MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The estranged wife of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann reportedly inked a deal to participate in a documentary series that will air on NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming platform.
The series, which is expected to begin next year, will undoubtedly help the finances of Asa Ellerup, 59, after her husband's July arrest upended the family's lives, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Filming for the series is apparently well underway, with a Peacock film crew accompanying Ellerup as she attended a court appearance for Heuermann on Nov. 15. The crew has also been at the family's Massapequa Park home, according to the report.
Peacock is paying the family to take part in the docuseries, though network officials have declined to disclose how much. NewsNation, citing sources, reported Ellerup and her two adult children will receive $1 million.
"They will be filmed throughout the trial and after the trial's outcome," one source told the outlet. "The family will tell their entire story and everything about their life."
A lawyer for Ellerup will reportedly receive $400,000, while a lawyer for her children will reportedly get $200,000.
The deal is legal under New York law as long as Heuermann doesn't see any of the proceeds.
It's said to be the result of intense bidding by media companies to cover the family's ordeal in the grisly serial killing case, which stretches back more than a decade.
Ellerup, who filed for divorce days after Heuermann's arrest, has not been charged with a crime. Authorities have said she was traveling when her husband allegedly killed women he'd hired as escorts.
The deal has reportedly upset some people connected to the case, including law enforcement officials and the relatives of some victims who feel it's exploitative.
Heuermann, a veteran architectural consultant who worked in Manhattan, remains jailed in Suffolk County on charges he murdered three women. He's also the "prime suspect" in the murder of a fourth woman, investigators have said. He's expected to go on trial next year.