Pavlinac had been with Sosnovske, a farmhand 18 years her junior, for a decade when the Bennett case caught her attention in 1990. 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. In. His death was ruled an undetermined drowning. In September 2009, Jesperson was indicted in Riverside County, California, on murder charges; he was extradited in December 2009. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. Sosnovske would later plead no contest to the murder charge. Investigators installed a hidden recording device in their home hoping to catch Sosnovske making incriminating statements. Questions Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice Hopes to Answer, A First Look at the Murder of Susan Berman. 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. All drowned after getting intoxicated. In March 2018, she was featured in an episode, titled "Put on a Happy Face", of the Investigation Discovery true crime series Evil Lives Here. Before serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, known by his nickname "Happy Face Killer," turned himself in, authorities believed they had solved the murder of his first victim Taunja Bennett. Smiley Face Murders: More Victims, A Mother's Torment and Strange The first victim was found in 1997. 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. 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. 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. Keith Hunter Jesperson | Criminal Minds Wiki | Fandom This led police agencies in several states to reopen old cases, many of which were found to be possible victims of Jesperson. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Jesperson is serving four life sentences without possibility of parole in Oregon. He was found guilty of killing Bennett, Pentland, and Winningham and was sentenced to six consecutive and concurrent sentences. Many of his victims were sex workers and transients who had no connection to him. [7] Jesperson continued to spend time with his children when he was in town. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. 'Happy Face Killer' Bay Area murder victim finally identified Andrew Chamings , SFGATE April 18, 2022 Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon, was 45 at the time of her death in 1993. Jesperson worked as a truck driver to support the family. Jesperson reported that he was raped at age 14. [10] Jesperson soon realized that this job afforded him the opportunity to kill without being suspected. Victim 1:Taunja Bennett. He duct-taped her mouth and hands before raping and strangling her. You could tell where people had been in and out, the vehicles and everything else, limbs broke. Most were strangers and some were sex workers. In November 1995, a judge released Pavlinac and Sosnovske from prison. 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. The Insane Details of the Smiley Face Killers Theory - Cosmopolitan Jesperson met her in a bar in January 1995 and agreed to give her a ride before eventually killing her. The 'Smiley Face Killer' Theory That Connects 40 College Students 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. The last known sighting of the Duquesne University graduate student was caught on asurveillance camera in the downtown area. In the majority of the cases, the victims were successful students and athletes who disappeared after a night out drinking with friends, and they were ultimately found dead in a body of water. For now it remains only a theory that has yet to be proved. Her body disintegrated against the hot asphalt as he drove. Her body was found after his arrest. It had been washed ashore on a beach in Gary, Indiana, 30 miles south of Chicago. 45 colleged-aged males across a 20-year span. She later rescinded her confession, but in 1991 a jury still found her guilty. She also examined her father's actions in the podcast Happy Face. In later years, Jesperson also sent anonymous letters to The Oregonian newspaper about what had become his multiple murders. Strangulation was Jesperson's preferred method of murdering, the same method he often used to kill animals as a child. April 18, 2022, at 9:19 p.m. California 'Happy Face Killer' Victim ID'd After 29 Years. Happy Face Presents: Two Face on Apple Podcasts By Joseph Diaz, Scott Engel, Emily Wynn, Jenner Smith, and Lauren Effron November 4, 2021, 3:32 AM 1:24 Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske are seen here in this 1985 family photo. They believed his body traveled for almost 10 miles and even went through a dam before its discovery. Jesperson is currently serving a sentence of life without parole at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Brown also believes that the smiley face images found in some of the cases are likely nothing more than coincidences based upon making a guess at where the body entered the water and searching a wide . He tries to paint the victim as someone who needed to be killed, Phelps, whose nearly decade-long relationship with the killer gives him insight into Jespersons mind, told producers. One of them was to a friend. