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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:08,931 --> 00:00:10,621 [Keith Hunter Jesperson on phone] 2 00:00:56,275 --> 00:00:59,615 Welcome to Very Scary People. I'm Donnie Wahlberg. 3 00:00:59,655 --> 00:01:02,545 Julie Winningham's family and friends would describe her 4 00:01:02,586 --> 00:01:04,996 as kind, warm, and free-spirited. 5 00:01:05,034 --> 00:01:08,484 So when the 41-year-old's body was found off a remote road 6 00:01:08,517 --> 00:01:10,207 in the Columbia River Gorge, 7 00:01:10,241 --> 00:01:12,691 her loved ones couldn't imagine who would want to kill her. 8 00:01:13,689 --> 00:01:15,829 But as police start investigating her murder, 9 00:01:15,862 --> 00:01:17,832 they discover more bodies 10 00:01:17,862 --> 00:01:19,412 and a shocking link to a letter 11 00:01:19,448 --> 00:01:22,478 sent to The Oregonian newspaper a year before. 12 00:01:22,517 --> 00:01:25,167 Here's part two of the Happy Face Killer. 13 00:01:39,689 --> 00:01:41,659 [Casey Jordan] January 22nd, 1990, 14 00:01:41,689 --> 00:01:44,519 police would receive a call of a female body 15 00:01:44,551 --> 00:01:47,341 that had been spotted down the incline 16 00:01:47,379 --> 00:01:48,999 at the Columbia River Gorge. 17 00:01:50,068 --> 00:01:53,338 Her body was found partially unclothed, um, 18 00:01:53,379 --> 00:01:56,139 her pants had been pulled down, her top was up. 19 00:01:57,275 --> 00:02:00,235 The woman had a rope around her neck. 20 00:02:00,275 --> 00:02:02,615 She had been strangled. 21 00:02:02,655 --> 00:02:05,585 She'd been strangled. She'd been beaten badly. 22 00:02:07,241 --> 00:02:09,591 [Michelle L. White] They wanted to identify her. 23 00:02:09,620 --> 00:02:13,660 So I had to think of something to identify her. 24 00:02:13,689 --> 00:02:16,619 All I could think of is she had very flat feet 25 00:02:16,655 --> 00:02:19,445 and she had a mole on her hand. 26 00:02:19,482 --> 00:02:22,382 [Jordan] She confirmed that it was indeed her sister, 27 00:02:22,413 --> 00:02:24,313 Taunja Bennett. 28 00:02:24,344 --> 00:02:27,074 [Joey Jackson] Laverne Pavlinac confessed that she was there 29 00:02:27,103 --> 00:02:31,033 when her boyfriend John Sosnovske killed Taunja Bennett. 30 00:02:31,068 --> 00:02:33,828 Both Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske 31 00:02:33,862 --> 00:02:36,592 are charged with the murder of 23-year-old Taunja Bennett. 32 00:02:40,241 --> 00:02:42,971 [Monty Buettner] The Oregonian received a letter from 33 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,170 a person that they deemed the Happy Face Killer. 34 00:02:46,206 --> 00:02:49,276 And the reason they deem that is it was marked with a happy face. 35 00:02:50,724 --> 00:02:53,724 The letters detailed five, um, 36 00:02:53,758 --> 00:02:57,378 homicides that they claimed responsibility for, including Taunja Bennett. 37 00:02:59,482 --> 00:03:02,482 [Jeff Gianola] Was he playing some kind of cat and mouse game? 38 00:03:02,517 --> 00:03:05,657 It was pretty obvious this wasn't a hoax. 39 00:03:09,862 --> 00:03:12,212 [Jesperson on recording] 40 00:03:23,206 --> 00:03:26,516 In 1994, the Internet was just starting 41 00:03:26,551 --> 00:03:28,721 to become a big thing. 42 00:03:29,896 --> 00:03:33,136 And, uh, newspapers, like The Oregonian, 43 00:03:33,172 --> 00:03:36,452 had the resources to turn reporters, 44 00:03:36,482 --> 00:03:39,282 like Phil Stanford, loose on important stories. 45 00:03:39,310 --> 00:03:44,000 And he found a lot of facts that pointed 46 00:03:44,034 --> 00:03:49,344 toward the letter being an authentic confession letter. 47 00:03:49,379 --> 00:03:52,139 [Alafair Burke] Law enforcement did investigate the letters, 48 00:03:52,172 --> 00:03:54,832 trying to identify who the author might be. 49 00:03:54,862 --> 00:03:58,382 and to line up those, uh, claimed homicides 50 00:03:58,413 --> 00:03:59,863 with actual cases. 51 00:03:59,896 --> 00:04:02,756 Um, they did pull fingerprints 52 00:04:02,793 --> 00:04:06,723 and DNA from the letters, 53 00:04:06,758 --> 00:04:11,168 but there was nothing in the database to match them to. 54 00:04:11,206 --> 00:04:14,276 Unfortunately, these letters didn't really open 55 00:04:14,310 --> 00:04:16,280 any new avenues of investigation, 56 00:04:16,310 --> 00:04:19,240 'cause there was no indication of who was writing the letters. 57 00:04:19,275 --> 00:04:21,405 There was no way to prove who had authored them. 58 00:04:23,137 --> 00:04:26,407 [Jackson] Even though they have the six-page letter, which speaks specifically 59 00:04:26,448 --> 00:04:28,898 about the 1990 murder of Taunja Bennett, 60 00:04:28,931 --> 00:04:30,761 authorities don't re-open the case 61 00:04:30,793 --> 00:04:33,383 because they believe they have the right people in prison, 62 00:04:33,413 --> 00:04:36,453 John Sosnovske and Laverne Pavlinac. 63 00:04:37,931 --> 00:04:41,411 I was actually surprised after the series ran 64 00:04:41,448 --> 00:04:43,758 that there wasn't an uproar 65 00:04:43,793 --> 00:04:47,933 from the Multnomah County, uh, District Attorney's office 66 00:04:47,965 --> 00:04:49,965 or the Sheriff's Office. 67 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,690 There was nothing. They didn't re-open an investigation. 68 00:04:53,724 --> 00:04:55,664 They just did nothing 69 00:04:55,689 --> 00:04:57,859 and life went on. 70 00:05:00,965 --> 00:05:04,235 It was a year later, as I recall... 71 00:05:05,482 --> 00:05:08,172 ...that a woman was murdered. 72 00:05:22,310 --> 00:05:24,900 March 11th, 1995, was a Saturday. 73 00:05:24,931 --> 00:05:26,521 Um, I was on days off, 74 00:05:26,551 --> 00:05:29,861 and so, I received a call about 4:00 PM 75 00:05:29,896 --> 00:05:33,966 that a, uh, passerby had stopped along, uh, Highway 14, 76 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,140 um, to urinate off the side of the road where he couldn't be seen. 77 00:05:38,965 --> 00:05:41,235 Highway 14 basically travels 78 00:05:41,275 --> 00:05:45,025 east and west through the Columbia River Gorge. 79 00:05:45,068 --> 00:05:49,168 As he was doing that, he noticed what he initially thought was a mannequin. 80 00:05:49,206 --> 00:05:52,136 But as he looked at it a little closer, a little harder 81 00:05:52,172 --> 00:05:55,102 from where he stood, he saw fingernail polish 82 00:05:55,137 --> 00:05:56,657 and those kind of things that indicated 83 00:05:56,689 --> 00:05:58,859 it may not be a mannequin, it may be human remains. 