Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann’s trial is finally underway. The 59-year-old is accused of killing four women between 2014 and 2022, stashing their bodies in burlap bags before unceremoniously dumping the bodies along the roadway near Gilgo Beach, New York.
It took almost ten years for investigators to find enough evidence to tie Heuerman back to the crimes, but with substantial DNA evidence, witness testimony, and some pretty damning Google searches made over the years, the victims’ families are hopeful that this menace will end up behind bars.
There’s just one problem: Heuermann has enough money to hire some damn good attorneys.
What is Rex Heuerman’s net worth?
Heuermann described his work as “general architecture” in a 2018 hearing, but the job must be pretty far from mundane. The New York native owned a Midtown Manhattan-based consultancy practice, Rex Heuermann Consultants and Associates off 5th Avenue (the rent alone was a whopping $150K a month, for some perspective) and had worked in Manhattan for at least 3 decades.
His job as an architect varied between the everyday (like recommending that a leaky building undergo waterproofing), to working with the state’s Department of Buildings, which deals in construction safety, development, and even code inspection. In 2007, Heuermann was investigated for potentially providing false information. He claimed a crumbling apartment building was vacant, despite the more than 26 families residing there. It wasn’t until the NYFD got involved that the families were helped, but Heuermann never offered any comments over the mix-up. Further review led investigators to believe it was an isolated incident, rather than a pattern of disrespect for human life.
Heuermann has been locked in more than one lawsuit since 2014. Over the last decade, he has opened four civil cases against other drivers, alleging “setious and permanent personal injuries” from road incidents. Three of the four cases have been settled or dismissed (the payouts are unknown), and one is still underway.
The hulking sexagenarian was living in his modest childhood home – which sits just a few miles away from where his victim’s bodies were found – with his wife, her son, and Heuermann’s daughter. The Massapequa Park area boasts houses priced between $400K and $2 million, and the neighboring homes on 1st Avenue fall closer to the $1 million mark.
Despite his high earnings, prime real estate location, and sue-happy tendencies, Heuermann was several thousand dollars behind in his tax payments (just like the rich, isn’t it?). Tax liens filed by the IRS show that Heuermann owed more than $425k in 2020, of which he has paid just over $215K. As a couple, he and his wife, Asa Ellerup, owe $81.5K to the IRS.
Despite these crazy-high debts, Heuermann is still worth an estimated $7 million.
The family he’s leaving behind includes his now ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, who filed for divorce just 6 days after her husband was charged. After months of silence, she’s selling her story as a documentary for a whopping $1 million dollars. Though no charges have been formally brought against her, new evidence suggests that Heuermann had a female accomplice. Ellerup’s lawyer denies his client was involved.
Since Heuerman was arrested, Ellerup has relied on bystander sympathy. Despite the reported millions in the bank, Ellerup has a GoFundMe, which claims that the now single mother of two adult children is working to gain her financial independence. With more than $50K in the bank and another million on the way, it might seem like Ellerup’s well prepared for the future, but her lawyer alone is set to make a six-figure payout for his part. The New York Post reports that by the end, he’ll have netted something near the $400,000 mark.