Suspected Serial Killer's Wife Says Search Wrecked Home

For Asa Ellerup, the nightmare of discovering that her husband is a suspected serial killer has been worsened by a police search that she says has made her Long Island home unlivable. Ellerup, who filed for divorce from Rex Heuermann after his arrest last month, was recently allowed to return to the home with her two children, a 33-year-old son with special needs and a 26-year-old daughter. She tells the New York Post that the 12-day search for evidence left her without even a bed to sleep in. She says furniture was "shredded" and the family's belongings were piled high in boxes, barely leaving any walking space inside the home.

"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," she tells the Post. Her son, she says, "is so distraught and doesn't understand, and as a mother, I have no answers for him." Authorities say a "massive" amount of potential evidence, including more than 200 firearms, was removed from the home. Police also dug up the backyard. Heuermann has been charged with three murders and is the main suspect in a fourth. Investigators believe the killings occurred when his wife and children were out of town.

Lawyer Bob Macedonio says police treated Ellerup and her family "like animals." He says she "was in complete shock" and was "completely caught by surprise" by her husband's arrest. "I don't know if they're ever going to return to normalcy, but day by day she's getting better," he tells CNN. Yess Mitev, an attorney for the adult children, says they are considering legal action over the "deplorable and roughshod handling of the investigation," the AP reports.

story continues below

Heuermann, who has been held without bail since his July 13 arrest, appeared in court for a hearing Tuesday. Prosecutors said they had turned over huge amounts of evidence from the 13-year investigation, including crime scene photos, to Michael Brown, the suspect's attorney. Brown said he has yet to review the evidence, though he believes prosecutors "very well could have the wrong guy," the AP reports. (More Rex Heuermann stories.)