. Before his arrest, he also wrote a letter to his brother that admitted, "I am sorry that I turned out this way. More than a dozen of these cases have been outlined in Gannon and Gilbertson's book "Case Studies in Drowning Forensics," but there are six deaths in particular that stand out as potential Smiley Face murders: Dakota James was 23 years old when he went missing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After a series of letters are sent to the press, the killer earned the moniker, the Happy Face Killer. Hundreds of college-aged men have died in accidental or undetermined drownings. Keith Hunter Jesperson, The Sad Story of the Happy Face Killer Stories about . Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? I thought, 'Oh my God, it felt like I put my mother in jail.'". California 'Happy Face Killer' victim ID'd after 29 years - Yahoo! Laverne Pavlinac is seen here showing investigators where Taunja Bennett's body was found, even though she had nothing to do with the crime. Investigators said there wasno sign of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. "Happy Face Killer" victim identified almost 30 years after her body [21], Following Bennett's murder, as all the attention was going to Pavlinac and Sosnovske, Jesperson wrote a confession on the bathroom wall of a truck stop and signed it with a smiley face. Skiple was known to family and friends as Patsy, according to the sheriffs department. A Canadian-born long-haul truck driver and divorced father of three, Jesperson carried out his killings over the course of five years until he turned himself in to authorities in 1995. [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. Because of their relationship, authorities connected her death to him. Laverne Pavlinac convinced investigators she and John Sosnovske had killed Taunja Bennett, when they hadn't. "To come clean get it all over, the record straight. Happy Face Presents: Two Face on Apple Podcasts [00:02:05] Hi, everyone. The term "Smiley Face Killers" come from the graffiti smiley faces supposedly found at the crime scenes. He would go on to share details of the crime on other restroom walls. To learn more about this case, watch Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, streaming now on Oxygen. Pentlands body was found in November 1992 after being discarded in Salem, Oregon. Gannon and Gilbertson also notedthe body appeared to have been staged three sticks were strategically placed around his body, and there were shoe and drag marks in the soil. When that did not elicit a response, he began writing letters to the media and authorities. Melissa Moore's father, known as the Happy Face Killer, murdered eight or more women. These convictions meant Jesperson was unlikely to ever face charges for his crime. Pieces of his artwork have been seen on "murderabilia" sites. Pentlands body was found in November 1992 after being discarded in Salem, Oregon. Who is the Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson? His death was ruled an accidental drowning, andthe autopsy report noted"acute alcohol intoxication was a major contributing factor.". You can find episodes of Serial Killers and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. His older daughter has described witnessing acts of animal cruelty that included Jesperson killing kittens. went missing after leaving a Bruins hockey game in Boston,Massachusetts. "I [had] seen all these tracks and all this and that. He was found guilty of killing Bennett, Pentland, and Winningham and was sentenced to six consecutive and concurrent sentences. Jesperson claims he killed her after she tried to double charge him for sex, according to Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer.. 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. Search dogs scoured the downtown area where Homan was last seen alive. He showed signs of psychopathic behavior from an early age which included torturing animals and attacking other children. Upset that he was not getting any media attention, Jesperson drew a smiley face on a bathroom wall hundreds of miles from the scene of the crime and wrote an anonymous letter confessing to Bennett's murder, providing proof. "I consider this the most dangerous domestic terrorist group in the United States today," said Gannon. 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. He met the developmentally disabled Bennett while out drinking and convinced her to go to his house. According to Jesperson, after he killed his fifth victim in 1993 he managed to stave off murderous urges for more than a year by committing arson while on the road as a trucker. 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. Jesperson has said that he took 166 lives, but only the above eight murders have been attributed to him. Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske are seen here in this 1985 family photo. Keith Hunter Jesperson | Criminal Minds Wiki | Fandom Happy Face stands out because of Moore 's intimate tie to the criminal in question. Who Are The Happy Face Killer Keith Jesperson's Victims? | Crime News Her body was discovered behind the Blueberry Hill Cafe in Turlock, California. Jesperson had dated before her before killing her on March 3, 1995 because he believed she was after his money. Her real name remains a mystery. According to detectives Anthony Duarte and Kevin Gannon, the Smiley Face Theory came into . Keith Hunter Jesperson (born 6 April 1955) is a Canadian-American serial killer who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the early 1990s. His victims, who were often raped and strangled, included short-term acquaintances, sex workers and a girlfriend. [5], That desire manifested in two attempted murders. Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Birth Year: 1955, Birth date: April 6, 1955, Birth City: British Columbia, Birth Country: Canada. According to former detective Kevin Gannon and Dr. Lee Gilbertson, Geib's head and shoulders were sticking out of the water. Killer: Keith Hunter Jesperson - Happy Face Killer profiled on Killer.Cloud The body of Julie Winningham, 41, of Camas, Washington, was found alongside a Washington State road in 1995. Victim 1: Taunja Bennett. First, she told investigators that she knew Sosnovske did it because she saw Bennett's body, said Ingram. Today, we're finishing our look at Keith Jesperson, the twisted murderer otherwise known as the Happy Face Killer. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. [7] He had watched and laughed as the kittens clawed each other to escape, then he killed them. "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. Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. "[Julie] was beautiful inside as well as outside. Daun Slagle is the sole survivor of the "Happy Face Killer." She is the only person to survive an attack by the infamous serial killer. Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as "The Happy Face Killer ," is serving a life sentence in prison today. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He left bodies in Oregon, California, Florida, Nebraska and Washington while working as a long-haul truck driver. She ran to get her mother, and when they returned, the kittens lay on the ground dead. I'm thinking, 'My God, she is actually involved in this,'" Ingram said. Jesperson described murdering her, like other women he killed, as putting her out of her misery.. This led police agencies in several states to reopen old cases, many of which were found to be possible victims of Jesperson. