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.
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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)
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)
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)
ROME (AP) — Elina Svitolina claimed a third Italian Open title on Saturday by beating Coco Gauff, who lost in the final in Rome for the second straight year.
In the men’s final on Sunday, home favorite Jannik Sinner will face Casper Ruud.
Svitolina took nearly three hours to prevail 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2 and win her first WTA 1000 title since lifting the title in Rome in 2018. The Ukrainian also won in 2017.
“It’s very hard to believe that it’s been eight years when I had this trophy here and very, very, very pleased of course with the two weeks here," Svitolina said on court after her 20th career title.
“I told my coach that it would be nice before I finish my career to have a round number. So he told me that hopefully we’re going to get this this year. So, I’m very, very happy.”
Gauff, who was hoping to become the first American to win in Rome since 2016, lost to Jasmine Paolini last year but went on to win the French Open.
“It’s been a great two weeks ... and I definitely feel the momentum going into the French Open," she said. "A lot of lessons learned from this match.”
Gauff started brilliantly, breaking Svitolina and holding to love. She also had the chance to go 5-2 up but Svitolina fended off three break points and won four straight games to take the opener.
The third-ranked Gauff struggled on her serve throughout the second set but managed to take it to a tiebreak and level the match.
However, Svitolina dominated the decider and broke Gauff’s serve twice to leave her serving for the title. The seventh-ranked Svitolina sealed the result on her third match point with a volley at the net.
Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 when their rain-delayed semifinal resumed on Saturday and is one victory away from becoming only the second man after Novak Djokovic to win all nine Masters 1000 titles. Djokovic has won each Masters tournament at least twice.
The top-ranked Sinner led 4-2 in the third set when the match was suspended late Friday. The Italian finished off the match in 15 minutes on Saturday, sealing it on his third match point after Medvedev fended off two on his serve.
“It was a very different challenge and a tough challenge,” Sinner said. “Usually, during the night, I don’t struggle to sleep but this time it was not easy.
"You are in the third set, nearly done, but you still have to show up again and you never know what is happening. It is like the start of the match as there are nerves again. I am very happy with how I handled this situation and that I am back in the final.”
Earlier Friday on the red clay of the Foro Italico, Ruud routed home player Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-1.
Sinner is also attempting to become the first Italian man to raise the Rome trophy since Adriano Panatta in 1976. Panatta will present the trophy on Sunday, with Italian President Sergio Mattarella also slated to attend the men's final.
After winning the first set easily on Friday, Sinner appeared fatigued as Medvedev stepped up his game and started running him around the court with drop shots and groundstrokes to the corners.
After several points Sinner bent over in apparent exhaustion and leaned on his racket for support. Sinner had his right thigh treated by a trainer midway through the second set.
Sinner came back from a 3-0 deficit only to be broken again in the 12th game and concede the set to Medvedev.
A bad bounce helped Sinner break Medvedev early in the third and take control for good.
Sinner has won all four of his career meetings with Ruud without dropping a set — including a 6-0, 6-1 rout in the Rome quarterfinals last year.
“Jannik is chasing history,” Ruud said. “I have to be the guy to try to stop him, and it will not be easy playing here in his home country. ... Last year, he really (routed me) here on the same court, so of course I’m looking for revenge. But at the same time I realize that he’s an incredible player and a unique talent.”
Sinner lost last year’s final to Carlos Alcaraz, who is sidelined due to a right wrist injury. Paolini in 2025 became the first Italian woman to raise the trophy in 40 years.
Sinner hasn’t lost since Feb. 19 in the Qatar Open quarterfinals. He has won 28 straight matches and a record five successive Masters titles. He could become the second man to win all three Masters tournaments on clay — including Monte Carlo and Madrid — in the same season after Rafael Nadal in 2010.
After Rome for Sinner is the French Open, the only Grand Slam event he hasn’t won. The titleholder, Alcaraz, will also miss it.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
United States' Coco Gauff holds a trophy after playing against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the women's final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Ukraine's Elina Svitolina kisses the trophy after winning against United States' Coco Gauff at the end of the women's final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
United States' Coco Gauff grimaces after missing a point as she plays against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Ukraine's Elina Svitolina celebrates a winning point as she plays against United States' Coco Gauff during their women's final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
United States' Coco Gauff reacts after loosing against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina at the end of the women's final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ukraine's Elina Svitolina celebrates after winning against United States' Coco Gauff at the end of the women's final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Italy's Jannik Sinner cheer with Daniil Medvedev of Russia after winning their semifinal match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates after winning against Daniil Medvedev of Russia during their semifinal match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Daniil Medvedev of Russia returns a ball to Italy's Jannik Sinner during their semifinal match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italy's Jannik Sinner receives medical treatment during a medical timeout during the semifinal match against Daniil Medvedev of Russia, at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini))
Italy's Jannik Sinner returns a ball to Daniil Medvedev of Russia during their semifinal match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates after winning against Daniil Medvedev of Russia during their semifinal match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
