Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of crime, abuse and murder. Readers’ discretion is advised.
Keith Jesperson, popularly known as the Happy Face Killer, is a serial killer and is known to have murdered at least 8 women during the early 1990s. In 1995, when he was being questioned for the murder of Julie Winningham, he confessed to his crimes and turned himself in. He was a long-haul truck driver and a divorced father of three when he came out to authorities.
In 1990, when Taunja Bennett, a 23-year-old woman was found murdered in Portland, Oregon, Laverne Pavlinac was convicted of the crime following her confession that she helped her boyfriend John Sosnovske rape and murder Bennett. They both were sentenced to life in prison after Sosnovske denied the allegations but was convicted. As it happened to be, Taunja Bennett was the Happy Face Killer’s first known victim and Pavlinac’s confession was false.
According to ABC News, Pavlinac seemed to know some very particular and intricate details of the case, making her confession extremely believable. However, her false confession didn’t just lead to the wrongful conviction of two people. This conviction was followed by the investigation getting derailed and the Happy Face Killer walking free to kill seven more people in the coming 5 years.
Keith Jesperson came to be known as the Happy Face Killer because he left letters with a smiley face at the end. He wrote of his first murder on the bathroom wall at a bus terminal in Montana and signed it off with a happy face. Subsequently, in 1994, he wrote to the Oregonian and described details of his crime in the letter. He signed that off too, similarly, pushing reported Phil Stanford to name him the Happy Face Killer.
Where is the Happy Face Killer now?
The Happy Face Killer is currently serving three consecutive life sentences in prison. He is at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, according to the U. S. Sun. In 2009, Jesperson was charged with murder once again. He was convicted for the third time in 2010, leading to him serving three consecutive sentences.
As late as 2023, authorities reportedly identified Keith Jesperson’s last known victim, Suzanne Kjellenberg. She was the only unidentified victim of the Happy Face Killer until then. Most of his victims were strangers to him and despite all of them being women, there wasn’t any specific age group for the victims. Winningham was the first known victim he was reportedly close to.
“To come clean… get it all over, the record straight. I had been worried about this for a long time. I wanted to get those two people out of prison,” Keith Jesperson reportedly said in his confession to authorities, according to ABC News. The Happy Face Killer was being questioned for the murder of Julie Winnigham who he had been dating by then.
Jesperson was known to suffer from a narcissistic personality and might have killed for pleasure. He allegedly took pride in his crimes and bragged about them in his confession. Although he initially took pride in the fact that he was free and someone else was framed for the case. He included in his confession that he felt remorse over the false convictions of others. The reason behind the false confession that led to the wrongful conviction, remains. mystery.
The Amazon Documentary series Mind of a Monster has this story as an episode titled “The Happy Face Killer“. It studies the evidence that led to Keith Jesperson being convicted of the series of murders. It is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
