These convictions meant Jesperson was unlikely to ever face charges for his crime. Pavlinac and Sosnovske were both arrested on 5 March 1990 and both were convicted of the murder on 8 February 1991. "I think what happened to mother was she was in an abusive relationship, and she was desperate, and desperate people do desperate things, not to say that it was right, but that's what I think happened," said Pavlinac's daughter Bonne McAlpine. "Her persistence in this manipulation resulted in her own conviction.". That letter-writer turned out to be. Julie Winningham is seen here in this undated photo. 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. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Tommy Booth, 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh police theorized James fell into the river while crossing a bridge near the city center and drowned. 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. 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. He showed signs of psychopathic behavior from an early age which included torturing animals and attacking other children. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Smiley faces again served as his signature, prompting a journalist to dub Jesperson the "Happy Face Killer.". She found out that her son had reportedly suffered blunt force trauma to the head, his eye socket and behind his left leg. 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. In the summer of 1992, Jesperson met "Claudia" at a truck checkpoint in California. They'd mostly all been college-aged, popular, and athletic. Sosnovske pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. Jesperson attempted suicide but ended up confessing to Winningham's murder. Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. 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 elicit a response, he began writing letters to the media and authorities. 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. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. jocks) usually after a night of drinking at a bar are kidnapped, tortured, murdered and then their . She later rescinded her confession, but in 1991 a jury still found her guilty. 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. The purse had not been found at the crime scene, and its location was considered information only the killer would know. [8], In November 2008, Jesperson's daughter, Melissa G. Moore, appeared on Dr. Phil to talk about her father. Updated: Mar 3, 2021 (1955-) Who Is Keith Hunter. T he Smiley Face death toll continues to climb, this time in Germany. 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. That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. 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. 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. At the time of the incident, the females body was dressed in blue clothing and her identity was unknown, they wrote. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and prosecutors. After Jesperson came forward in March 1995, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges for Bennett and Winningham of Camas, Washington, his last known victim. According to detectives Anthony Duarte and Kevin Gannon, the Smiley Face Theory came into . This victim has been identified as Cynthia Lynn (Rose) Wilcox. Moore, Melissa G. & M. Bridget Cook (2009). By Tim Stelloh. 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. Due to the unknown identity of the female adult, Cold Case Detectives later referred to Jane Doe as Blue Pacheco.. Jesperson met 21-year-old Bennett in a bar in Portland, Oregon. ET on ABC. One day, she watched, horrified, as he hung stray kittens from the family's clothesline. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! In. She was killed in Washington state on March 10, 1995, and her body was discovered the next day. [00:02:14] "She was that kind of woman. I thought, 'Oh my God, it felt like I put my mother in jail.'". 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. 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. 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. Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in 1955 in British Columbia, Canada and is a serial killer. At school, Jesperson was bigger than his classmates and was taunted with names like "Monster Man" and "Igor." 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. 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. . He was sentenced to life in prison while Pavlinac was sentenced to no less than ten years, much more than she had anticipated. Pavlinac seemed to know intimate details about the case. Possible Smiley Face killers victim Mason Cox. She threatened to call the police, and he strangled her. He had been questioned by police a week before, but they had no grounds to arrest him after he refused to talk. Per Courthouse News Service, Slagle is a registered nurse and grandmother residing in Chico, Calif. [19] To avoid the possibility of facing the death penalty, Sosnovske pleaded no contest. Jesperson claimed this still-unidentified woman as his fifth victim but told Phelps that he cant recall anything about her. , who became known for signing the letters with a happy face symbol thus the Happy Face Killer moniker. 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. I knew it had to be around there someplace. [7] She was a correspondent for Crime Watch Daily. Brown also believes that the smiley face images found in some of the cases are likely nothing more than coincidences based upon making a guess at where the body entered the water and searching a wide . "I said 'Why is she dead?'" 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. 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. But in the process, she also falsely implicated herself. 