(NewsNation) — An attorney for the children of accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann claims police unnecessarily destroyed property inside the family home that was searched for more than a week.
“(They) literally ransacked it,” Vess Mitev said Tuesday on “CUOMO.”
Vitev represents Heuermann’s two adult children who live inside the Massapequa Park home with Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup. She filed for divorce following Heuermann’s arrest.
He has been charged in connection with the deaths of three women whose bodies were found in 2010 and 2011 along a stretch of highway on Long Island’s Gilgo Beach. He’s the lead suspect in a fourth death.
He has pleaded not guilty to three charges of first-degree murder and three charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Authorities are continuing to work toward charging him for the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Heuermann’s attorney has denied the murder allegations.
Authorities in Suffolk County, New York, said last week that they recovered a “huge” list of items from Heuermann’s home, including 279 items most people would consider weapons.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney described the home as “very cluttered.”
Mitev claims police took a “roughshod” approach to the search, destroying items including a PlayStation video game console and “Magic: The Gathering” playing cards.
“We have no good answers why it was done this way,” Mitev said. “In our view, it’s deplorable.”
Mitev is working in close consultation with Robert Macedonio, the attorney for Ellerup. Macedonio said his client is in “disbelief” over the allegations.
“This was all thrown upon her like getting hit by a Mack Truck walking down Times Square,” he said Tuesday on “CUOMO.”
Ellerup has filed for divorce, and Macedonio said she knows nothing of the alleged killings. Police allege Heuermann committed the murders while his wife and children were out of town on vacation.
“If the allegations are true, he actually did live a secret, separate life,” Macedonio said. “When this came about, she was shocked and totally thrown off guard.”
Heuermann had his first appearance in court Tuesday. While families of some of the victims were in court, none of them were willing to speak to the media and asked for privacy.
The hearing was largely administrative in nature, involving scheduling and discovery, the process where prosecutors turn over evidence they have gathered during their investigation to the defense team. That included four two-terabyte hard drives with several discs, including 2,500 pages of documents and photographs.
Tierney said investigators had collected a massive amount of “information, evidence, photographs and reports” during the 13-year investigation that needed to be turned over to the defense team, per New York’s strict laws around discovery.
Heuermann remains jailed while he awaits trial.
Macedonio confirmed Ellerup has spoken to him via telephone, while Mitev said the children had not yet decided on visiting their father.
“They themselves have to figure out how they’re analyzing the situation, because it’s changing minute by minute,” Mitev said. “They’re certainly not foreclosing anything at this point, but it’s too early to tell.”
NewsNation digital producer Stephanie Whiteside contributed to this report.