Rex Heuermann's ex-wife and daughter divulged the serial killer's darkest machinations in 'The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets'
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NEED TO KNOW
- Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty to killing seven women and admitted to intentionally causing the death of an eighth
- His ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and daughter, Victoria, recalled how Heuermann confessed to the killings
- The two participated in the Peacock docuseries ‘The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets’
Rex Heuermann confessed to killing seven women and intentionally causing the death of an eighth from 1993 to 2010.
Heuermann had walked free for over a decade until 2023 when his DNA matched a hair left on one of his victims and he was subsequently arrested and charged with the murders. Prior to Heuermann's arrest, he was given the name the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer, because several of the victims were found near Gilgo Beach on Long Island, N.Y.
Although he initially pleaded not guilty and claimed that he was innocent, Heuermann later took a plea deal, pleaded guilty to seven murders, and admitted to intentionally causing the death of an eighth.
His ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and daughter, Victoria, have addressed his confession and murder spree in the Peacock docuseries The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets, which originally aired in March 2025 but came back for a fourth episode ahead of Heuermann's guilty plea.
"In the lead-up to the plea hearing, the episode picks up in August 2025 and details the real-time questioning of Asa to her serial killer ex-husband about the timeline and meticulous planning of the murder that occurred days before their wedding and mere months before the birth of their daughter, Victoria," the logline reads.
Here's everything to know about the biggest bombshells from The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets.
Heuermann’s wife and daughter recalled the moment he confessed to the murders
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Before Heuermann pleaded guilty to the murders, he met with his former wife, Ellerup — whom he was married to for 27 years before she filed for divorce following his arrest. Ellerup recalled in the Peacock doc what happened when she sat down with him.
“He looked very nervous, very very nervous,” Ellerup said in the final episode. “And I said to him, ‘So Mr. Heuermann, I understand that you are confessing to me on these murders. Can you please tell me how many of these women did you kill?' "
She revealed that he allegedly told her he killed seven of the eight women inside their Massapequa Park, N.Y. home.
“He said he killed eight women — eight,” she said. “He said I wasn't home through all of them. He said they were killed in his room downstairs, all except one.”
Ellerup remembered feeling like she put a "wall up" during the conversation but also explained that she didn't feel like he was a stranger.
"When he started talking it started feeling like the Rex I know, but I didn't want to see that one. I wanted to see the one I needed to see," she said, while later adding that she didn't believe he "expressed any remorse."
In addition to telling his former wife about his killing spree, Heuermann also separately talked to his and Ellerup's daughter, Victoria (the couple also raised her son Christopher from a previous relationship, but he wasn't interviewed in the doc). Victoria opened up about their conversation ahead of his plea deal.
"Walking into that room, I saw my dad, the man, not necessarily the monster,” she said.
When she asked about his motive, her dad reportedly "said that his demons got to him."
“When he was in a certain opportunity or there was a certain catalyst in front of him that would start to create these dark urges, it was a sickness,” she said.
Heuermann had a "kill room" in their house
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When Heuermann pleaded guilty, he admitted that he strangled his victims and dismembered some of them. However, since the case will never go to trial, many details of the grizzly deaths are not known.
In the documentary, Ellerup and Victoria revealed that Heuermann said he used their basement as a "kill room" for seven of the eight women.
“The brutal truth is that Rex Heuermann said he dismembered the bodies in this room. That is the brutal truth," Ellerup said.
Victoria added that at least three of the of the victims were "murdered, mutilated and dismembered” in the basement of the family home.
Heuermann established a four-day ritual with his victims
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In addition to Ellerup and Victoria being interviewed for the fourth episode of the doc, therapist Alison Winter also participated after meeting with Heuermann and being present for his conversations with Ellerup and Victoria.
Winter revealed in her interviews that as Heuermann killed more women over the years, he developed a "methodical" four-day ritual and routine, which she called a "four-day high" and "a four-day adrenaline rush."
The alleged schedule began on the first day when Heuermann cleaned and prepared his basement. During the second day, he welcomed the victim and was "kind" to them until he murdered them. He'd then proceed to have what he called "playtime" with the bodies before disposing of the remains that night.
The third day was his "clean-up day" where he'd dispose of all the evidence. He created the fourth day to handle any complications that arose as a result of the killings.
Winter claimed that Heuermann told her that at first it took him less than three minutes to dispose of the bodies at Gilgo Beach, and he timed himself with each killing. By his final murder, he allegedly said it took him only 37 seconds to drop the body.
“He would hit the timer, dump the body, get back in the truck and hit the timer again,” Winter said. “Clearly, he enjoyed killing and it became a sickness for him. It became an outlet. It became an obsession.”
In addition to what Heuermann told his daughter and wife, he also wrote down his "blueprints" for his murders in a "planning document."
"My dad told me he first created that document as a way to try to distract himself from actually having to do the act himself,” Victoria claimed, while also alleging that he confessed to taking two pictures of his victims that he burned shortly afterward.
Ellerup sleeps where her ex-husband killed the women and is "haunted" in her dreams
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In the years since Heuermann was arrested, his wife has continued living in their Massapequa Park home. She revealed that in addition to remaining there, she has since moved into the "kill room" basement as her primary bedroom.
“Now, there's me. I'm in this room and I’m here because I do feel spiritual,” Ellerup explained. “I am trying to say, spiritually in my own way, that I am really sorry for what these victims went through.”
However, Ellerup clarified that she has renovated the basement, and it "looks very different."
"It’s been completely gutted and redone, new floor, new walls, new moldings, new doors,” she said.
Despite the difference in appearance, Ellerup still said she has nightmares about what happened in the room.
“I am haunted by dreams every night,” she said. “It will never go away. It will follow me for the rest of my life.”
Heuermann may have killed more people than he confessed to
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Heuermann was officially charged with the murders of seven women: Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Jessica Taylor, 20, Sandra Costilla, 28, and Valerie Mack, 24.
In his April plea deal, he also confessed to killing 34-year-old Karen Vergata, but he was not formally charged with her murder.
However, FBI profiler John Douglas said in the Peacock doc that he believes Heuermann may have killed more people across the country when he was younger.
"I think he has a lot of hidden secrets," Douglas told Winter in the doc. "He’s a malignant, narcissistic, sadistic, psychopathic serial killer. Had he not been apprehended, I think he would have killed more."
When Victoria was asked if she thinks there are more victims, she candidly replied, "I don't know, but one was too many."
Winter also explained that Heuermann told her he stopped killing in 2010, because he wasn't receiving the same "gratification." However, she theorized that he stopped right when police were starting to put the pieces together that there was a Gilgo Beach serial killer.
“I think he was very concerned about getting caught, and I think he knew he would get caught,” Winter said.
Heuermann’s therapist believes he does "not know why" he felt the need to kill
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When Winter met with Heuermann behind bars, he started "sharing everything" with her — including what he was thinking when killing the women.
While Winter theorized his upbringing may have contributed to his killings, she explained that neither she nor Heuermann may ever know his motives.
"Why? He does not know. I've asked," Winter said. "They really don’t have answers in those moments. They don’t. He doesn’t know why."
She continued, "The only thing that he’s able to really come up with is that he gets to know them as people. If he gets to know someone, he gets vulnerable. He’s not in total control. So if he felt he was losing a sense of control, what would he do? He would pursue with a kill, which was planned because he set up his house for it prior.”
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