84 00:06:02,482 --> 00:06:05,722 As I approached the scene, I'm looking for any signs of her clothing. 85 00:06:05,758 --> 00:06:08,518 I'm looking for signs of any identification, 86 00:06:08,551 --> 00:06:11,661 I'm looking for signs of maybe a purse or a wallet, 87 00:06:11,689 --> 00:06:13,309 and I found none in the area. 88 00:06:13,344 --> 00:06:17,004 Um, it was just a nude woman with, with no clothing there, 89 00:06:17,034 --> 00:06:19,834 no, um, forms of identification. 90 00:06:19,862 --> 00:06:23,282 What we did is load her into, um, 91 00:06:23,310 --> 00:06:26,410 a transport vehicle and took her to the Clark County Coroner's Office. 92 00:06:29,965 --> 00:06:32,965 The medical examiner concludes that this woman 93 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,660 died of manual strangulation. 94 00:06:35,689 --> 00:06:39,689 Once we knew that it was caused by another, being a homicide, 95 00:06:39,724 --> 00:06:42,004 now we need to identify who this person is. 96 00:06:42,034 --> 00:06:43,724 [Jordan] They lift her fingerprints 97 00:06:43,758 --> 00:06:45,828 and match them to a set in the system. 98 00:06:45,862 --> 00:06:49,832 [Buettner] Those fingerprints were put into the, uh, national database, 99 00:06:49,862 --> 00:06:52,832 um, where we were able to determine her identity 100 00:06:53,689 --> 00:06:55,169 as Julie Winningham. 101 00:06:56,689 --> 00:07:00,519 Julie was my mother and I was her only son. 102 00:07:00,551 --> 00:07:03,901 She was truly a kind-hearted, free-spirited... 103 00:07:03,931 --> 00:07:05,931 Loved to travel. 104 00:07:05,965 --> 00:07:09,135 She just wasn't a negative soul. 105 00:07:10,517 --> 00:07:13,617 She was loving and caring, she didn't do people wrong. 106 00:07:18,344 --> 00:07:21,074 [Gianola] The Taunja Bennett murder happened in 1990 107 00:07:21,103 --> 00:07:24,213 and her body is dumped in the Columbia River Gorge. 108 00:07:24,241 --> 00:07:28,241 Five years later, in 1995, 109 00:07:28,275 --> 00:07:30,235 Julie Winningham's body is found 110 00:07:30,275 --> 00:07:33,445 in the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington side. 111 00:07:34,827 --> 00:07:37,757 Nobody knows yet that those two murders 112 00:07:37,793 --> 00:07:40,033 are connected to the same person. 113 00:07:53,206 --> 00:07:54,276 [Jesperson on recording] 114 00:08:00,137 --> 00:08:02,137 [Buettner] Once we identified who she is, 115 00:08:02,172 --> 00:08:04,862 then our next step is to 116 00:08:04,896 --> 00:08:08,206 talk to Julie's friends and family to figure out 117 00:08:08,241 --> 00:08:10,691 who she was last with, when she was last seen. 118 00:08:10,724 --> 00:08:12,594 [Jordan] According to detectives, 119 00:08:12,620 --> 00:08:14,480 friends of Julie Winningham confirmed 120 00:08:14,517 --> 00:08:17,997 that she had been seen with a very large man, 121 00:08:18,034 --> 00:08:20,664 and that these two had become very close. 122 00:08:20,689 --> 00:08:24,169 This man was a long haul truck driver, drove a big blue truck. 123 00:08:25,862 --> 00:08:28,142 [Buettner] One of the people we spoke with, a friend of Julie's, 124 00:08:28,172 --> 00:08:29,412 was Bonnie Valenstein. 125 00:08:29,448 --> 00:08:32,028 She actually described that she had 126 00:08:32,068 --> 00:08:33,858 bought a car from Julie 127 00:08:33,896 --> 00:08:36,856 a few weeks prior to her disappearance. 128 00:08:36,896 --> 00:08:41,166 There was this large man, actually signed it as a witness. 129 00:08:41,206 --> 00:08:43,996 And so we're thinking, "Okay, we're gonna have a signature. 130 00:08:44,034 --> 00:08:46,244 This is too easy. It can't be that easy. 131 00:08:46,275 --> 00:08:48,825 It's not gonna pan out as we hope." 132 00:08:48,862 --> 00:08:52,382 However, when she showed us the bill of sale, 133 00:08:52,413 --> 00:08:53,903 the signature was pretty clear. 134 00:08:53,931 --> 00:08:55,661 But in addition to that, 135 00:08:55,689 --> 00:08:59,409 the signer had actually printed his name, Keith Hunter Jesperson. 136 00:09:02,344 --> 00:09:05,624 And that's the first time that we had that information, 137 00:09:05,655 --> 00:09:07,305 as far as who this truck driver was. 138 00:09:09,793 --> 00:09:14,383 [Jordan] Detectives are able to track down the truck of Keith Jesperson 139 00:09:14,413 --> 00:09:16,663 to a company in Spokane, Washington. 140 00:09:16,689 --> 00:09:20,379 And they do confirm that Keith Jesperson is a truck driver for them. 141 00:09:20,413 --> 00:09:22,553 And in fact, he's on a long haul right now. 142 00:09:22,586 --> 00:09:24,786 He's driving a truck down the California coast 143 00:09:24,827 --> 00:09:27,097 to go to Las Cruces, New Mexico. 144 00:09:27,137 --> 00:09:29,477 And he is scheduled to arrive in two days. 145 00:09:29,517 --> 00:09:32,587 Police get on a flight to Las Cruces 146 00:09:32,620 --> 00:09:34,620 and are there waiting for him 147 00:09:34,655 --> 00:09:36,545 when the truck pulls in with its delivery. 148 00:09:37,862 --> 00:09:39,972 [Buettner] At that stage, all we knew is that 149 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,860 this guy's a very large man, 150 00:09:41,896 --> 00:09:44,236 and that if he resists, 151 00:09:44,275 --> 00:09:46,755 it's going to be a struggle 152 00:09:46,793 --> 00:09:48,793 to get him into custody and restrained. 153 00:09:48,827 --> 00:09:52,307 And so, um, we had to prepare for the worst. 154 00:09:56,517 --> 00:09:59,717 But once he came to the gate, the officer was there, 155 00:09:59,758 --> 00:10:03,168 uh, explained, "Just park your truck here. Follow me on foot." 156 00:10:03,206 --> 00:10:06,236 And as we approached him and identified ourselves as detectives, 157 00:10:06,275 --> 00:10:08,405 he just didn't seem to be bothered by it. 158 00:10:08,448 --> 00:10:10,278 Didn't seem to be threatened in any way. 159 00:10:10,310 --> 00:10:12,660 Um, he was very, uh, calm, 160 00:10:12,689 --> 00:10:15,309 um, was very cooperative, wanted to help us. 161 00:10:15,344 --> 00:10:18,724 Even not knowing what the investigation was for, 162 00:10:18,758 --> 00:10:20,448 he still was willing to talk to us. 163 00:10:22,517 --> 00:10:25,167 It wasn't until we actually got into the interview room 164 00:10:25,206 --> 00:10:28,656 that we told him, "We're actually from the state of Washington 165 00:10:28,689 --> 00:10:31,479 and we're investigating the death of Julie Winningham." 