Asa Ellerup, the ex-wife of convicted Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, has revealed that he confessed to killing multiple women in the basement of their family home while she was away. The admission was made in a jail cell meeting and is featured in the new Peacock documentary series The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets.
In a teaser clip released on Tuesday, Ellerup recounted asking Heuermann how many women he had killed. He replied 'eight', though he was only formally charged with seven murders. When she pressed for details, he told her the killings took place in his room downstairs, except for one victim. Investigators later found a soundproof vault-like room, hundreds of guns and detailed plans for the murders at the Massapequa home.
Heuermann pleaded guilty on 8 April to seven murders committed between 1993 and 2010, including the 'Gilgo Four' – Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Maureen Brainard-Brainard. He also confessed to the murders of Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla, and to the uncharged killing of Karen Vergata. He admitted using strangulation and dismembering some victims, who were found in burlap sacks along a Long Island beachfront.
Ellerup, who finalised her divorce in March 2025 after 27 years of marriage, said she refused to address Heuermann as 'Rex' during the confession. She later expressed sympathy for the victims' families and requested privacy for her own. Heuermann's attorney said the guilty plea was intended to spare the victims' relatives and his family a trial. He is due to be sentenced to multiple life terms on 17 June.
