Episode
Valerie Mack's Son Lost Her at Six — He's Suing the Family That Lived With Her Killer
- Published
- Apr 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 5069
- Processing state
processed- Canonical source
- https://audioboom.com/posts/8891329
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Summary
Benjamin Torres was six years old when his mother disappeared. Valerie Mack vanished in 2000. Her dismembered remains were found in Manorville that same year — unidentified for twenty years. Rex Heuermann has now pleaded guilty to her murder. For Torres, the guilty plea wasn't the ending. It was permission to start. His wrongful death lawsuit names Heuermann, ex-wife Asa Ellerup, and their daughter Victoria. The complaint alleges the two women knew about or concealed the crimes, had access to a secured vault-like room in the basement of the Massapequa Park home, and collected over a million dollars from a Peacock documentary. Attorney John Ray has argued publicly that unawareness is implausible in a house of roughly 1,300 square feet. Hair evidence linked to both women was recovered from victims' remains. The defense has called the suit reckless. Victoria was approximately three when Mack was killed. Prosecutors maintain Heuermann acted alone and timed the killings for when the family was away. Neither woman has been charged. Asa called Heuermann her savior and maintained she would have known if something was wrong. Victoria sat in the courtroom during the plea and has publicly said she believes her father most likely committed the killings. One roof. Two women. Opposite conclusions about the man they both lived with. Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott examines how denial functions when identity is anchored to a single person — how the mind builds walls to protect the framework, and what a guilty plea does when those walls can no longer hold. Criminal defense attorney Bob Motta breaks down what Heuermann actually gained from pleading. Every pre-trial motion had been denied. Whole genome sequencing was admitted in a New York courtroom for the first time. A deleted planning d…