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. Jesperson signed each letter with a smiley face. For now it remains only a theory that has yet to be proved. 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. 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. He has said he strangled her because she wouldn't let him sleep. He strapped the woman beneath his big rig, the New York Post reported. [1] 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. 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 . I have been a killer for five years and have killed eight people." 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. Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in 1955 in British Columbia, Canada and is a serial killer. [7] She was a correspondent for Crime Watch Daily. 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. Sosnovske was brought in for questioning and denied any involvement. He was caught after killing his 41-year-old girlfriend, Julie Ann Winningham, in 1995. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. , 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. And they were laughing," Pavlinac told investigators. Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. Other students hold photos of Mr. Jesperson's victims. Victim 1:Taunja Bennett. 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. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. Jesperson, also called the "Happy Face Killer", who is serving two life sentences in Oregon in connection with guilty pleas to two murders. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. "Her persistence in this manipulation resulted in her own conviction.". Jesperson reported that he was raped at age 14. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. ", This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 19:00. Pavlinac's daughters said their mother "was never the same" after she divorced their father after discovering he left her for another woman. Jesperson was born on 6 April 1955, to Leslie (Les) and Gladys Jesperson in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada,[1] the middle child with two brothers and two sisters. 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. He was reported missing later that day by his mother, and a massive manhunt ensued. A "witchy" smiley face left at a murder site of the supposed "Smiley Face Serial Killer" seems to represent Charlie Manson. Jesperson married Rose Hucke on August 2, 1975. 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. Victim 4:Laurie Ann Pentland, 26. This led Jesperson to violently attack Martin until his father pulled him away. In one six-page letter to The Oregonian newspaper, the serial killer revealed . Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon, had been . Skiple was known to family and friends as Patsy, according to the sheriffs department. Canadian-American serial killer (born 1955), "Happy Face Killer" redirects here. 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. 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. And she [said], 'Well, they told me I had to tell you thisbecauseif I told you then they would believe me,'" Carpenter said. Between 1997 and 2008, authorities pulled the dead bodies of more than 40 young white men out of rivers and lakes in more than 25 cities across 11 states. Pavlinac remarried, but her second husband died a few years later. 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. We need to report this, John.' Jesperson met her in a bar in January 1995 and agreed to give her a ride before eventually killing her. Kreuger, Peggy; Kendra Justice & Amy Hunt (March 2006). He was reported missing later that day by his mother, and a massive manhunt ensued. Jesperson's first known victim was Taunja Bennett on 21 January 1990, near Portland, Oregon, United States. At the time of the incident, the females body was dressed in blue clothing and her identity was unknown, they wrote. 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. [26], In 2008, Moore published a book titled Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer's Daughter. They divorced in 1989. jocks) usually after a night of drinking at a bar are kidnapped, tortured, murdered and then their . He told investigatorshe could not remember anythingthat happened that night. They had three children, two girls and a boy. However, the kicker is that these drownings happening in 11 different states. But to Melissa Moore, he was more than just a serial killer . 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. All Rights Reserved. Her body, which had been strangled and tied up with duct tape, was found on August 30, 1992. Others say there is no killer. 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. She changed her story again, this time to say she too was involved in Bennett's death. .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 a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Punched her, slapped her. In 1990, Taunja Bennett was found dead near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Jesperson worked as a truck driver to support the family. When contacted by sheriffs detectives, he said he had gagged her with duct tape, raped her in the sleeping cab of his rig and strangled her,, To learn more about this case, watch Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, streaming now on. 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. "I said 'Why is she dead?'" Jesperson claims she was a sex worker who climbed into his truck, even though he told her he wasnt interested in her services, according to the two-hour Oxygen special. Jesperson claims that her name was Susanne. Officials did not implicate the band member in Homan's death. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. 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. Meanwhile, the real killer carried out a series of murders over five years. The victims were predominately white, male, athletic ("3.5 and above star athletes," according to Gannon), and young from 17 to early 20s. She had changed her story so many times that investigators said they wondered if she was telling the truth. . Despite the distance between them, some detectives think that drownings are actually the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers. He received multiple life sentences for several of these crimes but was spared the death penalty. She'sgiveher the shirt off her back," McAlpine said. The term "Smiley Face Killers" come from the graffiti smiley faces supposedly found at the crime scenes. 