166 00:10:32,482 --> 00:10:34,282 [Jordan] He's incredibly talkative, 167 00:10:34,310 --> 00:10:36,210 but he only wants to talk about 168 00:10:36,241 --> 00:10:38,311 how great Keith Jesperson is. 169 00:10:39,344 --> 00:10:41,594 He's friendly, he's cooperative, 170 00:10:41,620 --> 00:10:44,410 but he denies any knowledge of what happened 171 00:10:44,448 --> 00:10:46,548 to Julie Winningham. 172 00:10:46,586 --> 00:10:48,376 [Buettner] As we interviewed him, he had described that 173 00:10:48,413 --> 00:10:50,593 they had actually met two years before. 174 00:10:50,620 --> 00:10:53,970 Had a romantic relationship at that point in time, 175 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,310 that, uh, Julie had actually accompanied him 176 00:10:56,344 --> 00:10:59,144 on several runs, uh, driving truck. 177 00:10:59,172 --> 00:11:00,622 They went down to California, 178 00:11:00,655 --> 00:11:02,335 they went to Yakima, Washington. 179 00:11:02,379 --> 00:11:05,969 [on recording] 180 00:11:20,103 --> 00:11:23,973 [Don Findlay] From my understanding, my mother had met Keith 181 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,550 three years prior to '95, 182 00:11:26,586 --> 00:11:28,926 because she knew other truck drivers 183 00:11:28,965 --> 00:11:31,025 and hung out at the truck stops, and... 184 00:11:32,413 --> 00:11:36,143 So, somehow, she reconnected with Keith 185 00:11:36,172 --> 00:11:39,902 and they spent about three weeks in town together. 186 00:11:41,103 --> 00:11:43,383 [Buettner] Keith described that about the first week 187 00:11:43,413 --> 00:11:46,793 in March '95, that he'd again saw her, 188 00:11:46,827 --> 00:11:48,717 uh, at a truck stop, 189 00:11:48,758 --> 00:11:51,378 and that they struck up a conversation again, 190 00:11:51,413 --> 00:11:54,033 kinda started the relationship over again. 191 00:11:54,068 --> 00:11:57,518 At this stage, he described that it was kinda one-sided, 192 00:11:57,551 --> 00:12:00,451 that he really didn't care for her, is how he described it, 193 00:12:00,482 --> 00:12:03,032 that he felt that she was actually only with him 194 00:12:03,068 --> 00:12:04,928 because he was buying her things. 195 00:12:04,965 --> 00:12:08,275 But that she was willing to have sex with him. 196 00:12:13,034 --> 00:12:15,104 [Findlay] She was beautiful, kind-hearted, 197 00:12:15,137 --> 00:12:18,927 but at the same time, she was a very weak soul. 198 00:12:18,965 --> 00:12:21,235 Even though she was a free-spirited soul. 199 00:12:22,413 --> 00:12:25,213 So I think that's what drew him in. 200 00:12:26,379 --> 00:12:28,379 Because he's such a negative person. 201 00:12:28,413 --> 00:12:30,003 I don't know. 202 00:12:30,034 --> 00:12:32,524 But that's what I think drew him in. 203 00:12:33,586 --> 00:12:35,926 Detectives felt that Keith Jesperson 204 00:12:35,965 --> 00:12:37,785 was hiding information about Julie, 205 00:12:37,827 --> 00:12:40,787 but didn't have enough evidence to arrest him. 206 00:12:40,827 --> 00:12:43,547 Though Detective Buettner gave Jesperson his card, 207 00:12:43,586 --> 00:12:46,066 telling him to call him if he has anything further to say. 208 00:12:53,620 --> 00:12:55,520 [Jorden] When those detectives return home 209 00:12:55,551 --> 00:12:57,861 from New Mexico on March 24th, 210 00:12:57,896 --> 00:13:00,996 they receive a message from Keith Jesperson. 211 00:13:01,034 --> 00:13:02,664 He says, 212 00:13:02,689 --> 00:13:05,929 "This is Keith Hunter Jesperson." 213 00:13:05,965 --> 00:13:08,095 [Jesperson on recording] 214 00:13:22,379 --> 00:13:24,659 [Buettner] Jesperson admitted that 215 00:13:24,689 --> 00:13:26,789 he was waiting in his truck for Julie. 216 00:13:26,827 --> 00:13:29,517 Julie showed up, had some pizza, 217 00:13:29,551 --> 00:13:31,591 they had consensual sex. 218 00:13:31,620 --> 00:13:34,070 They then were talking about some other things. 219 00:13:34,103 --> 00:13:36,763 Jesperson said he wanted to have sex again. 220 00:13:36,793 --> 00:13:38,763 Julie told him, "Well, I don't want to." 221 00:13:38,793 --> 00:13:41,663 And then Jesperson said, "Well, what if I do it anyway?" 222 00:13:41,689 --> 00:13:43,829 She told him, "Well, then, that would be rape. 223 00:13:43,862 --> 00:13:45,972 And I would have to report that." 224 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:47,660 That angered Jesperson. 225 00:13:47,689 --> 00:13:49,519 And at that point, he said he strangled her. 226 00:13:50,827 --> 00:13:53,787 [on recording] 227 00:14:15,034 --> 00:14:17,904 Everything he told us confirmed that he had indeed 228 00:14:17,931 --> 00:14:20,071 killed Julie Winningham by strangling her, 229 00:14:20,103 --> 00:14:22,863 and then dumped her body in Skamania County in the Columbia Gorge. 230 00:14:22,896 --> 00:14:25,826 And within, uh, a short amount of time, 231 00:14:25,862 --> 00:14:28,722 Keith Jesperson was taken into custody for the murder of Julie Winningham. 232 00:14:41,137 --> 00:14:44,377 [Jordan] Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in 1955 233 00:14:44,413 --> 00:14:47,723 to his father Leslie and mother Gladys Jesperson 234 00:14:47,758 --> 00:14:51,548 in the little rural town of Chilliwack, British Columbia. 235 00:14:51,586 --> 00:14:53,446 He was the middle of five children, 236 00:14:53,482 --> 00:14:56,622 with two brothers and two sisters. 237 00:14:56,655 --> 00:15:00,275 Keith was considered the slowest of the Jesperson children. 238 00:15:00,310 --> 00:15:03,100 They say he often dawdled, 239 00:15:03,137 --> 00:15:06,137 and would like to spend a lot of time by himself, 240 00:15:06,172 --> 00:15:07,902 isolating himself. 241 00:15:07,931 --> 00:15:11,381 He was sort of the black sheep of the family. 242 00:15:11,413 --> 00:15:15,003 [Janine Beghtol] His father was pretty abusive, is what I understand, 243 00:15:15,034 --> 00:15:17,004 towards Keith only. 244 00:15:17,896 --> 00:15:20,476 And his father was a drinker 245 00:15:20,517 --> 00:15:24,097 and that Keith got the blunt of it. 246 00:15:24,137 --> 00:15:26,307 [on recording] 247 00:15:33,689 --> 00:15:37,519 [Jordan] Keith's father made his children work every single day. 248 00:15:37,551 --> 00:15:41,101 And if the children made any sign of laziness, 249 00:15:41,137 --> 00:15:42,897 he would beat them with a leather belt. 250 00:15:44,344 --> 00:15:47,624 [Robert Schug] He reports physical abuse coming from his dad, 251 00:15:47,655 --> 00:15:50,785 and how his father often 252 00:15:50,827 --> 00:15:54,657 made him feel like an inconvenience. 