Why did Happy Face Killer’s daughter set up GoFundMe for Rex Heuermann's family? Melissa Moore says she knows what it is like to be a victim
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEWYORK: The daughter of the “Happy Face Killer”, Melissa Moore, has set up a GoFundMe campaign for the family of Rex Heuermann, the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer. Moore said she wanted to help Heuermann’s wife and two adult children, who she says are facing financial and emotional hardships after Heuermann’s arrest on July 13.
Moore said she knows what it is like to be a victim of a serial killer’s double life, as her father, Keith Hunter Jesperson, confessed to killing at least eight women in the 1990s and sent letters with smiley faces to the media and police.
Why did Happy Face Killer’s daughter set up GoFundMe for Rex Heuermann's family?
Moore said she empathizes with the trauma and horror that Heuermann’s family is going through and that she got their consent before starting the fundraising campaign. “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 campaign aims to raise money for Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, to divorce her husband, start a new life, pay for therapy, meet basic needs and repair their home which was damaged by authorities during a 12-day search. Moore said that while people may assume Ellerup has the funds to do so, the assumption is just that. “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.
'We don't know the financial and verbal abuse she may have suffered'
“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 added. She added, "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."
Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged with the murders of three women whose bodies were found along a remote stretch of beach. He is also the prime suspect in a fourth killing. He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon. His lawyer did not comment on the case.
'These people’s lives have been turned upside down'
Heuermann’s family has been living in a “deplorable condition” since his arrest, according to their lawyer Vess Mitev. Mitev said that their house was mishandled and treated awfully by the authorities and that they are living a “waking nightmare”. He also said that Moore is helping with the efforts “out of the goodness of her heart”. “It’s important to reiterate that obviously these people’s lives have been turned upside down,” Mitev told The Daily Beast. He also said that Heuermann’s children will soon reveal more details about 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 said.