T he Smiley Face death toll continues to climb, this time in Germany. 2. He is serving three consecutive life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. . Jesperson claims that her name was Susanne. Search dogs scoured the downtown area where Homan was last seen alive. Laverne Pavlinac is seen here showing investigators where Taunja Bennett's body was found, even though she had nothing to do with the crime. His brothers did not help him, instead they nicknamed him "Igor" or "Ig", a name that stuck throughout his school years. Jesperson grew up in Chilliwack, Canada before moving to Selah, Washington with his family when he was 12. PHOTO: Justice for Mason/Facebook. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I thought, 'Oh my God, it felt like I put my mother in jail.'". The victims were predominately white, male, athletic ("3.5 and above star athletes," according to Gannon), and young from 17 to early 20s. For example, the Canadian-American serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the . Sosnovske pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department announced. I think that she was at a bad place in her life," said her daughter Darlene Carpenter. 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. A smiley face was found spray painted on an underpass near where James body was discovered. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! [7] She was a correspondent for Crime Watch Daily. Jesperson is currently serving a sentence of life without parole at the Oregon State Penitentiary. [He said,] 'No, no. Investigators said there wasno sign of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. "Just so many bad things that happened in her life that I think, I don't know, it caused her to kinda snap or something," McAlpine said. "Then it becameserious,a seriousargument. He slapped her. 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. Jesperson's last victim was the crime that ultimately led to his capture. In the summer of 1992, Jesperson met "Claudia" at a truck checkpoint in California. However, a part of him wanted to claim credit, so he wrote about murdering Bennett in a bus terminal bathroom. 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. But the judge did not overturn Pavlinac's conviction, writing he did not find a constitutional defect with her trial since she had been convicted by a jury of her peers. Jesperson's first known victim was Taunja Bennett on 21 January 1990, near Portland, Oregon, United States. [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. "She was that kind of woman. Pieces of his artwork have been seen on "murderabilia" sites. That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. In September 1994, another Jane Doe was found in Crestview, Florida. They believed his body traveled for almost 10 miles and even went through a dam before its discovery. April 19, 2022 / 7:43 AM / CBS San Francisco. Revealed as the Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson confessed to killing eight women in Florida, California, Oregon, Wyoming, and Washington. And just like his British counterpart, the police denied . . [5] This continued as he got older. Jespersons second victim, known only as Claudia, was found murdered on August 30, 1992 in Blythe, California. Investigators had been trying to nail down a suspect for weeks when Pavlinac brought Sosnovske to their attention. Sometimes they even brag about it. She changed her story again, this time to say she too was involved in Bennett's death. Buddy up at all times. The Smiley Face Killers. Jesperson murdered another woman in August 1992 at a Turlock, California truck stop. And she [said], 'Well, they told me I had to tell you thisbecauseif I told you then they would believe me,'" Carpenter said. "The Smiley Face Killers" movie was . The only difference was that the American version, operating in the Midwest throughout the 1990s, spray painted a smiley face on his victims. He had a relationship with his final victim and became a suspect after her body was discovered in March 1995. His friends went up to their room and never saw Welzien again. While in custody, Jesperson began revealing details of his killings and making claims of many others, most of which he later recanted. Skiples remains were found on the side of. 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. She then reported Hurley missing, and various searches were conducted. April 19, 2022, 7:31 PM PDT. NR Jul 18th, 2021 Documentary. 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. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! She told investigators she had gone to the bar to meet Sosnovke, but Bennett was alive when she picked them up and both got in the car with her. 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. A journalist noticed the symbol and came up with the Happy Face Killer nickname. Jesperson killed his next victim in June 1993 in Santa Nella, California. Some time later, at a public pool, Jesperson attempted to drown the boy by holding his head under the water until a lifeguard pulled him away.