253 00:15:54,689 --> 00:15:58,479 Like someone just to be tolerated. 254 00:15:58,517 --> 00:16:02,207 [Jordan] In spite of all this, Keith would insist that his father Leslie 255 00:16:02,241 --> 00:16:04,721 was one of the best dads a kid could have. 256 00:16:04,758 --> 00:16:07,448 [Schug] His dad was well known in the community. 257 00:16:07,482 --> 00:16:10,762 He probably had his father up on a pedestal, 258 00:16:10,793 --> 00:16:12,833 which makes it even more challenging 259 00:16:12,862 --> 00:16:14,862 when you're trying to be recognized, 260 00:16:14,896 --> 00:16:18,896 when Dad is almost a superhero. 261 00:16:18,931 --> 00:16:21,931 The relationship with his mother, distant emotionally. 262 00:16:22,793 --> 00:16:24,933 It shouldn't be a surprise that 263 00:16:24,965 --> 00:16:27,715 an individual who has very little, 264 00:16:27,758 --> 00:16:29,718 if not any emotional connection with his mother... 265 00:16:31,103 --> 00:16:34,243 ...ends up being able to perpetrate violence against women. 266 00:16:39,448 --> 00:16:43,998 The family moves to the small town in Washington called Selah. 267 00:16:44,034 --> 00:16:46,344 Keith just seemed to me, 268 00:16:46,379 --> 00:16:48,719 um, an ex-classmate 269 00:16:48,758 --> 00:16:51,788 that I feel like I never knew. 270 00:16:53,137 --> 00:16:54,897 I first met Keith 271 00:16:54,931 --> 00:16:57,481 as a freshman in high school. 272 00:16:57,517 --> 00:16:59,927 I'm only 4'9", 273 00:16:59,965 --> 00:17:03,275 and Keith is, like, 6'7". 274 00:17:03,310 --> 00:17:05,480 So, he towered me. 275 00:17:05,517 --> 00:17:07,897 [Jorden] Keith didn't do very well in school. 276 00:17:07,931 --> 00:17:11,141 He was very large and uncoordinated, 277 00:17:11,172 --> 00:17:13,762 and the other kids made fun of him and even bullied him. 278 00:17:15,137 --> 00:17:18,927 [Beghtol] Keith tried really hard to try to fit in. 279 00:17:18,965 --> 00:17:21,165 He was trying to get attention at school 280 00:17:21,206 --> 00:17:23,236 'cause he wasn't getting it at home. 281 00:17:23,275 --> 00:17:26,825 Course, we never did to his face, but unfortunately, 282 00:17:26,862 --> 00:17:29,972 because of his size, we would call him Baby Huey. 283 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,900 It was a cartoon character 284 00:17:31,931 --> 00:17:35,101 back in the late '60s and '70s. 285 00:17:36,827 --> 00:17:40,407 [Schug] Keith grew up experiencing physical abuse from his parents, 286 00:17:40,448 --> 00:17:42,338 experiencing bullying from his peers. 287 00:17:42,379 --> 00:17:44,899 And what we know about that is, 288 00:17:44,931 --> 00:17:46,831 somebody who is victimized 289 00:17:47,620 --> 00:17:50,100 learns the role of the victim, 290 00:17:50,137 --> 00:17:52,617 but also, potentially, 291 00:17:52,655 --> 00:17:54,065 the role of the abuser. 292 00:17:56,965 --> 00:18:00,475 In his teens, Keith Jesperson didn't have a lot of luck with girls, 293 00:18:00,517 --> 00:18:03,827 but when he was 20 years old in 1975, 294 00:18:03,862 --> 00:18:06,032 he married 18-year-old Rose Pernick, 295 00:18:06,068 --> 00:18:08,308 and together they had three children. 296 00:18:09,241 --> 00:18:10,831 Say hi, Grandpa. 297 00:18:10,862 --> 00:18:13,032 [Leslie Jesperson] Hi, sweetheart. I see your new boots. 298 00:18:13,068 --> 00:18:15,138 -See? -[Leslie] Holy smoke. 299 00:18:15,172 --> 00:18:17,662 You have new boots! 300 00:18:17,689 --> 00:18:20,619 [Schug] They built a marriage that worked, 301 00:18:20,655 --> 00:18:22,305 at least fundamentally, 302 00:18:22,344 --> 00:18:26,664 in terms of Keith supporting his family by working, 303 00:18:26,689 --> 00:18:30,549 and her maintaining the home and raising the children. 304 00:18:30,586 --> 00:18:32,516 Now what do I do to get it going?[laughs] 305 00:18:35,206 --> 00:18:37,996 [laughing] I don't know if I like this! 306 00:18:38,034 --> 00:18:39,864 -Keith! -[Jesperson] Keep your feet up. 307 00:18:39,896 --> 00:18:41,996 [Rose Pernick laughing] 308 00:18:42,034 --> 00:18:44,214 Keith was just the traditional dad. 309 00:18:44,241 --> 00:18:46,691 He did the work, his wife Rose stayed at home. 310 00:18:46,724 --> 00:18:50,004 And the kids in the household seemed very normal. 311 00:18:51,689 --> 00:18:52,689 [Jesperson] Eat it. 312 00:18:54,034 --> 00:18:56,144 -[Jesperson] Mmm! -[Pernick laughing] 313 00:18:57,413 --> 00:19:00,593 [on recording] 314 00:19:05,172 --> 00:19:08,902 [Schug] Keith was able to make a good living as a long haul truck driver. 315 00:19:08,931 --> 00:19:10,691 But he's off driving around the country 316 00:19:10,724 --> 00:19:12,414 for weeks at a time sometimes. 317 00:19:12,448 --> 00:19:15,378 And, uh, he's physically and emotionally away 318 00:19:15,413 --> 00:19:19,033 from his wife, away from his children. 319 00:19:20,068 --> 00:19:21,548 [Jordan] According to Keith, 320 00:19:21,586 --> 00:19:24,586 he and Rose had the normal kind of sexual relationship 321 00:19:24,620 --> 00:19:26,280 in their marriage in the early years. 322 00:19:26,310 --> 00:19:27,790 But then things grew stale. 323 00:19:28,931 --> 00:19:31,171 Once he became a long haul trucker, 324 00:19:31,206 --> 00:19:34,406 it was kind of easy to pick up girls at the truck stops, 325 00:19:34,448 --> 00:19:35,968 and he was seeing girls on the side. 326 00:19:37,379 --> 00:19:39,929 [on recording] 327 00:19:56,586 --> 00:19:59,616 [Schug] Keith's marriage completely falls apart. 328 00:19:59,655 --> 00:20:02,825 He loses his job, they lose the house, 329 00:20:02,862 --> 00:20:06,032 he ends up starting to date another woman. 330 00:20:06,068 --> 00:20:08,238 And then he and Rose get divorced. 331 00:20:08,275 --> 00:20:12,305 And so, financially, he's really sliding quickly. 332 00:20:12,344 --> 00:20:15,314 He has to go out on the roads to work more, 333 00:20:15,344 --> 00:20:19,314 which further isolates him from his children. 334 00:20:19,344 --> 00:20:22,764 [Gianola] When you started to peel off the layers of his life, 335 00:20:22,793 --> 00:20:25,933 then you came to find out later 336 00:20:25,965 --> 00:20:29,825 from his daughter and from other people, some disturbing elements. 337 00:20:31,344 --> 00:20:34,454 [Casey] According to Keith Jesperson's daughter, Melissa, 338 00:20:34,482 --> 00:20:36,902 when they were living in Washington state and she was about 339 00:20:36,931 --> 00:20:40,311 five years old, their cat had a litter of kittens in the basement. 