Accused Gilgo Beach Killer Rex Heuermann Reaches Divorce Settlement with Estranged Wife Who Thinks Husband Not 'Capable' of Alleged Crimes

A divorce settlement has been reached between suspected Long Island Serial Killer Rex Heuermann and his estranged wife Asa Ellerup — even though Ellerup thinks her ex-husband is “not capable” of committing the crimes he’s accused of.

The settlement was reached on Thursday, March 27 but it still needs to be finalized by a Suffolk County judge, ABC News reported.

“This has been in the works for the last couple years,” Ellerup’s attorney Bob Macedonio tells PEOPLE. “She needs to move on with her life for her and her children. She realizes that.” 

Macedonio says Ellerup is “withholding any judgment on the guilt or innocence of Rex until the conclusion of the trial. She still maintains the position that the man that she was married to for 29 years was not capable of committing these horrific crimes.”

Ellerup filed for divorce from Heuermann in 2023 days after he was arrested for the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello. The women’s remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway in Long Island in 2010.

Heuermann has since been charged with the murders of Waterman, Barthelemy and Costello as well as Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla and Valerie Mack.

Authorities said the former architect is linked to the murders through cell tower data, a witness’s description of his Chevrolet Avalanche, and DNA from hairs found on some of the victims.

The DNA results are currently at issue in Heuermann’s case.

A hearing began on Friday, March 28, to determine if the hairs recovered from some of the victims will be admissible during his trial.

Heuermann’s attorneys have argued that the DNA results should be tossed because they haven’t been tested in a New York court of law before, CBS News reported.

Suffolk County prosecutors have argued that the technique is widely accepted, per News 12.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the series of killings that allegedly began in 1993 with the murder of Costilla, whose remains were discovered that November by two people hunting in a wooded area.

Costilla was lying on her back with her arms “outstretched over her head with her uncovered legs spread apart” and had several “sharp force injuries” across her body, according to an amended indictment.

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He is also accused of killing sex workers Mack in 2000 and Taylor in 2003. Their remains were found in Manorville and Ocean Parkway. Authorities believe the killer used a hand-powered saw to dismember both.

The Long Island serial killer case came to light in 2010 when escort Shannan Gilbert went missing on May 1 after visiting a client in the gated community of Oak Beach.

A search began that led to the discovery of Barthelemy, Costello, Waterman and Brainard-Barnes in December. All four women worked as online escorts, like Gilbert. They went missing between 2007 and 2010.

Authorities have alleged that the murders were committed while Ellerup and their two kids, who all lived with him at his home in Massapequa Park, were out of state.

Heuermann was taken into custody in July 2023.