What Happened to Suspected Serial Killer Rex Heuermann's Wife & Kids
Originally appeared on E! Online
The arrest of Rex Heuermann in 2023 may have been a step forward for the families of a number of murdered women whose cases had grown increasingly cold over the course of two decades.
Prosecutors allege Heuermann, a New York architect who lived with his family in Massapequa Park, is a serial killer whose crimes date back to at least 1993, when the body of 28-year-old Sandra Costilla was discovered in a wooded area on the east side of Long Island.
Since his arrest, he has been charged with murdering seven women, and he has pleaded not guilty on all counts. The 61-year-old remains in custody at Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County awaiting trial.
Also caught up in the fallout of the investigation, detailed in Netflix's Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer, was Heuermann's own family, particularly his wife Asa Ellerup and their two children, Christopher Sheridan (Ellerup's son from a previous relationship) and Virginia Heuermann.
Though some people described Heuermann as unfriendly and at times creepy—"We would cross the street," neighbor Nicholas Ferchaw told the New York Times following his arrest. "He was somebody you don't want to approach"—he still appeared to be living a normal life.
"The family is very to themselves, quiet,' neighbor Frankie Musto told the Long Island Press. 'My daughter went to school with their daughter, but we never saw anything suspicious."
Here is what to know about Heuermann's wife Ellerup and their kids since he was charged with multiple murders:
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Though some people described Heuermann as unfriendly and at times creepy—"We would cross the street," neighbor Nicholas Ferchaw told the New York Times following his arrest. "He was somebody you don't want to approach"—he still appeared to be living a normal life.
"The family is very to themselves, quiet,' neighbor Frankie Musto told the Long Island Press. 'My daughter went to school with their daughter, but we never saw anything suspicious."
Here is what to know about Heuermann's wife Ellerup and their kids since he was charged with multiple murders:
Heuermann was arrested July 13, 2023—more than a year after the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office formed a special task force to solve the unsolved killings often referred to as the Gilgo Beach Murders, a reference to where the remains of at least 10 people were found in 2010 and 2011. (Three sets of remains have not yet been identified, according to Suffolk County authorities.)
Six days after Heuermann was taken into custody, Ellerup filed for divorce after 27 years of marriage.
'If you ask me, I don't believe, that they knew about this double life that Mr. Heuermann was living," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told CNN in July 2023, referring to the suspect's wife and kids. But, he added, authorities were still investigating "to see if the family might have known exactly what Mr. Heuermann was up to."
Harrison said Ellerup and her daughter "were shocked, they were disgusted, they were embarrassed" when they found out the charges against Heuermann.
Ellerup and her kids "are going through a devastating time in their lives," her attorney Robert Macedonio told NBC News in a statement at the time. 'The sensitive nature of her husband's arrest is taking an emotional toll on the immediate and extended family, especially their elderly family members."
Before Heuermann's arrest, investigators conducted a 12-day search of the Massapequa Park home he shared with Ellerup and their two grown kids.
'I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering,' Ellerup told the New York Post several weeks later. 'Anxiety."
Ellerup said their son Christopher has "developmental disabilities" and he "cried himself to sleep" after his father was arrested.
Daughter Virginia told the NY Post she felt "not human" amid the investigation, with their attorney Macdeonio explaining to the publication she meant that what authorities had "done to them and the family is not even human. They were just complete animals [to investigators]. They treated them like animals."
But what was important was that she and the kids were together, Ellerup noted.
"That's really what matters right now," she said. "That you and me are sitting here together and we will get through this."
While authorities have said time and again that they don't believe Ellerup knew about Heuermann's alleged crimes—and that she was out of town when the murders he's been charged with were committed—she unwittingly played a key role in his arrest.
DNA testing showed that female human hair found on or near four victims' remains belonged to the defendant's wife, according to prosecutors' 2023 bail application (which did not refer to Ellerup by name at the time).
Prosecutors said in the filing that travel records put his wife in Iceland when alleged Heuermann victim Melissa Barthelemy was killed in 2009, and cell phone data indicated she was out of the state when Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello were killed in 2010, leading them to determine that the hairs came from his family's residence or were transferred from his clothing.
Heuermann was first charged with the murders of Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello in July 2023 and named a suspect in the 2010 killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. He was charged in that case in January 2024, then charged with the murders of Costilla (in 1993) and Jessica Taylor (2003) in June 2024 and of Valerie Mack (2000) in December 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to all seven.
