THE wife of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann should be investigated after her family was linked to yet another murdered sex worker, a forensic expert outside the case has claimed.
Prosecutors hit disgraced architect Heuermann, 61, with a seventh murder charge this week after discovering his daughter’s hair on victim Valerie Mack’s corpse.
Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, seen in June, was accused of murdering a seventh woman on Tuesday[/caption]
Valerie Mack, 24, was killed by Heuermann in 2000, and her body was cut up and strewn across Long Island, New York, prosecutors allege[/caption]
Hair belonging to his wife, Asa Ellerup, has also been found on other victims, prosecutors claim[/caption]
The fresh charges were announced in a bombshell indictment released Tuesday that gave gruesome details on how 24-year-old Mack’s remains were discovered.
In November 2000, hunters found some of her body parts wrapped in black plastic bags and ditched in New York‘s Long Island Pine Barrens.
She had been decapitated, and her hands were chopped off at the wrists. Her right leg was also missing the bottom half.
At the time, Mack was only known as Manorville Jane Doe. Later on, in 2020, genetic testing revealed her identity.
Detectives discovered a hair stuck to Mack’s left wrist that didn’t match her DNA. After Heuermann was arrested in July 2023, they allegedly determined the source – his daughter Victoria.
Victoria would have been just three and a half at the time, but her DNA has played a key role in linking Heuermann to seven victims.
Heuermann has boldly defended himself from all seven murder charges and told the judge he was innocent in court on Tuesday despite the haunting alleged evidence.
Many of the murdered sex workers were chopped up and hidden along Gilgo Beach in Long Island, where eleven people’s remains have been uncovered since 1996.
Mack’s body parts were pulled on April 4, 2011, and Victoria’s hair was allegedly found stuck to the burlap bag hiding her skeletal remains.
Speaking exclusively to The U.S. Sun, famed forensic psychiatrist Carole Lieberman suggested that Victoria and Ellerup’s hairs warrant a second look at the case.
“I was saying from the beginning that I thought his wife had something to do with it,” Lieberman speculated.
“Of course [Heuermann’s] gonna have hair on him because they’re living in the same house.
“It could just be contact DNA. However, I think the wife has seemed suspicious from the beginning.”
Who was Valerie Mack?
VALERIE Mack was a foster child, mother, and sex worker, who was allegedly murdered by the Long Island serial killer around 2000, cops said in a bombshell indictment.
On December 17, 2024, prosecutors officially linked her death to suspect Rex Heuermann.
Mack was working as a sex worker in Philadelphia when she disappeared in 2000. Her family last saw her in New Jersey that same year.
She was born in Atlantic City and was placed in foster care at an early age. She moved around from several families before she was adopted by the Mack family.
In 1994, when she was 17, she gave birth to a son and moved in with her baby’s father in Wildwood, New Jersey. Soon after, she started traveling frequently to Philadelphia.
Police believe that Mack was a sex worker in Philadelphia and Atlantic City between 1996 and 2000.
She had a few run-ins with the law for prostitution charges at that time and was last arrested around June 2000.
Mack went by the alias Melissa Taylor and advertised her escort services online. She also walked the streets to pick up work.
On November 19, 2000, Mack’s partial remains were discovered in Manorville, New York, on Long Island, by hunters. At that time, she was just known as Manorville Jane Doe.
Her remains were decapitated, and she was missing both of her hands and part of her right leg, prosecutors said in an indictment. Her torso, legs, and arms were all bound with rope.
On April 4, 2011, the rest of Mack’s body was uncovered near Gilgo Beach, where 11 people’s remains have been found since 1996.
In 2020, genetic testing revealed Mack’s identity.
In December 2024, Mack was named as the seventh alleged victim of Heuermann – a disgraced architect who was first hit with murder charges on July 13, 2023.
Ellerup hasn’t been hit with any charges since Heuermann’s arrest and swiftly filed for divorce when he was put behind bars.
However, she’s been present throughout his hearings.
When asked about Lieberman’s analysis, Ellerup’s lawyer acknowledged that Victoria’s hair was found at the scene but didn’t have any other comments.
Heuermann declared his innocence to the fresh charge in a court hearing Tuesday[/caption]
Ellerup, seen with Victoria in July 2023, quickly filed for divorce after Heuermann was arrested, but she’s been attending his court hearings[/caption]
Prosecutors made a chart unpacking all the DNA evidence that allegedly tied the victims to the Heuermann family[/caption]
SICK ‘PLAN’
Suffolk County prosecutors released a graph laying out all the DNA evidence linking Heuermann to murder cases.
Heuermann is accused of murdering the “Gilgo Four” – Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello – who were all sex workers in New York City.
Brainard-Barnes, who was killed on July 6, 2007, allegedly had one of Ellerup’s hairs on her skeletal remains found north of Gilgo Beach.
