Gilgo Beach victim’s son sues Rex Heuermann, ex-wife, daughter over murder and media profits

Valerie Mack’s son Benjamin Torres seeks damages and the return of the Heuermanns’ media earnings, including more than $1 million from Peacock

The civil suit arrives as Heuermann is expected to plead guilty to multiple murders as soon as tomorrow

The son of Valerie Mack, one of seven victims linked to accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, filed a sweeping civil lawsuit this week that targets not only Heuermann but also his ex-wife and their daughter — accusing the trio of wrongful death, concealment, and profiting from the notoriety of the murders.

Benjamin Torres’ complaint against Heuermann, Asa Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann — filed Monday in Suffolk County Supreme Court — marks the first known litigation brought by a Gilgo victim’s family member against the 62-year-old accused killer from Massapequa Park.

Torres was 6 years old when his mother, while working as an escort in Philadelphia, disappeared and according to authorities was killed in 2000. He alleges in the lawsuit that he was deprived of his mother’s care, guidance, and financial support as a result of her murder.

The suit spans 13 causes of action, including wrongful death, assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with the right of sepulcher, aiding and abetting, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment, and fraud.

Torres, 26, is represented by Miller Place-based attorney John Ray.

The murder and the remains

The complaint notes that hunters discovered black plastic bags containing a partial human body in a wooded area of Manorville on Nov. 19, 2000.

The remains were later identified as belonging to Mack, who had been decapitated, had both hands severed above the wrists, had her right leg cut off at approximately the mid-calf, and whose torso, legs, and arms had been bound with rope, according authorities and court documents. Her head, hands and right foot were not recovered at the Manorville scene.

More than a decade later, on April 4, 2011, the remaining portions of Mack’s body — her skull, hands and right foot — were discovered along Ocean Parkway, east of Gilgo Beach and near Oak Beach in Suffolk County.

Torres in his lawsuit says the deliberate splitting of Mack’s remains between the two locations was intended to hinder his mom’s identification, impede investigation into her disappearance and death, and conceal the killer’s identity.

The complaint further alleges the intentional removal of Mack’s lower leg and foot because it had a tattoo referencing her only child, Benjamin.

Mack’s identity had indeed remained unknown for years. Law enforcement had long referred to her as “Jane Doe No. 6,” unable to identify her until 2020, following the application of DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy.

Heuermann was publicly charged in connection with Mac’s murder in December 2024. She is one of seven women Heuermann has been charged with killing over a 17-year span.

The others are Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Amber Lynn Costello, 27; Jessica Taylor, 20; and Sandra Costilla, 28 — all of whom vanished between 1993 and 2010.

A criminal guilty plea could significantly strengthen Torres’ civil case. In New York civil proceedings, a defendant’s guilty plea to underlying criminal conduct is generally admissible as an admission and can be used to establish liability, potentially removing the need to re-litigate core facts about the murders themselves.

For Torres, a plea would effectively establish in open court that Heuermann murdered Valerie Mack — a foundational element of the wrongful death and related claims in the civil complaint. It would also prevent Heuermann from contesting liability.

Nevertheless, the civil suit would proceed on its own track regardless, particularly given the complex claims against Heuermann’s ex-wife and daughter, neither of whom face criminal charges.

Torres, because he was a young child when his mother disappeared, could not have reasonably identified those responsible or understood the full scope of the wrongdoing until years later, the lawsuit argues. Further, the concealment of the crime — including the mutilation and separation of Mack’s remains — should extend the statute of limitations for filing this type of civil lawsuit.

Allegations against accused killer’s ex-wife and daughter

Among the most significant aspects of the lawsuit are the allegations directed at Heuermann’s ex-wife and daughter.

The complaint alleges both women lived in the Massapequa Park residence during the relevant period and had access to a secured, vault-like room with a large metal door on the lower floor of the home that was used for violent and secretive unlawful activity, the suit alleges.

Referencing publicly filed criminal documents, the complaint claims a female hair found on Mack’s remains is statistically far more likely to have originated from someone genetically identical to Victoria Heuermann than from an unrelated individual, and that additional hair evidence linked to Ellerup was found in connection with other victims in the same pattern of murders.

An attorney who was represented Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann since Rex Heuermann’s July 2023 arrest, told Newsday his clients had no knowledge of the killings.

“This has been a decade of Johnny Ray trying to keep himself relevant in a case that his original client, Shannan Gilbert, had no involvement in,” Islip Terrace attorney Robert Macedonio said to Newsday. “I reiterate strenuously that my clients, Asa Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann, had no involvement whatsoever in any of the alleged crimes of Rex Heuermann.”

The lawsuit though further alleges that one or both of the women may have created, edited or reviewed murder planning materials and provided them to Rex Heuermann.

The suit alludes to a publicly reported torture and murder planning document that authorities allegedly recovered from electronic media associated with Heuermann. The document includes references to disposal sites and instructions to remove identifying marks, including tattoos, authorities have said.

The complaint alleges that Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann knew of, concealed, or deliberately ignored material facts about the murders — and may have ranged in their involvement from substantial assistance and concealment to direct participation in that concealment.

“One or both of defendants Asa Ellerup and Victoria
Heuermann at some point in time knew of, concealed, deliberately ignored, or consciously avoided learning of material facts concerning the assault, murder,
dismemberment, concealment, and disposal of Valerie Mack.”

Following Heuermann’s arrest, the suit alleges, both women gave public interviews and authorized media access. The complaint states Ellerup publicly defended Heuermann and declared him her hero — claiming he was not capable of the murders — to mislead the public and law enforcement.

Victoria Heuermann, the suit alleges, later publicly acknowledged her father most likely committed the murders but declined to condemn his actions, characterizing them as “kink” behavior and reportedly refusing to engage in what she called “kink shaming.”

The complaint alleges the women and their respective attorneys coordinated their public narratives with media organizations — including Peacock, which released the “Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets” documentary in June — to booste the monetary value of their accounts, and that their attorneys negotiated fees for themselves from those same media deals.

Torres is seeking to recover those earnings, along with restitution, control of the funds through a constructive trust, and a court order blocking the money from being moved or spent — in addition to punitive damages.

Torres’ lawsuit asks the court to prevent Ellerup from transferring or dissipating those assets.

_{Top: Rex Heuermann, center, enters the courtroom for a hearing at Suffolk County Court (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool).}