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. Pentlands body was found in November 1992 after being discarded in Salem, Oregon. Over the past 20 years, hundreds of college-aged men across the US have died as the result of undetermined or accidental drownings. went missing after leaving a Bruins hockey game in Boston,Massachusetts. In September 1994, another Jane Doe was found in Crestview, Florida. [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. [7] He had watched and laughed as the kittens clawed each other to escape, then he killed them. 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." 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. He later claimed his intention was to kill the boy. Investigators had been trying to nail down a suspect for weeks when Pavlinac brought Sosnovske to their attention. In the summer of 1992, Jesperson met "Claudia" at a truck checkpoint in California. The term "smiley face" became connected to their theory when the team . [He said,] 'No, no. He never made it home. 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. His fourth victim was another sex worker, Laurie Ann Pentland of Salem, Oregon, whose body was found in November 1992. 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During his depraved spree, Jesperson taunted authorities with anonymous confessions signed with a smiley face. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. Homan did not arrive for a golf outing the next day. Jespersons second victim, known only as Claudia, was found murdered on August 30, 1992 in Blythe, California. 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. Skiples remains were found on the side of California State Route 152 in the Gilroy area about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco in June 1993, in an area known as Pacheco Pass. In April 1990, he sexually assaulted a woman who managed to escape. 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. 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. Victim 3:Cynthia Lyn Rose, 32, was found dead in September 1992. Investigators believedhe could have walked to the edge of Lake Michigan, a five-minute walk from the hotel, and fallen in. His blood-alcohol concentrationwas only 0.08 percent. 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 . Angela Surbrize was the name of Jesperson's second-to-last victim. She's told her own daughter the same story, very convincingly.' In later years, Jesperson also sent anonymous letters to The Oregonian newspaper about what had become his multiple murders. After Jesperson was in custody, he provided the location of Bennett's purse, which only the killer would know. After a night of barhopping, Homan headed home at around 10 p.m. with a friend. He had been questioned by police a week before, but they had no grounds to arrest him after he refused to talk. Best Known For: Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. He is serving three consecutive life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. On 30 August 1992, the currently unidentified body of a woman Jesperson had raped and strangled was found near Blythe, California, United States. When investigators asked him why he decided to come forward, Jesperson listed two reasons. [1], At a very early ageas young as fiveJesperson would capture and torture animals. His friends went up to their room and never saw Welzien again. This finding is inconsistent with the belief that Booth drowned the night he disappeared. 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. Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. The Insane Details of the Smiley Face Killers Theory; The Most Recent Alleged Smiley Face Killers' Victims Highlight How Long This Theory Has . That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. At age 35, Keith was 6'7.5" tall and weighed 240lbs. Jesperson met 21-year-old Bennett in a bar in Portland, Oregon. She then reported Hurley missing, and various searches were conducted. 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. She called him a second time, but his cell phone seemed to be out of battery. Detectives first became aware of Pavlinac when she anonymously called them to report that she overheard Sosnovske at a bar bragging about killing Bennett. In. She told investigators she drove them to a scenic overlook at the Columbia Gorge, where Sosnovske told her to pull over. Jespersons heinous crimes as well as shocking twists in the case including a, couple who took the blame for one of his homicides. [5] This continued as he got older. The man said "99 Nashua Street, and Hurley said his cell phone battery was going dead. "John That's the worst thing you've ever gotten yourself into," she told him. Halfway through the game, Hurley called hisfiance, ClaireMahoney, pictured above, and said he wanted to leave. A month later, in Turlock, California, the body of Cynthia Lyn Rose was discovered. 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. Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske are seen here in this 1985 family photo. Pavlinac soon admitted to making up her entire story, but her claims were ignored. The Pittsburgh police theorized James fell into the river while crossing a bridge near the city center and drowned. After the murder, Jesperson remembered they'd spent days together and he'd let her use a credit card. Largely considered an urban legend, the Smiley Face Killer, like the Manchester Pusher, murdered his victims by drowning. Jesperson had dated before her before killing her on March 3, 1995 because he believed she was after his money. Jesperson killed his next victim in June 1993 in Santa Nella, California. Oddly,Geib's head and shoulders were sticking out of the wateras if he had gone for a swim. Victim 6: Florida Jane Doe. Based on Pavlinac's statements, and that Sosnovke failed a polygraph test, authorities arrested Sosnovke on murder charges. Moore, Melissa G. & M. Bridget Cook (2009). While he has claimed to have killed as many as 160 people, only eight murders have been confirmed. And that's how I remember her," said Melissa Gavin, her longtime friend. 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. That's whyall ofthis doesn'tmake sense. Melissa G. Moore, Jesperson's older daughter, wrote Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killers Daughter (2009). I thought, 'Oh my God, it felt like I put my mother in jail.'". She threatened to call the police, and he strangled her. Jesperson got away easily so long as he was killing women he did not know, but his impulsivity got the best of him, and eventually, he murdered someone he did knowhis own girlfriend. A few days before his arrest, he wrote a letter to his brother in which he confessed to having killed eight people over the course of five years. ". 