[6]. Victim 1: Taunja Bennett. M. William Phelps penned a memoir about his interactions with Jesperson: Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer (2017). The Santa Clara County Sheriffs Department. After Jesperson was in custody, he provided the location of Bennett's purse, which only the killer would know. Taunja Bennett was the first to die. When the body of Taunja Bennett was found along the side of an Oregon highway in 1990, investigators never imagined that it would lead to the capture of a vicious serial killer. ". FILE - Accused murderer Keith Hunter Jesperson, dubbed the Happy Face Killer, right, listens to his attorney . His father often punished Jesperson by hitting him with a leather belt. Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon, had been known only as "Blue Pacheco" for the color of her clothing until genetic genealogy was used to identify her last week, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said. [1], At a very early ageas young as fiveJesperson would capture and torture animals. That triggered him. [7] He had watched and laughed as the kittens clawed each other to escape, then he killed them. Director Rick Bota Writer Richard Christian Matheson Stars David Arquette Gloria Reuben Daryl Shuttleworth See production, box office & company info 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 . He met the developmentally disabled Bennett while out drinking and convinced her to go to his house. Pentlands body was found in November 1992 after being discarded in Salem, Oregon. These convictions meant Jesperson was unlikely to ever face charges for his crime. Jesperson described murdering her, like other women he killed, as putting her out of her misery.. 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. I have been a killer for five years and have killed eight people." Surveillance footage captured Booth entering the bar where the celebration took place, but there is no video evidence of him leaving. The smiley face murder theory (also known as the smiley face murders, smiley face killings, and smiley face gang) is a theory advanced by retired New York City detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, as well as Dr. Lee Gilbertson, a criminal justice professor and gang expert at St. At her trial, Pavlinac recanted her confession, but the jury found her guilty. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. 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. Or 'I will cause trouble for your family. 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. Gannon, Duarte, Donovan and Gilbertson claim an organized group of serial killers would drug unsuspecting victims at a bar or party then abduct, hold and torture the victims before finally killing and dumping the bodies in water. I don't," Sosnovke is heard saying on the tape. She was killed in Washington state on March 10, 1995, and her body was discovered the next day. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. Detectives first became aware of Pavlinac when she anonymously called them to report that she overheard Sosnovske at a bar bragging about killing Bennett. One of them was to a friend. Angela Surbrize was the name of Jesperson's second-to-last victim. Because of their relationship, authorities connected her death to him. Various witnesses outside the hotel saw Welzien vomiting in the street. He strapped the woman beneath his big rig, the New York Post reported. All Rights Reserved. Police have not saidif a smiley face was present near the death site. I had been worried about this for a long time. He would go on to share details of the crime on other restroom walls. Based on Pavlinac's statements, and that Sosnovke failed a polygraph test, authorities arrested Sosnovke on murder charges. I will be writing about that more in the future so stay tuned. Authorities came to believe they had convicted the wrong people. His death was ruled an undetermined drowning. 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. [10][14], Jesperson was arrested on 30 March 1995 for the murder of Julie Winningham. "[Julie] was beautiful inside as well as outside. Here's what the evidence says. Julie Winningham is the last known victim of Keith Hunter Jesperson. Pavlinac's daughters said their mother "was never the same" after she divorced their father after discovering he left her for another woman. He enjoyed watching animals kill each other as well as the feeling he got from taking their lives. Smiley faces again served as his signature, prompting a journalist to dub Jesperson the "Happy Face Killer.". 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. Pavlinac soon admitted to making up her entire story, but her claims were ignored. Bennett was found strangled to death near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. What doesn't make sense is that many of the 40 cases the investigators have looked into have puzzling evidence. Investigators have revealed the name of a heretofore unidentified victim of the "Happy Face Killer," nearly 30 years after her murder. 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. 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. On Monday, the Santa Clara County Sheriff . A month later, in Turlock, California, the body of Cynthia Lyn Rose was discovered. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Officials did not implicate the band member in Homan's death. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. Skiple was known to family and friends as Patsy, according to the sheriffs department. Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in 1955 in British Columbia, Canada and is a serial killer. "I sometimes now wonder, if he was freed now, if he was released, would he kill again? Possible Smiley Face killers victim Mason Cox. 