The two children of accused serial killer Rex Heuermann “cry themselves to sleep,” their mother says.
Asa Ellerup, 59, filed for divorce from Heuermann on July 19 — less than a week after his arrest.
Heuermann was arrested on July 13 and charged with the murder of three sex workers whose bodies were found on a Long Island beach in 2010.
Ellerup was not at home when the women were allegedly killed.
The couple have two children — a daughter Victoria Heuermann, 26, who worked at her father’s architectural firm in Manhattan, and a son Christopher Sheridan, 33, who has special needs.
Ellerup said on Monday they were all traumatized by the events of recent weeks and bewildered by the state of their home after police spent 12 days searching for evidence.
Asa Ellerup, 59, said on Monday the family was shocked by the July 13 arrest of her estranged husband Rex Heuermann.
Ellerup is seen with her son Christopher Sheridan. She said the 33-year-old, who has special needs, was ‘so distraught and doesn’t understand’
Victoria Heuermann, 26, worked at her father’s architectural firm
Ellerup and the two grown children have moved back to the Massapequa, Long Island home
She said that after her house was turned upside down and taken apart, she has no bed to sleep in.
“I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering,” she said The New York Post.
‘Tension.
My kids cry themselves to sleep. I mean, they’re not kids. They’re grown adults, but they’re my kids, and my son has developmental disabilities and he cried himself to sleep.”
Victoria Heuermann told family members she felt “not human.”
Ellerup’s lawyer, Bob Macedonio, explained: ‘She meant what they did to them and the family isn’t even human. They were just complete animals. They treated them like animals.’
Heuermann, 59, was arrested July 13 and charged with the murder of three women, found in 2010 on a beach near his home
Rex Heuermann’s house was searched for the first time by police after his arrest on July 13
The police remained on site for 12 days
New York State Police officers carry a wide variety of evidence from Rex Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park, NY on July 17
Ellerup said she was shocked by the state of her home after police left.
‘I had three cats. Litter boxes were a litter, thrown on top of everything. My photos were thrown everywhere,” she said.
My sofa was completely broken. I don’t even know if there are still parts on the sofa.
“There was a Pelican trunk in my house with clothes in it, and a Pelican trunk has foam in it. I was able to take two pieces of foam and put them together so that I could lie down.
“My backyard, I can’t even explain it.
“I had a greenhouse and I like to plant seeds and my greenhouse, they lifted it. They fixed it, it’s high. You know, they threw it on top of a lot of stuff. It’s a $3,000 greenhouse.”
She said her son’s guitar was broken and her daughter’s Dungeon and Dragons cards were taken.
The locks were changed, so the family had to get new keys.
They are now listing the damage and speaking to the district attorney’s office.
The suspect’s home is located immediately north of Gilgo Beach across the South Oyster Bay
An aerial view of the area at Gilgo Beach and Ocean Parkway on Long Island
The first victim, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was discovered by Suffolk County Police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, was found two days later
Maureen Brainard-Barnes was 25 years old when she went missing (left). Amber Lynn Costello was 27 years old. Their bodies were found near Barthelemy’s the same day
Ellerup, who had been married to Heuermann for more than 20 years, said she had no choice but to move into the house.
“It’s all I have,” she told the newspaper.
“We got another chair out of the basement and upstairs so me and my son can sit and talk. He’s so distraught and doesn’t understand, and as a mom, I have no answers for him.
“But I said, ‘We’re together.’ ‘That’s what it’s really about. That you and I are here together and that we will get through this.”
Macedonio said Ellerup was “blindsided” by her husband’s arrest.
‘She was completely shocked. Completely surprised,” said the lawyer.
Heuermann is due back in court on Tuesday for a brief hearing.