This article includes discussions of rape and murder.
Paramount+’s new true crime dramaHappy Facedeparts from reality in its retelling of the story of the infamous Happy Face Killer and his daughter, which naturally yields questions about what happened to the real Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson. Based on both the podcast and autobiography of Jesperson’s real-life daughter Melissa Moore,Happy Faceuses a talented castled by Dennis Quaid and Annaleigh Ashford to examinethe horrifying details of the serial killer’s lifethrough the perspective of his daughter, who was forced to live with the fallout of his crimes and confessions.
The well-reviewed drama seriesHappy Facechronicles how the Canadian-American serial killer murdered at least eight women across the United States in the 1990s, gaining notoriety for his use of twisted confessions sent to the media and police, most of which included a hand-drawn smiley face. Jesperson usually strangled his victims, and on multiple occasions raped them first, following a pattern of disturbing behavior that he had exhibited since his childhood. Jesperson has been confirmed as the murderer of at least eight women, and his sentence is reflective of the brutal and prolific nature of his crimes.
Keith Hunter Jesperson Is Serving Life Without Parole At Oregon State Penitentiary
Jesperson Was First Taken Into Custody In 1995
From 1990-1995, Keith Hunter Jesperson traveled across the country as a long-haul truck driver, and at various pointskilled at least eight women across the United States, ranging from the Pacific Northwest to Florida. Jesperson killed the first of his eight known victims, Taunja Bennett, in Oregon in January 1990, and committed the string of killings across the next four years. He was finally arrested in March 1995 after the body of Julie Winningham, Jesperson’s girlfriend, was discovered. After being questioned as a suspect, Jesperson attempted suicide twice before eventually confessing to the murder.
Since his first conviction for Winningham’s murder,Jesperson has been convicted of his additional murders, the consequences of which currently stand at four consecutive life sentences. He is currently serving out his sentences without the possibility of parole at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon. Jesperson, who is now 69, still communicates with the outside world frequently, and has even sent correspondence to journalists in addition to a plethora of other letters. Jesperson even calls in regularly to a podcast, perThe Independent.
Is Keith Hunter Jesperson In Contact With His Daughter, Melissa Moore?
She Is A Producer On The Drama Series
While Jesperson’s daughter Melissa Moore has opened up about her experience as the daughter of a serial killer in the form of the autobiography and true-crime podcast thatHappy Faceis based upon. Despite Jesperson’s prolific communication since his imprisonment,he is no longer in contact with his daughter Melissa. As Moore toldGood Morning America, she has no interest in maintaining a relationship with her father, as she doesn’t believe any closure can come of it.
Moore has appeared onDr. Phil,The Oprah Winfrey Show,20/20, and several other programs to discuss her father’s crimes and the personal impact they have had on her and her family.
She also doesn’t want him to influence her children in any way, and has kept them away from him for many years. While they visited their grandfather as young children, they have no memory of it. Moore’s now 25-year-old daughter, Aspen, learned who her grandfather really was at age 10, and has no interest in forming her own relationship with him as an adult. As she toldGMA, “I think that he has excuses for his actions…I don’t feel that his actions can be just brushed off.”
Keith Hunter Jesperson Is Reportedly Still Being Investigated For Other Murders
Cold Cases Have Been Reopened In Search Of Connections
While Jesperson has only ever been confirmed as the killer in eight murders, he is still being investigated as the culprit behind other cold cases.Jesperson himself has claimed to have killed over 160 womenduring his five years as the Happy Face Killer, which is obviously difficult to corroborate. That’s especially true for Jesperson, as his own testimony and confessions have been unreliable, and recanted more than once.
Happy Faceleans into Melissa Moore’s own podcast to mine the depths of depravity in Jesperson’s crimes, but through the lens of how his actions affected his family.
On the podcast that Jesperson calls in to regularly, titledThe Lighter Side of Serial Killers, Jesperson admitted he is still being investigated for other murders.Jesperson reportedly offers his DNA freely in an effort to keep himself from being associated with murders that he didn’t actually commit, on the grounds that, “I don’t need to be made to be even more of a monster than I already am.“Happy Faceleans into Melissa Moore’s own podcast to mine the depths of depravity in Jesperson’s crimes, but through the lens of how his actions affected his family.