340 00:20:40,344 --> 00:20:44,074 And Keith took these kittens and hung them by their tails 341 00:20:44,103 --> 00:20:45,973 from the clothesline. 342 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,480 Later, Melissa reports she found all of the kittens dead in the backyard. 343 00:20:49,517 --> 00:20:53,657 I was six years old when I saw my dad kill my kittens 344 00:20:53,689 --> 00:20:56,789 that I had found, and that's when it hit me 345 00:20:56,827 --> 00:21:00,617 that something's very dark and different about my dad. 346 00:21:00,655 --> 00:21:03,515 [Casey] Melissa reports that when she was 13, 347 00:21:03,551 --> 00:21:08,381 her father told her that he could kill a woman and get away with it. 348 00:21:08,413 --> 00:21:11,833 He told her that he had literally killed a woman and cut the buttons 349 00:21:11,862 --> 00:21:15,382 off her clothing to get rid of any possibility of fingerprints 350 00:21:15,413 --> 00:21:17,213 on those buttons. 351 00:21:17,241 --> 00:21:19,931 And that he would wear cycling shoes to make sure he didn't leave any 352 00:21:19,965 --> 00:21:20,995 footprints in the mud. 353 00:21:38,586 --> 00:21:40,996 Welcome back to Very Scary People. 354 00:21:41,034 --> 00:21:43,764 Keith Hunter Jesperson confesses to murdering 355 00:21:43,793 --> 00:21:45,593 his girlfriend Julie Winningham 356 00:21:45,620 --> 00:21:48,860 and dumping her body in the Columbia River Gorge. 357 00:21:48,896 --> 00:21:50,966 Seems like a cut and dry case, 358 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:54,140 until detectives hear from Keith's brother Brad. 359 00:21:54,172 --> 00:21:57,592 He tells them he has a letter they need to see immediately. 360 00:22:02,689 --> 00:22:06,999 So, this is the letter that Keith Jesperson wrote to his brother, Brad, 361 00:22:07,034 --> 00:22:09,454 on March 24th, 1995. 362 00:22:09,482 --> 00:22:13,102 This is when he's being questioned about Julie Winningham's murder, 363 00:22:13,137 --> 00:22:14,927 he says, "Hi, Brad... 364 00:22:14,965 --> 00:22:16,515 [continues reading] 365 00:22:36,206 --> 00:22:39,336 He's arrested for the Julie Winningham murder. 366 00:22:39,379 --> 00:22:42,719 At that point, he makes a phone call to his brother, Brad, and says... 367 00:22:42,758 --> 00:22:45,068 "Destroy the letter." 368 00:22:45,103 --> 00:22:47,173 So, on one hand he's saying, "I wanna be caught, 369 00:22:48,034 --> 00:22:49,004 but not really." 370 00:22:49,931 --> 00:22:52,621 He had told Keith that he had destroyed it, 371 00:22:52,655 --> 00:22:54,405 but, in fact, he didn't destroy it, 372 00:22:54,448 --> 00:22:57,098 and he provided our officers with the letter. 373 00:22:57,137 --> 00:23:01,547 In the letter, he talks about how he had killed multiple women by that point. 374 00:23:01,586 --> 00:23:04,406 And so, that was our first concrete information 375 00:23:04,448 --> 00:23:06,858 of our worst nightmare that there are more victims 376 00:23:06,896 --> 00:23:08,826 that Keith Jesperson had murdered. 377 00:23:10,758 --> 00:23:12,758 This is an unbelievable development. 378 00:23:12,793 --> 00:23:16,383 Detectives believed that they had a person who killed his girlfriend. 379 00:23:16,413 --> 00:23:19,903 Never did they think that they had a serial killer on their hands. 380 00:23:21,793 --> 00:23:26,213 It's terrifying information because now we know of multiple victims, 381 00:23:26,241 --> 00:23:27,721 we don't know where. 382 00:23:27,758 --> 00:23:30,688 We don't know how to possibly track these victims down, 383 00:23:30,724 --> 00:23:32,174 how to identify 'em, 384 00:23:32,206 --> 00:23:35,336 how to verify that, maybe, a victim in another State 385 00:23:35,379 --> 00:23:38,029 whose body was recovered, that was the beginning of the hard work 386 00:23:38,068 --> 00:23:40,238 in that investigation. 387 00:23:40,275 --> 00:23:44,995 So, in 1995, the way to communicate with other agencies 388 00:23:45,034 --> 00:23:47,174 was to send out what we referred to as a teletype, 389 00:23:47,206 --> 00:23:49,926 basically it was a message sent out through a computer 390 00:23:49,965 --> 00:23:51,895 that goes to all law enforcement agencies, 391 00:23:51,931 --> 00:23:56,591 that we have somebody that's admitting to killing multiple women, 392 00:23:57,862 --> 00:23:59,862 that he is a long haul truck driver. 393 00:24:01,310 --> 00:24:05,280 Up to this point, we know that his method of murder was strangulation. 394 00:24:05,310 --> 00:24:06,620 It may or may not be similar. 395 00:24:08,103 --> 00:24:12,073 That he is known to dump his victims off the side of the road, 396 00:24:12,103 --> 00:24:14,383 along major highways. 397 00:24:14,413 --> 00:24:18,593 Please contact us if you have anything, um, that you are aware of, 398 00:24:18,620 --> 00:24:20,480 that you have not solved up to this point. 399 00:24:21,586 --> 00:24:23,546 [Jeff] As he's confessing to these crimes, 400 00:24:23,586 --> 00:24:27,136 they're realizing only a killer would know this information. 401 00:24:27,172 --> 00:24:30,832 Now they're questioning the Taunja Bennett murder 402 00:24:30,862 --> 00:24:34,972 saying there's a good chance he did do this 403 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,140 and that two innocent people are in jail. 404 00:24:39,689 --> 00:24:41,969 [Chris] My role in the Jesperson case started 405 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,620 after he got arrested for killing 406 00:24:43,655 --> 00:24:47,235 his girlfriend in Clark County, Washington. 407 00:24:47,275 --> 00:24:49,305 We got a call from a detective over there who said, 408 00:24:49,344 --> 00:24:54,244 "We've got a person in custody on one of our homicides. 409 00:24:54,275 --> 00:24:57,655 And the word is that he has committed some other murders, 410 00:24:57,689 --> 00:25:02,719 and very specifically, he's... the word is that he killed a female 411 00:25:02,758 --> 00:25:05,408 in Multnomah county named Taunja Bennett. 412 00:25:05,448 --> 00:25:08,448 And that he's aware of the fact that some people were in prison 413 00:25:08,482 --> 00:25:09,382 for that murder." 