A Chilling Jailhouse Confession (Image Credits: Pexels)
Massapequa Park, New York – Asa Ellerup arranges her bedding each evening in the very room where her ex-husband confessed to dismembering most of his victims. The quiet suburban home on Long Island once echoed with family life but now holds a stark reminder of unimaginable horror. In a new documentary episode, Ellerup reveals how she chose to sleep in this gutted basement space as a form of spiritual reckoning.[1][2]
A Chilling Jailhouse Confession
Last summer, during a visit to her incarcerated ex-husband, Asa Ellerup pressed Rex Heuermann for the truth. She recalled asking him directly about the murders he faced charges for and beyond. Heuermann responded without hesitation, admitting to eight killings – one more than prosecutors had formally charged.[1][3]
Heuermann specified that seven of those women met their end in the basement room of their shared home while Ellerup was away. Investigators later confirmed elements of this account, discovering a soundproofed vault-like space, weapons, and planning materials in the house. Ellerup described Heuermann as nervous during the exchange, yet resolute in his details. This revelation shifted her view of the man she had married in 1996 and divorced in March 2025.[4]
Choosing to Occupy the Crime Scene
After gutting the basement room to erase physical traces of the atrocities, Ellerup made a deliberate decision to make it her sleeping quarters. She explained her presence there as a spiritual gesture toward the victims. “The brutal truth is that Rex Heuermann said he dismembered the bodies in this room,” she stated during her interview for Peacock’s “The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets.”[1]
This choice stands in quiet contrast to the home’s past role as a family residence for Heuermann, Ellerup, and their two children, Victoria and Christopher. Prosecutors maintained throughout the case that Ellerup had no knowledge of the crimes occurring under her roof. Her attorney, Robert Macedonio, emphasized the family’s ongoing pain and directed attention to the victims’ loved ones. Ellerup’s actions reflect a personal process of grappling with betrayal and loss.[2]
Nightmares That Linger
Every night in the basement brings unrelenting dreams that Ellerup cannot escape. “Every night when I go to sleep, I am haunted by dreams,” she shared. These visions, she said, will shadow her for life, offering no path to full closure or justice.[1]
Her quest for understanding deepens the emotional toll. Ellerup expressed a desire to uncover Heuermann’s triggers and the “other side” of the man she thought she knew over nearly three decades. Now, she sees only evil in him. This internal struggle unfolds against the backdrop of a case that captivated true-crime observers for years, with remains first surfacing along Ocean Parkway in 2010.[3]
The Victims and Heuermann’s Guilty Plea
Heuermann, a Manhattan architect, pleaded guilty on April 8, 2026, in Suffolk County Court to seven murders spanning 1993 to 2010. He admitted strangling the women – many sex workers – dismembering some, and discarding their bodies near Gilgo Beach. The eighth victim, Karen Vergata, drew a confession but no charges.
- Amber Lynn Costello, 27
- Megan Waterman, 22
- Melissa Barthelemy, 24
- Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25 (the “Gilgo Four”)
- Valerie Mack, 24
- Jessica Taylor, 20
- Sandra Costilla, 28
- Karen Vergata, 34
Sentencing looms on June 17, when Heuermann faces life without parole. His decision spared a trial, as noted by his attorney, but left families like Ellerup’s to navigate the aftermath.[2][3]
A Family’s Path Forward
The children echo their mother’s wish for privacy amid this dark chapter. Earlier documentary episodes captured Ellerup defending Heuermann’s innocence, a stance her daughter eventually questioned. Now, acceptance settles in, tempered by profound hurt.
As the Peacock series finale airs, Ellerup’s story underscores the ripple effects of hidden depravity in ordinary lives. Her spiritual apology in the basement room – “I’m trying to say spiritually in my own way that I am really sorry for what these victims went through” – offers a poignant, if solitary, bid for redemption. The house, once a site of secrets, stands as testament to a nightmare that endures.[1]