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. And that's how I remember her," said Melissa Gavin, her longtime friend. Investigators believedhe could have walked to the edge of Lake Michigan, a five-minute walk from the hotel, and fallen in. went missing after leaving a Bruins hockey game in Boston,Massachusetts. In 1990, shortly after his marriage ended, Keith Jesperson, a long-haul trucker from Selah, Washington, began killing women. 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. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! John Ingram, who worked on the case. California 'Happy Face Killer' victim ID'd after 29 years - Yahoo! "Happy Face Killer" victim identified almost 30 years after her body 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. On 30 August 1992, the currently unidentified body of a woman Jesperson had raped and strangled was found near Blythe, California, United States. [19] To avoid the possibility of facing the death penalty, Sosnovske pleaded no contest. 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. I'm thinking, 'My God, she is actually involved in this,'" Ingram said. The Smiley Face Killers. 10 Twisted and Unbelievable Facts About the Happy Face Killer Because Jesperson allowed her to use his credit card to make a phone call, he devised a depraved way to conceal her identity. Oregon mom identified as victim of 'Happy Face Killer' nearly 4 decades Pavlinac and Sosnovske were both arrested on 5 March 1990 and both were convicted of the murder on 8 February 1991. The footage captured James entering a dark alley, and that was the last time he was seen alive. In the summer of 1992, Jesperson met "Claudia" at a truck checkpoint in California. James' body, however, had almost no visible damage, which was highly suspicious because it had traveled through heavily trafficked river. Alcohol and antidepressants were foundin Geib's toxicology screen, but it was reported thatGeib was not sufferingfrom any form of depression at the time. California 'Happy Face Killer' Victim ID'd After 29 Years 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. After Jesperson came forward in March 1995, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges for Bennett and Winningham of Camas, Washington, his last known victim. . New clues in alleged 'Smiley Face Killer' murders - FOX 32 Chicago One New York serial killer has been plying his grisly trade for over twenty years now, killing at least ten victims between 1996 and 2010, and possibly more we haven't yet discovered. He told investigatorshe could not remember anythingthat happened that night. Pavlinac soon admitted to making up her entire story, but her claims were ignored. That this never happened. Published: Apr. Largely considered an urban legend, the Smiley Face Killer, like the Manchester Pusher, murdered his victims by drowning. When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. Remains found in Merced County, California on June 3, 1993, belonged to a Jesperson victim he has said was called "Cindy." Other students hold photos of Mr. Jesperson's victims. went missing from Chicago, Illinois, after a night of celebrating Y2K with his friends. The Happy Face Killer's eighth and final victim that would be his downfall. Mahoney said she drove around for an hour before returning home, thinking Hurley got another ride, and that when she got back, Hurley was still gone. [3], Treated like an outcast and a black sheep by 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 for torturing and killing animals. On April 23 in Hamburg and the following weekend in Dusseldorf, the bodies of young men were retrieved from waterways. Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as "The Happy Face Killer ," is serving a life sentence in prison today. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. Her body, which had been strangled and tied up with duct tape, was found on August 30, 1992. 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. Homan did not arrive for a golf outing the next day. Smiley Face Killers - Fact or Fiction? - Positively Pittsburgh Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! And they were laughing," Pavlinac told investigators. T he Smiley Face death toll continues to climb, this time in Germany. One day, she watched, horrified, as he hung stray kittens from the family's clothesline. On October 8, 2009, Hurley went to the game with two friends. At school, Jesperson was bigger than his classmates and was taunted with names like "Monster Man" and "Igor." Victim 3:Cynthia Lyn Rose, 32, was found dead in September 1992. You can find episodes of Serial Killers and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Geib's body was found three weeks later in a lake that had previously been searched. [8][16] This led Phil Stanford, the journalist working the story for The Oregonian, to dub Jesperson "The Happy Face Killer". Welzien told his friends he wanted to call it a night and go back to the hotel where they were staying. In these supposed "Smiley Face" serial killings, popular, high-achieving, athletic young men (i.e. In reality, smiley face is a joyous symbol to convey happiness and joy, which is used everywhere from message chatting to letters to wall decoration in our daily lives. The 21-year-old finance student rarely partied since he was dedicated to the university's