414 00:25:10,310 --> 00:25:11,450 [Det. Chris] 415 00:25:17,689 --> 00:25:19,279 [Keith] 416 00:25:19,310 --> 00:25:22,310 The first time I met Keith Jesperson, 417 00:25:22,344 --> 00:25:27,034 I was a little bit surprised because he came across as the farm boy next door. 418 00:25:27,068 --> 00:25:28,998 He didn't use a lot of swear words, 419 00:25:29,034 --> 00:25:30,724 he didn't act like a tough guy. 420 00:25:30,758 --> 00:25:32,928 he wasn't covered with jailhouse tattoos, 421 00:25:32,965 --> 00:25:34,995 and he was very friendly with me. 422 00:25:35,034 --> 00:25:38,004 He appeared to enjoy talking to me. 423 00:25:38,034 --> 00:25:40,794 He wasn't running from me in terms of what he was saying. 424 00:25:41,655 --> 00:25:43,165 I interviewed him four times. 425 00:25:44,241 --> 00:25:46,721 But the initial interview was very simple, 426 00:25:46,758 --> 00:25:49,338 and he told me that he had killed Taunja Bennett 427 00:25:49,379 --> 00:25:51,309 in 1990. 428 00:26:16,068 --> 00:26:19,588 He said that he'd gone to the BNI Tavern, he'd lived on a home nearby. 429 00:26:19,620 --> 00:26:24,520 He'd gone to the BNI Tavern and he saw Taunja Bennett in there, 430 00:26:24,551 --> 00:26:26,211 and there was some interaction. 431 00:26:49,103 --> 00:26:52,623 And then he left the BNI for a while, 432 00:26:52,655 --> 00:26:54,925 and he came back, and Taunja was there. 433 00:26:54,965 --> 00:27:00,995 And there was a conversation about getting something to eat at a nearby restaurant. 434 00:27:01,034 --> 00:27:03,624 But he explains to her he has to run home 435 00:27:03,655 --> 00:27:05,405 because he doesn't have any money with him. 436 00:27:05,448 --> 00:27:08,098 So, she goes with him to his home, 437 00:27:08,137 --> 00:27:11,307 and while they're there, they never end up going to dinner, 438 00:27:11,344 --> 00:27:14,524 but they do end up having sex. 439 00:27:14,551 --> 00:27:17,001 [Chris] He said that she agreed to have sex with him 440 00:27:17,034 --> 00:27:19,624 on a mattress in the living room. 441 00:27:19,655 --> 00:27:22,995 And that happened, according to Jesperson. 442 00:27:23,034 --> 00:27:27,834 And at some point, she said something that offended Jesperson, 443 00:27:27,862 --> 00:27:31,102 and he said he decided he was gonna kill her. 444 00:28:12,034 --> 00:28:14,864 [Chris] He apparently strangled her. 445 00:28:14,896 --> 00:28:17,096 And left her in his home, 446 00:28:17,137 --> 00:28:21,307 where he was living with another woman who was also out of town, 447 00:28:21,344 --> 00:28:23,244 she was a truck driver. 448 00:28:23,275 --> 00:28:26,715 He went back to the BNI Tavern because he wanted to establish 449 00:28:26,758 --> 00:28:31,308 an alibi about where he was all afternoon and evening. 450 00:28:44,068 --> 00:28:47,898 He became very concerned about the potential for forensic evidence, 451 00:28:47,931 --> 00:28:52,211 and was afraid that his fingerprints might be on the zipper tab. 452 00:28:52,241 --> 00:28:56,761 So he cut the fly out of her jeans so he could take the fingerprint with him. 453 00:28:56,793 --> 00:28:59,523 Then he went back to the home where he's killed Taunja, 454 00:28:59,551 --> 00:29:03,591 and picked her up, and took her out to the dump site 455 00:29:03,620 --> 00:29:05,760 which was in the Columbia River Gorge. 456 00:29:16,206 --> 00:29:19,136 I'm told, the moment at which law enforcement really did believe 457 00:29:19,172 --> 00:29:22,312 that Keith Jesperson was involved in Taunja Bennett's murder... 458 00:29:22,344 --> 00:29:25,344 was he took them out to the Columbia Gorge. 459 00:29:26,724 --> 00:29:30,974 Taunja Bennett's mother had said that she left with a purse, 460 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,520 and her Walkman, and they had never found her purse. 461 00:29:35,034 --> 00:29:38,794 And when Jesperson confessed to killing Bennett, 462 00:29:38,827 --> 00:29:42,307 he described her purse and said that he tossed it. 463 00:29:42,344 --> 00:29:45,524 And he pointed to an area in the gorge and he said, 464 00:29:45,551 --> 00:29:47,001 "That's where I left her purse." 465 00:29:48,379 --> 00:29:50,969 So0 the police brought out Explorer scouts, 466 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,030 who are, you know students who want to be police officers, 467 00:29:53,068 --> 00:29:54,588 and gave them hacksaws and said, 468 00:29:54,620 --> 00:29:55,900 "Were looking for a purse." 469 00:29:57,344 --> 00:29:59,764 And they were about to call it in and one of the kids said, 470 00:29:59,793 --> 00:30:01,833 "I've got a purse." 471 00:30:01,862 --> 00:30:04,552 It had Taunja Bennett's ID card in it still. 472 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,100 There was a search warrant that would allow, uh, the detectives to actually 473 00:30:24,137 --> 00:30:26,967 have Jesperson write down some things 474 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:28,660 that they tell him to write down. 475 00:30:28,689 --> 00:30:32,339 And with that paper, and as well as any letters that he 476 00:30:32,379 --> 00:30:33,899 is suspected of writing, 477 00:30:33,931 --> 00:30:37,001 it goes to a handwriting expert who does a comparison. 478 00:30:38,068 --> 00:30:40,098 And the letter to The Oregonian 479 00:30:40,137 --> 00:30:42,657 and the letter to Brad were verified by the expert 480 00:30:42,689 --> 00:30:45,449 as being written and authored by Keith Jesperson. 481 00:30:46,551 --> 00:30:47,551 "The Happy Face Killer." 482 00:30:49,517 --> 00:30:52,067 They were also able to get DNA 483 00:30:52,103 --> 00:30:55,213 from one of the letters, "The Happy Face Killer" letters, 484 00:30:55,241 --> 00:30:58,551 that they were able to match to Keith Jesperson's DNA. 485 00:30:58,586 --> 00:31:00,996 So, at that point it was very clear that 486 00:31:01,034 --> 00:31:03,594 he had written the letters. 487 00:31:03,620 --> 00:31:07,760 It all started to come out and it all started to mirror 488 00:31:07,793 --> 00:31:11,523 what he had written to The Oregonian the year before, 489 00:31:11,551 --> 00:31:15,381 what he had written on the bathroom walls. 490 00:31:15,413 --> 00:31:19,523 It all came crashing down on Keith Jesperson. 491 00:31:22,206 --> 00:31:23,926 [Monty] When things started to quiet down, 492 00:31:23,965 --> 00:31:25,925 he would spark interest again 493 00:31:25,965 --> 00:31:28,235 by bringing up things that he'd done. 494 00:31:28,275 --> 00:31:32,275 He would write letters to media outlets and want to be interviewed. 