Asa Ellerup she once insisted that her husband was innocent. Then her ex-husband, Rex Heuermannhe admitted – to his face – that he killed eight women.
The journey from fierce defender to reluctant believer played out throughout Peacock's docs Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secretswhich ended with its fourth and final episode on April 23, 2026. The series provided an inside look at how Heuermann's family processed his plea in connection with the eight murders.
On April 8, 2026, Heuermann pleaded guilty to murdering seven women and admitted to killing an eighth. As part of his plea, he is expected to receive three life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Everything Ellerup said about the case, below.
Rex Heuermann's Ex-Wife Didn't Believe He Was A Murderer
When Ellerup first broke her silence on the three-part document, she was determined to defend her husband.
“[Did I] what do you know? My husband was at home here. He is a family man,” Ellerup told the cameras, “They told me he was soliciting sex from prostitutes. What? I don't sleep with my husband? I am not satisfied?”
He continued to say, “He comes home and eats my dinner, isn't it enough?”
Ellerup also played down suggestions that there were warning signs. “There is no unusual behavior that I have ever seen. If there was any information about unusual behavior from that man, I would have walked out the door,” he said.
At that time she said she would need to hear from her husband directly. “I would need to hear from Rex face to face that he killed these girls for me to believe,” she said. “My husband has never taken me out of anything.”
Face to Face Confessions of Rex Heuermann
Heuermann sat down with Ellerup and their daughter, Victoriathrough separate discussions with the therapist Alison T. Winter so that he can confess to murder.
“I'm scared. There's no doubt about that. I'm scared, but I have questions to ask and I'm going to need him to answer them for me. Number 1 is, 'Did you kill any of these women? And then it's going to be, 'Okay, how many of these women did you kill?' ” Ellerup said before the meeting. “I need to hear from him whether he did this or not, I can't process things I don't know.”
Rex Heuermann's wife, Asa Ellerup, stood by him after he was accused of being the Gilgo Beach killer. Heuermann and Ellerup were married for almost thirty years when he was arrested in 2023 after several cases of disappearances involving many women – including Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes – went away. […]
Ellerup added that the “hardest part” of the whole situation was accepting that she was possibly married to “a serial killer.”
While the meeting itself was not recorded, Ellerup explained the confession on camera later.
“He looked very scared. Very scared. I said to him, 'So Mr. Heuermann, I understand that you are confessing to me about these murders. Please tell me how many of these women you killed?'” he said. “He said eight.”
According to Ellerup, Heuermann said he was not at home during the murders and killed all but one of his victims in their homes.
“He said he never deliberately tried to kill these women, he said he just killed them, but he doesn't know how to kill them,” said Ellerup.
However, Winter said that although Heuermann said he did not know he was going to kill his first victim, he “planned to kill” others.
After his interview with Heuermann, Ellerup said he finally believed he was the Gilgo Beach killer.
Rex Heuermann's Daughter Reacts to His Confession
“Ever since my father was arrested, it's been a combination of humiliation, confusion, sadness and uncertainty,” said Victoria. “No one really thinks about the murderer's daughter … People just make stories about her.”
The man suspected of being the infamous Long Island Serial Killer is dealing with undisclosed health issues, Us Weekly can confirm. Rex Heuermann was a no-show Tuesday, March 17, for his ongoing criminal trial on Long Island. The hearing continued as scheduled, and afterward, Heuermann's attorney, Michael Brown, told reporters […]
After his father confirmed that he had killed eight women, he insisted that the first killing was unplanned. “I also asked him about his planning document that was created in 2000 before Valerie Mack's murder.
When he asked why he had killed, “he said his demons came to him.”
Rex Heuermann's Ex-Wife Now Lives In The Basement Where He Killed
After Heuermann formally pleaded guilty to murdering the women in his family's basement, Ellerup explained that he moved to the scene.
“This whole basement looks very different. It's been gutted and redone,” she said.
“The brutal truth is that Rex Huermann said he dissected the bodies in this room. That's the brutal truth,” Ellerup continued. “I'm in this room. And I'm here because I feel spiritual. I'm trying to say in my own spiritual way that I'm very sorry for what these victims have gone through. Every night when I go to bed and sleep, I'm tormented by dreams.”
After noting that the dreams have “followed me my whole life,” he added that “there will never be justice for anyone and there will never be a way to forget this.”
As part of the plea deal he is expected to accept during a hearing on Wednesday, April 8, alleged Long Island Serial Killer Rex Heuermann is expected to fully answer to all seven counts he has been charged with, sources have confirmed exclusively to Us Weekly. Heuermann, the best New York […]
Rex Heuermann's Ex-Wife Hopes to Understand His Deadly Side
Ellerup shared that he has seen Heuermann 12 times since he confessed to her.
“I want to know the other side of Rex. I want to know why Rex killed these women,” he said. “The things that caused me to process it in a very different way because now I see evil in him.”
Ellerup filed for divorce shortly after Heuermann's arrest in July 2023. They reached a settlement in early 2025.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