soccer team, but he decided to have a few drinks for the new year. That letter-writer turned out to be. That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. Her body was found on a roadside rock pile in Santa Nella, California. At the time, he was being investigated for the murder of 41-year-old Julie Winningham, who some described as his girlfriend. Pavlinac then confessed to her. Jesperson's first known victim was Taunja Bennett on 21 January 1990, near Portland, Oregon, United States. On January 25, 2017 around 11:30 p.m., James was walking back to his apartment after a night out drinking with friends and co-workers. He would go on to share details of the crime on other restroom walls. April 19, 2022, 7:31 PM PDT. Safety in numbers is the name of the game, before, during and after a night out on the town. Six days after his disappearance,Hurley's body was foundin the Charles River, close to where he asked Mahoney to pick him up. In 2006, the serial killer submitted a letter to the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office admitting to sexually assaulting and killing an unknown female subject along a dirt turnout on Highway 152, the department wrote in its release, and a year later he pled guilty to killing her. [5] This continued as he got older. , 32, was found dead in September 1992. 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. Taunja Bennett was the first to die. He is serving three consecutive life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. Who is the Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson? California 'Happy Face Killer' victim ID'd after 29 years Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Officials did not implicate the band member in Homan's death. As she and Sosnovske started their life sentences, one of the United States' most notorious serial killers continued his murder spree. Happy Face Presents: Two Face iHeart True Crime True Crime 4.3 8.5K Ratings; What would you do if you learned you were adopted, your biological . Jesperson claimed this still-unidentified woman as his fifth victim but told Phelps that he cant recall anything about her. Due to the unknown identity of the female adult, Cold Case Detectives later referred to Jane Doe as Blue Pacheco.. are covered in bracing detail in the Oxygen special Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, now streaming. Retired New York City Police detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, joined by criminal justice professor Dr. Lee Gilbertson, believe that a group of serial killers have been murdering young men around the country and making their deaths look like accidental drownings. 18, 2022, 3:19 p.m. Patricia Skiple, who lived in Colton, Oregon, has been identified as a victim of Keith Jesperson, the "Happy Face Killer," almost 30 years after Skiple's body . More than 25 years have passed since the ordeal, and in that time, both Sosnovske and Pavlinac have died. However, the kicker is that these drownings happening in 11 different states. , 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. Over the past 20 years, hundreds of college-aged men across the US have died as the result of undetermined or accidental drownings. Her body was discovered behind the Blueberry Hill Cafe in Turlock, California. All Rights Reserved. I thought, 'Oh my God, it felt like I put my mother in jail.'". This victim has been identified as Cynthia Lynn (Rose) Wilcox. Victim 7: Angela Subrize, 21. He could not find Welzien and reported him missing around 1 p.m. After extensive searches, Welzien's body was found 77 days later on March 17. Now 66, Jesperson is serving five non-consecutive life sentences in Oregon's state penitentiary. Jesperson claims he killed her after she tried to double charge him for sex, according to Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer., Because Jesperson allowed her to use his credit card to make a phone call, he devised a depraved way to conceal her identity. She changed her story again, this time to say she too was involved in Bennett's death. "She slapped him. 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). He has said he strangled her because she wouldn't let him sleep. [6] Approximately one year later, Jesperson was swimming in a lake when another boy held him underwater until he blacked out. Could some of them be connected to a serial killer or group of killers? She threatened to call the police, and he strangled her. 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. 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. [17] He was convicted of another murder and received a fourth life sentence in January 2010. "[Julie] was beautiful inside as well as outside. Judge Paul Lipscomb of the Circuit Court of Oregon agreed to vacate Sosnovske's sentence after ruling his no-contest plea violated his constitutional rights because it had not been voluntary since he was facing the death penalty. 