The wife of suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann had a rather strange response upon learning that her husband may have created such horrific crimes. After Heuermann was arrested in New York City and charged with three murders on Long Island that happened more than a decade ago, police spoke to his wife, Asa Ellerup, to break the news. Her reply? “OK, it is what it is.”
To recap, the bodies of 11 people have been found over the years near Gilgo Beach on Long Island, and no one had ever been arrested for any of those deaths until Heuermann was taken into custody at his architectural firm in midtown Manhattan last Thursday. They believe he definitely killed at least three of those people and potentially a fourth, though they’re not ruling out the idea that he killed many more.
Heuermann’s home in Masapequa Park was later raided, and authorities took away nearly 100 firearms and multiple boxes full of evidence as the investigation continues. Ellerup was at home when her husband was taken into custody, but Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison thought her reaction to the news was unexpected.
“When we told the wife, she was shocked, she was embarrassed,” he told Fox 5. “But there was a point where we showed her certain pictures and she said, ‘OK, it is what it is.’”
It’s unclear what photos were shown to Ellerup, but authorities don’t think she knew anything about what her husband had gotten up to over the years. Nor did the couple’s two children, who will have had no idea that he was living a “double life” as a murderer of female sex workers.
“But, time will tell. And once again, there are still a lot more questions that need to be done to the family and friends,” Harrison added.
