the happy face killer victims

All drowned after getting intoxicated. Many of his victims were sex workers and transients who had no connection to him. that, using genetic genealogy, they were able to identify a body found in 1993 as Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon. Other students hold photos of Mr. Jesperson's victims. . 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. He was found guilty of killing Bennett, Pentland, and Winningham and was sentenced to six consecutive and concurrent sentences. I think that she was at a bad place in her life," said her daughter Darlene Carpenter. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and prosecutors. Editor Note: This is rerun of 2018 post. Jesperson's first victim, 23-year-old Taunja Bennett, was killed on January 21, 1990. 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. Hundreds of college-aged men have died in accidental or undetermined drownings. Jesperson became a suspect after Winningham's was found since he was known to be her boyfriend. The body of a woman found near Gilroy, California was this week identified as Patricia Skiple, a victim of 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. [27] In November 2014, she wrote an article about her father for the BBC.[28]. 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 victim of the "Happy Face Killer" has been identified nearly 30 years after her body was left near a California highway, authorities said Monday. At the time of the incident, the females body was dressed in blue clothing and her identity was unknown, they wrote. Jesperson is serving four life sentences without possibility of parole in Oregon. At the time, he was being investigated for the murder of 41-year-old Julie Winningham, who some described as his girlfriend. On October 8, 2009, Hurley went to the game with two friends. Despite the distance between them, some detectives think that drownings are actually the work of a serial killer or group of serial killers. Laverne Pavlinac is seen here showing investigators where Taunja Bennett's body was found, even though she had nothing to do with the crime. The term "Smiley Face Killers" come from the graffiti smiley faces supposedly found at the crime scenes. 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. 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. But in the process, she also falsely implicated herself. 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. "[Julie] was beautiful inside as well as outside. PHOTO: Justice for Mason/Facebook. 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. , who survived a violent encounter with Jesperson when she was 21. In both cases, and as per usual . Sosnovske pleaded no contest to first-degree murder and kidnapping charges to avoid the possibility of a death sentence and was sentenced to life in prison. He decided to drag her body underneath his truck to impede identification. By Tim Stelloh. Sosnovske would later plead no contest to the murder charge. This finding is inconsistent with the belief that Booth drowned the night he disappeared. At some of the sites where the victims' bodies were found, smiley face graffiti had been left behind. They divorced in 1989. According to Jesperson, Pentland attempted to double the fee she charged for the sex he had been engaged in with her. He would often get into trouble for behaving badly, sometimes violently, and would be severely punished by his father. Victim 2: California Jane Doe. On April 23 in Hamburg and the following weekend in Dusseldorf, the bodies of young men were retrieved from waterways. 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. What Is the Smiley Face Killers Theory? 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. "I [had] seen all these tracks and all this and that. 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. Jesperson's last victim was the crime that ultimately led to his capture. Homan did not arrive for a golf outing the next day. You could tell where people had been in and out, the vehicles and everything else, limbs broke. April 19, 2022 / 7:43 AM / CBS San Francisco. He was reported missing later that day by his mother, and a massive manhunt ensued. Pieces of his artwork have been seen on "murderabilia" sites. Cloud State University. 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. When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. '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. Skiples remains were found on the side of. Patricia Skiple of Colton, Oregon, had been . 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. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! And just like his British counterpart, the police denied . The term "smiley face" became connected to their theory when the team . "Her persistence in this manipulation resulted in her own conviction.". However, Jesperson.css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;} later said he actually killed another woman and did not recognize Wilcox's photo. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. 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. 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. 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]. First, she told investigators that she knew Sosnovske did it because she saw Bennett's body, said Ingram. jocks) usually after a night of drinking at a bar are kidnapped, tortured, murdered and then their . 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. The area had been searched repeatedly in the weeks before his body was discovered, but no one had seen Booth. Pavlinac then confessed to her. He confessed to killing her and subsequently admitted to seven other murders. Eight murders were eventually linked to Jesperson. Homan was the eighth accidental drowning case in La Crosse over a nine-year period. 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. "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. The first victim was found in 1997. 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." I'llgo to the pen. While in custody, Jesperson began revealing details of his killings and making claims of many others, most of which he later recanted. Halfway through the game, Hurley called hisfiance, ClaireMahoney, pictured above, and said he wanted to leave. 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. 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. