NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: An ex-New York Times reporter infamously fired for falsifying his reports is the largest donor to an online campaign to support the family of Gilgo Beach murders' suspect Rex Heuermann. Disgraced writer Jayson Blair donated $2,000 to a GoFundMe for Asa Ellerup, making it the highest donation to the online campaign created by the daughter of the notorious "Happy Face Killer," who killed eight people across the US in the early '90s.
Blair, now 47, told the New York Daily News that he could "relate" to the struggles that Ellerup and her two children were going through as a result of the relentless media attention they are subject to. Over $28,000 has been raised for Ellerup, 59, and her two adult children through 731 contributions.
Heuermann faces charges for the murders of Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello and Melissa Barthelemy, and is a prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. On Tuesday, August 1, he made a brief court appearance and prosecutors handed the defense eight gigabytes of evidence, saying there would be more.
Who is Jayson Blair?
Jayson Thomas Blair, a former journalist for The New York Times, was born on March 23, 1976. After it was found that he had plagiarized and falsified his reports, he quit the prestigious organization in May 2003. Blair published his memoir, 'Burning Down My Master's House', after resigning. He currently works as a life counselor near Ashburn, Virginia. Blair was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the time of the controversy. He also formed a support group for those who have the disorder.
Before his spectacular fall, Blair was a hotshot young journalist who, after impressing his supervisors during an internship, famously dropped out of the University of Maryland in his fianl year to pursue a job at the NYT. Following his resignation, 30 of his former coworkers and the school's newspaper, The Diamondback, asserted that their own worries about his moral character and work ethics had been previously overlooked.
According to Blair’s official website, he is a certified life coach in Northern Virginia and an expert in coaching for mental health, career counseling, attention deficit disorder (ADD), extensive developmental problems, mood disorders and drug misuse.
Why did Jayson Blair leave The New York Times?
Blair was a rising star at the NYT when he was exposed in 2003 for falsifying facts and copying other writers' work. According to a front-page article on the newspaper, the scandal was "a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper." He made up events and locations, as well as quotes from discussions that never happened. The San Antonio Express-News crew found that he had copied one of their pieces, exposing his misdeeds.
One of Blair's astounding lies while working for the NYT was that he had gone to Palestine, West Virginia, to report on the soldier Jessica Lynch's capture and subsequent rescue. Further investigations found that Blair never visited West Virginia in person and that the information in his April 3, 2003, report on Lynch was taken from the Associated Press, the NYT admitted.
Blair's African-American heritage was frequently stressed on, and some people used this to criticize employment practices that used affirmative action generally. Following Blair's resignation, the NYT published a comprehensive piece detailing his journalistic deception as well as the newsroom breakdowns that allowed him to get away with it. The pice called Blair's behavior "a profound betrayal of trust."
'Rex Huerrman’s family members deserve all the support and grace'
Following Heuermann's July 13 arrest near his Manhattan office, Ellerup filed for divorce. The family was out of the state when the victims went missing, according to authorities, who also said that there was no evidence that she or the children were ever aware of the murders. In a brief note, he included with his GoFundMe contribution, Blair alluded to his past disgrace. He remarked, "I believe that Rex Huerrman’s family members deserve all the support and grace we can give them as members of the broader community of people who struggle in life. I hope this helps them begin to the next steps in their lives. I hope this also helps them escape some of the media glare that I know can be so damaging."
