Keith Hunter Jesperson

"Happy Face Killer" redirects here. For the 2014 film about Jesperson, seeHappy Face Killer (film).For the unidentified possible serial killer, seeSmiley face murder theory.

Keith Hunter Jesperson
Mug shot of Jesperson in December 2009
Born	(1955-04-06)6 April 1955 Chilliwack,British Columbia,Canada
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Spouse	Rose Hucke ​ ​ (m.1975;div.1990)​
Children	3
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment(without parole)
Details
Victims	8 confirmed (confessed to as many as 185)
Span of crimes	21 January 1990 – 16 March 1995
Country	United States,Canada
State(s)	California,Florida,Nebraska,Oregon,Washington,Wyoming
Date apprehended	30 March 1995
Imprisoned at	Oregon State Penitentiary

Keith Hunter Jesperson(born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian-Americanserial killerwho murdered at least eight women in the United States during the early 1990s. He was known as the"Happy Face Killer"because he drewsmiley faceson his many letters to the media and authorities. Many of his victims weresex workersandtransientswho had no connection to him.Strangulationwas Jesperson's preferred method of murdering, the same method he often used tokill animalsas a child.

After the body of his first victim, Taunja Bennett, was found, media attention surroundedLaverne Pavlinac,a woman who falsely confessed to having killed Bennett with the help of her abusive boyfriend, John Sosnovske. 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. When that did not elicit a response, he began writing letters to the media and authorities.

Jesperson's last victim was the crime that ultimately led to his capture. While he has claimed to have killed as many as 160 people, only eight murders have been confirmed. Jesperson is currently serving a sentence oflife without paroleat theOregon State Penitentiary.

Early life

Jesperson was born on 6 April 1955, to Leslie (Les) and Gladys Jesperson inChilliwack,British Columbia,Canada,the middle child with two brothers and two sisters.Jesperson's father was a domineeringalcoholic;according to Jesperson, hispaternalgrandfather was prone to violence. Jesperson's father denied being an abusive parent; however, while investigating for his book on the killer, authorJack Olsenwas able to confirm much of the claimed abuse with other family members.

Treated like an outcast and ablack sheepby his own family and teased by other children for his large size at a young age, Jesperson was a lonely child who showed a propensity fortorturing and killing animals.After moving toSelah,Washington,United States, he had trouble fitting in and making friends because of his large size. His brothers did not help him; instead they nicknamed him "Igor" or "Ig", a name that stuck throughout his school years.Because of this, Jesperson was a shy child, content to play by himself much of the time. He would often get into trouble for behaving badly, sometimes violently, and would be severely punished by his father. This included beatings, sometimeswith a beltin front of others, and in one case he received an electric shock.

At a very early age—as young as five—Jesperson would capture and torture animals. He enjoyed watching animals kill each other as well as the feeling he got from taking their lives.This continued as he got older. 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. In the years following, Jesperson said he often thought about what it would be like to do the same to a human.

That desire manifested in two attempted murders. The first happened when Jesperson was around age 10, when he was friends with a boy named Martin. The two would often get into trouble together, and Jesperson claimed he was often punished many times for things Martin had done and shifted the blame. This led Jesperson to violently attack Martin until his father pulled him away. He later claimed his intention was to kill the boy.Approximately one year later, Jesperson was swimming in a lake when another boy held him underwater until he blacked out. Some time later, at a public pool, Jesperson attempted to drown the boy by holding his head under the water until a lifeguard pulled him away.

Jesperson reported that he wasrapedat age 14.He graduated from high school in 1973, but did not attend college because his father did not believe he could do it.Although Jesperson was not successful with girls in high school, having never even attended a school dance or hisprom,he did enter into a relationship after high school. In 1975, when Jesperson was aged 20, he married Rose Hucke, and the couple had three children: two daughters and one son. Jesperson worked as a truck driver to support the family.

Several years later, Hucke began to suspect Jesperson was having affairs when strange women would call. Tension in the marriage increased, and after fourteen years, while Jesperson was on the road, Hucke packed up her children and belongings and drove 200 miles (322 km) to live with her parents inSpokane, Washington.The oldest child, Melissa, was ten years old.Jesperson continued to spend time with his children when he was in town. The couple divorced in 1990.

At age 35, standing 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) and weighing approximately 255 pounds (116 kg),Jesperson began working toward the goal of joining theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police(RCMP), but an injury suffered while training ended this endeavor. He then sought work again as an interstate truck driver after relocating toCheney, Washington.Jesperson soon realized that this job afforded him the opportunity to kill without being suspected.

Victims

Facial reconstruction of the unidentified woman found in 1993, who, Jesperson stated, was named "Carla". She was identified as 45-year old Patricia Skiple in 2022.

Jesperson's first known victim was Taunja Bennett on 21 January 1990, nearPortland,Oregon,United States. He introduced himself to Bennett at a bar and invited her to a house he was renting. After getting in an argument with Bennett, hestrangledher to death with his hands and disposed of her body.

On 30 August 1992, the currently unidentified body of a woman Jesperson had raped and strangled was found nearBlythe,California,United States.Jesperson gives theJane Doe's name as Claudia. A month later, inTurlock, California,the body of Cynthia Lyn Rose was discovered. Jesperson claims Rose was asex workerwho entered his truck at a truck stop while he slept. His fourth victim was another sex worker, Laurie Ann Pentland ofSalem, Oregon,whose body was found in November 1992. According to Jesperson, Pentland attempted to double the fee she charged for the sex he had been engaged in with her. She threatened to call the police, and he strangled her.

