Rex Heuermann told ex-wife he murdered Gilgo Beach victims at family's home, documentary reveals

NEW YORK (AP) — The man who recently pleaded guilty to New York's Gilgo Beach serial murders told his ex-wife while in jail that he killed most of his female victims in the basement of the family’s dilapidated home, the latest episode of a documentary series shows.

His ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, said in a teaser for the episode airing Thursday on NBC’s streaming service Peacock that Rex Heuermann also told her that the eight women he has admitted to killing were his only victims.

Ellerup says later in the teaser that he told her that he killed seven of them in the basement of the family's house in Massapequa Park on Long Island while she was away.

“I said to him, ‘So Mr. Heuermann, I understand that you are confessing to me on these murders. Can you please tell me how many of these women did you kill’?,” she said in the 90-second clip. “He said, ‘Eight’.”

Ellerup said she intentionally didn’t use her former husband’s first name as a way to “put a wall up” between the two.

“When he started talking, it started feeling like that’s the Rex I know,” she said. “But I didn’t want to see that one. I wanted to see the one I needed to see.”

The latest and last installment of “The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets” follows the release of the series' first three episodes last June. Another documentary, “Killing Grounds: The Gilgo Beach Murders,” also comes out Wednesday on Amazon's streaming service, Prime Video.

Ellerup's attorney, Robert Macedonio, declined to discuss what other new details are revealed in the new episode of the Peacock documentary.

“This has been an extremely emotional and painful process for the family to endure and come to terms with the allegations that Rex Heuermann was the Gilgo Beach serial killer,” he said in an email. “Ms. Ellerup would like the focus to remain where it belongs — on the victims and their families, who have suffered immeasurable and lasting losses.”

Vess Mitev, a lawyer for the couple's two grown children, Victoria and Chris, said the two “echo the sentiments of their mother, and wish only to move forward as best they can, given this remarkably dark chapter in their lives.”

Heuermann’s lawyers didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Earlier episodes of the documentary showed the family struggling to reconcile their memories of the architect, who had an office in Manhattan, with the portrait of the killer described by authorities.

Ellerup, who divorced Heuermann after his arrest in 2023, steadfastly defended her ex-husband’s innocence during those earlier episodes. But her daughter eventually conceded her father “most likely” committed the brutal killings that bedeviled investigators and drew intense interest from true-crime watchers for years.

The saga came to a close earlier this month when Heuermann, 62, of Massapequa Park, admitted in Riverhead court to murdering seven women and also killing an eighth he had not yet been charged with over a 17-year span.

Heuermann said in court he strangled the women, many of them sex workers, and dismembered some of their bodies before dumping them on a desolate parkway not far from Long Island's Gilgo Beach, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Manhattan.

He’ll be sentenced in June to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Follow Philip Marcelo on X: @philmarcelo.

Rex A. Heuermann, pleads guilty to murdering seven women and admitted he killed an eighth in a string of long-unsolved crimes known as the Gilgo Beach killings, at a court hearing in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y., Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool)

Rex A. Heuermann, center, pleads guilty to murdering seven women and admitted he killed an eighth in a string of long-unsolved crimes known as the Gilgo Beach killings, at a court hearing in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y., Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool)

Asa Ellerup, wife, of Rex Heuermann gives her statement outside the courthouse as Rex Heuermann, accused in Long Island's infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Asa Ellerup, center left, wife, of Rex Heuermann and Victoria Heuermann, right, walk the hallway after departs the courtroom as Rex Heuermann, accused in Long Island's infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Asa Ellerup, wife, of Rex Heuermann waits to give her statement outside the courthouse as Rex Heuermann, accused in Long Island's infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Tanzania’s vice president is resigning after less than a year in office, following what analysts say was a power struggle with the country’s first female leader.

Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi offered to vacate the office on Sept. 4, according to a statement released on Tuesday. The presidency confirmed that constitutional measures will be taken to select a new deputy to President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Nchimbi's statement said he was “fully convinced” that Hassan desires another deputy. “I assure you that I will continue to be a good citizen of Tanzania,” it said.

His resignation is remarkable in a country known for its relative stability under the one-party rule of the Chama cha Mapinduzi party, or CCM.

Some analysts say he appeared to have disagreed with Hassan over governance and other issues stemming from the government’s brutal crackdown on street protests during and after the Oct. 29 election.

“The two were not on good terms," said Tito Magoti, a rights attorney and independent analyst in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam.

A postelection inquiry showed 518 people were killed in the violence, shocking many at home and abroad. The military was deployed alongside the police to quell riots in major cities, with sporadic gunfire ringing out in the usually peaceful country that many foreigners visit for its pristine coastal beaches and safari tourism.

The internet was shut down for days, a move that Hassan later apologized for and promised would never happen again.

The leader of the commission that investigated election-related violence, Mohamed Chande Othman, said during the release of his report in April that the number of deaths was likely higher, because some families buried their loved ones without taking their bodies to morgues. He recommended an investigation into the use of firearms, as some of the witnesses told the commission that their loved ones were shot while sitting inside their houses.

Hassan, who has served as president since 2021, drew widespread anger for running virtually unopposed after her two main opponents were blocked or prevented from contesting. Her main rival, Tundu Lissu, is currently jailed over treason charges he says are politically motivated.

A version of CCM has ruled Tanzania since the country gained independence from Britain in 1961. CCM is fused with the state and effectively in charge of the security apparatus.

Hassan, who was formerly a vice president, became president without incident when her predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli, died suddenly after the start of his second term.

The orderly transition sustained Tanzania’s reputation as an oasis of political stability and relative peace, a major reason for CCM’s considerable support, especially among rural voters.

FILE - Tanzania's Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi delivers his speech during a campaign rally in Dodoma, Tanzania, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan delivers remarks during a campaign rally ahead of the general elections in Iringa, Tanzania, on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo, File)