Topline
Family members of a Manhattan architect accused of killing three women whose remains were found along Gilgo Beach on Long Island have agreed to participate in a documentary series about his trial, a Peacock spokesperson confirmed for Forbes Tuesday, drawing ire from victims’ families as the decades-long mystery is thrust back into the spotlight.
Accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann appears in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, New York on … [+]
Key Facts
Asa Ellerup, who filed for divorce from longtime husband Rex Heuermann days after he was arrested in July, has agreed to participate in the multi-part documentary series and was recently seen in court with a Peacock film crew, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The Peacock spokesperson said Ellerup “was not paid for her participation in the series and has no creative control over the outcome,” but she will be paid “a licensing fee for use of her archive materials.”
The couple’s two adult children are also involved in the project, according to Deadline, which reported the children will receive payments for their participation alongside Heuermann’s attorneys; Peacock did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for confirmation of participants other than Ellerup.
No one close to the case has publicly commented on the production or the money they will be paid, though NewsNation reported the family was in for a $1 million payday and the attorneys will each make between $200,000 and $400,000.
The series will be produced by 50 Cent’s G-Unit Film & Television alongside Texas Crew Productions and New York Post Entertainment.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, whose office is prosecuting Heuermann’s case, told the New York Times the documentary is “going to affect (Ellerup’s) credibility,” and Rodney Harrison, Suffolk County’s outgoing police commissioner, called it “a smack at the family members who lost a loved one.”
The Peacock spokesperson said the company reached out to each victims’ family to appear in the documentary, all of whom either did not respond or declined.
Crucial Quote
“Disappointed, disgusted, flabbergasted, frustrated are a few words that come to mind right now,” Sherre Gilbert, sister of murder victim Shannan Gilbert, wrote in a post on X about the upcoming documentary. “The way that the media will buy stories to further re-victimize, re-traumatize, and exploit the families & victims of serial killers is evil!”
Key Background
Heuermann was arrested on July 13 and has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder in the deaths of Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Megan Waterman, 22, whose remains were all found on Gilgo Beach between 2010 and 2011. Police say he’d hired the women as escorts before killing them, wrapping them in burlap and burying them at Gilgo Beach, the half-way point between the suburb he lived in and where his office was located in New York City. A police K-9 found Barthelemy’s body first in December 2010 while searching for another missing woman, Shannan Gilbert. Two days later, the remains of three other women were discovered. Seven other bodies, including a man and a toddler, were found in the months that followed. John Ray, a representative for Gilbert’s family has said he feels “very strongly” that there is “undoubtedly” another suspect in the 11 murders. Heuermann lived in the Long Island suburban town of Massapequa with Ellerup and their two children. The couple had been married for 27 years. Ellerup has not been charged in the murders and police say they happened while she was traveling. Macedonio has said his client knew nothing about the killings.
What To Watch For
Heuermann’s trial. The defendant appeared in court on Nov. 15 for a pre-trial hearing and is expected to go before a jury next year.
Tangent
True crime podcasts, documentaries, dramas and other media have taken off in the last decade, raising concerns about the ethics of consuming entertainment based on the stories of real victims. Media tracking company Parrot Analytics reports a 63% growth in the documentary genre between January 2018 and March 2021, with true crime being the largest subcategory of documentaries and the fastest growing. Google searches for “Netflix serial killers” rose by 45% in 2022 and searches for “true crime drama” rose 32%, digital agency Evoluted says. More than 1.6 million print copies of true-crime books were sold in 2018, up from 976,000 copies in 2016, Time reported. The hashtag #truecrime on TikTok has seen over 50.2 billion views. Meanwhile, of the nation’s most popular podcasts, 24% are of the true crime genre, according to the Pew Research Center, and Apple Podcasts on Tuesday revealed “Crime Junkie” to be the most popular podcast of 2023. “Dateline NBC” and “Morbid” were also among the year’s top shows.
