She previously claimed to the FBI that he was a wanted bank robber and frequently complained to Sosnovske's probation officer that he was drinking too much. The killers always leave a signature smiley face near the location of the body. Are the Smiley Face Killers Real? - A&E True Crime 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. James' parents later hired a private investigator who organized a massive citywide search, which led tothe discovery of James' bodyin the Ohio River on March 6, 2017, 40 days after he had disappeared. 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. The following morning, James did not show up for work. 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. That this never happened. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! This victim has been identified as Cynthia Lynn (Rose) Wilcox. Some say the Smiley Face Killer has taken 40 victims over two decades. Victim 8: Julia Ann Winningham, 41. Victim 2: California Jane Doe. Per Courthouse News Service, Slagle is a registered nurse and grandmother residing in Chico, Calif. The Happy Face Killer: Mind of a Monster (2021) - Movie The Smiley Face Killers. Watch the full story on "20/20" THIS FRIDAY at 9 p.m. Officials did not implicate the band member in Homan's death. On 30 August 1992, the currently unidentified body of a woman Jesperson had raped and strangled was found near Blythe, California, United States. Several years later, Hucke began to suspect Jesperson was having affairs when strange women would call. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. 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. 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. Skiple was known to family and friends as Patsy, according to the sheriffs department. 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. Jesperson claims Rose was a sex worker who entered his truck at a truck stop while he slept. Jesperson killed his next victim in June 1993 in Santa Nella, California. But Pavlinac claimed she knew where she and Sosnovske had left Bennett's body in the Columbia Gorge outside of town, and took investigators to the exact remote wooded area where Bennett was found. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Oregon mom identified as victim of 'Happy Face Killer' nearly 4 decades At age 35, standing 6feet 7inches (2.01m) and weighing approximately 255 pounds (116kg),[9] Jesperson began working toward the goal of joining the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), but an injury suffered while training ended this endeavor. Jesperson became a suspect after Winningham's was found since he was known to be her boyfriend. [19] To avoid the possibility of facing the death penalty, Sosnovske pleaded no contest. Pavlinac's daughters said their mother "was never the same" after she divorced their father after discovering he left her for another woman. To learn more about this case, watch Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, streaming now on Oxygen. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. April 18, 2022, at 9:19 p.m. California 'Happy Face Killer' Victim ID'd After 29 Years. Pavlinac soon admitted to making up her entire story, but her claims were ignored. She found out that her son had reportedly suffered blunt force trauma to the head, his eye socket and behind his left leg. While he has claimed to have killed as many as 160 people, only eight murders have been confirmed. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. As she and Sosnovske started their life sentences, one of the United States' most notorious serial killers continued his murder spree. My evil dad: Life as a serial killer's daughter - BBC News serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, with whom they corresponded during the fall semester. He had a relationship with his final victim and became a suspect after her body was discovered in March 1995. [11] Jesperson gives the Jane Doe's name as Claudia. Pavlinac set up a meeting with investigators and gave a false 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. Meanwhile, the real killer carried out a series of murders over five years. [26], In 2008, Moore published a book titled Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer's Daughter. Dubbed the Long Island Serial Killer or the Craigslist Ripper, the extent of these unsolved crimes is still unknown. She's told her own daughter the same story, very convincingly.' Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. California 'Happy Face Killer' victim ID'd after 29 years [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. are covered in bracing detail in the Oxygen special Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, now streaming. There, he assaulted, beat and strangled her. Oddly,Geib's head and shoulders were sticking out of the wateras if he had gone for a swim. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Jesperson met 21-year-old Bennett in a bar in Portland, Oregon. She had changed her story so many times that investigators said they wondered if she was telling the truth. The couple divorced in 1990.[8]. While police didn't get any hard evidence, the recordings demonstrate how Pavlinac attempted to convince her boyfriend he played a role in Bennett's death. "The Smiley Face Killers" movie was . "She slapped him. The Happy Face Killer Pt. 1-Creepy Cascadia I thought, 'Oh my God, it felt like I put my mother in jail.'". At age 35, Keith was 6'7.5" tall and weighed 240lbs. 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 would often get into trouble for behaving badly, sometimes violently, and would be severely punished by his father. [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. [5], That desire manifested in two attempted murders. Who is the Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson? On Monday, the Santa Clara County Sheriff . He told investigatorshe could not remember anythingthat happened that night. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The body of Julie Winningham, 41, of Camas, Washington, was found alongside a Washington State road in 1995. Watch Happy Face Killer on Lifetime Movie Club. 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. 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. 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. 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. Homan was the eighth accidental drowning case in La Crosse over a nine-year period. New clues in alleged 'Smiley Face Killer' murders - FOX 32 Chicago "I consider this the most dangerous domestic terrorist group in the United States today," said Gannon. NR Jul 18th, 2021 Documentary. True Crime Podcast: 'Happy Face' - Rolling Stone Between 1990-1995, a series of murders were discovered over several states, all with a very similar MO. About two weeks after he went missing,Booth's body was foundfacedown in a creek behind the bar. Due to the unknown identity of the female adult, Cold Case Detectives later referred to Jane Doe as Blue Pacheco.. 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. . A Navy veteran, 24-year-old William Hurley went missing after leaving a Bruins hockey game in Boston,Massachusetts. He split from his wife in 1990 after 15 years of . At her trial, Pavlinac recanted her confession, but the jury found her guilty. Local police theorized the men simply got too drunk, fell into the water and drowned, but Gannon, Donovan, Duarte and Gilbertson investigated their deaths as the work of an organized group of serial killers dubbed "The Smiley Face Killers." Bennett was found strangled to death near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. [18], Early in the investigation of Bennett's murder, Laverne Pavlinac read 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. According to Jesperson, Pentland attempted to double the fee she charged for the sex he had been engaged in with her. FILE - Accused murderer Keith Hunter Jesperson, dubbed the Happy Face Killer, right, listens to his attorney . Pavlinac then confessed to her. Despite the distance between them, some detectives think that drownings are actually the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers. Victim 1: Taunja Bennett. At some of the sites where the victims' bodies were found, smiley face graffiti had been left behind. He received multiple life sentences for several of these crimes but was spared the death penalty. 10 Twisted and Unbelievable Facts About the Happy Face Killer Jespersons heinous crimes as well as shocking twists in the case including a couple who took the blame for one of his homicides are covered in bracing detail in the Oxygen special Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, now streaming. , 32, was found dead in September 1992. Jesperson had dated before her before killing her on March 3, 1995 because he believed she was after his money. But in the process, she also falsely implicated herself. She would pop in and pop out, and over the years, She was that type of person.". Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as "The Happy Face Killer ," is serving a life sentence in prison today. I knew it had to be around there someplace. Investigators said there wasno sign of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. 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. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. 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. Killing Killers: 10 tips for eluding the Smiley Face killers 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. Hurley's mother received a copy of the autopsy report and allowed aphysician to analyze the report. [6] He graduated from high school in 1973, but did not attend college because his father did not believe he could do it. . In 1990, Taunja Bennett was found dead near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. He confessed to killing her and subsequently admitted to seven other murders. "Madonna, that's what she listened to all day," White said. '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. "He went off into the woods with her," Pavlinac told investigators. 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. First, she told investigators that she knew Sosnovske did it because she saw Bennett's body, said Ingram. The Manchester Pusher: Urban Legend or Serial Killer? 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 was a. In 1975, when Jesperson was aged 20, he married Rose Hucke, and the couple had three children: two daughters and one son. 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. 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. [13] Police originally considered her death a drug overdose. Who is the Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson? At the time of the incident, the females body was dressed in blue clothing and her identity was unknown, they wrote. Sosnovske was brought in for questioning and denied any involvement. At school, Jesperson was bigger than his classmates and was taunted with names like "Monster Man" and "Igor." Many of his victims were sex workers and transients who had no connection to him. For now it remains only a theory that has yet to be proved. Pavlinac had made the whole thing up. Victims of the Smiley Face Killer | Photo Credits: Oxygen The Team of Men that Came Up With the Theory. 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. Angela Surbrize was the name of Jesperson's second-to-last victim. , 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. Her body was discovered behind the Blueberry Hill Cafe in Turlock, California. The man said "99 Nashua Street, and Hurley said his cell phone battery was going dead. M. William Phelps penned a memoir about his interactions with Jesperson: Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer (2017). GHB was also found in his system along with alcohol. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Jespersons fifth victim was known only as Susanne, whom he met in Crestview, Florida. That triggered him. On April 23 in Hamburg and the following weekend in Dusseldorf, the bodies of young men were retrieved from waterways. The DNA Doe Project identified Skiple's body in partnership with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office after it was found near westbound State Route 152. Because Jesperson allowed her to use his credit card to make a phone call, he devised a depraved way to conceal her identity. Jesperson described murdering her, like other women he killed, as putting her out of her misery.. Best Known For: Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. Her body, which had been strangled and tied up with duct tape, was found on August 30, 1992. A journalist noticed the symbol and came up with the Happy Face Killer nickname. I will be writing about that more in the future so stay tuned. Most were strangers and some were sex workers. I'll go to death row.'". That's whyall ofthis doesn'tmake sense. Smiley Face Murders: More Victims, A Mother's Torment and Strange The Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson - Medium On January 1, 2000, Northern Illinois University junior. When investigators asked him why he decided to come forward, Jesperson listed two reasons. His fourth victim was another sex worker, Laurie Ann Pentland of Salem, Oregon, whose body was found in November 1992. In the summer of 1992, Jesperson met "Claudia" at a truck checkpoint in California. Photo: And she [said], 'Well, they told me I had to tell you thisbecauseif I told you then they would believe me,'" Carpenter said. The area had been searched repeatedly in the weeks before his body was discovered, but no one had seen Booth. The night of his disappearance, Geib made several calls from his cell phone. [7] She was a correspondent for Crime Watch Daily. Authorities came to believe they had convicted the wrong people. 