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In July, accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuerman was charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
Heuerman has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. The bodies of Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello were discovered 13 years ago. Seven other bodies were found along the coast.
Ana Garcia, host of the True Crime Daily podcast, recently sat down with Melissa Moore, whose father, Keith Hunter Jesperson, is in prison for the murders of eight women.
Moore has made it his life’s mission to help other families trapped in the nightmares of a possible serial killer.
She visited Mr. Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, and children and provided emotional support. She said: “When I saw Asa, I just hugged her and just started stroking her hair. I did it because I knew her pain and just wanted to give her some comfort right away. I just wanted to.”
One of the biggest shocks after detectives dig through Heuermann’s house is the report of a secret underground safe.
Mr. Moore himself saw the safe. She said, “It’s incredibly large. It’s a walk-in room with wood paneling and a door, and it’s not soundproof. You can see all the beams in the house. That door is like a big vault door.”
Heuerman’s family believed it was “being used as a gun storage area,” Melissa said, adding that “hundreds of guns were removed from storage there.”
The public tends to go after the spouses of people arrested in high-profile cases, and many wonder why they didn’t notice. Melissa argued. [Asa] Do you know?It took forever for authorities to realize he could be [Gilgo Beach Killer]”
Melissa emphasized that “serial killers don’t tell their families what they’re doing.”
Asa is currently filing for divorce. Her lawyer, Robert Macedonio, and her defense team member, Ginenne Pugliese, say that until the day her husband was arrested, she had always seen her husband as her “hero.”
Pugliese said, “He got her out of a difficult situation in her first marriage. He was the best thing for her at that time and that was the foundation of their marriage.”
As well as being emotionally devastated, Asa is also facing financial difficulties.To help her girlfriend, Melissa gofundme page.
“I quickly realized that she didn’t have access to anything and didn’t have the freedom to sell anything to support her family,” Melissa said.
