Published: Apr. 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. 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. "I don't remember going to no gorge, dumping no body for God's sake. 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She told investigators she drove them to a scenic overlook at the Columbia Gorge, where Sosnovske told her to pull over. The morning of October 2, Homan's body was found not far from the shore of the Mississippi River. Here's what the evidence says. In these supposed "Smiley Face" serial killings, popular, high-achieving, athletic young men (i.e. ". He enjoyed watching animals kill each other as well as the feeling he got from taking their lives. [7] Jesperson continued to spend time with his children when he was in town. Some say the Smiley Face Killer has taken 40 victims over two decades. He was caught after killing his 41-year-old girlfriend, Julie Ann Winningham, in 1995. The body of Julie Winningham, 41, of Camas, Washington, was found alongside a Washington State road in 1995. All calls are toll-free and confidential. [00:02:05] Hi, everyone. On September 29, 2006, 21-year-old Lucas Homan vanished from La Crosse, Wisconsin. The body of 23-year-old Taunja Bennett was found in this remote woodland near the Columbia Gorge in 1990. Hurley's mother received a copy of the autopsy report and allowed aphysician to analyze the report. And she [said], 'Well, they told me I had to tell you thisbecauseif I told you then they would believe me,'" Carpenter said. T he Smiley Face death toll continues to climb, this time in Germany. 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. 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 to The Oregonian in which he revealed the details of his killings. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. In one six-page letter to The Oregonian newspaper, the serial killer revealed . He split from his wife in 1990 after 15 years of . [20], 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. 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. 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. He would often get into trouble for behaving badly, sometimes violently, and would be severely punished by his father. She changed her story again, this time to say she too was involved in Bennett's death. In addition to murder, Jesperson's criminal history included animal cruelty, arson and sexual assault. He slapped her. John Ingram, who worked on the case. Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. The Santa Clara County Sheriffs Department. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Detectives first became aware of Pavlinac when she anonymously called them to report that she overheard Sosnovske at a bar bragging about killing Bennett. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. [17] He was convicted of another murder and received a fourth life sentence in January 2010. Murderous Keith Hunter Jesperson became known as the Happy Face Killer for his boasting letters to police, signed with a smiley face. Victim 2: California Jane Doe. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. Melissa G. Moore, Jesperson's older daughter, wrote Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killers Daughter (2009). 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. Sosnovske would later plead no contest to the murder charge. Because of their relationship, authorities connected her death to him. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. , 32, was found dead in September 1992. 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. During his depraved spree, Jesperson taunted authorities with anonymous confessions signed with a smiley face. 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. She found out that her son had reportedly suffered blunt force trauma to the head, his eye socket and behind his left leg. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. He would go on to share details of the crime on other restroom walls. FILE - Accused murderer Keith Hunter Jesperson, dubbed the Happy Face Killer, right, listens to his attorney . Updated: Mar 3, 2021 (1955-) Who Is Keith Hunter. In June 2021, a trailer appeared on iTunes for a new true crime podcast called Life After Happy Face, to be hosted by Melissa Moore and forensic criminologist Laura Pettler. At school, Jesperson was bigger than his classmates and was taunted with names like "Monster Man" and "Igor." Melissa Moore's father, known as the Happy Face Killer, murdered eight or more women. 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. 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 . . Bennett was found strangled to death near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. The victims were predominately white, male, athletic ("3.5 and above star athletes," according to Gannon), and young from 17 to early 20s. He is serving three consecutive life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. That's when they said she implicated herself in the murder, according to Det. They believed his body traveled for almost 10 miles and even went through a dam before its discovery. Patrick McNeill is thought to be the first victim of the Smiley Face Killers. She was killed in Washington state on March 10, 1995, and her body was discovered the next day. He strapped the woman beneath his big rig, the New York Post reported. PHOTO: Justice for Mason/Facebook. They'd mostly all been college-aged, popular, and athletic. Julie Winningham is the last known victim of Keith Hunter Jesperson. 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. Jesperson's first victim, 23-year-old Taunja Bennett, was killed on January 21, 1990. At some of the sites where the victims' bodies were found, smiley face graffiti had been left behind. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Victims of the Smiley Face Killer | Photo Credits: Oxygen The Team of Men that Came Up With the Theory. [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. 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. Now 66, Jesperson is serving five non-consecutive life sentences in Oregon's state penitentiary. When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. His last known victim was a woman he dated, which led to his capture and, During his depraved spree, Jesperson taunted authorities with anonymous. 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. A "witchy" smiley face left at a murder site of the supposed "Smiley Face Serial Killer" seems to represent Charlie Manson. 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 worked as a truck driver to support the family. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. Jesperson grew up in Chilliwack, Canada before moving to Selah, Washington with his family when he was 12. 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. [7] He had watched and laughed as the kittens clawed each other to escape, then he killed them. I will be writing about that more in the future so stay tuned. 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." Surveillance footage captured Booth entering the bar where the celebration took place, but there is no video evidence of him leaving. He was sentenced to life in prison while Pavlinac was sentenced to no less than ten years, much more than she had anticipated. 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 . 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. 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 met 21-year-old Bennett in a bar in Portland, Oregon. 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. Her identity remains unknown. Tommy Booth, 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. 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. In both cases, and as per usual . 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. We need to report this, John.' I have been a killer for five years and have killed eight people." [4] Because of this, Jesperson was a shy child, content to play by himself much of the time. 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. Jesperson met 21-year-old Bennett in a bar in Portland, Oregon. The Smiley Face Killers. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. 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 . NR Jul 18th, 2021 Documentary. Dr. Laura Pettler, along with her partner in crime-fighting, Melissa Moore, are taking a deep dive into murder cases in the upcoming podcast, "Life After Happy Face." "Life After Happy Face" is a follow-up to Moore's "The Happy Face Killer" podcast, which followed the case of Keith Jesperson, a serial killer who wreaked havoc in the Pacific Northwest during the 1990s. April 19, 2022, 7:31 PM PDT. 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. Jesperson married Rose Hucke on August 2, 1975. This victim has been identified as Cynthia Lynn (Rose) Wilcox. A smiley face was found spray-painted near where Homans body was found. "[He said] I better not open my mouth. Cloud State University. [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. Jesperson is serving four life sentences without possibility of parole in Oregon. Best Known For: Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. 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. M. William Phelps penned a memoir about his interactions with Jesperson: Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer (2017). His brothers did not help him, instead they nicknamed him "Igor" or "Ig", a name that stuck throughout his school years. I knew it had to be around there someplace. He decided to drag her body underneath his truck to impede identification. 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. While in custody, Jesperson shared details of his eight murders. 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. They were able to identify her as Skiple on April 13. whos serving multiple concurrent sentences in Oregon State Penitentiary. serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, with whom they corresponded during the fall semester. For now it remains only a theory that has yet to be proved. He had given police officers the location of the victim's purse. He met the developmentally disabled Bennett while out drinking and convinced her to go to his house. He confessed to killing her and subsequently admitted to seven other murders. That letter-writer turned out to be. Pavlinac remarried, but her second husband died a few years later. Pieces of his artwork have been seen on "murderabilia" sites. That letter-writer turned out to be Keith Hunter Jesperson, who became known for signing the letters with a happy face symbol thus the Happy Face Killer moniker. Victim 7: Angela Subrize, 21. . Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. He duct-taped her mouth and hands before raping and strangling her. Today's episode is part 1 of our coverage of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson. Oddly,Geib's head and shoulders were sticking out of the wateras if he had gone for a swim. 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. Jesperson, also called the "Happy Face Killer", who is serving two life sentences in Oregon in connection with guilty pleas to two murders. Jesperson is currently serving a sentence of life without parole at the Oregon State Penitentiary. The footage captured James entering a dark alley, and that was the last time he was seen alive. His friend told him to get out of the car while he parked. She grew up in a small town in Washington state and survived the escalating violence from her home life and. He left her remains in Nebraska, though Subrize was likely killed in Wyoming. Jesperson killed his next victim in June 1993 in Santa Nella, California. Many of his victims were sex workers and transients who had no connection to him. Many of his victims were sex workers and transients who had no connection to him. 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. Authorities came to believe they had convicted the wrong people. went missing from Chicago, Illinois, after a night of celebrating Y2K with his friends. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Soon after his injury was when Keith started to kill. He is now 66 years old, according to his prison records. Victim 5: California Jane Doe. His boss informed his family, who filed a missing persons report 72 hours later. In September 1994, another Jane Doe was found in Crestview, Florida. James' body, however, had almost no visible damage, which was highly suspicious because it had traveled through heavily trafficked river. Jesperson was born on April 6, 1955, in British Columbia, Canada. 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. 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. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger, Adnan Syed: A Complete Timeline of His Trial, Appeal and Killing of Hae Min Lee. One of them was to a friend. After moving to Selah, Washington, United States, he had trouble fitting in and making friends because of his large size. "She slapped him. All drowned after getting intoxicated. 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. Victim 3:Cynthia Lyn Rose, 32, was found dead in September 1992. He later claimed his intention was to kill the boy. The police gave him the nickname "The Happy Face Killer" as he would leave a happy face on his confession letters to the media. 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. Pavlinac then confessed to her. The following morning, James did not show up for work. Per Courthouse News Service, Slagle is a registered nurse and grandmother residing in Chico, Calif. [1] 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. Despite the distance between them, some detectives think that drownings are actually the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers. 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.
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