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For most of his life, Rex Heuermann, a life-long resident of Long Island, New York, was known primarily as a married father and architect.
Prosecutors suspect the 61-year-old of concealing a sinister side. Heuermann is accused of being the notorious Gilgo Beach serial killer, allegedly responsible for the murders of seven women, skillfully avoiding detection by authorities for years.
These startling charges against the former New York City architect are highlighted in the upcoming Peacock Original docuseries, The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets, which premieres on June 10.
According to the docuseries synopsis, it “explores the suspect’s home for the first time, revealing never-before-seen testimony from his family that paints a disturbing picture of a man accused of leading a double life while concealing his sinister secrets under their very roof.”
To learn more about the man at the center of it all, and the crimes he’s accused of, read on.
Who is Rex Heuermann?
Heuermann grew up in Massapequa Park, a village on Long Island, where he attended what was then called Berner High School and was a classmate of actor Billy Baldwin. Another former high school classmate described Heuermann to The New York Times in 2023 as someone who “got picked on a lot.”
Heuermann eventually became an architect and founded the New York City-based firm RH Consultants and Associates in 1994, CBS News reported. The news outlet added that according to the company’s now defunct website, the firm once had big name clients including Target, American Airlines and Foot Locker.
Although the firm was based in Manhattan, Heuermann continued to live in Massapequa Park.
“We’ve been here for about 30 years, and the guy’s been quiet, never really bothers anybody,” his next-door neighbor Etienne DeVilliers told CBS New York after his arrest. “We were kind of shocked, to tell you the truth.”
Who are Rex Heuermann’s wife and children?
Heuermann lived in the Massapequa Park home — which one neighbor described to the Associated Press as a “dump” — with his wife of nearly three decades, Asa Ellerup. They shared the home with their two children, Christopher Sheridan, Ellerup’s son from a prior relationship, and their daughter Victoria Heuermann, who worked at her father’s architecture firm, according to NBC’s TODAY.
Ellerup filed for divorce shortly after Heuermann’s arrest, but said in a statement released in 2024 that she was reserving judgement about his guilt or innocence until she was able to “listen to all the evidence” in court.
“I have given Rex the benefit of the doubt, as we all deserve,” she said, according to NBC News.
In a statement to Newsweek, the children’s attorney Vess Mitev said that they were coping with the allegations against their father as best they could.
“They’re two young adults that are caught in the cross hairs of this deeply unfortunate case that they have nothing to do with other than they are related to Mr. Heuermann,” Mitev said in the statement, describing the situation as a “very, very dark time in their lives.”
When was Rex Heuermann arrested?
Heuermann’s life as he knew it came to a halt on July 13, 2023, when he was arrested at age 59 outside in Manhattan, not far from his office.
What is Rex Heuermann charged with?
Heuermann is now charged with the murders of seven women in total. Many of the victims were sex workers, according to NBC News.
He was initially charged in July of 2023 with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. The remains of all three women were discovered in December of 2010 along a half-mile stretch of Gilgo Beach, wrapped in burlap and bound with belts or tape.
In January of 2024, prosecutors charged Heuermann in the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose body was found in the same area in December of 2010, according to People. Barthelemy, Waterman, Costello, and Brainard-Barnes — who were collectively known as the Gilgo Four — all vanished between 2007 and 2010 and were working as escorts.
The bodies were discovered after escort Shannan Gilbert placed a frantic call to 911 in May of 2010 after leaving a client’s home in the area, telling the dispatcher, “Somebody’s after me.” While searching for Gilbert, authorities stumbled upon the bodies of the Gilgo Four.
By the spring of 2011, authorities had found the remains of 10 people. Gilbert’s body was later found in December of 2011, but authorities said that based on the evidence, they believe she may have accidentally drowned while getting lost in the area’s marshland. Gilbert’s mom believed her daughter’s death was a homicide, according to People.
In June of 2024, authorities charged Heuermann in the deaths of two other women: Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor. Costilla’s remains were found in North Sea, Long Island in 1993, while Taylor vanished in 2003 from New York City. Her remains were found partially in Manorville and partially in Gilgo Beach.
In December of 2024, Heuermann was charged in the murder of a seventh victim, Valerie Mack, an escort who disappeared in 2000. Mack’s remains were found in both Manorville and Gilgo Beach.
Investigators are still trying to determine whether Heuermann can be linked to other cases.
Authorities have said they were able to tie Heuermann to victims after linking him to a Chevy Avalanche similar to one seen by a witness in the case, according to court documents obtained by CBS News. His DNA was also reportedly a match to a hair found on the burlap used to wrap one of the victims. And authorities say they’ve been able to connect Heuermann to burner phones they say are connected to the case.
Where is Rex Heuermann now?
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and is currently being held at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County, New York, as he awaits trial. A trial date has not been set at this time.
