27 years and filed for divorce in 2023 after he was arrested and received the first charges for three of the murders, revealed in the documentary "The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets" on Peacock that her husband confessed to the killings to her.

"He looked very nervous. Very, very nervous," Ellerup said in the preview shared by Peacock. "He said he killed eight women."

"He said I wasn't home during all of them," Ellerup said. Prosecutors have said she and her daughter were out of town during many of the murders.

Asked if any were killed in the house, Ellerup said, "He said, yes, they were killed in his room downstairs. All except one."

The episode is set to be released on April 23. The preview released by Peacock did not include when that conversation between Ellerup and Heuermann took place.

Ellerup's lawyer, Robert Macedonio, did not answer when the conversation occurred when reached by USA TODAY.

"This has been an extremely emotional and painful process for the family to endure and come to terms with the allegations that Rex Heuermann was the Gilgo Beach serial killer," Macedonio said in a statement. "Ms. Ellerup would like the focus to remain where it belongs – on the victims and their families, who have suffered immeasurable and lasting losses."

Heuermann's guilty plea covers the murders of Megan Waterman, 22; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Amber Costello, 27; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Jessica Taylor, 20; Sandra Costilla, 28; and Valerie Mack, 24. He also admitted to killing Karen Vergata, 34.

Several of the women were believed to have been working as sex workers.

Several sets of remains were found along Gilgo Beach in New York in 2010 and 2011, prompting authorities to fear a serial killer was at work. It was another decade before investigators matched DNA from a pizza Heuermann ate to a male hair found with remains. He was first linked to the serial killings because of his pickup truck. One of the women's remains also had a hair that contained DNA matching Heuermann's daughter, who would have been a toddler at the time of the killing, authorities have said.

Heuermann is due back in court June 17 for sentencing. He faces three consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole for killing three of the women, and a consecutive sentence of 100 years to life for killing four women. He agreed to admit to Vergata's killing so that her case would be covered by his guilty plea in the other seven murders, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

After he pleaded guilty, Ellerup asked for privacy for her family.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Their loss is immeasurable and the focus should be on them at this time and moment," Ellerup said.

Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg