Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. I just said it, this is close enough," she said. Laverne Pavlinac is seen here showing investigators where Taunja Bennett's body was found, even though she had nothing to do with the crime. 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. On April 23 in Hamburg and the following weekend in Dusseldorf, the bodies of young men were retrieved from waterways. 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. In November 1992, Jesperson had an encounter with sex worker Laurie Anne Pentland at a truck stop. Meanwhile, the real killer carried out a series of murders over five years. 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. I'm thinking, 'My God, she is actually involved in this,'" Ingram said. That's when they said she implicated herself in the murder, according to Det. Police interview tapes obtained by "20/20" show the lengths Pavlinac went to convince investigators she and Sosnovske were the killers responsible when they weren't. On September 29, 2006, 21-year-old Lucas Homan vanished from La Crosse, Wisconsin. [00:02:14] Her body was found on a roadside rock pile in Santa Nella, California. Convicted murderer Keith Jesperson, right, shown here at a Nov. 2, 1995, court appearance in Portland, Ore., with attorney Thomas Phelan, has recanted all his previous murder admissions. Her real name remains a mystery. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! She'sgiveher the shirt off her back," McAlpine said. His brothers did not help him, instead they nicknamed him "Igor" or "Ig", a name that stuck throughout his school years. "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. Investigators have confirmed that he killed at least 8 people, including the woman now known to be Skiple. Jesperson claimed this still-unidentified woman as his fifth victim but told Phelps that he cant recall anything about her. All Rights Reserved. Her body was discovered behind the Blueberry Hill Cafe in Turlock, California. Punched her, slapped her. When contacted by sheriffs detectives, he said he had gagged her with duct tape, raped her in the sleeping cab of his rig and strangled her, reported the Spokesman-Review. They were able to identify her as Skiple on April 13. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. All drowned after getting intoxicated. What doesn't make sense is that many of the 40 cases the investigators have looked into have puzzling evidence. Between 1997 and 2008, authorities pulled the dead bodies of more than 40 young white men out of rivers and lakes in more than 25 cities across 11 states. Investigators said there wasno sign of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. Pentlands body was found in November 1992 after being discarded in Salem, Oregon. According to former detective Kevin Gannon and Dr. Lee Gilbertson, when Booth was found, his body was in full rigor mortis, which normallydissipates within 24 to 36 hours after death. Jespersons fifth victim was known only as Susanne, whom he met in Crestview, Florida. Jesperson, who was arrested in 1995 on suspicion of killing a woman in Washington state, was dubbed the Happy Face Killer because he drew smiley faces on letters he sent to the media and. 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. Soon after Angela Subrize ran into Jesperson at a bar in Spokane, Washington in January 1995, she traveled east with him in his truck. First, she told investigators that she knew Sosnovske did it because she saw Bennett's body, said Ingram. 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. 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. 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. ABC News/YouTube By Jean Mendoza / June 8, 2021 9:24 am EST Keith Hunter Jesperson is a serial killer who claimed the lives of eight women between 1990 and 1995. Jesperson claims he killed her after she tried to double charge him for sex, according to Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer.. His friends went up to their room and never saw Welzien again. In. M. William Phelps penned a memoir about his interactions with Jesperson: Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer (2017). The night of his disappearance, Geib made several calls from his cell phone. Here's what the evidence says. One of them was to a friendwho said she heard Geib say, "I'm in a field" before the call dropped. Cloud State University. "He says, 'Because I choked her' I said, 'I think weneed to take her to a hospital. For example, the Canadian-American serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the . Notorious serial killer Keith Jesperson, better known by the "Happy Face Killer" nickname he was given in the '90s, has spent decades behind bars but his daughter believes he would kill again if released from prison today. He confessed to killing her and subsequently admitted to seven other murders. [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. He was found guilty of killing Bennett, Pentland, and Winningham and was sentenced to six consecutive and concurrent sentences. 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. , 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. He was caught after killing his 41-year-old girlfriend, Julie Ann Winningham, in 1995. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. It had been washed ashore on a beach in Gary, Indiana, 30 miles south of Chicago. When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. Six days after his disappearance,Hurley's body was foundin the Charles River, close to where he asked Mahoney to pick him up. About two weeks after he went missing,Booth's body was foundfacedown in a creek behind the bar. Eight murders were eventually linked to Jesperson, whos serving multiple concurrent sentences in Oregon State Penitentiary. The area had been searched repeatedly in the weeks before his body was discovered, but no one had seen Booth. You can find episodes of Serial Killers and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the years following, Jesperson said he often thought about what it would be like to do the same to a human. RUIN SMILEY'S DAY: Follow these tips to minimize the danger of vanishing into thin air one night and ending up another unsolved "drowned" statistic: 1. 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). Strangulation was Jesperson's preferred method of murdering, the same method he often used to kill animals as a child. Police have not saidif a smiley face was present near the death site. These convictions meant Jesperson was unlikely to ever face charges for his crime. . Other students hold photos of Mr. Jesperson's victims. 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. His fourth victim was another sex worker, Laurie Ann Pentland of Salem, Oregon, whose body was found in November 1992. The couple divorced in 1990.[8]. The Smiley Face Killer. are covered in bracing detail in the Oxygen special Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, now streaming. 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. 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. "Now, I'm thinking, 'She's confessed she's pointed out the dump site, she's confessed to us on tape. 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. Pieces of his artwork have been seen on "murderabilia" sites. [5] This continued as he got older. 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. Pavlinac then confessed to her. "The Smiley Face Killers" movie was . They had three children, two girls and a boy. 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. Revealed as the Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson confessed to killing eight women in Florida, California, Oregon, Wyoming, and Washington. Following the discovery of Bennett's body in January 1990, Laverne Pavlinac lied to police that she'd aided her boyfriend John Sosnovske in committing the crime. Although two different people were originally charged in Bennett's murder, the real killer turned out to be Keith Hunter Jesperson, who the media already knew as "The Happy Face Killer." Jesperson, also called the "Happy Face Killer", who is serving two life sentences in Oregon in connection with guilty pleas to two murders. The body of 23-year-old Taunja Bennett was found in this remote woodland near the Columbia Gorge in 1990. [4] Because of this, Jesperson was a shy child, content to play by himself much of the time. 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. Rather than fall victim to the trauma surrounding her father's crimes and arrest, she processed the events. T he Smiley Face death toll continues to climb, this time in Germany. The Smiley Face Killers. I will be writing about that more in the future so stay tuned. 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. 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. 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. A "witchy" smiley face left at a murder site of the supposed "Smiley Face Serial Killer" seems to represent Charlie Manson. John Ingram, who worked on the case. Taunja Bennett was the first to die. 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The only difference was that the American version, operating in the Midwest throughout the 1990s, spray painted a smiley face on his victims. was 23 years old when he went missing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon, had been . He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and prosecutors. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Various witnesses outside the hotel saw Welzien vomiting in the street. The renowned crime journalist and author of The Misbegotten Son turns his attention to serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, the "Happy Face Killer" from Oregon who strangled eight women in the 1990s, detailing his evolution from angry child to psychotic murderer. Halfway through the game, Hurley called hisfiance, ClaireMahoney, pictured above, and said he wanted to leave. Investigators installed a hidden recording device in their home hoping to catch Sosnovske making incriminating statements. We need to report this, John.' Victim 7: Angela Subrize, 21. Updated: Mar 3, 2021 (1955-) Who Is Keith Hunter. [00:02:05] Hi, everyone. California 'Happy Face Killer' victim identified after 29 years By Associated Press 8:06am Apr 20, 2022 A victim of the Happy Face Killer has been identified nearly 30 years after her body was left near a California highway, authorities said this week. In April 1990, he sexually assaulted a woman who managed to escape. Published: Apr. [27] In November 2014, she wrote an article about her father for the BBC.[28]. Many of his victims were sex workers and transients who had no connection to him. "Her persistence in this manipulation resulted in her own conviction.". He has said he strangled her because she wouldn't let him sleep. The "Smiley Face Killer" may or may not be a killer or group of killers who've murdered at least three dozen drunken white college-aged males, dumped their bodies in waterways, and taunted police by drawing a smiley face near the crime scene. "[Julie] was beautiful inside as well as outside. Eight murders were eventually linked to Jesperson. "Madonna, that's what she listened to all day," White said. During his depraved spree, Jesperson taunted authorities with anonymous confessions signed with a smiley face. Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. Remembering the first known victim of Happy Face serial killer. When Mahoney called Hurley to find out where he was waiting, Mahoney said he answered the phone, and she heard him ask someone where he was located. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. The Pittsburgh police theorized James fell into the river while crossing a bridge near the city center and drowned. At school, Jesperson was bigger than his classmates and was taunted with names like "Monster Man" and "Igor." She found out that her son had reportedly suffered blunt force trauma to the head, his eye socket and behind his left leg. Surveillance footage captured Booth entering the bar where the celebration took place, but there is no video evidence of him leaving. Her sister Michelle White said Bennett was the only one in their family who graduated from high school, someone who read a lot and loved music. But a few days later, they got another call from Pavlinac. He was reported missing later that day by his mother, and a massive manhunt ensued. In 1975, when Jesperson was aged 20, he married Rose Hucke, and the couple had three children: two daughters and one son. 2. This included beatings, sometimes with a belt in front of others, and in one case he received an electric shock. Jesperson described murdering her, like other women he killed, as putting her out of her misery.. In 1990, Taunja Bennett was found dead near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. [5], That desire manifested in two attempted murders. His death was ruled an undetermined drowning. Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. He showed signs of psychopathic behavior from an early age which included torturing animals and attacking other children. Others say there is no killer. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. , who survived a violent encounter with Jesperson when she was 21. 'Happy Face Killer' case tapes reveal the lengths woman went to frame boyfriend Meanwhile, the real killer carried out a series of murders over five years. [19] To avoid the possibility of facing the death penalty, Sosnovske pleaded no contest. A Navy veteran, 24-year-old William Hurley went missing after leaving a Bruins hockey game in Boston,Massachusetts. 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." While many believe their deaths are just that accidental former NYPD detectives Kevin Gannon, Michael Donovan, Anthony Duarte and professor of criminal justice Dr. Lee Gilbertson are convinced that most of these drownings are homicides. . After getting in an argument with Bennett, he strangled her to death with his hands and disposed of her body. Moore recounts living with Jesperson until her parents' 1990 divorce, and noticing how her father was different when she was in elementary school. Serial killer Keith Jesperson murders at least eight women over a five-year span and taunts authorities with disturbing letters and scribbled confessions signed with a happy face. He is now 66 years old, according to his prison records. 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. Watch the full story on "20/20" THIS FRIDAY at 9 p.m. 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. He received multiple life sentences for several of these crimes but was spared the death penalty. Director Rick Bota Writer Richard Christian Matheson Stars David Arquette Gloria Reuben Daryl Shuttleworth See production, box office & company info Their work has spawned an Oxygen series, Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice, which aired in January 2019. Between 1990 and 1995, eight women died at the hands of Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the Happy Face Killer. He would often get into trouble for behaving badly, sometimes violently, and would be severely punished by his father. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. Jesperson reported that he was raped at age 14. Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. He had a relationship with his final victim and became a suspect after her body was discovered in March 1995. 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. When she recanted, Pavlinac said she falsely confessed because she was stuck in a volatile relationship with Sosnovske, desperately seeking a way out and wanting him in prison. 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. Her body disintegrated against the hot asphalt as he drove. Her body was found after his arrest. 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. Keith grew to be a large, imposing man. A jury had convicted a Portland woman named Laverne Pavlinac based on her detailed confession to police that she helped her boyfriend John Sosnovske rape and kill the 23-year-old. [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. 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. A journalist noticed the symbol and came up with the Happy Face Killer nickname. Bennett was found strangled to death near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. At some of the sites where the victims' bodies were found, smiley face graffiti had been left behind. 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 . Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! 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. Oddly,Geib's head and shoulders were sticking out of the wateras if he had gone for a swim. He showed signs of psychopathic behavior from an. Jesperson has said that he took 166 lives, but only the above eight murders have been attributed to him. Happy Face stands out because of Moore 's intimate tie to the criminal in question. At age 35, Keith was 6'7.5" tall and weighed 240lbs. He told investigatorshe could not remember anythingthat happened that night. Jespersons heinous crimes as well as shocking twists in the case including a, couple who took the blame for one of his homicides. Hundreds of college-aged men have died in accidental or undetermined drownings. While he has claimed to have killed as many as 160 people, only eight murders have been confirmed. A stealth serial killer who wants to trick everyone against him will change-up his playbook with small tweaks to put a wrench in the profiler's and forensic scientist's game. , who became known for signing the letters with a happy face symbol thus the Happy Face Killer moniker. His boss informed his family, who filed a missing persons report 72 hours later. Jesperson is currently serving a sentence of life without parole at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Victim 1:Taunja Bennett. I wanted to get those two people out of prison," he said in 1995, referring to Pavlinac and Sosnovske. Surveillance footage captured Booth entering the bar where the celebration took place, but there is no video evidence of him leaving. In the summer of 1992, Jesperson met "Claudia" at a truck checkpoint in California. Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in 1955 in British Columbia, Canada and is a serial killer. Jesperson met 21-year-old Bennett in a bar in Portland, Oregon. [11] Jesperson gives the Jane Doe's name as Claudia. That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. He strapped the woman beneath his big rig, the New York Post reported. He enjoyed watching animals kill each other as well as the feeling he got from taking their lives. Detectives first became aware of Pavlinac when she anonymously called them to report that she overheard Sosnovske at a bar bragging about killing Bennett. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! The footage captured James entering a dark alley, and that was the last time he was seen alive. Investigators have revealed the name of a heretofore unidentified victim of the "Happy Face Killer," nearly 30 years after her murder. Editor Note: This is rerun of 2018 post. B. Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske are seen here in this 1985 family photo. 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. 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". You could tell where people had been in and out, the vehicles and everything else, limbs broke. 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. In 2019, investigators began utilizing genetic genealogy in an attempt to identify Blue Pacheco, partnering with the nonprofit DNA Doe Project. "She slapped him. The day of his disappearance, Homan had been celebrating Oktoberfest with his friends. 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 .