Rex Heuermann’s two adult children are now living in a “surreal, waking horror show” following his shock arrest for the infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings, according to their attorney.
Victoria Heuermann, 26, and Christopher Sheridan, 33, still lived at home with their parents when investigators arrested their 59-year-old father on suspicion of at least three murders that rocked Long Island over a decade ago.
Mr Heuermann, a professional architect, was charged with the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello last month.
He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes – who was last seen alive in early June 2007 in New York City and who, together with the three other women, is known as the “Gilgo Four”.
All four women worked as sex workers and disappeared after going to meet a client. Their remains were found in December 2010 within one-quarter mile of each other, bound by belts or tape and some wrapped in burlap – all dumped along Gilgo Beach.
They were among 11 victims found in the area – some of whom are yet to be identified – which sparked fears of one or more serial killers on the loose.
Mr Heuermann has claimed his innocence of the murders which investigators believe may have taken place inside the one-storey home in Massapequa Park that he shared with his wife of two decades Asa Ellerup, their daughter Victoria and his stepson Christopher.
Since his arrest, search teams have combed every inch of the family home looking for clues about the killings or any potential trophies taken from the victims by the accused serial killer.
Victoria, who worked at her father’s Manhattan-based architecture firm up until his arrest, and Christopher, who has developmental disabilities, have now been left to deal with the aftermath of their father’s alleged actions and the fallout from the high-profile case.
Their attorney Vess Mitev, of Mitev Law Firm, told Fox News Digital that the siblings have found themselves thrust into the “developing legal case of the century” and are trying to claw back “some basic sense of normalcy”.
“They’re constantly... having to reevaluate what is happening to them, almost in real-time,” he said.
Mr Mitev said that a major concern for them is the state that their home was left in following a 12-day search by authorities.
Images of the aftermath show the bathtub with holes cut out and possessions strewn everywhere inside the property.
“Obviously, the deplorable conditions that their house was left in – torn apart from the floorboards to the shingles, basically, is their paramount concern,” he said.
“[They’re] trying to regain some basic sense of normalcy, which is completely impossible at this point.
“They’re living in a surreal, waking horror show.”
Mr Mitev said that the two children had hired his services to protect their own “rights and liberties” as their role in their father’s murder case “has yet to be determined”.
“Their rights and liberties have to be protected. And that investigation … is now heating up with the DA handing over troves of documents last week, and ... the leads the DA may be pursuing, whatever they may be, at some point may intertwine … with the rights and remedies that my clients have and enjoy under the Constitution and under the laws of New York,” he said.
At this point, they want to hold onto “whatever minimum degree” of privacy they can, he said – adding that this is something that has been “completely eroded under the harsh glare of the spotlight”.
The comments on behalf of Victoria and Christopher come after their mother broke her silence in her first interview last week where she revealed that she has been left filled with “anxiety” and their two children “cry themselves to sleep” over the horror.
“I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering ... anxiety,” she told The New York Post.
“My children cry themselves to sleep. I mean, they’re not children. They’re grown adults but they’re my children, and my son has developmental disabilities and he cried himself to sleep.”
Ms Ellerup filed for divorce just days after his arrest but her attorney has confirmed that she has had some contact with her husband.
She found support from a somewhat unlikely source as Melissa Moore – the daughter of the notorious Happy Face Killer – launched a GoFundMe campaign to help her “start her new life”.
“Today, I have an opportunity to use my voice to help Asa, who isn’t in a place to speak about the terror and horror she and her family are experiencing at this moment,” she wrote in the GoFundMe, which had topped $38,000 as of Tuesday morning.
Ms Ellerup, Victoria and Christopher were all out of town at the time of the three murders and investigators are allegedly probing whether Mr Heuermann brought the victims to the family home.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said that a “massive amount of evidence” had been recovered from the property as part of the investigation.
Court records show that Mr Heuermann was linked to the “Gilgo Four” murders through a tip about his pickup truck, a stash of burner phones, “sadistic” online searches, phone calls taunting victims’ families, his wife’s hair found on the victims’ bodies – and a pizza crust.
The first piece of the puzzle came when a witness in the Amber Costello case revealed details about a vehicle that a client was driving when she was last seen alive.
Costello was seen alive on the evening of 2 September 2010 when she left her home in West Babylon. A witness said she had gone to meet a client who was driving a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche.
Last year, a registration search showed that local man Mr Heuermann owned a first-generation model of the truck at the time of Costello’s disappearance. He also matched the witness’ description of the man believed to be the killer: a large, white “ogre”-like male in his mid-40s, around 6’4’ to 6’6” tall, with “dark bushy hair,” and “big oval style 1970’s type eyeglasses”.
The discovery of the car led investigators to home in on Mr Heuermann, including executing 300 subpoenas, search warrants and other legal processes to obtain evidence to determine his potential involvement in the killings.
Among this was Mr Heuermann’s alleged use of burner phones, with prosecutors saying that he used burner phones to contact the three women and arrange to meet them at the time when they went missing.
He also allegedly took two of the victims’ cellphones – and used one to make taunting phone calls to one of their families where he boasted about her murder, court documents state.
Mr Heuermann’s DNA was found on one of the victims, while his wife’s hair was found on three of the four women he is connected to.
His arrest comes after the horrific serial killer case has captured the nation’s attention for more than a decade.
The Gilgo Beach murders had long stumped law enforcement officials in Suffolk County who believed it could be the work of one or more serial killers who targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies along the remote beaches on Ocean Parkway.
The case began in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert vanished after leaving a client’s house on foot near Gilgo Beach.
She called 911 for help saying she feared for her life and was never seen alive again.
During a search for Gilbert in dense thicket close to the beach, police discovered the remains of another woman.
Within a matter of days, the remains of three more victims were found close by.
By spring 2011, the remains of a total of 10 victims had been found including eight women, a man, and a toddler. Police have long thought that it could be the work of one or more serial killers.
Gilbert’s body was then found in December 2011. Her cause of death is widely contested with authorities long claiming that it is not connected to the serial killer or killers but that she died from accidental drowning as she fled from the client’s home.
However, an independent autopsy commissioned by her family ruled that she died by strangulation and her mother believes she was murdered.
Like Gilbert, most of the victims targeted were sex workers, while some are yet to be identified.
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