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. But it was all a lie. Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. I knew it had to be around there someplace. Sosnovske pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. He left her remains in Nebraska, though Subrize was likely killed in Wyoming. 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. Pavlinac made this false statement because she wanted to escape her abusive relationship with Sosnovske. For now it remains only a theory that has yet to be proved. 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. He has said he strangled her because she wouldn't let him sleep. "She slapped him. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department announced. T he Smiley Face death toll continues to climb, this time in Germany. All calls are toll-free and confidential. Jesperson described murdering her, like other women he killed, as putting her out of her misery.. Pavlinac had made the whole thing up. In the summer of 1992, Jesperson met "Claudia" at a truck checkpoint in California. Best Known For: Serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face Killer," brutally murdered eight women between 1990 and 1995. Based on Pavlinac's statements, and that Sosnovke failed a polygraph test, authorities arrested Sosnovke on murder charges. The book I: the Creation of a Serial Killer (2002), by Jack Olsen, delved into Jesperson's life. Julie Winningham is seen here in this undated photo. The body of 23-year-old Taunja Bennett was found in this remote woodland near the Columbia Gorge in 1990. "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. Murderous Keith Hunter Jesperson became known as the Happy Face Killer for his boasting letters to police, signed with a smiley face. 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. There, he assaulted, beat and strangled her. 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. That night, he had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of friends. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. I thought, 'Oh my God, it felt like I put my mother in jail.'". 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. Who is the Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson? Their house bordered an apple orchard, and Jesperson killed stray cats and gophers that wandered nearby. Victim 6: Florida Jane Doe. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. On September 29, 2006, 21-year-old Lucas Homan vanished from La Crosse, Wisconsin. [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. This victim has been identified as Cynthia Lynn (Rose) Wilcox. Their work has spawned an Oxygen series, Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice, which aired in January 2019. Bennett was found strangled to death near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. After he raped and strangled her, Jesperson dumped her body near the Columbia River Gorge, outside Portland. He strapped the woman beneath his big rig, the New York Post reported. However, the kicker is that these drownings happening in 11 different states. He split from his wife in 1990 after 15 years of . She later rescinded her confession, but in 1991 a jury still found her guilty. Pavlinac had been with Sosnovske, a farmhand 18 years her junior, for a decade when the Bennett case caught her attention in 1990. Some of his victims, as seen in this timeline, have never been identified. "She was that kind of woman. Geib's body was found three weeks later in a lake that had previously been searched. 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. And she [said], 'Well, they told me I had to tell you thisbecauseif I told you then they would believe me,'" Carpenter said. 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. He introduced himself to Bennett at a bar and invited her to a house he was renting. Investigators said there wasno sign of foul play, and his death was ruled an undetermined drowning. The last known sighting of the Duquesne University graduate student was caught on asurveillance camera in the downtown area. He claimed to have victims in five states: Washington, California, Florida, Wyoming and Oregon. Rather than fall victim to the trauma surrounding her father's crimes and arrest, she processed the events. He showed signs of psychopathic behavior from an early age which included torturing animals and attacking other children. ET on ABC. Eight murders were eventually linked to Jesperson, whos serving multiple concurrent sentences in Oregon State Penitentiary. In November 1992, Jesperson had an encounter with sex worker Laurie Anne Pentland at a truck stop. are covered in bracing detail in the Oxygen special Snapped Notorious: The Happy Face Killer, now streaming. You can find episodes of Serial Killers and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Moore, Melissa G. & M. Bridget Cook (2009). [5] This continued as he got older. Watch the full story on "20/20" THIS FRIDAY at 9 p.m. He was a 21-year-old student at Fordham University, and his body was found in. I had been worried about this for a long time. 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. For example, the Canadian-American serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the . Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske are seen here in this 1985 family photo. I'll hurt your family.'". 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. Investigators had been trying to nail down a suspect for weeks when Pavlinac brought Sosnovske to their attention. After the murder, Jesperson remembered they'd spent days together and he'd let her use a credit card. In 2019, investigators began utilizing genetic genealogy in an attempt to identify Blue Pacheco, partnering with the nonprofit DNA Doe Project. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. Her body was discovered behind the Blueberry Hill Cafe in Turlock, California. Jespersons heinous crimes as well as shocking twists in the case including a, couple who took the blame for one of his homicides. 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". [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. 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. 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. It had been washed ashore on a beach in Gary, Indiana, 30 miles south of Chicago.

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