Accused serial killer Rex Heuermann has returned to court and his ex-wife has also appeared at the hearing in New York.
The 60-year-old father of two is accused of murdering four sex workers whose bodies were found in Gilgo Beach more than 10 years ago.
Heuermann appeared in Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead Wednesday morning wearing a black suit, white shirt and navy tie.
He listened carefully to the procedural hearing, which focused on large amounts of potential evidence seized from various devices related to the case.
His ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, was also seen pulling up in a black Mercedes in front of the Long Island courthouse.
Heuermann, 60, has spent most of his days since his arrest in July 2023 in a small, windowless cell at the Riverhead jail as he awaits trial. (Pictured: Heuermann in court on Wednesday)
Accused serial killer Rex Heuermann returns to court Wednesday morning, and his ex-wife Asa Ellerup (pictured in a black and white jacket) also appeared at the hearing.
Pictured: Asa Ellerup in court on Wednesday before Heuermann’s final hearing
It comes just weeks after she claimed her partner of 27 years was “not capable” of murdering the four women. Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ellerup, who also shares two children with Heuermann, filed for divorce six days after being charged with the first three murders.
But she still visits him in prison because she believes he “deserves the benefit of the doubt” and attends his hearings with a documentary film crew.
Ellerup reportedly signed a controversial seven-figure deal with NBC Universal, Texas Crew Productions and G-Unit to appear in a series about the case.
Heuermann last appeared in court in early February for an update on the progress of his case, during which he remained silent.
He was taken to a quiet Suffolk County courthouse in Riverhead, Long Island, New York, for a procedural hearing that Ellerup did not attend.
His lawyer revealed to DailyMail.com at the time that the accused killer was still being held in solitary confinement in prison and was “lonely and depressed.”
It was the first time the architect appeared in court since January 16, when he pleaded not guilty to the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, in 2007.
The 60-year-old father of two is accused of murdering four sex workers whose bodies were found in Gilgo Beach more than 10 years ago.
Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann, right, appears in Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom alongside his attorney Michael Brown at the Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead on Wednesday.
Ellerup also appeared at his ex’s court hearings, along with a documentary camera crew, to watch the development of his case.
The alleged victims known as the ‘Gilgo four’: Maureen Brainard-Barnes; Amber Lynn Costello, 27; Megan Waterman, 22 years old; and Melissa Barthelemy, 24
Heuermann was previously charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello in 2010.
He has spent most of his days since his arrest in July 2023 in a small windowless cell at the Riverhead jail while awaiting trial.
Officials at New York’s high-security prison said they have kept him in solitary confinement because otherwise he would be a “major target” for inmates.
“We have very good information that he would be a target for violence if he were not in a safe location,” Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. previously told Newsday.
“There was one individual who said if I could come into close contact with him, ‘I’m going to do something.'”
The alleged victims Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27, disappeared between 2007 and 2010.
Long Island architect Heuermann was arrested outside his Manhattan office last year after DNA evidence linked him to their disappearances.