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 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. Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. His death was ruleda probable drowning, and there wereno signs of trauma. All Rights Reserved. [27] In November 2014, she wrote an article about her father for the BBC.[28]. Six days after his disappearance,Hurley's body was foundin the Charles River, close to where he asked Mahoney to pick him up. Melissa Moore's father, known as the Happy Face Killer, murdered eight or more women. Moore, Melissa G. & M. Bridget Cook (2009). The Smiley Face Killer - Serialkillercalendar.com Welzien told his friends he wanted to call it a night and go back to the hotel where they were staying. 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. She'sgiveher the shirt off her back," McAlpine said. 2. "She was that kind of woman. 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. She grew up in a small town in Washington state and survived the escalating violence from her home life and. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. 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. A month later, in Turlock, California, the body of Cynthia Lyn Rose was discovered. For example, the Canadian-American serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the . went missing from Chicago, Illinois, after a night of celebrating Y2K with his friends. Surveillance footage captured Booth entering the bar where the celebration took place, but there is no video evidence of him leaving. After he strangled them, he dumped the dead bodies on the side of the road. The Insane Details of the Smiley Face Killers Theory; The Most Recent Alleged Smiley Face Killers' Victims Highlight How Long This Theory Has . Director Carl Hindmarch Stars Doug Bates Janine Brugnone Beghtol Rick Buckner See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 1 User review "To come clean get it all over, the record straight. 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 . Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in 1955 in British Columbia, Canada and is a serial killer. Their work has spawned an Oxygen series, Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice, which aired in January 2019. whos serving multiple concurrent sentences in Oregon State Penitentiary. Moore recounts living with Jesperson until her parents' 1990 divorce, and noticing how her father was different when she was in elementary school. Jesperson, also called the "Happy Face Killer", who is serving two life sentences in Oregon in connection with guilty pleas to two murders. The purse had not been found at the crime scene, and its location was considered information only the killer would know. 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. His blood-alcohol concentrationwas only 0.08 percent. [1] On October 8, 2009, Hurley went to the game with two friends. April 19, 2022 / 7:43 AM / CBS San Francisco. Victim 7: Angela Subrize, 21. 'Life After Happy Face': Serial killer's daughter and expert Alleged Smiley Face Killer Victims: Dakota James, Tommy Booth, Lucas Others say there is no killer. THE HAPPY FACE K!LLER - KEITH HUNTER JESPERSON #storytelling However, the kicker is that these drownings happening in 11 different states. was 23 years old when he went missing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sometimes they even brag about it. Sosnovske would later plead no contest to the murder charge. That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. A "witchy" smiley face left at a murder site of the supposed "Smiley Face Serial Killer" seems to represent Charlie Manson. Jesperson's first known victim was Taunja Bennett on 21 January 1990, near Portland, Oregon, United States. They'd mostly all been college-aged, popular, and athletic. According to former detective Kevin Gannon and Dr. Lee Gilbertson, Geib's head and shoulders were sticking out of the water. She was a previously-unidentified woman named Patricia Skiple,[12] who, he claimed, was named "Carla" or "Cindy". He is serving three consecutive life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! I think that she was at a bad place in her life," said her daughter Darlene Carpenter. "I don't think she was in love with him. They met at a truck stop in Corning, California. Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in 1955 in British Columbia, Canada and is a serial killer. "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. Pavlinac remarried, but her second husband died a few years later. In the days following, Jesperson decided that he was certainly going to be arrested, and after two suicide attempts turned himself in hoping it would result in leniency during his sentencing. What are your thoughts on the 'smiley face murders' theory? [10] Jesperson soon realized that this job afforded him the opportunity to kill without being suspected. 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. He left bodies in Oregon, California, Florida, Nebraska and Washington while working as a long-haul truck driver. I wanted to get those two people out of prison," he said in 1995, referring to Pavlinac and Sosnovske. jocks) usually after a night of drinking at a bar are kidnapped, tortured, murdered and then their . Pavlinac seemed to know intimate details about the case. In September 2009, Jesperson was indicted in Riverside County, California, on murder charges; he was extradited in December 2009. California 'Happy Face Killer' Victim ID'd After 29 Years Jesperson was born on April 6, 1955, in British Columbia, Canada. Buddy up at all times. "He says, 'Because I choked her' I said, 'I think weneed to take her to a hospital. She ran to get her mother, and when they returned, the kittens lay on the ground dead.
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