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. The body of a woman found near Gilroy, California was this week identified as Patricia Skiple, a victim of the Happy Face Killer. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Over the past 20 years, hundreds of college-aged men across the US have died as the result of undetermined or accidental drownings. In 1990, Taunja Bennett was found dead near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Hundreds of college-aged men have died in accidental or undetermined drownings. 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. But it was all a lie. , 32, was found dead in September 1992. We need to report this, John.' I will be writing about that more in the future so stay tuned. Victims of the Smiley Face Killer | Photo Credits: Oxygen The Team of Men that Came Up With the Theory. 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. 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. Welzien told his friends he wanted to call it a night and go back to the hotel where they were staying. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. 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. 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. On October 8, 2009, Hurley went to the game with two friends. Today, we're finishing our look at Keith Jesperson, the twisted murderer otherwise known 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. Alcohol and antidepressants were foundin Geib's toxicology screen, but it was reported thatGeib was not sufferingfrom any form of depression at the time. 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. Pavlinac's daughters said their mother "was never the same" after she divorced their father after discovering he left her for another woman. He slapped her. Pieces of his artwork have been seen on "murderabilia" sites. After moving to Selah, Washington, United States, he had trouble fitting in and making friends because of his large size. Halfway through the game, Hurley called hisfiance, ClaireMahoney, pictured above, and said he wanted to leave. You could tell where people had been in and out, the vehicles and everything else, limbs broke. Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske are seen here in this 1985 family photo. [22] She was also featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show,[23] the Lifetime Movies network series Monster in My Family,[24][25] and a 20/20 special on ABC. In November 1992, Jesperson had an encounter with sex worker Laurie Anne Pentland at a truck stop. She then reported Hurley missing, and various searches were conducted. Jesperson's first known victim was Taunja Bennett on 21 January 1990, near Portland, Oregon, United States. "I don't remember going to no gorge, dumping no body for God's sake. This led Jesperson to violently attack Martin until his father pulled him away. In both cases, and as per usual . I had been worried about this for a long time. She had changed her story so many times that investigators said they wondered if she was telling the truth. "I [had] seen all these tracks and all this and that. Investigators believedhe could have walked to the edge of Lake Michigan, a five-minute walk from the hotel, and fallen in. The couple divorced in 1990.[8]. The message was signed with a smiley face. 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. 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. [13] Police originally considered her death a drug overdose. Based on Pavlinac's statements, and that Sosnovke failed a polygraph test, authorities arrested Sosnovke on murder charges. Because Jesperson allowed her to use his credit card to make a phone call, he devised a depraved way to conceal her identity. On September 29, 2006, 21-year-old Lucas Homan vanished from La Crosse, Wisconsin. She called him a second time, but his cell phone seemed to be out of battery. They had three children, two girls and a boy. 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. After a series of letters are sent to the press, the killer earned the moniker, the Happy Face Killer. The book I: the Creation of a Serial Killer (2002), by Jack Olsen, delved into Jesperson's life. [33] The episode was released on July 9, 2021. 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. Jesperson became a suspect after Winningham's was found since he was known to be her boyfriend. Kreuger, Peggy; Kendra Justice & Amy Hunt (March 2006). It had been washed ashore on a beach in Gary, Indiana, 30 miles south of Chicago. Search dogs scoured the downtown area where Homan was last seen alive. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. 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. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Keith Hunter Jesperson, The Sad Story of the Happy Face Killer Stories about . Today's episode is part 1 of our coverage of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson. A Navy veteran, 24-year-old William Hurley went missing after leaving a Bruins hockey game in Boston,Massachusetts. A "witchy" smiley face left at a murder site of the supposed "Smiley Face Serial Killer" seems to represent Charlie Manson. She told investigators she drove them to a scenic overlook at the Columbia Gorge, where Sosnovske told her to pull over. Melissa G. Moore, Jesperson's older daughter, wrote Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killers Daughter (2009). 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. Others say there is no killer. Potential "Smiley Face Killers" victim Todd Geib. 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. For example, the Canadian-American serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the . I'llgo to the pen. [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. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! In 1975, when Jesperson was aged 20, he married Rose Hucke, and the couple had three children: two daughters and one son. 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. GHB was also found in his system along with alcohol. Her body, which had been strangled and tied up with duct tape, was found on August 30, 1992. 'Happy Face Killer' Bay Area murder victim finally identified Andrew Chamings , SFGATE April 18, 2022 Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon, was 45 at the time of her death in 1993. In 1990, shortly after his marriage ended, Keith Jesperson, a long-haul trucker from Selah, Washington, began killing women. The oldest child, Melissa, was ten years old. 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. Jesperson's last victim was Julie Winningham, who'd been his girlfriend. 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. Pavlinac remarried, but her second husband died a few years later. He received multiple life sentences for several of these crimes but was spared the death penalty. "[Julie] was beautiful inside as well as outside. Her body was discovered behind the Blueberry Hill Cafe in Turlock, California. But to Melissa Moore, he was more than just a serial killer . 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. While he has claimed to have killed as many as 160 people, only eight murders have been confirmed. Her actual identity is unknown, but "Susanna" which Jesperson has stated may have been her name was confirmed to be one of his victims because he knew about the tie wraps found around her throat. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. His father often punished Jesperson by hitting him with a leather belt. Watch Happy Face Killer on Lifetime Movie Club. Victim 3:Cynthia Lyn Rose, 32, was found dead in September 1992. Laverne Pavlinac convinced investigators she and John Sosnovske had killed Taunja Bennett, when they hadn't. Jesperson claims he killed her after she tried to double charge him for sex, according to Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer.. In 2019, investigators began utilizing genetic genealogy in an attempt to identify Blue Pacheco, partnering with the nonprofit DNA Doe Project. 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. First, she told investigators that she knew Sosnovske did it because she saw Bennett's body, said Ingram. But a few days later, they got another call from Pavlinac. Her body disintegrated against the hot asphalt as he drove. Her body was found after his arrest. Victim 2: California Jane Doe. 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. The footage captured James entering a dark alley, and that was the last time he was seen alive. Keith grew to be a large, imposing man. Her sister Michelle White said Bennett was a compassionate person who loved everyone.. John Ingram, who worked on the case. The night of his disappearance, Geib made several calls from his cell phone. There, he assaulted, beat and strangled her. After he strangled them, he dumped the dead bodies on the side of the road. Jesperson sent the photo to the Duquesne University students. of Victims 8-185 killed 5 attempted Span of crimes 1995/1966-March 10, 1995 (confirmed) Criminal Charges He claimed to have victims in five states: Washington, California, Florida, Wyoming and Oregon. 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. The killers always leave a signature smiley face near the location of the body. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. 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. Victim 6: Florida Jane Doe. She was a previously-unidentified woman named Patricia Skiple,[12] who, he claimed, was named "Carla" or "Cindy". 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." Strangulation was Jesperson's preferred method of murdering, the same method he often used to kill animals as a child. [17] He was convicted of another murder and received a fourth life sentence in January 2010. At her trial, Pavlinac recanted her confession, but the jury found her guilty. ", This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 19:00. His fourth victim was another sex worker, Laurie Ann Pentland of Salem, Oregon, whose body was found in November 1992. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Victim 1: Taunja Bennett. [He said,] 'No, no. The area had been searched repeatedly in the weeks before his body was discovered, but no one had seen Booth. A television movie, Happy Face Killer, starring David Arquette as Jesperson, aired in 2014. In later years, Jesperson also sent anonymous letters to The Oregonian newspaper about what had become his multiple murders. Jesperson worked as a truck driver to support the family. M. William Phelps penned a memoir about his interactions with Jesperson: Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer (2017). B. Hurley's mother received a copy of the autopsy report and allowed aphysician to analyze the report. The production features interviews between, Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.. What doesn't make sense is that many of the 40 cases the investigators have looked into have puzzling evidence. 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. Most were strangers and some were sex workers. They believed his body traveled for almost 10 miles and even went through a dam before its discovery. 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. "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. Laverne Pavlinac, right, touches the tear-stained face of her grandaughter, Nicole Sullivan, after being released from prison in Salem, Ore., Nov. 27, 1995.

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