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Jespersons heinous crimes as well as shocking twists in the case including a, couple who took the blame for one of his homicides. Police have not saidif a smiley face was present near the death site. She's told her own daughter the same story, very convincingly.' [13] Police originally considered her death a drug overdose. Keith Hunter Jesperson, The Sad Story of the Happy Face Killer Stories about . Jesperson was a. We need to report this, John.' In April 1990, he sexually assaulted a woman who managed to escape. At age 35, Keith was 6'7.5" tall and weighed 240lbs. Various witnesses outside the hotel saw Welzien vomiting in the street. 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 Oxygen special. Meanwhile, the real killer carried out a series of murders over five years. Victim 2: California Jane Doe. Pavlinac seemed to know intimate details about the case. The Happy Face Killer | Medium For example, the Canadian-American serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the . Jesperson claims he killed her after she tried to double charge him for sex, according to Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer.. Despite the distance between them, some detectives think that drownings are actually the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers. "The Smiley Face Killers" movie was . Jesperson's first victim, 23-year-old Taunja Bennett, was killed on January 21, 1990. Victim 4:Laurie Ann Pentland, 26. No serial killer loose in Boston, police say, as another man vanishes; Here Are 6 Of The Alleged Victims Of The 'Smiley Face Killings' Is a Serial-Killer Gang Murdering Young Men Across the U.S.? Cloud State University. Smiley faces again served as his signature, prompting a journalist to dub Jesperson the "Happy Face Killer.". Smiley Face Killer Theory: The Evidence For And Against He strapped the woman beneath his big rig,. The only difference was that the American version, operating in the Midwest throughout the 1990s, spray painted a smiley face on his victims. Jespersons second victim, known only as Claudia, was found murdered on August 30, 1992 in Blythe, California. Between 1990 and 1995, eight women died at the hands of Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the Happy Face Killer. When an Oregon newspaper ran a five-part series called The Happy Face Serial Killer in 1994, an anonymous author took credit for the five murders. GHB was also found in his system along with alcohol. B. At her trial, Pavlinac recanted her confession, but the jury found her guilty. Keith Hunter Jesperson - Wikipedia 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. After a series of letters are sent to the press, the killer earned the moniker, the Happy Face Killer. Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. [1], At a very early ageas young as fiveJesperson would capture and torture animals. I knew it had to be around there someplace. The Happy Face Killer: The Truth About Keith Jesperson's Childhood I wanted to get those two people out of prison," he said in 1995, referring to Pavlinac and Sosnovske. 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. He introduced himself to Bennett at a bar and invited her to a house he was renting. Hundreds of college-aged men have died in accidental or undetermined drownings. 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. Mahoney drove to the address, but Hurley was not there. I'll hurt your family.'". She then reported Hurley missing, and various searches were conducted. Geib's remains also had very little signs of decomposition, which would have been present if he had died the day he went missing 22 days before the recovery of his body. Investigators said there wasno sign of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. [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. They divorced in 1989. A smiley face was found painted near the river. He strangled her and left her corpse in Oregon. On September 29, 2006, 21-year-old Lucas Homan vanished from La Crosse, Wisconsin. The Santa Clara County Sheriffs Department. 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. "Her persistence in this manipulation resulted in her own conviction.". The book I: the Creation of a Serial Killer (2002), by Jack Olsen, delved into Jesperson's life. He slapped her. The police gave him the nickname "The Happy Face Killer" as he would leave a happy face on his confession letters to the media. Per Courthouse News Service, Slagle is a registered nurse and grandmother residing in Chico, Calif. Laverne Pavlinac, who, along with John Sosnovske, was convicted for the killing of Taunja Bennett, waits at the Oregon Women's Correctional Center in Salem, Ore., Oct. 27, 1995, for word on her release. When Young came back to the hotel around 4 a.m. and realized Welzien was not in their room, he searched the area outside the hotel. One of them was to a friendwho said she heard Geib say, "I'm in a field" before the call dropped. The body of a woman found near Gilroy, California was this week identified as Patricia Skiple, a victim of the Happy Face Killer. "She was very giving. Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon, had been . We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! 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. She was a previously-unidentified woman named Patricia Skiple,[12] who, he claimed, was named "Carla" or "Cindy". He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and prosecutors.