Ellerup Civil Liability: The Willful Blindness Standard Under Scrutiny
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.2 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2026
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The wrongful death complaint filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court by Benjamin Torres, acting on behalf of the estate of Valerie Mack, presents claims of wrongful death, assault, battery, false imprisonment, and unjust enrichment against Rex Heuermann, Asa Ellerup, and Victoria Heuermann. The central theory of liability against Ellerup rests on the doctrine of willful blindness — alleging that she knew of, concealed, or consciously avoided learning material facts concerning the murders.
Heuermann pleaded guilty on April 8, 2026, to seven counts of murder and admitted to the intentional killing of an eighth victim, Karen Vergata. He agreed to serve consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole. Sentencing is scheduled for June 17, 2026. The guilty plea eliminates the question of liability for Heuermann in any subsequent civil proceeding.
The unjust enrichment claim targets proceeds reportedly exceeding one million dollars that Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann received for participation in a Peacock documentary. The plaintiff has sought judicial intervention to prevent the dissipation of those assets. Ellerup’s attorney, Robert Macedonio, has characterized the lawsuit as reckless and maintained that both women cooperated fully with law enforcement throughout the investigation. Defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis provides analysis of the willful blindness standard as applied to a spouse who prosecutors confirmed was absent during each alleged offense, the evidentiary weight of pre-plea public statements, and the legal viability of the unjust enrichment theory.
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#AsaEllerup #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeach #WillfulBlindness #TrueCrimeToday #EricFaddis #CivilLiability #WrongfulDeath #UnjustEnrichment #ValerieMack
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Brewski and Robin Dree. |
| 0:07.9 | Let's go to another one. |
| 0:08.8 | Asa Alrippa shared a home with Rex Heerman for nearly three decades, roughly 1,300 square feet. |
| 0:14.3 | It wasn't big, a secured room that had a metal door in the basement. |
| 0:18.4 | And prosecutors alleging some of the murders may have happened to inside while she was away. |
| 0:24.7 | Asa's hair, his ex-wife, her hair was found on multiple victims. |
| 0:29.6 | She called him her savior in a documentary, dismissed the planning documents originally as absurd, |
| 0:35.3 | and said she'd need to hear it from him face to face before she believed it. |
| 0:40.3 | Well, that's happened. |
| 0:41.5 | She heard it sitting in the courtroom when he pled guilty to eight murders. |
| 0:46.2 | Now a civil lawsuit is forcing her to defend in court what she says she never knew. |
| 0:54.2 | That's what we're going to be talking about. |
| 0:55.8 | And your thoughts in the comments section as we work through it. |
| 0:58.2 | Robin Drake retired FBI Special Agency for the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program |
| 1:02.7 | with us. |
| 1:03.1 | So is Eric Fattis, defense attorney and former prosecutor. |
| 1:06.7 | Eric Asa Elrub's attorney has said she was away every time one of these murders occurred, |
| 1:13.3 | and prosecutors have backed that up. |
| 1:15.1 | It appears that, yeah, legitimately, that was the schedule. |
| 1:19.9 | It seemed kind of ridiculous, I think, when we heard it originally, but that's what the timetable has shown us. |
| 1:25.2 | But the civil complaint alleges she knew of, concealed or consciously avoided learning. |
| 1:32.5 | Consciously avoided learning. |
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