Days later, her attorney shared that Ellerup had been battling breast cancer and skin cancer for several years.
"Emotionally, she's recovering each day not only dealing with the cancer," Macedonio said during an Aug. 11, 2023, news conference, "but this newfound life that she has to come to terms with protecting herself and children."
At the time, Macedonio said Ellerup was undergoing a course of treatment that would last 12 to 18 months, and that her health insurance was attached to her husband's and was set to expire in 60 days.
Though she quickly filed for divorce, Ellerup later said that she was waiting to see how her husband's case unfolded before casting judgment, while also extending her "heartfelt sympathies" to the victims' families.
"Nobody deserves to die in that manner," she said in a March 2024 statement, per NBC New York. "I will listen to all of the evidence and withhold judgment until the end of trial. I have given Rex the benefit of the doubt, as we all deserve."
While authorities have said time and again that they don't believe Ellerup knew about Heuermann's alleged crimes—and that she was out of town when the murders he's been charged with were committed—she unwittingly played a key role in his arrest.
DNA testing showed that female human hair found on or near four victims' remains belonged to the defendant's wife, according to prosecutors' 2023 bail application (which did not refer to Ellerup by name at the time).
Prosecutors said in the filing that travel records put his wife in Iceland when alleged Heuermann victim Melissa Barthelemy was killed in 2009, and cell phone data indicated she was out of the state when Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello were killed in 2010, leading them to determine that the hairs came from his family's residence or were transferred from his clothing.
Heuermann was first charged with the murders of Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello in July 2023 and named a suspect in the 2010 killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. He was charged in that case in January 2024, then charged with the murders of Costilla (in 1993) and Jessica Taylor (2003) in June 2024 and of Valerie Mack (2000) in December 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to all seven.
Though their house had been torn upside down by investigators, Ellerup told the NY Post in July 2023, "It's the only thing I got."
But her attorney Macedonio said in November 2024 that she would be relocating to South Carolina and eventually her kids would join her.
Ellerup "lost her attachment to her house of 30 years," the lawyer said in a statement, per NBC New York. "To start the healing process, she wants to move on."
The Massapequa Park house, which authorities conducted at least two subsequent searches on after Heuermann's arrest, wasn't yet for sale, Macedonio said at the time, but the plan was to list the property once Ellerup's divorce was finalized.
It's unclear if Ellerup has since made the move. E! News reached out to her attorney for comment but has yet to hear back.
'People constantly stop in front of the house, to gawk and point and take pictures,' Macedonio told the New York Times in November. 'She's lost any emotional attachment she had to the premises because of everything that's gone on, and the only way she can start recovering is to move.'
As for his kids, Victoria worked for her dad at his NYC firm, which has since shut down. Today, she has struggled to find a job while she and her brother try to keep a low profile.
'Chris can't even walk his dog down the block,' their lawyer Vess Mitev told the NY Times. ' He gets photographed, people stop and take pictures, he's catcalled, the whole thing. They can't even check the mail. That kind of scrutiny is not for my clients. They never asked for it.'
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In jail Prevez compiled a lengthy, handwritten account of the plot, which was reported by the Wall Street Journal and obtained by Town & Country. Prevez's new lawyer, who came on after his client wrote this account, told the Journal that his confession was proffered under the assumption that Prevez would receive a plea deal and that he may amend his statement; he did not respond to requests for comment for this story. In the document Prevez says Carrera's offer was blunt: He would secretly pay Prevez $200,000 if he murdered Sikkema. Prevez agreed. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, throughout the summer and fall of 2023 Carrera used intermediaries to send Prevez $5,200, some of which, the Brazilian police say, was used to buy a crossbow as a potential murder weapon. Then, on January 15, 2024, Carrera contacted an individual by phone to ask them to give Prevez approximately $5,000. In the contested letter, Prevez says he traveled to Rio to plan the crime, even allegedly entering Sikkema's home while Sikkema was away; it was then that he decided against the crossbow, opting instead to use a kitchen knife. As Prevez described it in his letter, on December 11, 2023, he went to Sikkema's townhouse to carry out the assassination. Carrera had allegedly given him a key, which he used to open the front door. Once inside, Prevez found that Sikkema's bedroom door was locked—with Sikkema inside. Prevez allegedly called Carrera, asking what he should do. Carrera told him to do something to draw Sikkema out of the bedroom, so Prevez turned off the house's main circuit breaker. Instead of leaving the room, however, Sikkema began making phone calls from his bedroom. Prevez abandoned the plot and snuck out of the house. This bungled attempt allegedly made Carrera grow impatient; he told Prevez that he needed to complete the job for which he had been hired. 