495 00:31:32,310 --> 00:31:35,210 And saying, "Hey, I'm confessing to these crimes 496 00:31:35,241 --> 00:31:36,551 and nobody is listening to me." 497 00:31:48,241 --> 00:31:52,031 He reaches out to KATU Television Station 498 00:31:52,068 --> 00:31:56,788 and has a conversation with our reporter Bob Heye. 499 00:31:56,827 --> 00:31:59,927 In that conversation, he is repeatedly asked, 500 00:31:59,965 --> 00:32:01,445 "Are you the Happy Face Killer?" 501 00:32:06,724 --> 00:32:10,284 Each time, Keith Jesperson says, "Yes, I am." 502 00:32:10,310 --> 00:32:13,660 Bob Heye also asks him, "Why did you do it?" 503 00:32:13,689 --> 00:32:16,759 And he can't explain it, he says, "I don't know." 504 00:32:21,310 --> 00:32:22,790 [Keith laughs] 505 00:32:35,862 --> 00:32:37,342 Why would he do this? 506 00:32:37,379 --> 00:32:40,409 Well, Jesperson says that he was courting the media 507 00:32:40,448 --> 00:32:42,168 because two people 508 00:32:42,206 --> 00:32:44,276 were wrongfully imprisoned in jail, 509 00:32:44,310 --> 00:32:45,760 and he needed the media's help 510 00:32:45,793 --> 00:32:47,483 to get the evidence out there, 511 00:32:47,517 --> 00:32:49,967 so that these two people could be freed 512 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,450 because he was indeed the Happy Face Killer. 513 00:32:52,482 --> 00:32:55,832 And the question remains, did he really feel bad about these two people 514 00:32:55,862 --> 00:32:59,692 who are imprisoned, or is he just dancing with the media 515 00:32:59,724 --> 00:33:03,004 because he wants the limelight to be focused on him? 516 00:33:04,931 --> 00:33:09,411 [Jeff] Now, the focus turns to Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske 517 00:33:09,448 --> 00:33:11,548 who're sitting in prison. 518 00:33:11,586 --> 00:33:13,206 [Joey] Remember Laverne Pavlinac, 519 00:33:13,241 --> 00:33:15,101 she confessed that she was there 520 00:33:15,137 --> 00:33:19,027 when her boyfriend John Sosnovske killed Taunja Bennett. 521 00:33:19,068 --> 00:33:21,338 Though she recanted her confession at trial, 522 00:33:21,379 --> 00:33:24,689 she was convicted, and they had both been in prison for four years. 523 00:33:26,758 --> 00:33:29,068 [Jeff] It was almost unbelievable. 524 00:33:29,103 --> 00:33:33,073 You have a serial killer confessing to a crime that two people 525 00:33:33,103 --> 00:33:36,033 are sitting in jail for right now. 526 00:33:36,068 --> 00:33:38,098 [Alafair] You have a case where you have 527 00:33:38,137 --> 00:33:43,997 three people all taking responsibility for a crime. 528 00:33:44,034 --> 00:33:47,594 No one seemed to have coerced or lead their confessions, 529 00:33:47,620 --> 00:33:51,240 they all seem to have information that only the killer would know. 530 00:33:52,586 --> 00:33:55,136 You normally have zero people claiming responsibility. 531 00:33:57,068 --> 00:34:00,548 I would say one of my greatest nightmares in taking a job 532 00:34:00,586 --> 00:34:02,716 as a Deputy District Attorney 533 00:34:02,758 --> 00:34:05,208 is the idea of convicting an innocent person. 534 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:12,030 [Alafair] There was also the possibility that Jesperson could have been involved, 535 00:34:12,068 --> 00:34:15,898 but he could've done it with Laverne and John. 536 00:34:15,931 --> 00:34:18,721 You've really got to be confident you're getting it right 537 00:34:18,758 --> 00:34:20,618 before you let two people who have been convicted 538 00:34:20,655 --> 00:34:22,275 of murder out. 539 00:34:22,310 --> 00:34:24,280 I could see the district attorneys 540 00:34:24,310 --> 00:34:27,790 who had prosecuted Laverne and John. 541 00:34:27,827 --> 00:34:31,477 I could see them struggling with "how did this happen?" 542 00:34:31,517 --> 00:34:35,927 It's every prosecutor's worst nightmare is that you convict an innocent person. 543 00:34:35,965 --> 00:34:38,305 And here, they didn't even do anything wrong. 544 00:34:38,344 --> 00:34:41,034 They were kind of asking themselves, "Should we have known? 545 00:34:41,068 --> 00:34:42,758 Were there warning signs here?" 546 00:34:42,793 --> 00:34:44,213 And they couldn't really find any. 547 00:34:45,793 --> 00:34:49,483 I just think, there was in some sense, 548 00:34:49,517 --> 00:34:53,377 just the overriding concern 549 00:34:53,413 --> 00:34:57,903 that we have got to get Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske out, 550 00:34:57,931 --> 00:35:02,901 because the more I learned, the more I believed they were not responsible, 551 00:35:02,931 --> 00:35:05,661 and that's an injustice that has to be corrected. 552 00:35:15,793 --> 00:35:20,313 [Judge Keith] My immediate thought when I heard that we have two people in jail, 553 00:35:20,344 --> 00:35:25,104 on long sentences, Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske, 554 00:35:25,137 --> 00:35:30,407 and at the very least, we don't have proof beyond a reasonable doubt anymore, 555 00:35:31,689 --> 00:35:33,549 and we've got to act to get them out. 556 00:35:35,103 --> 00:35:37,313 [Alafair] It's actually a lot harder to get 557 00:35:37,344 --> 00:35:39,834 an innocent person out of custody than you would think. 558 00:35:39,862 --> 00:35:42,592 This was a case where the district attorney's office 559 00:35:42,620 --> 00:35:45,240 was agreeing to vacate the convictions, 560 00:35:45,275 --> 00:35:47,095 but you still need a legal basis for it. 561 00:35:47,137 --> 00:35:49,547 It took months to investigate 562 00:35:49,586 --> 00:35:52,826 to the point that law enforcement became convinced 563 00:35:52,862 --> 00:35:56,832 that Laverne and John were completely uninvolved in this. 564 00:36:00,275 --> 00:36:03,995 [Jeff] Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske are released from jail. 565 00:36:05,793 --> 00:36:06,723 Hi! 566 00:36:08,241 --> 00:36:09,621 -You look nice. -[cries] 567 00:36:09,655 --> 00:36:12,025 [Gianola] Laverne Pavlinac was a troubled woman 568 00:36:12,068 --> 00:36:14,138 when you look back at her past. 569 00:36:14,172 --> 00:36:18,482 I mean, to falsely confess to the rape and murder of a young woman 570 00:36:18,517 --> 00:36:20,337 so she could get out of what she called 571 00:36:20,379 --> 00:36:23,309 an abusive relationship with her boyfriend. 572 00:36:25,724 --> 00:36:29,724 That false confession completely derailed 573 00:36:30,724 --> 00:36:31,904 the investigation. 574 00:36:49,896 --> 00:36:54,336 I can only think that you'd have to be really desperate to do something 575 00:36:54,379 --> 00:36:59,029 this outlandish. 