Cheek sample taken from Gilgo Beach murder suspect’s estranged wife on the day he was arrested matches the hairs found on the victims’ bodies, DNA tests confirm

• Asa Ellerup provided a cheek swab sample the night of her husband’s arrest
• She has been cleared as a suspect and was out of town when they happened
• Heuermann has pled not guilty to the murders of three sex workers

Cheek swab samples taken from Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann’s estranged wife match DNA found on victims, police have revealed.

Asa Ellerup, 59, provided a cheek swab sample to investigators on the night they arrested Heuermann, 60, for the murders of three women whose bodies were found along a remote beach highway on Long Island.

The samples were a match for hairs found on burlap used to wrap the remains, as reported by ABC News.

Investigators have cleared Ellerup as a suspect to the murders, as she was out of town when they took place.

Officials had previously said Heuermann left his wife’s hair on three of the prostitutes he is accused of murdering and his own DNA on another’s body.

Asa Ellerup, 59, provided a cheek swab sample to investigators on the night they arrested her husband for the murders of three sex workers in Long Island

Investigators have cleared Ellerup as a suspect to the murders, as she was out of town when they took place. Her estranged husband Rex Heuermann, pictured, has pled not guilty

The news comes as Ellerup agreed to participate in a Peacock documentary which will feature her family as they go through her husband’s trial, which is slated to begin next year. 

Ellerup was reportedly paid at least $1million for the deal with NBC’s streaming service.

Authorities have said that she wasn’t aware of her husband’s alleged killings. The money she earned from the show also won’t be going to his defense, as New York law prohibits defendants from selling their story to the media.

A Peacock spokesperson confirmed with DailyMail.com that it is developing a multi-part documentary series.

‘Asa Ellerup was not paid for her participation in the series, and has no creative control over the outcome of the series,’ the spokesperson said.

‘As is common with documentaries, she was paid a licensing fee for use of her archive materials; the payment cannot go towards the defendant or his defense funds.’

The spokesperson added that they also ‘reached out to all victims’ families to appear in the documentary, all of whom either did not respond or declined.’

The mother of two adult children filed for divorce from Heuermann six days after he was charged with the murder of three sex workers, whose bodies were among 11 found on the desolate stretch of coastline close to their Long Island home between 2010 and 2011. 

Heuermann was arrested in July and has pled not guilty to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, who disappeared in 2009 and 2010.

Ellerup was reportedly paid at least $1million in a deal with NBC’s streaming service Peacock

The first victim, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was discovered by Suffolk County Police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, was found two days later

Maureen Brainard-Barnes was 25 years old when she went missing (left). Amber Lynn Costello was 27 years old. Their bodies were found near Barthelemy’s the same day

Authorities said he is also the ‘prime suspect’ in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. 

At the time of his arrest, prosecutors said they had analyzed DNA from a pizza crust that Heuermann had discarded in a Manhattan trash can and matched it to DNA from hairs found on Waterman’s body. Prosecutors then got permission from the court to collect DNA from a cheek swab of Heuermann as further proof of his link to Waterman’s killing. 

The arrest of Heuermann, an architect, came 13 years after police searching for a missing woman found 10 sets of human remains buried in the scrub near Long Island’s remote Gilgo Beach.

Authorities suspected that a serial killer had committed some of the murders but have long said they did not believe all of the victims were killed by the same person. The majority of the killings remain unsolved.

Source: Read Full Article