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Less than two weeks later, however, Prevez confessed to the crime—and claimed that Carrera was the mastermind behind it all. 'He closes his eyes and throws himself down on top of the victim, letting the knife go in,' Prevez wrote in Spanish, referring to himself in the third person. Carrera denies any involvement in Sikkema's death. 'Alejandro's confession was made with great freedom and spontaneity,' says Greg Andrade, Prevez's lawyer at the time. Andrade dropped Prevez as a client because, Andrade says, he discovered that Carrera had contacted him while Prevez was in prison. On February 9, 2024, a Brazilian criminal court formally charged Carrera and Prevez with Sikkema's murder. The day before he was indicted in Brazil, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Carrera tried to apply for a new passport for his son, falsely claiming that the old one had been lost. In March 2024 Carrera was arrested and charged with passport fraud and held under house arrest in New York City. After the initial shock of Sikkema's death, and the flurry of speculation that swirled in the wake of the killing, the investigation, at least publicly, seemed to fall into a lull. Throughout 2024 there appeared to be little movement in the case. While Prevez's trial moved slowly through the Brazilian court system (it remains ongoing), Carrera was kept in the U.S. under house arrest, and no insights were offered by the American authorities as to what they planned to do about the situation. Carrera hired an attorney to contest Sikkema's will, arguing that, as his legal spouse at the time of his death, he still held a claim on a portion of his estate. Sikkema's executor and lawyer, James Deaver, for his part, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in January 2025 against Carrera in an effort to protect Sikkema's estate, claiming that Carrera 'masterminded' Sikkema's murder. And then, on February 11, 2025, almost 13 months after Brent Sikkema was found dead in his Rio de Janeiro home, Daniel Garcia Carrera was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice on four counts: murder-for-hire resulting in death, murder-for-hire conspiracy resulting in death, conspiracy to murder and maim a person in a foreign country, and passport fraud. (Carrera's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment for this story.) Announcing the indictment, FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy said, 'In the midst of a tense divorce, Daniel Sikkema…allegedly hired a hitman to facilitate the international murder of his husband, and attempted to conceal his involvement in this callous plan.' Then–U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon also gave a statement, accusing Carrera of carrying out 'a cold-blooded plot' to murder Brent Sikkema. Carrera has pleaded not guilty. 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- Yahoo
Safety tips for lithium-ion batteries after Pittsfield fire
PITTSFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A large fire was put out at a homeless shelter in Pittsfield Wednesday night. Pittsfield police warn residents of retired officer impersonation scheme The Pittsfield Fire Department states that at 7:59 p.m. on Wednesday, crews were sent to 360 West Housatonic Street, Soldier On, for a reported building fire. When crews arrived, a large, open-air shed was fully on fire. The fire was put out within 30 minutes. The main Soldier On building nearby was damaged on the roof and some of the windows. The cause of the fire was determined to be a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery-powered E-Bike. The bike was found charging when it started a 'thermal runaway' of one or more Li-ion fuel cells. The fire then spread to the entire shed. No injuries were reported. Lithium-ion batteries can be found in many household items such as cell phones, laptops and tablets, watches, e-bikes, vape devices, electric vehicles, power tools, and many children's toys. These types of batteries are known for melting, catching fire, and even exploding sometimes. Lithium-ion batteries power everything from smartphones and laptops to scooters and electric vehicles, and they pack a lot of power into a small device. These products should be unplugged after they are finished charging to prevent a fire or explosion. To properly dispose of lithium-ion batteries, they can be brought to a household hazardous waste collection site or a battery recycling center such as Staples, Home Depot, and Lowe's. To find a location near you, visit Purchase and use devices that are listed by a qualified testing laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Always follow the manufacturer's instructions Only use the battery and charging cord that is designed for the device Do not charge a device under your pillow, on your bed, or a couch Plug the charger directly into a wall outlet, not a power strip or extension cord Do not keep charging the device or device battery after it is fully charged Keep batteries at room temperature when possible Do not charge them at temperatures below 32°F (0°C) or above 105°F (40°C). Do not leave them in a hot car, in direct sunlight, or freezing temperatures Store batteries away from anything that can catch fire Store scooters and e-bikes outdoors if possible. If you must store them indoors, keep them away from doors, windows, and stairways Have working smoke alarms and a home escape plan that includes two ways out WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
