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Asa Ellerup filed for divorce from Rex Heuermann,59, days after he was arrested. They had been married for 25 years. Heuerman was identified through DNA as the Gilgo Beach serial killer.

He was charged with the murders of three sex workers in 2007, 2009, and 2010. 

Prosecutors have cleared Ellerup of any wrongdoing. She was out of town at the time of the women’s disappearance and murders. 

Police are certain she was not involved. Her alibi, confirmed with cellphone records, proved she was out of the country when the killings occurred.

Heuermann, an architect and father of two, was charged with murdering Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. 

He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect in 4 murders

In July, on the night Ellerup’s husband was arrested investigators obtained a cheek swab from her.

According to recently unsealed court records in Suffolk County Criminal Court, the bodies were discovered in December 2010 along Ocean Parkway on Long Island's South Shore.

The women's remains were found wrapped in burlap in a marshy area near Gilgo Beach.

"Each of the four victims was found similarly positioned, bound in a similar fashion by either belts or tape," the court documents stated.

Barthelemy disappeared in July 2009, Waterman disappeared in June 2010 and Costello was last seen in September 2010. The three women were in their 20’s. All of them worked as sex workers, according to court documents.

A fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who vanished in July 2007, was believed to be killed by the same suspect. Heuermann is not currently charged but is the "prime suspect in her death." 

DNA matches

In 2010 when the bodies were discovered Mitochondrial DNA testing was not yet available. But all the evidence was collected and safely preserved. 

Heuermann’s DNA was found on the bodies. Police were able to confirm that he was the primary suspect from a pizza box he discarded.

The court documents outlined the evidence. A female hair was discovered on a belt used to tie Brainard-Barnes' legs together.

There were two female hairs discovered on Waterman on the tape used to bind her body. And one hair was also found on a piece of tape used to bind Costello's body.

Using mitochondrial DNA testing in 2023, all of the hairs were determined to be from the same woman. There is greater than a 99% match for Heuermann's wife.

Police don't believe Ellerup was ever involved. They believe that when Heuermann committed the murders he had the hairs on his body.