Keith Hunter Jesperson (born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian-American serial killer who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the early 1990s. They had three children, two girls and a boy. The last known sighting of the Duquesne University graduate student was caught on asurveillance camera in the downtown area. She previously claimed to the FBI that he was a wanted bank robber and frequently complained to Sosnovske's probation officer that he was drinking too much. On January 21, 1990, after taking her to his rental place, plans to have sex went awry and he "beat her senseless," he told Phelps. "I consider this the most dangerous domestic terrorist group in the United States today," said Gannon. Despite the distance between them, some detectives think that drownings are actually the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers. A journalist noticed the symbol and came up with the Happy Face Killer nickname. The production features interviews between, Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.. Today, we're finishing our look at Keith Jesperson, the twisted murderer otherwise known as the Happy Face Killer. Rather than fall victim to the trauma surrounding her father's crimes and arrest, she processed the events. Others say there is no killer. [1], At a very early ageas young as fiveJesperson would capture and torture animals. She claimed to have found a strange purse in the trunk of her car with a piece of denim from a pair of jeans inside -- When Bennett was found, her purse was gone and her jeans were missing the fly. At school, Jesperson was bigger than his classmates and was taunted with names like "Monster Man" and "Igor." Pavlinac and Sosnovske were both arrested on 5 March 1990 and both were convicted of the murder on 8 February 1991. Remains found in Merced County, California on June 3, 1993, belonged to a Jesperson victim he has said was called "Cindy." His victims, who were often raped and strangled, included short-term acquaintances, sex workers and a girlfriend. He never made it home. 'Happy Face' Serial Killer Victim Identified Nearly 30 Years After Her He later claimed his intention was to kill the boy. Jesperson's last victim was Julie Winningham, who'd been his girlfriend. Who Is "Happy Face Killer" Survivor Daun Slagle and Where Is She Now? On 30 August 1992, the currently unidentified body of a woman Jesperson had raped and strangled was found near Blythe, California, United States. What Is the Smiley Face Killers Theory? On October 8, 2009, Hurley went to the game with two friends. The police gave him the nickname "The Happy Face Killer" as he would leave a happy face on his confession letters to the media. I thought, 'Oh my God, it felt like I put my mother in jail.'". He confessed to killing her and subsequently admitted to seven other murders. Because Jesperson allowed her to use his credit card to make a phone call, he devised a depraved way to conceal her identity. Victims of the Smiley Face Killer | Photo Credits: Oxygen The Team of Men that Came Up With the Theory. Keith Hunter Jesperson, The Sad Story of the Happy Face Killer Stories about . Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. They'd mostly all been college-aged, popular, and athletic. The night of his disappearance, Geib made several calls from his cell phone. Investigators believedhe could have walked to the edge of Lake Michigan, a five-minute walk from the hotel, and fallen in. Jesperson met her in a bar in January 1995 and agreed to give her a ride before eventually killing her. Possible Smiley Face killers victim Mason Cox. On April 23 in Hamburg and the following weekend in Dusseldorf, the bodies of young men were retrieved from waterways. Detective Rick Buckner has to prove Keith Jesperson is the serial killer known as Happy Face Killer, guilty of murdering a woman in 1995, and has to make sure he is apprehended before he kills again. That triggered him. , 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. At some of the sites where the victims' bodies were found, smiley face graffiti had been left behind. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. Jesperson was born on April 6, 1955, in British Columbia, Canada. According to police reports, one dog later hit on an an SUV owned by a local band member, who had played a show at the bar the night of Homan's disappearance, but the K9 alert was inconclusive. The body of Julie Winningham, 41, of Camas, Washington, was found alongside a Washington State road in 1995. An Oregon mother was identified Tuesday as a victim of "the Happy Face Killer" nearly four decades after her body was found on the side of a . The Santa Clara County Sheriffs Department announced on Tuesday that, using genetic genealogy, they were able to identify a body found in 1993 as Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Pavlinac had been with Sosnovske, a farmhand 18 years her junior, for a decade when the Bennett case caught her attention in 1990. She grew up in a small town in Washington state and survived the escalating violence from her home life and. Her sister Michelle White said Bennett was a compassionate person who loved everyone.. Investigators have revealed the name of a heretofore unidentified victim of the Happy Face Killer, nearly 30 years after her murder. Pieces of his artwork have been seen on "murderabilia" sites. [13] Police originally considered her death a drug overdose. On January 21, 1990, after taking her to his rental place, plans to have sex went awry and he beat her senseless, he told Phelps. When the body of Taunja Bennett was found along the side of an Oregon highway in 1990, investigators never imagined that it would lead to the capture of a vicious serial killer. Jesperson had dated before her before killing her on March 3, 1995 because he believed she was after his money. . The Happy Face Killer Pt. 1-Creepy Cascadia Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in 1955 in British Columbia, Canada and is a serial killer. In April 1990, he sexually assaulted a woman who managed to escape. Taunja Bennett, 23, is seen here in this undated photo. She later rescinded her confession, but in 1991 a jury still found her guilty. The Insane Details of the Smiley Face Killers Theory; The Most Recent Alleged Smiley Face Killers' Victims Highlight How Long This Theory Has . On January 1, 2000, Northern Illinois University junior. But in the process, she also falsely implicated herself. . The Lonely Hearts Killer, was a truly frightening and twisted serial murderer in the late 1950s. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. [15], Although Jesperson at one point claimed to have had as many as 160 victims,[16] only the eight women killed in Washington, Oregon, California, Florida, Nebraska, and Wyoming have been confirmed. My evil dad: Life as a serial killer's daughter - BBC News 'Life After Happy Face': Serial killer's daughter and expert Victim 2: California Jane Doe. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! She also examined her father's actions in the podcast Happy Face. ". Keith Jesperson | Photos | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers Eight murders were eventually linked to Jesperson, whos serving multiple concurrent sentences in Oregon State Penitentiary. A month later, in Turlock, California, the body of Cynthia Lyn Rose was discovered. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. The Happy Face Killer: Mind of a Monster - IMDb While he has claimed to have killed many more people, officials can only confirm that Jesperson killed eight women between 1990 and 1995 in California, Washington, Oregon, Florida, Nebraska and Wyoming. I'llgo to the pen. I'm thinking, 'My God, she is actually involved in this,'" Ingram said. [10] Jesperson soon realized that this job afforded him the opportunity to kill without being suspected. "I'm told to place her into a holding cell I say, 'OK, Laverne, now you need to go into that room right there,' She turned around and she looked at me and she gave me a hug. serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, with whom they corresponded during the fall semester. [4] Because of this, Jesperson was a shy child, content to play by himself much of the time. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! [29][30] In September 2018, podcast network HowStuffWorks began releasing a show called Happy Face[31] featuring interviews with Melissa about her childhood and her father. 9 Currently Active Serial Killers: Unsolved Cases in 2020 Police saidthere were no signs of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. In November 1995, a judge released Pavlinac and Sosnovske from prison. Her body was discovered behind the Blueberry Hill Cafe in Turlock, California. "He says, 'Because I choked her' I said, 'I think weneed to take her to a hospital. According to Gannon and Gilbertson, Homan had various injuries on his head, hands and arms, and they theorized that a mark on his forehead may have been a footprint that was the result of Homan being held down. Photo: Victim 1: Taunja Bennett. "I said 'Why is she dead?'" Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. "She was a free spirit, and she would go here, there, and she would go to work at a place, and wouldn't work for very long because she would always go out on the road. The daughter of a man dubbed the "Happy Face Killer" has revealed the suffering she went through after discovering her father, Keith Jesperson, was a serial rapist and murderer who preyed on what he once claimed was as many as 185 people over a five-year span. When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. About two weeks after he went missing,Booth's body was foundfacedown in a creek behind the bar. Jesperson got away easily so long as he was killing women he did not know, but his impulsivity got the best of him, and eventually, he murdered someone he did knowhis own girlfriend. Some say the Smiley Face Killer has taken 40 victims over two decades. A victim of the "Happy Face Killer" has been identified nearly 30 years after her body was left near a California highway, authorities said Monday. These convictions meant Jesperson was unlikely to ever face charges for his crime. He would go on to share details of the crime on other restroom walls. Jesperson's last victim was the crime that ultimately led to his capture. Updated: Mar 3, 2021 (1955-) Who Is Keith Hunter. Smiley face murder theory - Wikipedia And she [said], 'Well, they told me I had to tell you thisbecauseif I told you then they would believe me,'" Carpenter said. The footage captured James entering a dark alley, and that was the last time he was seen alive. That letter-writer turned out to be. Duct tape in the car, dead kittens hanging from the - The Sun His brothers did not help him, instead they nicknamed him "Igor" or "Ig", a name that stuck throughout his school years. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Canadian-American serial killer (born 1955), "Happy Face Killer" redirects here. In September 2009, Jesperson was indicted in Riverside County, California, on murder charges; he was extradited in December 2009. Pavlinac's daughters said their mother "was never the same" after she divorced their father after discovering he left her for another woman. California State Route 152 in the Gilroy area about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco in June 1993, in an area known as Pacheco Pass. The Untold Conspiracy Of The Smiley Face Murders - Grunge.com The production features interviews betweenJesperson and M. William Phelps, author Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.Italso features an interview with Daun Slagel, who survived a violent encounter with Jesperson when she was 21. . If you need help or need help supporting someone else, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. [5], That desire manifested in two attempted murders. California investigators have identified a victim of the West Coast's notorious "Happy Face Killer" nearly 30 years after her body was discovered near a highway in 1993, officials recently . April 18, 2022, at 9:19 p.m. California 'Happy Face Killer' Victim ID'd After 29 Years. A smiley face was found spray-painted near where Homans body was found. After Pavlinac confessed to investigators, her daughter said she got a call from the detectives asking her to come to her mother's house right away. The Happy Face Killer: The Truth About Keith Jesperson's Childhood The Santa Clara County Sheriffs Department. Based on Pavlinac's statements, and that Sosnovke failed a polygraph test, authorities arrested Sosnovke on murder charges. "Pavlinac has selfishly engaged in an obsessive and persistent obstruction of justice which deflected the investigation at an early stage, causing it to focus on her boyfriend, Sosnovske, while the real killer remained free to kill again and again," Lipscomb wrote in 1995. He then sought work again as an interstate truck driver after relocating to Cheney, Washington. The Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson - Medium Melissa G. Moore, Jesperson's older daughter, wrote Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killers Daughter (2009). ". California 'Happy Face Killer' Victim ID'd After 29 Years Article Title: Keith Hunter Jesperson Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/keith-hunter-jesperson, Publisher: A&E Television Networks, Last Updated: March 3, 2021, Original Published Date: February 2, 2021. They believed his body traveled for almost 10 miles and even went through a dam before its discovery. Jesperson's first victim, 23-year-old Taunja Bennett, was killed on January 21, 1990. When that did not elicit a response, he began writing letters to the media and authorities. Could some of them be connected to a serial killer or group of killers? Join Melissa Moore, host of Happy Face Season 1, as she helps Becky unravel the strange tale of her family, searching for answers to decades-old mysteries that remain unanswered in the modern day. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The Manchester Pusher: Urban Legend or Serial Killer? As a child, he was cruel to animals he killed cats and snakes and, under the guise of hunting, inflicted pain on creatures like deer, rabbits, and coyotes. Jesperson is currently serving a sentence of life without parole at the Oregon State Penitentiary. She then described how she watched Sosnovske have sex with Bennett while he directed her to hold a rope around her neck, and that she believed she pulled the rope too tight, killing Bennett. Who is the Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson? In September 1994, the body of a woman was found in Florida. The smiley face murder theory (also known as the smiley face murders, smiley face killings, and smiley face gang) is a theory advanced by retired New York City detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, as well as Dr. Lee Gilbertson, a criminal justice professor and gang expert at St. One of the things about my dad - which made me very uncomfortable as a young woman - was that he was very explicit about his sexual relationships. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Victim 4:Laurie Ann Pentland, 26. Pavlinac told investigators during her last recorded statement on Feb. 26, 1990. He decided to drag her body underneath his truck to impede identification. Courtesy of Kathy Geib, was 22 years old when he went missing during the early hours of June 12, 2005, at a bonfire party in an orchard close to his home in Casnovia, Michigan. His death was ruleda probable drowning, and there wereno signs of trauma. Jesperson claims he killed her after she tried to double charge him for sex, according to Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer.. "She was very giving. After moving to Selah, Washington, United States, he had trouble fitting in and making friends because of his large size. One day, she watched, horrified, as he hung stray kittens from the family's clothesline. You can find episodes of Serial Killers and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. She was killed in Washington state on March 10, 1995, and her body was discovered the next day. Bennett was found strangled to death near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Laverne Pavlinac convinced investigators she and John Sosnovske had killed Taunja Bennett, when they hadn't. "Happy Face Killer" victim identified almost 30 years after her body Several years later, Hucke began to suspect Jesperson was having affairs when strange women would call. [1] The Happy Face Killer Raven Gender Male Birth Date April 6, 1955 (age 67) Place of Birth Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada Occupation Truck driver Pathology Serial Killer Serial Rapist Modus Operandi Strangulation Type Disorganized No. Jesperson worked as a truck driver to support the family. Jesperson, who was born in British Columbia in 1955 and moved to the US when he was 12, kept on killing until he was caught in 1995. Jesperson told Phelps they met at a truck stop and that after he agreed to give her a ride he felt like she was trying to play him.
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