As authorities continue their extensive investigation into Rex Heuermann, one surprising ally has joined the efforts to help the Gilgo Beach serial murder suspect’s family: the daughter of another notorious killer.
Melissa Moore, the daughter of the infamous “Happy Face Killer,” has set up a GoFundMe to help Heuermann’s wife and two adult children after the Long Island architect’s July arrest. The fundraising campaign, which states it began after a request from Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, has raised $6,075 from 187 donations as of Tuesday afternoon.
Long Island attorney Vess Mitev—who is representing Heuermann’s two adult children, Victoria Heuermann and Christopher Sheridan—confirmed Moore’s involvement in the efforts to help his clients after the July 13 arrest of their father. Moore also promoted the GoFundMe on her TikTok account.
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“I have an opportunity to use my voice to help Asa, who isn’t in a place to speak about the terror and horror she and her family are experiencing at this moment,” Moore said in the online campaign. “While people may assume Asa has the funds to start a new life, the assumption is just that.”
“The funds are to assist Asa and their [sic] family to divorce her alleged serial killer husband and any extra for starting her new life, therapy, basic needs for the children, and to restore the home to whole (as evidence collection damage or destroyed many critical household items),” Moore added.
Heuermann, 59, has pleaded not guilty in connection with the slayings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. He also remains the prime suspect in the 2007 killing of a fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Heuermann attended his first pre-trial conference in Suffolk County Court on Tuesday, at which prosecutors said they handed over a “tremendous” amount of discovery to the defense. Heuermann’s attorney told reporters outside court that his client maintains his innocence.
Mitev said that while Heuermann goes through the legal process, his family is in immediate need, with their Long Island home in “deplorable conditions” after authorities’ extensive 12-day search.
“It’s important to reiterate that obviously these people’s lives have been turned upside down,” Mitev told The Daily Beast, adding that Moore is helping with the efforts “out of the goodness of her heart.”
Moore herself was forced into the media spotlight after a family member’s arrest for heinous crimes. Her father, Keith Hunter Jesperson, is a Canadian-born trucker who was convicted of murdering at least eight women across the United States between 1990 and 1995. Jesperson is notoriously known as the “Happy Face Killer” because of the drawings he would add to letters he sent to the media and police before his arrest.
“My mother and my family were and are victims. We did not know about his double life.
I have waited to create this GoFundMe, as I didn’t want to offer support if she would not want it. I needed Asa’s consent,” Moore said on the GoFundMe page.
The consent, she said, came earlier this week when Ellerup spoke out from her Long Island front porch. In a Monday interview with the New York Post, Ellerup described the damage to her one-story home after authorities concluded their search last week. She said the mess included a shredded couch, a damaged bathtub, and piles of boxes. ( Ellerup filed for divorce days after Heuermann’s arrest.)
Mitev also went into detail about his clients’ living conditions after Heuermann’s arrest. He slammed what he described as the awful and unnecessary “mishandling and treatment of their house” and stressed that the family is “living a waking nightmare.” He said that while Heuermann’s children have asked for privacy, they will soon tell their story.
“We are going to address the world very soon. A lot of things are going to be revealed. There is a reason for that,” he added.
