Rex Heuermann's Daughter Believes Her Father Is 'Most Likely' Gilgo Beach Serial Killer: Lawyer

LONG ISLAND, NY — An explosive new three-part series debuted Tuesday, offering a chilling, never-before-seen look into the life and home of accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann.

And for the first time, Heuermann's daughter Victoria has said that she believes her father is "most likely" a seral killer.

"After Victoria viewed the information and after it was explained to her, she was able to process and form her own opinion that her father most likely is the Gilgo Beach serial killer," Robert Macedonio, attorney for Heuermann's ex-wife Asa Ellerup, said. "Asa, on the other hand, maintains the belief that Rex, the father of her children and her ex-husband of 27 years, is not capable of committing these horrific acts. Time will only tell whether Asa is ever able to accept that he may be the serial killer."

A trailer released by Peacock and available on YouTube features shots inside and outside of the Massapequa Park home, as well as interviews with Heurmann's ex-wife Asa Ellerup, children and his best friend.

"The question everyone keeps asking is: 'How could you not know?'" Those are the first words of the trailer.

Also, at the end of the trailer, Heuermann's voice can be heard. His voice was only heard once before, in December, when he spoke for the first and only time in court to say: "Your honor, I am not guilty of any of these charges."

In the trailer, Ellerup is speaking on the phone to Heuermann. "Hello," Heuermann says. "How are you doing?" Ellerup asks. "Alright, how are you today?" Heuermann asks. "I'm doing great, now that I've got you on the phone," she said.

"Gilgo Beach Killer: The House of Secrets," debuted on Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service, on Tuesday,, NBC said.

"After the arrest of the alleged Gilgo Beach killer, this documentary goes inside the suspect's home for the first time, where exclusive commentary from his own family unravels a chilling portrait of a man accused of living a double life and hiding dark secrets under their own roof," a synopsis on the YouTube page said.

The series takes viewers into Heuermann's small, seemingly rundown home, cluttered with boxes but also filled with loving family photos — photos of his wedding to Ellerup, their children, family vacations.

The first episode details the gruesome discoveries of the bodies in what some called a "serial killer's dumping ground," that led to the extensive hunt for the Gilgo Beach killer — and includes interviews with the victims' families and law enforcement officials.

Throughout the documentary, Ellerup maintains Heuermann's innocence. "He's a family man," she said, more than once.

At one point, Ellerup said, when told that her husband was a suspect in the murders, she said: "No freakin' way is this man going out, soliciting sex from sex workers, killing them and then, dumping them on Gilgo Beach."

She added, "My head is spinning, spinning."

Ellerup and her children, including daughter Victoria and Christopher Sheridan, her son from a previous relationship, are seen walking amidst the home, left ransacked after two police searches following Heuermann's arrest.

Despite the "roller coaster" of emotions, Ellerup said. "We needed to come home. I still feel Rex here."

The camera takes in Heuermann's coffee mug, just one of the trappings of what had appeared to be the life of a professional architect, commuting to New York City and returning to his suburban life and family.

Even during their phone call, Ellerup and Heuermann discuss the ordinary, the hamburger and mashed potatoes he had for dinner, the walk he planned outside for the following day — her visit to see him in jail that week.

According to Ellerup, the couple met when she was just 18, at one point, calling her "hero." "He’s the kind of guy you turn your head and take a look at," she said. "A handsome guy . . .the kind of person you could call, even if just to talk. We were friends; everybody needs a friend." Referencing a photo of them at their wedding, Ellerup said, she was so in love with him, thinking, "I finally got him. He's mine."

"I was inspired by my dad," Victoria, who worked as a receptionist in her father's office. "I looked up to him."

After the arrest, Ellerup filed for a divorce, which is now finalized; in the series, Victoria said the divorce was merely "to protect the assets," with the house now in Ellerup's name. "It doesn't mean we're not a family anymore," she said.

But beneath the appearance of family life, the documentary sheds light on what prosecutors say was a dark, sinister evil lurking beneath the surface.

Heuermann kept 279 guns in a basement vault; his attorney Michael Brown has maintained that he was a collector.

In the documentary, it's noted that some have speculated that the vault was a "kill room," where his victims were tortured and murdered, their bodies mutilated, after carefully plotted plans laid out in a manifesto found by investigators.

Ellerup said she didn't believe her husband capable of the crimes. "Rex is a family man. He didn't do this. I would need to hear it from Rex, face to face, that he killed those girls, for me to believe it."

Prosecutors have suggested that phone records show Heuermann likely committed the murders when his family was away on vacation; neither Ellerup nor the children have ever been charged with a crime.

