When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. Murderous Keith Hunter Jesperson became known as the Happy Face Killer for his boasting letters to police, signed with a smiley face. His death was ruled an accidental drowning, andthe autopsy report noted"acute alcohol intoxication was a major contributing factor.". He left bodies in Oregon, California, Florida, Nebraska and Washington while working as a long-haul truck driver. [19] To avoid the possibility of facing the death penalty, Sosnovske pleaded no contest. California investigators have identified a victim of the West Coast's notorious "Happy Face Killer" nearly 30 years after her body was discovered near a highway in 1993, officials recently . , "I'm in a field" before the call dropped. She called him a second time, but his cell phone seemed to be out of battery. [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. 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. Jesperson, who was arrested in 1995 on suspicion of killing a woman in Washington state, was dubbed the Happy Face Killer because he drew smiley faces on letters he sent to the media and. A smiley face was found spray-painted near where Homans body was found. 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. Jesperson reported that he was raped at age 14. 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. This victim has been identified as Cynthia Lynn (Rose) Wilcox. That's whyall ofthis doesn'tmake sense. B. This finding is inconsistent with the belief that Booth drowned the night he disappeared. And they were laughing," Pavlinac told investigators. In 1990, shortly after his marriage ended, Keith Jesperson, a long-haul trucker from Selah, Washington, began killing women. Moore recounts living with Jesperson until her parents' 1990 divorce, and noticing how her father was different when she was in elementary school. 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." Pavlinac seemed to know intimate details about the case. The team believes the serial killers are highly sophisticated and communicate with each other on the dark web. Jespersons second victim, known only as Claudia, was found murdered on August 30, 1992 in Blythe, California. Because Jesperson allowed her to use his credit card to make a phone call, he devised a depraved way to conceal her identity. This led Jesperson to violently attack Martin until his father pulled him away. The term "Smiley Face Killers" come from the graffiti smiley faces supposedly found at the crime scenes. While in custody, Jesperson began revealing details of his killings and making claims of many others, most of which he later recanted. Per Courthouse News Service, Slagle is a registered nurse and grandmother residing in Chico, Calif. Several years later, Hucke began to suspect Jesperson was having affairs when strange women would call. But a few days later, they got another call from Pavlinac. , who survived a violent encounter with Jesperson when she was 21. Her body, which had been strangled and tied up with duct tape, was found on August 30, 1992. Police saidthere were no signs of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. 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. Jesperson met her in a bar in January 1995 and agreed to give her a ride before eventually killing her. Convicted murderer Keith Jesperson, right, shown here at a Nov. 2, 1995, court appearance in Portland, Ore., with attorney Thomas Phelan, has recanted all his previous murder admissions. "Now, I'm thinking, 'She's confessed she's pointed out the dump site, she's confessed to us on tape. The message was signed with a smiley face. In these supposed "Smiley Face" serial killings, popular, high-achieving, athletic young men (i.e. Eight murders were eventually linked to Jesperson, whos serving multiple concurrent sentences in Oregon State Penitentiary. 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. And that's how I remember her," said Melissa Gavin, her longtime friend. After moving to Selah, Washington, United States, he had trouble fitting in and making friends because of his large size. "I don't think she was in love with him. According to Jesperson, Pentland attempted to double the fee she charged for the sex he had been engaged in with her. Jesperson married Rose Hucke on August 2, 1975. Buddy up at all times. She maintains a very private lifestyle, so not much is known about her. He showed signs of psychopathic behavior from an early age which included torturing animals and attacking other children. 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. The Smiley Face Killers. 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. The only difference was that the American version, operating in the Midwest throughout the 1990s, spray painted a smiley face on his victims. Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. Jesperson grew up in Chilliwack, Canada before moving to Selah, Washington with his family when he was 12. 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 . Bennett was found strangled to death near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Victim 3:Cynthia Lyn Rose, 32, was found dead in September 1992. I had been worried about this for a long time. Director Rick Bota Writer Richard Christian Matheson Stars David Arquette Gloria Reuben Daryl Shuttleworth See production, box office & company info 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. . Before his arrest, he also wrote a letter to his brother that admitted, "I am sorry that I turned out this way. Surveillance footage captured Booth entering the bar where the celebration took place, but there is no video evidence of him leaving. Pieces of his artwork have been seen on "murderabilia" sites. The body of 23-year-old Taunja Bennett was found in this remote woodland near the Columbia Gorge in 1990. She would pop in and pop out, and over the years, She was that type of person.". 