THOUSANDS of dollars have been raised to help the family of Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuerman start over.
The fundraiser was created by Melissa Moore, the daughter of the so-called Happy Face Serial Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, who knows what it is like to make the chilling discovery that a loved one is a murderer.
Moore said on the GoFundMe post, labeled "Help Asa Ellerup Start a New Life," that Heuermann's wife, Asa Ellerup, 59, would appreciate the help from the fundraiser.
"Today, 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 wrote on the fundraising page.
"While people may assume Asa has the funds to start a new life, the assumption is just that. We don't know the financial and verbal abuse she may have suffered."
Moore said that she has created the fundraiser in solidarity, noting that she and her family were victims of a man leading a "double life."
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"The funds are to assist Asa and their 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 wrote.
Ellerup filed for divorce from Heuermann less than a week after he was arrested.
Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect from Massapequa Park, New York, was taken into custody on July 13 for the murders of sex workers Megan Water, 22, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27.
The three women and another sex worker, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, were found near Gilgo Beach on the south shore of Long Island in New York on December 2010.
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Heuermann, who pled not guilty, also remains the prime suspect in Maureen's murder.
Just after the filing, Ellerup's attorney Bob Macedonio said that the family was caught off guard by the accusations against Heuermann.
Macedonio previously told The U.S. Sun that the family's worlds have been turned upside down.
"Obviously, this has been a shocking time for them and a pretty difficult time to comprehend," he said.
Ellerup claimed that her house was wrecked following law enforcement's search which included digging up the backyard.
The home was filled with boxes, some with evidence tape on them, as shown in photos obtained by The New York Post.
Ellerup doesn't even have a bed to sleep in anymore, she told the outlet.
"I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering,” she said. “Anxiety.”
Donors have already given $18,395 out of the $25,000 fundraising goal.
KILLER'S DOUBLE LIFE
Moore previously spoke with The U.S. Sun about her experience after her father was charged with murdering at least eight women in 1995.
"I know Rex has children, and what I do know from [my experience and] working with families with serial killers is there is often what I would call 'leakage,' where there is so much of the [killer's] double life that seeps into the normal, family life," she said.
"And with the Heuermanns, I'd be curious to know what that leakage was. I'm sure there are things he said or told them that seemed innocent enough at the time.
"In my case, to use one example, my dad would always sing this Richard Marx song that has these lyrics, 'I left her by the river.'
"He would always sing that song and I knew something was odd about it. It was almost code or cryptic for something but at the time you don't know why.
Moore continued: "My dad would also make comments like, 'Killing someone is hard.'
"And if Rex Heuermann really is the Long Island Serial Killer, I wouldn't be surprised if he said anything to anybody around him about the case, asking who they thought the killer is, or why hasn't he been caught yet.
"I'm sure he talked to people about it because they want to be a fly on the wall to hear how the public is perceiving the serial killer.
"That's why my father wrote his happy face notes and I believe that [Heuermann's] double life must've entered his family life in some way. I'm sure of it."
CHILLING LINK
Moore, who was just a teenager when her father was arrested, spent the last two decades working with family members of serial killers, helping them to rebuild their lives and navigate the media storm and emotional minefield that follows in the immediate wake of such an arrest.
She previously told The U.S. Sun that she already had a good idea of the kind of man Heuermann was, linking him to her father.
"I think there's a common misconception with serial killers, that they're either these white males that drive a white van or they're some kind of Silence of the Lambs character and some kind of cunning geniuses who can trick and evade law enforcement.
"But that's not what I have encountered in my decades-long career working with family members of serial killers.
"Serial killers, to me, are cookie cutters of each other. So when this case came out, I felt like I had a really good grasp of who Rex was immediately as a suspect," Moore said.
Friends, family, neighbors, former classmates, authorities, and ex-colleagues have painted a conflicting picture of Heuermann following his arrest.
Much like Heuermann, Moore said her dad was a polarizing figure who divided the opinions of those who knew him.
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"He was the life of the party so he was really friendly and outgoing, but he was also described the same way Rex has been by some people, which is he was creepy and weird," she said.
"That's because he didn't have any social graces. He couldn't read the room and that was due to his narcissism that left him without a filter."
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