On those vacations, Victoria said, her father called often. "It never occurred to me that he might be calling to make sure we're not coming home early," she said.

Of the "planning document," Ellerup said, "It's so 'Dexter'-style; it's absolutely absurd."

"If he really had them down here, he really must have been like Superman, for us to not notice anything," Victoria said, adding that the room used to be her father's childhood bedroom. "For him to do that, in this room — it's a little unrealistic, but I guess it's not impossible," she said. "Whether or not I believe my dad did it or not, I'm on the fence about that part of it. Part of me thinks he didn't do it, but at the same time, I don't know — he could have had a double life."

Ellerup insisted the accusations were just allegations.

When asked if the prosecution was investigating the Heuermann home as the site of the killings, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said, "We haven't ruled out anything."

Neither Heuermann's attorney Brown nor Tierney returned requests for comment.

Heuermann's best friend David Jimenez, revealed as the person who visited Heuermann in jail, is interviewed in the documentary and, when he said he asked him if he'd killed the women, Heuermann said nothing, just cried. "That’s when I got the feeling I think he did it," he said.

The documentary ends with Ellerup packing to move south. "Now that this life in this house is coming to an end it makes me feel like it’s a new beginning," she said. "What that life is going to be like, I do not know. I will find out eventually and I will deal with it the best that I can. I did what I had to, protect myself and my children.”

(Courtesy Peacock)

Executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, "Gilgo Beach Killer: The House of Secrets" explores "the life and aftermath of the alleged killer in three, one-hour episodes. The series goes inside the Heuermann home and meets with the people who know him, shining a spotlight on a violent double life," NBCUniversal said.

The series features executive producers: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, David Karabinas, Troy Searer, Colleen Hall, Jamie Lustberg, Melissa Moore, Jared P. Scott, and Brad Bernstein; the series is directed by Jared P. Scott and produced by Texas Crew Productions alongside 50 Cent’s G-Unit Film & Television and New York Post Entertainment, Variety said.

Speaking with Patch in past interviews, Macedonio said Ellerup's divorce from Heuermann's has been finalized. And, he added, with the house the couple shared "eventually going to be sold" — right now, there is no time frame for the sale, he said — Ellerup is in the process of disposing of some items and putting others in storage.

To that end, recently, a safe door that had once been mounted into concrete cinder blocks, "as part of the basement walls" — behind which was a room where guns were kept on neat gun racks — was recently removed, Macedonio said.

The Peacock series is not the first in recent months to focus on the chilling Gilgo Beach murders. In April, in the midst of a Frye hearing — held to determine the admissibility of nuclear DNA evidence in the trial involving Heuermann — a new documentary on the Gilgo Beach murders debuted on Netflix and soon ascended to a top spot in TV shows.

The Frye hearings are set to commence again on Tuesday, June 17.

According to Netflix, "Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer," debuted and ascended quickly as scores watched. "Young women who worked in the sex industry were disappearing from New York City and Long Island and their families were desperate for answers," a description of the three-part documentary read. "Then in 2010, female remains were found in the Gilgo Beach area of Long Island, leading to a string of additional discoveries at a virtual dumping ground steps away from New York’s busiest beaches. Despite all of this, the case of the 'Long Island serial killer remained unsolved for 13 years — until July 2023, when a major break came after corruption was rooted out within the police responsible for the case."

Netflix added: "From two-time Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning director Liz Garbus (Lost Girls) comes the definitive look at the twists and turns in a case that dominated headlines, and is still developing in real time."

In 2020 Netflix also debuted a new movie filmed on the North Fork in 2018 about the Gilgo Beach murder. The film, also directed by Garbus, was based on the book "Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery" by Robert Kolker, according to producer Anne Carey.

Speaking with Patch, Kolker, who is interviewed on camera in the new series, and is credited as a "consulting producer," said he likes the new three-part documentary very much. "I think the series wisely focuses the institutional failures that let a killer roam free for decades, and the persistence and power of the victims’ families."

To date, Heuermann stands charged in seven murders, officials said: In December, Heuermann was charged with the death of a seventh victim, Valerie Mack. In June, Heuermann was slapped with new second-degree murder charges in the deaths of two additional women, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla.

In July 2023, Heuermann was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder charges and three counts of second-degree murder charges in the deaths of sex workers Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway in 2010.
Heuermann was also charged with the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. New DNA evidence helped connect Heuermann to all four of the deaths, said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who is prosecuting the case.

A total of 11 sets of remains were found in the Gilgo Beach murders, which rocked Long Island. The remains included that of a toddler and an Asian male.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all charges.