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. My evil dad: Life as a serial killer's daughter - BBC News A smiley face had been spray-painted on a tree near where Geib's body was found, and a smiley face sticker was later placed on his gravesite. On Monday, the Santa Clara County Sheriff . Jesperson claims she was a sex worker who climbed into his truck, even though he told her he wasnt interested in her services, according to the two-hour, , 26. Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon, had been . Editor Note: This is rerun of 2018 post. "I think what happened to mother was she was in an abusive relationship, and she was desperate, and desperate people do desperate things, not to say that it was right, but that's what I think happened," said Pavlinac's daughter Bonne McAlpine. Often Keith would dream of becoming an RCMP officer, the power of a position like that appealed to him, but his dream was dashed in 1990 after an injury prevented him from qualifying. Smiley Face Killers - Fact or Fiction? - Positively Pittsburgh Hunting Down Privileged Men: The Smiley Face Killings Surveillance footage captured Booth entering the bar where the celebration took place, but there is no video evidence of him leaving. Ciao ragazzi, oggi vi raccontiamo la storia di un assassino seriale che ha ucciso almeno 8 vittime in cinque anni e soprannominato "The Happy Face Killer". As she and Sosnovske started their life sentences, one of the United States' most notorious serial killers continued his murder spree. But to Melissa Moore, he was more than just a serial killer . He never made it home. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and prosecutors. Todd 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. Jesperson married Rose Hucke on August 2, 1975. In addition to murder, Jesperson's criminal history included animal cruelty, arson and sexual assault. He confessed to killing her and subsequently admitted to seven other murders. Several years later, Hucke began to suspect Jesperson was having affairs when strange women would call. This finding is inconsistent with the belief that Booth drowned the night he disappeared. 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. April 18, 2022, at 9:19 p.m. California 'Happy Face Killer' Victim ID'd After 29 Years. [6] Although Jesperson was not successful with girls in high school, having never even attended a school dance or his prom, he did enter into a relationship after high school. 'Happy Face' Serial Killer Victim Identified Nearly 30 Years After Her He introduced himself to Bennett at a bar and invited her to a house he was renting. 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. "Madonna, that's what she listened to all day," White said. Despite the distance between them, some detectives think that drownings are actually the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers. "She was very giving. , 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. At the time, Pavlinac said she was able to dupe authorities because she had learned details of the crime from newspaper articles and from reading the search warrant without police noticing. California investigators have identified a victim of the Happy Face Killer using DNA nearly 30 years after her body was left near a California highway. Before he was identified as a serial killer, he anonymously confessed to his crimes in messages that contained smiley faces, leading to his being nicknamed the "Happy Face Killer." Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. At age 35, Keith was 6'7.5" tall and weighed 240lbs. The Untold Conspiracy Of The Smiley Face Murders - Grunge.com For the 2014 film about Jesperson, see, List of serial killers in the United States, List of serial killers by number of victims, "The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)", "Serial killer receives fourth life sentence", "Dr. Phil Returns to The Oprah Show: My Father Is a Serial Killer", "ABC '20/20': Melissa Moore, Daughter Of Serial Killer, Opens Up Tonight About Life With 'Happy Face Killer' Keith Jesperson", "Meet Crime Watch Daily Correspondent Melissa Moore | Truecrimedaily.com", "My evil dad: Life as a serial killer's daughter", "Happy Face Presents: Two Face on Apple Podcasts", "Life After Happy Face on Apple Podcasts", Daughter of the 'Happy Face Killer' Talks About Growing Up With a Serial Killer Dad, Keith Hunter Jesperson: Happy Face Killer, Daughter of serial killer confronts her past, Radio Interview with Melissa Moore (daughter), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Keith_Hunter_Jesperson&oldid=1142498372, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Canadian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Crimes against sex workers in the United States, People extradited within the United States, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Oregon, Violence against women in the United States, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from November 2010, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 8 confirmed (confessed to as many as 185). Jesperson would capture birds and stray cats and dogs around the trailer park where he lived with his family, severely beating the animals and then strangling them to death, something for which he claims his father was proud of him. "The greatest human tragedy is that Laverne Pavlinac derailed the investigation in 1990, and in four years, Keith Jesperson killed more women," said Jim McIntyre, the Multnomah County, Oregon, prosecutor who handled the cases. And that's how I remember her," said Melissa Gavin, her longtime friend. 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 . Strangulation was Jesperson's preferred method of murdering, the same method he often used to kill animals as a child. You could tell where people had been in and out, the vehicles and everything else, limbs broke. "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. [11] Jesperson gives the Jane Doe's name as Claudia. The couple divorced in 1990.[8]. Her daughters are still trying to understand why their mother did what she did, and why she didn't see another way to end the relationship. Smiley faces again served as his signature, prompting a journalist to dub Jesperson the "Happy Face Killer.". Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. 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. The Chilling Story Behind the 1999 Smiley Face Murders I have been a killer for five years and have killed eight people." She called him a second time, but his cell phone seemed to be out of battery. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. He was a 21-year-old student at Fordham University, and his body was found in. 'Happy Face Killer's' daughter believes he would kill again if released Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! However, Jesperson.css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;} later said he actually killed another woman and did not recognize Wilcox's photo. In these supposed "Smiley Face" serial killings, popular, high-achieving, athletic young men (i.e.