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. But when investigators were unable to match the purse and denim piece to Bennett, they confronted Pavlinac about fabricating evidence. ET on ABC. A journalist noticed the symbol and came up with the Happy Face Killer nickname. GILROY (CBS SF/AP) A victim of the Happy Face Killer has been identified nearly 30 years after her body was left near a rural Gilroy highway . I wanted to get those two people out of prison," he said in 1995, referring to Pavlinac and Sosnovske. She also examined her father's actions in the podcast Happy Face. April 19, 2022 / 7:43 AM / CBS San Francisco. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! The team believes the serial killers are highly sophisticated and communicate with each other on the dark web. Jesperson claims he killed her after she tried to double charge him for sex, according to Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer.. Pavlinac seemed to know intimate details about the case. Tommy Booth, 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. That's when they said she implicated herself in the murder, according to Det. The body of Julie Winningham, 41, of Camas, Washington, was found alongside a Washington State road in 1995. He left bodies in Oregon, California, Florida, Nebraska and Washington while working as a long-haul truck driver. The Happy Face Killer's eighth and final victim that would be his downfall. . Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Before his arrest, he also wrote a letter to his brother that admitted, "I am sorry that I turned out this way. [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. 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. 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. At the time, Pavlinac said she was able to dupe authorities because she had learned details of the crime from newspaper articles and from reading the search warrant without police noticing. 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. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. 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. 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. Possible Smiley Face killers victim Mason Cox. Jesperson was linked to murdering six other women, some of which remain unknown to this day: an unidentified woman who Jesperson said was named "Claudia" in August 1992 near Blythe, California; Cynthia Lynn Rose in September 1992 in Turlock, California; Lori Ann Pentland in November 1992 in Salem, Oregon; an unidentified woman who Jesperson said was named "Carla" in June 1993 in Santa Nella, California; an unidentified woman who Jesperson said was named "Suzanne" in September 1994 in Crestview, Florida; and Angela Subrize in January 1995 in Laramie County, Wyoming. More than 25 years have passed since the ordeal, and in that time, both Sosnovske and Pavlinac have died. Keith Hunter Jesperson committed his first murder in 1990. Sometimes they even brag about it. [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. Sosnovske pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. [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. She grew up in a small town in Washington state and survived the escalating violence from her home life and. Police have not saidif a smiley face was present near the death site. 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. 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. Victim 5: California Jane Doe. Daun Slagle is the sole survivor of the "Happy Face Killer." She is the only person to survive an attack by the infamous serial killer. After the body of his first victim, Taunja Bennett, was found, media attention surrounded Laverne Pavlinac, a woman who falsely confessed to having killed Bennett with the help of her abusive boyfriend, John Sosnovske. The body of a woman found near Gilroy, California was this week identified as Patricia Skiple, a victim of the Happy Face Killer. Editor Note: This is rerun of 2018 post. Investigators said there wasno sign of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. , "I'm in a field" before the call dropped. 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. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. [00:02:14] Rather than fall victim to the trauma surrounding her father's crimes and arrest, she processed the events. 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. Halfway through the game, Hurley called hisfiance, ClaireMahoney, pictured above, and said he wanted to leave. . The Smiley Face Killer. Because of their relationship, authorities connected her death to him. I'll go to death row.'". She was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life in prison with a 10-year minimum served. "She was that kind of woman. 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. [8][16] This led Phil Stanford, the journalist working the story for The Oregonian, to dub Jesperson "The Happy Face Killer". 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. "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. A Navy veteran, 24-year-old William Hurley went missing after leaving a Bruins hockey game in Boston,Massachusetts. 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. Her body was discovered behind the Blueberry Hill Cafe in Turlock, California. Remembering the first known victim of Happy Face serial killer. To learn more about this case, watch Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, streaming now on Oxygen. "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. Her body disintegrated against the hot asphalt as he drove. Her body was found after his arrest. 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. There, he assaulted, beat and strangled her. At some of the sites where the victims' bodies were found, smiley face graffiti had been left behind. 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. Homan and his friend somehow got separated during their walk home, and his friend ended up at the ER detox with a head injury after being picked up by police. B. If you need help or need help supporting someone else, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. 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. When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. that, using genetic genealogy, they were able to identify a body found in 1993 as Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon. are covered in bracing detail in the Oxygen special Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, now streaming.
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