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. Soon after Angela Subrize ran into Jesperson at a bar in Spokane, Washington in January 1995, she traveled east with him in his truck. 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. 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. 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. In November 1995, a judge released Pavlinac and Sosnovske from prison. 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. Pavlinac made this false statement because she wanted to escape her abusive relationship with Sosnovske. 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. After a series of letters are sent to the press, the killer earned the moniker, 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. James' body, however, had almost no visible damage, which was highly suspicious because it had traveled through heavily trafficked river. The night of his disappearance, Geib made several calls from his cell phone. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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, reported the Spokesman-Review. [15], Although Jesperson at one point claimed to have had as many as 160 victims,[16] only the eight women killed in Washington, Oregon, California, Florida, Nebraska, and Wyoming have been confirmed. Smiley faces again served as his signature, prompting a journalist to dub Jesperson the "Happy Face Killer.". Various witnesses outside the hotel saw Welzien vomiting in the street. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. The following morning, James did not show up for work. She was killed in Washington state on March 10, 1995, and her body was discovered the next day. Hurley walked outside while Mahoney drove to the stadium to pick him up. They were able to identify her as Skiple on April 13. Or 'I will cause trouble for your family. Jesperson's last victim was Julie Winningham, who'd been his girlfriend. 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 "witchy" smiley face left at a murder site of the supposed "Smiley Face Serial Killer" seems to represent Charlie Manson. The first victim was found in 1997. The purse had not been found at the crime scene, and its location was considered information only the killer would know. 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. He duct-taped her mouth and hands before raping and strangling her. His death was ruled an undetermined drowning. Despite the distance between them, some detectives think that drownings are actually the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers. For now it remains only a theory that has yet to be proved. I knew it had to be around there someplace. Detectives first became aware of Pavlinac when she anonymously called them to report that she overheard Sosnovske at a bar bragging about killing Bennett. His brother gave this letter to law enforcement. Julie Winningham is seen here in this undated photo. What doesn't make sense is that many of the 40 cases the investigators have looked into have puzzling evidence. 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. According to detectives Anthony Duarte and Kevin Gannon, the Smiley Face Theory came into . Jesperson met 21-year-old Bennett in a bar in Portland, Oregon. [He said,] 'No, no. According to former detective Kevin Gannon and Dr. Lee Gilbertson, Geib's head and shoulders were sticking out of the water. 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. [7] Jesperson continued to spend time with his children when he was in town. The police gave him the nickname "The Happy Face Killer" as he would leave a happy face on his confession letters to the media. Pavlinac soon admitted to making up her entire story, but her claims were ignored. Homan was the eighth accidental drowning case in La Crosse over a nine-year period. [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. Many of his victims were sex workers and transients who had no connection to him. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! His victims, who were often raped and strangled, included short-term acquaintances, sex workers and a girlfriend. Investigators installed a hidden recording device in their home hoping to catch Sosnovske making incriminating statements. are covered in bracing detail in the Oxygen special Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, now streaming. Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. But it was all a lie. Largely considered an urban legend, the Smiley Face Killer, like the Manchester Pusher, murdered his victims by drowning. At her trial, Pavlinac recanted her confession, but the jury found her guilty. Between 1990 and 1995, eight women died at the hands of Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the Happy Face Killer. 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. 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. The body of Julie Winningham, 41, of Camas, Washington, was found alongside a Washington State road in 1995. Jesperson murdered another woman in August 1992 at a Turlock, California truck stop. 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. After getting in an argument with Bennett, he strangled her to death with his hands and disposed of her body. 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 . Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Surveillance footage captured Booth entering the bar where the celebration took place, but there is no video evidence of him leaving. On September 29, 2006, 21-year-old Lucas Homan vanished from La Crosse, Wisconsin. The area had been searched repeatedly in the weeks before his body was discovered, but no one had seen Booth. '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. I'll hurt your family.'". 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. Skiple was known to family and friends as Patsy, according to the sheriffs department. We need to report this, John.' She also examined her father's actions in the podcast Happy Face. 