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The 59-year-old architect, of Massapequa Park in Nassau County, attended a status conference in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 1.
Heuermann is charged with murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello at Gilgo Beach, located off the south shore of Suffolk County. He is also the primary suspect in the disappearance and killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
In court Tuesday, Heuermann wore a suit and khaki pants and was seen rocking back and forth on his heels as his attorney and a Suffolk County prosecutor went over evidence in the case, ABC7 reports.
Among the evidence are two computer hard drives and 2,500 pages of documents, including DNA reports and autopsy and crime scene photos, CNN reports.
At least some of the victims’ family members were inside the courtroom, the outlet reported.
Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown, took aim at the media during remarks outside the courtroom.
“The press has convicted my client without seeing a shred of evidence,” he said. “I’m not going to try the case in the press. I doubt any of you have considered they have the wrong guy.”
The victims, all in their 20s and working as sex workers at the time of their murders, were found in December 2010 in a grassy area of Gilgo Beach, a barrier island off Long Island’s south shore in the Suffolk County town of Babylon.
Their remains were among those of up to 18 people who were discovered in the area in 2010 and 2011 in what became known as the Gilgo Beach serial killings. Police believe the murders took place between 1996 and 2011.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Heuermann's Family Picking Up The Pieces
Tuesday’s proceedings came days after Heuermann’s 59-year-old wife, Asa Ellerup, and their two adult children returned to their Massapequa Park home on Thursday, July 27, where investigators spent 12 days looking for additional evidence in the case.
The extensive search of the property included digging up the backyard with a backhoe and using ground-penetrating radar.
Inside the “very cluttered” home, detectives recovered at least 279 weapons from a large basement vault along with boxes of evidence, said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney, who announced he would prosecute the case himself.
When Ellerup was allowed back inside, she found her family’s belongings piled in boxes and strewn across the floor, she told ABC News.
“Everything is destroyed,” Ellerup, who has filed for divorce from Heuermann, told the outlet. “(My children) have been crying themselves to sleep and I’ve been crying myself to sleep, too.”
She added that her adult son, who is developmentally delayed, has begun sleeping in a chair at night.
During their search, police also cut open the family’s couch and bathtub, ripped up their flooring, and left piles of debris, Ellerup’s attorney Robert Macedonia told CNN, adding that Ellerup has not been questioned by police.
The scene is now a constant reminder of Heuermann’s alleged killing spree, Ellerup told ABC News.
"Every time my kids go through something ... they open a box. Every single time they cry," she said.
GoFundMe For Heuermann's Family
Ellerup has since found support from an unlikely source: the daughter of Keith Hunter Jesperson, known as the "Happy Face Killer," who murdered at least eight women in the United States in the early 1990s.
Jesperson's daughter, Melissa Moore, has created a GoFundMe campaign to help Ellerup and her children with the divorce and "starting a 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 said.
"While people may assume Asa has the funds to start a new life, the assumption is just that. We don't know the financial and verbal abuse she may have suffered."
The campaign had raised over $6,600 as of Tuesday, Aug. 1.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
Earlier Coverage:
- Gilgo Four: A Look At Women At Heart Of Serial Murder Case
- 'How I Met Gilgo Beach Murderer': Northern Westchester Woman Reveals Chilling Story
- Gilgo Beach Murders: Pizza Crust Helped Nab Suspect Who Allegedly Taunted Victim's Family
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