Reports suggest that Paramount+ is working on a new series titled Happy Face, which will showcase the life of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson. According to Variety, Dennis Quaid will play the lead role.
Keith Hunter Jesperson, aka the Happy Face Killer, has eight confirmed murders. However, some believe that he might have killed 160 individuals. Active during the 1990s, Jesperson worked as a truck diver and had to travel to different states, including Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Nebraska, California, and Florida, where he committed murders.
According to Variety, the Happy Face Killer’s daughter, Melissa Moore, learned about her father’s crimes when she was 15. In 2009, she published a book, Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer’s Daughter, that explored Melissa’s life with her parents until their divorce in 1990. Reportedly, Keith Hunter Jesperson and his ex-wife, Rose Hucke, were married for 15 years.
Keith Hunter Jesperson stood at a towering six feet, six inches, which made it easy to kill his victims. Reports suggest that he committed his first murder after separating from his wife. For his crimes, Jesperson is currently serving three consecutive life sentences in Oregon’s state penitentiary since 1995.
How many children did the Happy Face Killer have?
According to Good Morning America, Melissa Moore now has children of her own. However, at times, she still feels the fallout of her father’s crimes. In a 2015 interview with ABC News’ 20/20, she stated, “It was really tough to try to find the resources to tell my children who their grandfather is. There’s no books like what to do if your dad is a serial killer. There’s no pamphlets, no support groups, and the best answer that I could find for myself was just little by little.”
When Keith Hunter Jesperson turned 20, he married Rose Hucke and stayed married to her until their divorce. The couple had three children together, with Melissa being the eldest. She had a sister and a brother. Melissa was only 10 years old when her parent’s separated.
Melissa recalled that she and her siblings were victims of secondary crime, stating, “We are secondary crime victims. We carry that shame and we want to remove that. I feel in a sense I am related to my father, but I didn’t cause the pain. But knowing that my father caused some pain causes me pain.”
Good Morning America reported that to de-stigmatize her situation, she wrote Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer’s Daughter. Furthermore, she has become an advocate for individuals related to mass murderers. Her goal is to understand and comfort people who share an experience similar to hers.
She stated, “I got several emails saying, ‘Oh my goodness, you have a story that’s similar to mine. I thought I was alone. I want help. Can you help me?’ They have been living in shame the way I used to live in shame, thinking that you’re somehow responsible for that family member’s actions, that you owe the world an apology.”
Over the years, Melissa has been contacted by over 100 children of murderers. Interestingly, this list includes the daughter of the BTK Killer and the Boston Strangler’s family.
