Massapequa Park neighbors hope for return to normalcy as Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann investigation continues
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. - Is DNA found on a pizza crust from the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer a match to any of the victims?
As prosecutors seek a cheek swab from Rex Heuermann, his Massapequa Park neighborhood is trying to return to normal.
Etienne de Villiers took a deep breath after a box addressed to his neighbor Heuermann landed on his porch, and he needed to deliver it to Asa Ellerup, Heuermann's estranged wife.
"She's a neighbor. You've got to do what you can. She had no idea. The kids don't deserve this, they are nice kids," de Villiers said.
A bird feeder, plants and basket of flower sit amid a cardboard box with yellow evidence tape. The massive police presence has now been replaced by one squad car.
The Heuermann children - daughter Victoria, and stepson Christopher - have hired a lawyer.
"Chris I spoke to the other day, and the first words out of his mouth, 'I don't think my father did this.' I said 'Chris, you don't have to think your father did this. It's OK.' What else can you tell a kid?" de Villiers said.
We've learned the family plans to stay in the home for at least several months. Ellerup shared photos she took, claiming investigators left behind "uninhabitable conditions."
Asa Ellerup directed our questions to her attorney, Robert Macedonio, who told us his client has not been interviewed by investigators, and that she has spoken by telephone to her husband in personal conversation.
- Related: See it: Photos show inside of Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann's home after search
Prosecutors said there was no indication the family had any knowledge of the suspected crimes.
Heuermann was told at his Tuesday conference to be back in court Sept. 27. He's being held without bail.
"The press has convicted my client without seeing a shred of evidence," Heuermann's attorney Michael Brown said.
- Related: Wife of Gilgo Beach murders suspect asks for privacy: "I am pleading with you all to give us space"
Heuermann is accused of killing and wrapping his victims in burlap and leaving the bodies at Gilgo Beach. So was he leading a double life?
"We know that when someone becomes a serial killer, that takes practice. And practice means there had to be other murders that occurred, where they are learning their trade. They are learning how to become serial killers," former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole said.
Some neighbors said they are numb, knowing they lived someone with a walk-in vault for hundreds of weapons, accused of unspeakable horrors.
"We are surrounded by something like that. That we could be involved in something like that. It's tough to be a part of it," de Villiers said.
Investigators are examining whether Heuermann could be linked to any unsolved killings around the country.
