ALLEGED Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann’s estranged wife shielded her face as she arrived in court for the accused mass murderer’s hearing a day after the couple finalized their divorce.

Despite Asa Ellerup signing divorce papers on Thursday night, she and their daughter, Victoria, still supported Heuermann during a pre-trial hearing on Friday morning.

Ellerup was photographed wearing sunglasses to shield her face while walking alongside her adult daughter, 27.

Nearly two years after Heuermann – a 61-year-old architect from Massapequa Park, New York – was arrested for the murders of seven women, he and Ellerup have officially ended their marriage.

The couple reached an uncontested divorce settlement on Thursday night, a mere hours before Heuermann was due in court.

“After 29 years of marriage, Ms. Ellerup realizes it’s time to move on with her life and focus on a future for her and her children,” Ellerup’s divorce attorney Robert Macedonio, who confirmed the settlement to Newsday, said.

A judge will still have to finalize the divorce.

Nevertheless, Ellerup and Heuermann’s daughter, Victoria, still showed up to court on Friday.

“She’ll be attending tomorrow’s Frye hearing in Riverhead and is still withholding judgment on Rex’s guilt until all evidence is played out in the courtroom,” Ellerup’s lawyer said.

As Heuermann emerged in the courtroom for his hearing he “looked out to the audience and appeared to glance” at his estranged wife and their daughter who were seated in the third row, according to investigative journalist Laura Ingle, who was present at Friday’s hearing.

The pre-trial hearing centered around whether prosecutors could use crucial DNA evidence at trial.

Prosecutors say that the evidence connects the alleged killer to the murder of seven women on Long Island from the early 1990s to the early 2010s.

Most of the women were found along Ocean Parkway, which is the road that Long Islanders take to visit several famed beaches, including Gilgo Beach.

Heuermann, who was arrested in July 2023, has pleaded not guilty to all seven murders.

‘KILLER’S’ WIFE

Ellerup filed for divorce just six days after Heuermann was arrested.

She and her two adult children left their family home in Massapequa Park, which was raided by police following Heuermann’s arrest.

The home was ripped apart for evidence, causing a spectacle on an otherwise quiet suburban block.

Ellerup and the kids moved to a family property in Chester, South Carolina, about an hour’s drive north of Columbia.

Macedonio said that Heuermann’s wife no longer felt a connection to the Long Island home after it was combed through by police, calling the thorough search a “violation of her property rights.”

Heuermann’s lawyers argued in court that the DNA evidence the prosecution wants to use should be inadmissible given the new technique used to collect the evidence.

The defense said that the new technique has not been tested in the New York court system before while the prosecution says that the technique has been used in the medical community and is consistent with what the courts have allowed.

Ingle said that Heuermann’s lawyer called the technique “magic” and said it was unproven.

GILGO BEACH FINDINGS

It’s been over 20 months since Heuermann was arrested and Long Islanders have been holding their breath in hopes that his trial might bring some closure to a case that has mystified the community for over a decade.

It started when Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old sex worker, went missing on the South Shore in May 2010 after she frantically called 911.

In the search for Gilbert, police uncovered over 10 bodies, including the young sex worker’s.

Heuermann has been charged with the murders of seven women, including Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; Amber Lynn Costello, 27; Jessica Taylor, 20; Sandra Costilla, 28, and Valerie Mack, 24.

All but one of the seven victims, Costilla, were believed to be sex workers.

Costilla was described as a “drifter” and although she had not been called a sex worker, police said her lifestyle was “substantially similar.”

Murder victims linked to the Long Island Serial Killer

The sleepy seaside community of Gilgo Beach in Long Island, NY, was horrified after the arrest of Rex Heuermann in July 2023 for a series of gruesome murders. Here is what we know about his alleged victims:

Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25 – Brainard-Barnes was believed to be a sex worker based in Norwich, Connecticut. She went by the names “Juliana” or “Marie” and advertised her services on various platforms, including Craigslist and Backpage. She mostly worked out of hotels in Manhattan. On the day of her death on July 6, 2007, she took an Amtrak train from New London to Grand Central Terminal. She was reported missing eight days later, but it wasn’t until 2010 that her remains were found on the north side of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.

Melissa Barthelemy, 24 – Barthelemy was an aspiring hairstylist who was last seen alive on July 12, 2009. She worked as an online escort and lived in the Bronx, NYC, but primarily worked out of hotels in Manhattan. She used sites such as Adult Friend Finder and went by either “Chloe” or “VerySexyChloe” online. After she disappeared, her sister revealed she had received calls from a stranger who admitted to killing her. Her body was found on Gilgo Beach on Dec 11, 2010.

Megan Waterman, 22 – Waterman was a single mother living in Scarborough, Maine, when she went missing. A sex worker who advertised her services on Craigslist and Backpage used the aliases “Lexxy” and “Sexy Lexi.” She vanished on June 6, 2010, after leaving a Holiday Inn hotel located in Hauppauge, Long Island. Two days later she was reported missing, and her body was found on December 13 of that same year.

Amber Lynn Costello, 27 – Costello lived in West Babylon, Long Island, at the time of her disappearance. She advertised as a sex worker on Craigslist and Backpage, reportedly to support her heroin addiction. She had entered a detox program shortly before his disappearance before relapsing. She was last seen alive on September 2, 2010, and her body was discovered on Ocean Parkway on December 13, 2010.

Jessica Taylor, 20 – Taylor was an escort working in Midtown, New York when she was reported missing on July 19, 2003. She was reportedly spotted at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan between July 18 and 21. On July 26, 2003, parts of her body were found in Manorville. More of her remains were discovered on March 29, 2011, during the search for Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old sex worker.

Sandra Costilla, 28 – Costilla was a native of Trinidad and Tobago living in New York at the time of her disappearance. Investigators called Costilla a “drifter” and her last known address was in Queens. Costilla’s remains were uncovered in the woods in Southampton on November 20, 1993. Costilla had numerous sharp force injuries to her face, torso, breasts, left thigh, and vaginal area.

Valerie Mack, 24 – At the time of her disappearance, Mack was working as an escort under the alias “Melissa Taylor.” She was last seen alive in the spring of 2000 in New Jersey, but her family didn’t report her missing. Parts of her body were discovered by hikers in September 2000 in the Long Island Pine Barrens, but she was not identified and was instead given the nickname “Jane Doe No. 6.” The rest of her remains were recovered on April 4, 2011, near Gilgo Beach.

There have been several other murder victims tied to a Long Island Serial Killer, but no connection has been found to Rex Heuermann, and he is not a suspect in their deaths.

Karen Vergata, 34 – Vergata was a sex worker living on West 45th St. in Manhattan at the time of her disappearance on Valentine’s Day, 1996. She had called her father that day to wish him a happy birthday. Parts of her body were found at Davis Park on Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach on April 20 that year, but at the time, she wasn’t identified and was known as “Jane Doe No. 7.” Her skull was found on Ocean Parkway on April 11, 2011.

Additional victims – Four other remains of possible victims were also recovered but have not been officially named.