Costello, who disappeared in September 2010, allegedly had Victoria’s hair stuck to her scalp when she was found later in December.
Heuermann’s hair was allegedly found on Waterman’s remains when her body was also discovered in December 2010.
And Waterman’s corpse allegedly had both Ellerup’s and Heuermann’s hairs on it.
DNA evidence belonging to the family has also been discovered on other Long Island serial killer victims’ Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor.
After reviewing this evidence, Lieberman claimed Ellerup “could have known” about Heuermann’s alleged actions.
“I don’t think anything is off the table,” she said.
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 last year 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 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.
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.
LIFE AFTER LISK
Ellerup’s lawyers have vehemently proclaimed that she and their children had no clue about the architect’s twisted second life.
After his arrest, Ellerup and her children were left destitute. News crews filmed them living outside in a car and grilling to keep themselves fed as investigators combed through their family home.
The sight was so tear-jerking that some onlookers started raising money to get them into a better living situation.
Now, Ellerup is enjoying a windfall of money, as Heuermann signed over sole ownership of his Long Island home in November 2023, The U.S. Sun exclusively confirmed.
That home was purchased by the suspect from his parents in 1994 for $170,000, and property records show that it was most recently valued at around $530,000 as of 2023.
Ellerup also signed an eye-watering $1 million deal with NBC’s Peacock for a documentary, sparking an outcry of disgust from the families of the victims.
Peacock has insisted that Ellerup “was not paid for her participation, but was paid a licensing fee for use of her archive materials,” which cannot go to Heuermann or his defense.
Either way, The U.S. Sun pictured a newly rich Ellerup taking a trip to the bank after sinking the life-changing deal.
Heuermann is being kept in isolation in jail, and a trial date has not been set.
A timeline of the Gilgo Beach murders
A community on Long Island, New York, was left looking for answers after the remains of numerous people were found in Gilgo Beach. This is a timeline of events that led to the arrest of suspect Rex Heuermann.
April 1996: The first remains are found in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders. Authorities referred to the victim as “Fire Island Jane Doe.”
June 1997: The partial remains of a woman, known only as Peaches, are found in a bin at Hempstead Lake State Park.
September 2000: The remains of a woman are found in Manorville, New York. She was known as Manorville Jane Doe for decades.
July 26, 2003: The remains of Jessica Taylor are found in Manorville. Her skull was found eight years later.
July 2007: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, goes missing. She was reported missing by a friend.
July 2009: Melissa Barthelemy goes missing.
May 2010: Shannan Gilbert vanishes. She called the police before she went missing.
June 2010: Megan Waterman goes missing. Security footage showed her leaving a Holiday Inn Express hotel in Hauppauge, Long Island.
September 2010: Amber Lynn Costello disappears. She left her home in West Babylon, New York, without her cell phone. But, she was never reported missing.
September 2010: Hikers in the Long Island Pine Barrens discover more remains of the Manorville woman.
December 2010: The remains of Barthelemy are found by investigators in Gilgo Beach. The investigators were searching for Gilbert at the time. Later, investigators found three other bodies which were wrapped in burlap at Gilgo Beach. Authorities announced a serial killer may have murdered the females.
January 2011: The remains of Waterman, Barthelemy, Costello, and Brainard-Barnes are formally identified. They are known as the Gilgo Four.
March 2011: Human remains are found near Gilgo Beach.
April 2011: The bodies of three other victims are found near Gilgo Beach. Two other victims were found near Jones Beach, about five miles from where the other bodies were found near Gilgo Beach.
May 2011: Cops announce six more sets of human remains were found.
November 2011: The Suffolk County Police Department announces the victims found near Gilgo Beach were most likely sex workers. They believe one person may be responsible for the murders.
December 2011: The remains of Shannan Gilbert are found in Gilgo Beach. Cops at the time didn’t believe she had been murdered. Gilbert’s remains were discovered around a year and a half after vanishing.
December 2015: The FBI joins the probe into the murders.
May 2020: The remains of Manorville Jane Doe are identified as Valerie Mack. Mack was working as an escort in Philadelphia when she disappeared. She was last seen by her family in New Jersey in 2000.
January 2022: A new task force is created to investigate the murders.
May 2022: Cops release a 22-minute phone call from the night Gilbert disappeared.
July 13, 2023: Authorities announce the arrest of Rex Heuermann. The suspect was arrested in Manhattan. He was charged with the deaths of Costello, Barthelemy, and Waterman. He was named the prime suspect in the murder of Brainard-Barnes, but cops did not charge him.
August 4, 2023: The woman, known as Fire Island Jane Doe, formally identified as Karen Vergata, 34.
October 18, 2023: Attorney John Ray says new evidence has connected Heuermann to victims Gilbert and Vergata.
January 16, 2024: Heuermann is charged with murdering Brainard-Barnes. He pleaded not guilty.
December 17, 2024: Heuermann is charged with murdering Valerie Mack.