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. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Keith Hunter Jesperson committed his first murder in 1990. Her real name remains a mystery. His death was ruleda probable drowning, and there wereno signs of trauma. She threatened to call the police, and he strangled her. That this never happened. PHOTO: Justice for Mason/Facebook. "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. [11] Jesperson gives the Jane Doe's name as Claudia. 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. Investigators have revealed the name of a heretofore unidentified victim of the "Happy Face Killer," nearly 30 years after her murder. 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. 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. .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. 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. There, he assaulted, beat and strangled her. Investigators have revealed the name of a heretofore unidentified victim of the Happy Face Killer, nearly 30 years after her murder. That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. 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. A smiley face was paintedon a wall of the bar under a deck. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! Jesperson met 21-year-old Bennett in a bar in Portland, Oregon. Sosnovske pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. Pentlands body was found in November 1992 after being discarded in Salem, Oregon. Eight murders were eventually linked to Jesperson. The term "smiley face" became connected to their theory when the team . The morning of October 2, Homan's body was found not far from the shore of the Mississippi River. Jesperson killed his next victim in June 1993 in Santa Nella, California. She was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life in prison with a 10-year minimum served. ". "I consider this the most dangerous domestic terrorist group in the United States today," said Gannon. ", This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 19:00. She told investigators she drove them to a scenic overlook at the Columbia Gorge, where Sosnovske told her to pull over. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. In the summer of 1992, Jesperson met "Claudia" at a truck checkpoint in California. His last known victim was a woman he dated, which led to his capture and incarceration for life. 2. She then described how she watched Sosnovske have sex with Bennett while he directed her to hold a rope around her neck, and that she believed she pulled the rope too tight, killing Bennett. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. . His boss informed his family, who filed a missing persons report 72 hours later. The Smiley Face Killers. "John That's the worst thing you've ever gotten yourself into," she told him. In September 2009, Jesperson was indicted in Riverside County, California, on murder charges; he was extradited in December 2009. Tommy Booth, 24, disappeared on January 19, 2008 from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. Soon after his injury was when Keith started to kill. One day, she watched, horrified, as he hung stray kittens from the family's clothesline. At some of the sites where the victims' bodies were found, smiley face graffiti had been left behind. Pavlinac's daughters said their mother "was never the same" after she divorced their father after discovering he left her for another woman. Criminal profiler Pat Brown calls the serial killer theory "ludicrous", arguing that the evidence does not fit what is known about serial killers. 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. To learn more about this case, watch Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, streaming now on Oxygen. 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 book I: the Creation of a Serial Killer (2002), by Jack Olsen, delved into Jesperson's life. As she and Sosnovske started their life sentences, one of the United States' most notorious serial killers continued his murder spree. 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. Jesperson has said that he took 166 lives, but only the above eight murders have been attributed to him. In March 2018, she was featured in an episode, titled "Put on a Happy Face", of the Investigation Discovery true crime series Evil Lives Here. Jesperson was dubbed the "Happy Face Killer" for the smiley face drawings he included on a letter he sent to a Portland, Oregon newspaper, in which he bragged about killing women in a spree that began in 1990. Her identity remains unknown. 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 . [00:02:05] Hi, everyone. Hundreds of college-aged men have died in accidental or undetermined drownings. Welzien's friends said he had only three or four drinks, but by the end of the night he seemed very intoxicated. April 18, 2022, at 9:19 p.m. California 'Happy Face Killer' Victim ID'd After 29 Years. Her body disintegrated against the hot asphalt as he drove. Her body was found after his arrest. "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. [10] Jesperson soon realized that this job afforded him the opportunity to kill without being suspected. , who became known for signing the letters with a happy face symbol thus the Happy Face Killer moniker. 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. He left her remains in Nebraska, though Subrize was likely killed in Wyoming. 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. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. "She slapped him. "I [had] seen all these tracks and all this and that. Join Melissa Moore, host of Happy Face Season 1, as she helps Becky unravel the strange tale of her family, searching for answers to decades-old mysteries that remain unanswered in the modern day.
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