Keith Jesperson
| Keith Hunter Jesperson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Keith Hunter Jesperson April 6, 1955 Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada |
| Other names | The Happy Face Killer, Igor, Ig |
| Height | 6 ft 7.5 in (202 cm) |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment (Without Parole) |
| Spouse(s) | Rose Hucke (m 1975–s 1990) |
| Children | 3 |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 8 confirmed |
|
Span of killings
|
23 January 1990–10 March 1995 |
| Country | United States, Canada |
| State(s) | California, Florida, Nebraska, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming |
|
Date apprehended
|
30 March 1995 |
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. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and prosecutors. Many of his victims were prostitutes and transients who had no connection to him.
Strangulation was his preferred method of murdering, the same method he often used to kill animals as a child.
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.
Jesperson was upset that he was not getting any media attention. He first drew a smiley face on a bathroom wall (hundreds of miles away from the scene of the crime), on which he anonymously confessed to killing Bennett.
When that did not elicit a response, he began writing letters to the media and prosecutors.
His last victim was his long-time girlfriend, a crime that ultimately led to his capture. While Jesperson has claimed to have killed as many as 160 people, only eight murders have been confirmed.
Keith Hunter Jesperson was born on 6 April 1955, to Leslie (Les) and Gladys Jesperson in Chilliwack, British Columbia, the middle child with two brothers and two sisters. His father was a domineering alcoholic and Jesperson claimed that his paternal grandfather was also violent. Les Jesperson denied being an abusive parent; however, while investigating for his book on Jesperson, author Jack Olsen was able to confirm much of the claimed abuse with other family members.
He had a violent and troubled childhood under a domineering, alcoholic father. Treated like an outcast 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. Despite consistently getting into trouble in his youth, including twice attempting to kill children who had crossed him, Jesperson graduated from high school, secured a job as a truck driver, got married, and had three children. In 1990, after 15 years of marriage, Jesperson was divorced and saw his dream to become a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman dashed following an injury. After returning to truck driving, it was that year that Jesperson began to kill.
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Wikipedia