Top donor to fund for family of accused Gilgo Beach serial killer is disgraced former NY Times reporter Jayson Blair
It’s an absolute fact: The top donor to an online fundraiser supporting the family of accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann is an ex-New York Times reporter famously fired for fabricating his stories.
Disgraced journalist Jayson Blair provided $2,000 to a GoFundMe for the triple-murder suspect’s family, making the largest gift to the improbable online effort started by the daughter of the infamous Happy Face Killer — who murdered eight victims across the U.S. in the early 1990s.
Blair, now 47, told the Daily News he can “relate” to the struggles of Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup and her two kids as they face constant public scrutiny since the suspect was arrested last month in the cold-case killing spree.
“I just thought, of all the practical things that these people are going to have to rebuild, they’ll probably have to leave their neighborhood, it will forever impact their dreams,” said Blair, now a Virginia-based life coach. “And I just thought that I want to be a part of helping them get back on their feet.”
Blair was an up-and-coming reporter at The Times when he was busted in 2003 for fabricating details and plagiarizing the work of fellow journalists. A Times front-page story described the scandal “a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper.”
The murder suspect’s wife Asa Ellerup filed for divorce after her husband’s July 13 arrest near his Manhattan office. Authorities have said there’s no indication that she or their children were ever aware of the murders, adding that the family was out of state when the victims vanished.
Melissa Moore, the daughter of the man dubbed the Happy Face Killer, created the fundraiser to help Ellerup and her two kids “start a new life.” After raising $25,000 to date she announced Thursday morning that the campaign was aiming to collect $50,000.
The killer’s family could be forced from their Massapequa Park residence, which was torn up by investigators in a hunt for evidence after Heuermann’s arrest. Their suburban neighbors called for the razing of their home, which includes a creepy basement walk-in vault.
Moore’s father, Keith Hunter Jesperson, a long haul truck driver, was nabbed in 1995 on suspicion of killing one woman. After confessing, he was eventually convicted of killing eight women across the country in a five-year murder spree.
Jesperson’s nickname was coined based on the smiley faces he scribbled on notes to authorities and press.
“My mother and my family were and are victims,” said Melissa Moore on the fundraiser page. “We did not know about his double life. 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.”