Jesperson killed his next victim in June 1993 inSanta Nella, California.She was a previously unidentified woman named Patricia Skiple,who, he claimed, was named "Carla" or "Cindy".Police originally considered her death adrug overdose.In September 1994, another Jane Doe was found inCrestview, Florida.Jesperson had previously said that her name was Suzanne,and she was identified as Suzanne L. Kjellenberg on October 3, 2023.

Jesperson was arrested on 30 March 1995 for the murder of Julie Winningham. He had been questioned by police a week before, but they had no grounds to arrest him after he refused to talk. In the days following, Jesperson decided that he was certainly going to be arrested, and after twosuicide attemptsturned himself in hoping it would result in leniency during his sentencing. While in custody, Jesperson began revealing details of his killings and making claims of many others, most of which he later recanted. A few days before his arrest, he wrote a letter to his brother in which he confessed to having killed eight people over the course of five years. This led police agencies in several states to reopen old cases, many of which were found to be possible victims of Jesperson.

Although Jesperson at one point claimed to have had as many as 160 victims,only the eight women killed in Washington, Oregon, California, Florida,Nebraska,andWyominghave been confirmed. He is serving three consecutivelife sentencesat theOregon State Penitentiaryin Salem. In September 2009, Jesperson wasindictedinRiverside County, California,on murder charges; he wasextraditedin December 2009.He was convicted of another murder and received a fourth life sentence in January 2010.

Laverne Pavlinac

Early in the investigation of Bennett's murder,Laverne Pavlinacread the news reports surrounding Bennett's death and saw it as an opportunity to force an end to the long-term abusive relationship she had been in with her live-in boyfriend, John Sosnovske. Pavlinac set up a meeting with investigators and gave afalse confession,using the details she had read in the newspaper to give a detailed story of how Sosnovske forced her to help him rape, murder, and dispose of Bennett's body. Pavlinac and Sosnovske were both arrested on 5 March 1990 and both were convicted of the murder on 8 February 1991.To avoid the possibility of facing thedeath penalty,Sosnovske pleadedno contest.He was sentenced to life in prison while Pavlinac was sentenced to no less than ten years, much more than she had anticipated. Pavlinac soon admitted to making up her entire story, but her claims were ignored.

On 7 January 1996, more than five years after their conviction, Pavlinac and Sosnovske were released from prison after Jesperson and his attorney offered his confession with convincing evidence of his guilt. He had given police officers the location of the victim's purse. The purse had not been found at the crime scene, and its location was considered information only the killer would know.

"The Happy Face Killer"

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. When that did not create the attention he desired, he wrote letters to media outlets and police departments confessing to his murders, starting with a six-page letter toThe Oregonianin which he revealed the details of his killings. Jesperson signed each letter with asmiley face.This led Phil Stanford, the journalist working the story forThe Oregonian,to dub Jesperson "The Happy Face Killer".

Jesperson's daughter

In November 2008, Jesperson's daughter, Melissa G. Moore, appeared onDr. Philto talk about her father.She was also featured onThe Oprah Winfrey Show,theLifetime Moviesnetwork seriesMonster in My Family,and a20/20special onABC.She was a correspondent forCrime Watch Daily.

In 2008, Moore published a book titledShattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer's Daughter.Moore recounts living with Jesperson until her parents' 1990 divorce, and noticing how her father was different when she was in elementary school. Their house bordered an apple orchard, and Jesperson killed stray cats and gophers that wandered nearby. One day, she watched, horrified, as he hung stray kittens from the family's clothesline. She ran to get her mother, and when they returned, the kittens lay on the ground dead.He had watched and laughed as the kittens clawed each other to escape, then he killed them.In November 2014, she wrote an article about her father for theBBC.

In March 2018, she was featured in an episode, titled "Put on a Happy Face", of theInvestigation Discoverytrue crime seriesEvil Lives Here.In September 2018, podcast networkHowStuffWorksbegan releasing a show calledHappy Facefeaturing interviews with Melissa about her childhood and her father.The series had 12 episodes.

In June 2021, a trailer appeared oniTunesfor a new true crime podcast calledLife After Happy Face,to be hosted by Melissa Moore andforensiccriminologistLaura Pettler.The episode was released on July 9, 2021.

An eight episodeTV seriesbased on her podcast is set to stream onParamount+in 2025.

See also

• List of serial killers in the United States
• List of serial killers by number of victims

Further reading

• Moore, Melissa G. & M. Bridget Cook (2009).Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of the Daughter of a Serial Killer.Cedar Fort.ISBN978-1-59955-238-5.
• Olsen, Jack (2002).I: the creation of a serial killer.St. Martin's Press.ISBN978-0-312-24198-8.

External links

• "Daughter of the 'Happy Face Killer' Talks About Growing Up With a Serial Killer Dad".ABC News20/20.Retrieved 21 August 2010.
• King, Gary C. "Keith Hunter Jesperson".truTVCrime Library. Retrieved on 21 August 2010.
• Kreuger, Peggy; Kendra Justice & Amy Hunt (March 2006). "Keith Hunter Jesperson: Happy Face Killer"(PDF).Radford UniversityDepartment of Psychology. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
• Daughter of serial killer confronts her past,Seattle Times
• My life as a serial killer’s daughter,BBC News
• Radio Interview with Melissa Moore (daughter)
• Stuff They Don't Want You To Know