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. After a series of letters are sent to the press, the killer earned the moniker, the Happy Face Killer. 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. 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. Jesperson claims he killed her after she tried to double charge him for sex, according to Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer.. 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. Per Courthouse News Service, Slagle is a registered nurse and grandmother residing in Chico, Calif. [4] Because of this, Jesperson was a shy child, content to play by himself much of the time. On September 29, 2006, 21-year-old Lucas Homan vanished from La Crosse, Wisconsin. Six days after his disappearance,Hurley's body was foundin the Charles River, close to where he asked Mahoney to pick him up. When that did not elicit a response, he began writing letters to the media and authorities. In November 1995, a judge released Pavlinac and Sosnovske from prison. He then sought work again as an interstate truck driver after relocating to Cheney, Washington. I wanted to get those two people out of prison," he said in 1995, referring to Pavlinac and Sosnovske. 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. Soon after Angela Subrize ran into Jesperson at a bar in Spokane, Washington in January 1995, she traveled east with him in his truck. "I'm told to place her into a holding cell I say, 'OK, Laverne, now you need to go into that room right there,' She turned around and she looked at me and she gave me a hug. He was a 21-year-old student at Fordham University, and his body was found in. are covered in bracing detail in the Oxygen special Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, now streaming. The body of a woman found near Gilroy, California was this week identified as Patricia Skiple, a victim of the Happy Face Killer. Several years later, Hucke began to suspect Jesperson was having affairs when strange women would call. Soon after his injury was when Keith started to kill. 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. Taunja Bennett, 23, is seen here in this undated photo. .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. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. His friend told him to get out of the car while he parked. And that's how I remember her," said Melissa Gavin, her longtime friend. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! She later rescinded her confession, but in 1991 a jury still found her guilty. . I'll go to death row.'". One of them was to a friendwho said she heard Geib say, "I'm in a field" before the call dropped. Keith Hunter Jesperson, The Sad Story of the Happy Face Killer Stories about . 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. A smiley face was found spray-painted near where Homans body was found. When investigators asked him why he decided to come forward, Jesperson listed two reasons. I'm thinking, 'My God, she is actually involved in this,'" Ingram said. At some of the sites where the victims' bodies were found, smiley face graffiti had been left behind. "[He said] I better not open my mouth. 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. Geib's body was found three weeks later in a lake that had previously been searched. His older daughter has described witnessing acts of animal cruelty that included Jesperson killing kittens. And they were laughing," Pavlinac told investigators. . The night of his disappearance, Geib made several calls from his cell phone. Kreuger, Peggy; Kendra Justice & Amy Hunt (March 2006). Jesperson claimed this still-unidentified woman as his fifth victim but told Phelps that he cant recall anything about her. "She was a free spirit, and she would go here, there, and she would go to work at a place, and wouldn't work for very long because she would always go out on the road. He never made it home. While in custody, Jesperson shared details of his eight murders. Who is the Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson? 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. ". "I said 'Why is she dead?'" This led Jesperson to violently attack Martin until his father pulled him away. Eight murders were eventually linked to Jesperson. Jesperson met her in a bar in January 1995 and agreed to give her a ride before eventually killing her. 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. Pavlinac and Sosnovske were released from prison in November 1995. 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. 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 . The first victim was found in 1997. 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. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. On October 8, 2009, Hurley went to the game with two friends. 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. To learn more about this case, watch Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, streaming now on Oxygen. Her body, which had been strangled and tied up with duct tape, was found on August 30, 1992. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. But a few days later, they got another call from Pavlinac. Tension in the marriage increased, and after fourteen years, while Jesperson was on the road, Hucke packed up her and her children's belongings and drove 200 miles away to live with her parents in Spokane, Washington. The police gave him the nickname "The Happy Face Killer" as he would leave a happy face on his confession letters to the media. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. She told investigators she drove them to a scenic overlook at the Columbia Gorge, where Sosnovske told her to pull over. Jesperson was born on April 6, 1955, in British Columbia, Canada. Most were strangers and some were sex workers. Cloud State University. At the time of the incident, the females body was dressed in blue clothing and her identity was unknown, they wrote. He strangled her and left her corpse in Oregon. When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. Keith Hunter Jesperson (born 6 April 1955) is a Canadian-American serial killer who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the early 1990s. He never made it home. [5], That desire manifested in two attempted murders. Pavlinac then confessed to her. He confessed to killing her and subsequently admitted to seven other murders. On October 8, 2009, Hurley went to the game with two friends. Melissa Moore's father, known as the Happy Face Killer, murdered eight or more women. Jespersons fifth victim was known only as Susanne, whom he met in Crestview, Florida. There, he assaulted, beat and strangled her. 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. Pavlinac had made the whole thing up. Police saidthere were no signs of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. The following morning, James did not show up for work. 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. Melissa G. Moore, Jesperson's older daughter, wrote Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killers Daughter (2009). He had been questioned by police a week before, but they had no grounds to arrest him after he refused to talk. Daughter of the infamous 'Happy Face' serial killer, Melissa Moore, and leading female Forensic Criminologist, Dr. Laura Pettler, unearth chilling details from homicide case files in this weekly true-crime series which tells the actual stories of people who shared their lives with a killer or their victims. For now it remains only a theory that has yet to be proved. In 1975, when Jesperson was aged 20, he married Rose Hucke, and the couple had three children: two daughters and one son. 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. "She slapped him. . Today's episode is part 1 of our coverage of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson. 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. Now 66, Jesperson is serving five non-consecutive life sentences in Oregon's state penitentiary. Jesperson sent the photo to the Duquesne University students. went missing from Chicago, Illinois, after a night of celebrating Y2K with his friends. 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. She's told her own daughter the same story, very convincingly.' Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. What Is the Smiley Face Killers Theory? His fourth victim was another sex worker, Laurie Ann Pentland of Salem, Oregon, whose body was found in November 1992. Moore, Melissa G. & M. Bridget Cook (2009). He has said he strangled her because she wouldn't let him sleep. But to Melissa Moore, he was more than just a serial killer . A journalist noticed the symbol and came up with the Happy Face Killer nickname. The Happy Face Killer's eighth and final victim that would be his downfall. "He says, 'Because I choked her' I said, 'I think weneed to take her to a hospital. 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 . Their house bordered an apple orchard, and Jesperson killed stray cats and gophers that wandered nearby. [6] Approximately one year later, Jesperson was swimming in a lake when another boy held him underwater until he blacked out. "To come clean get it all over, the record straight. 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". He was found guilty of killing Bennett, Pentland, and Winningham and was sentenced to six consecutive and concurrent sentences. B. That this never happened. serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, with whom they corresponded during the fall semester. Pavlinac remarried, but her second husband died a few years later. 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." This included beatings, sometimes with a belt in front of others, and in one case he received an electric shock. Questions Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice Hopes to Answer, A First Look at the Murder of Susan Berman. Jesperson has said that he took 166 lives, but only the above eight murders have been attributed to him. 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. Criminal profiler Pat Brown calls the serial killer theory "ludicrous", arguing that the evidence does not fit what is known about serial killers. His death was ruleda probable drowning, and there wereno signs of trauma. Jesperson's father denied being an abusive parent; however, while investigating for his book on the killer, author Jack Olsen was able to confirm much of the claimed abuse with other family members. She threatened to call the police, and he strangled her. On 30 August 1992, the currently unidentified body of a woman Jesperson had raped and strangled was found near Blythe, California, United States.