576 00:36:59,068 --> 00:37:02,718 In putting yourself even in peril and implicating yourself in some 577 00:37:02,758 --> 00:37:05,308 very grotesque activity and violent activity. 578 00:37:05,344 --> 00:37:09,974 And she did claim many times that John Sosnovske was abusive with her. 579 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:39,550 She lost her liberty for years because of it, and this guy got away with it. 580 00:37:39,586 --> 00:37:41,586 The real killer got away with it for years. 581 00:37:44,344 --> 00:37:49,284 [Jeff] You have to ask yourself, how many other women died 582 00:37:49,310 --> 00:37:51,900 because of that false confession. 583 00:37:51,931 --> 00:37:54,761 [Casey] You would think that Keith Jesperson's confession, 584 00:37:54,793 --> 00:37:59,623 those letters to the media, to the courthouse, the letter to his brother, 585 00:37:59,655 --> 00:38:01,335 in which he confesses to these murders, 586 00:38:01,379 --> 00:38:03,689 you would think that would be enough for police to go forward, 587 00:38:03,724 --> 00:38:05,624 but they run forensic evidence. 588 00:38:05,655 --> 00:38:07,475 They need to make absolutely sure 589 00:38:07,517 --> 00:38:09,967 that Keith Jesperson is not also giving them 590 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,760 a false confession just for the media exposure. 591 00:38:13,793 --> 00:38:16,663 They match the handwriting with a handwriting analyst, 592 00:38:16,689 --> 00:38:20,279 they check the fingerprints and the saliva on the envelopes 593 00:38:20,310 --> 00:38:21,660 in which the letters were sent, 594 00:38:21,689 --> 00:38:25,829 and yes, it all matches Keith Jesperson. 595 00:38:25,862 --> 00:38:31,142 [Monty] Eventually we were able to tie Jesperson to eight victims. 596 00:38:31,172 --> 00:38:34,972 At the time, some of the victims were unidentified by the agency. 597 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,790 In one particular case, they didn't even know they had a victim. 598 00:38:41,172 --> 00:38:44,972 Keith Jesperson is a classic power control serial killer, 599 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,830 and it is the most common type of serial killer, 600 00:38:47,862 --> 00:38:50,282 people who feel stripped of their power 601 00:38:50,310 --> 00:38:51,860 and very often their masculinity. 602 00:38:52,965 --> 00:38:56,855 They need to have a sense of playing God. 603 00:38:56,896 --> 00:39:01,306 And nothing is more typical of a power control killer than strangulation. 604 00:39:01,344 --> 00:39:03,864 Why? He's not trying to kill her. 605 00:39:03,896 --> 00:39:06,336 He's trying to have power over her. 606 00:39:06,379 --> 00:39:11,549 He wants to be admired by how he was so successful at being "Happy Face Killer," 607 00:39:11,586 --> 00:39:15,166 a serial killer, and killing all these women. 608 00:39:15,206 --> 00:39:19,406 Keith Jesperson was very good about remembering all the details 609 00:39:19,448 --> 00:39:22,828 about how he killed someone, where he left the body, 610 00:39:22,862 --> 00:39:26,762 But he often got their names wrong or mixed up their names, 611 00:39:26,793 --> 00:39:28,593 and I thought that was chilling. 612 00:39:50,827 --> 00:39:53,237 [Jeff] These people were daughters, 613 00:39:53,275 --> 00:39:57,405 in some cases mothers, and that can never be forgotten 614 00:39:57,448 --> 00:40:01,658 because that points to just how heinous these crimes were, 615 00:40:01,689 --> 00:40:07,309 and that a monster is finally put away for these crimes. 616 00:40:07,344 --> 00:40:11,074 [Michelle] I can't even put into words how you feel about 617 00:40:11,103 --> 00:40:12,413 somebody that killed your sister. 618 00:40:13,241 --> 00:40:16,211 She was just a kind person 619 00:40:16,241 --> 00:40:19,171 that always was kind to everybody. 620 00:40:19,206 --> 00:40:20,516 She paid attention to everybody, 621 00:40:20,551 --> 00:40:22,031 wanted to be everybody's friend. 622 00:40:23,931 --> 00:40:25,171 It's hard... 623 00:40:25,862 --> 00:40:27,172 'cause she's not here no more. 624 00:40:30,310 --> 00:40:35,520 [Don] My mom wasn't just a transient or whatever the media 625 00:40:35,551 --> 00:40:36,551 has made her out to be, 626 00:40:36,586 --> 00:40:39,826 she was a kind, loving soul, 627 00:40:39,862 --> 00:40:45,242 and... tried to stay positive and didn't want to hurt anybody. 628 00:40:45,275 --> 00:40:49,375 She just wanted to be peaceful and do her journey. 629 00:40:50,413 --> 00:40:51,723 We lost a good person. 630 00:40:55,689 --> 00:40:59,339 [Monty] Keith Jesperson is very proud of the crimes that he's committed. 631 00:40:59,379 --> 00:41:00,999 He likes that recognition. 632 00:41:01,034 --> 00:41:03,934 He wants to be a serial killer because he wants to be able 633 00:41:03,965 --> 00:41:07,545 to be well known amongst everybody 634 00:41:07,586 --> 00:41:10,236 as being a notorious serial killer. 635 00:41:10,275 --> 00:41:14,275 Without that, Keith Jesperson would be a nobody. 636 00:41:14,310 --> 00:41:16,000 [Keith in interview] I am the Happy Face Killer. 637 00:41:16,034 --> 00:41:18,384 -[man] There's no doubt? -There is no doubt in my mind. 638 00:41:18,413 --> 00:41:19,723 [Keith laughs] 639 00:41:21,482 --> 00:41:26,662 Keith Jesperson has been linked to eight murders between 1990 to 1995. 640 00:41:26,689 --> 00:41:29,029 He's serving multiple consecutive life sentences 641 00:41:29,068 --> 00:41:31,238 in the Oregon State Penitentiary, 642 00:41:31,275 --> 00:41:33,965 without the possibility of parole. 643 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:38,450 On April 13th 2022, one of his Jane Doe victims was identified 644 00:41:38,482 --> 00:41:40,242 as Patricia Skiple. 645 00:41:40,275 --> 00:41:42,785 She is believed to be his fifth victim. 646 00:41:42,827 --> 00:41:44,447 Her identification was made possible 647 00:41:44,482 --> 00:41:47,032 by advancements in DNA technology. 648 00:41:47,068 --> 00:41:48,618 Skiple's family is grateful 649 00:41:48,655 --> 00:41:50,925 she finally has her name back. 650 00:41:50,965 --> 00:41:54,445 Two other victims, one in California and one in Florida, 651 00:41:54,482 --> 00:41:56,452 are still on unidentified. 652 00:41:56,482 --> 00:41:58,932 I'm Donnie Wahlberg. Thanks for watching. 653 00:41:58,965 --> 00:41:59,785 Good night. 654 00:41:59,835 --> 00:42:04,385 Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0 54798

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