Gilgo Beach murders: Rex Heuermann's estranged wife attends court appearance
SUFFOLK COUNTY, New York (WPVI) -- The estranged wife of Rex Heuermann, the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer, attended his court appearance Wednesday in New York.
The alleged killer was present in a suit and tie while his attorneys worked out scheduling matters and discussed evidence, marking Heuermann's first appearance in court since September.
It is the first time his estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, attended one of his court appearances.
She recently visited him in jail and her attorney has signaled that she plans to attend every court date going forward so she can see the evidence for herself.
Ellerup filed for divorce six days after Heuermann's July arrest.
"Other than the correction officers and myself, he hasn't really had any interaction with anybody, so the fact that she had an interaction with him, that was important," said Heuermann's attorney Michael Brown.
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Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to three counts each of first- and second-degree murder in the deaths of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Lynn Costello.
He is a prime suspect in the fourth death of a woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose body was found in a marshy stretch of Gilgo Beach on Long Island.
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"So the grand jury is continuing, the grand jury in that matter is continuing and we anticipate it concluding shortly," said Ray Tierney, Suffolk County District Attorney.
The prosecutor told the judge they provided the lab report Wednesday morning and also the search warrant applications -- 200 pages worth -- leading to Heuermann's arrest. That includes the search warrants of his Massapequa Park home, storage units, his office, and other properties out of state.
"A great many things have been turned over, primarily today what we turned over is all of the lab work and the notes pertaining to that lab work," Tierney said.
Heuermann's attorney says that's not enough.
"The last thing that we are really looking forward to, and we have not received them yet, are all of the notes of the investigations from all of the police officers and detectives involved in this case," Brown said. "Because as many of you know, there are so many suspects over the years that they focused on and we want to know why they discounted those individual suspects."
Heuermann is due back in court in February.
