Keith Hunter Jesperson

Keith Hunter Jesperson (born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian serial killer known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he sent notes to police with a happy face drawn on them.

His first known victim was Taunja Bennett on January 23, 1990 near Portland, Oregon. Overall, Jesperson murdered 8 people in Nebraska, California, Florida, Washington, Oregon, and Wyoming as he was an over the road truck driver at the time he commited these murders. He is currently serving a life sentence at the Oregon State Penitentiary.

Two people confessed, and were convicted of the murder of Jesperson's first victim. They were later released, after Jesperson and his attorney offered his confession with convincing evidence of his guilt. He had given police officers the location of the victim's purse, which was a detail known only to the killer.

As a child, Jesperson was the middle child of 2 brothers, Bruce and Dan, and 2 sisters, Sharon and Jill. Keith was segregated and treated differently by the rest of his family. His father, Les Jesperson, charged Keith room and board, 30 dollars a week, while his brothers and sisters paid nothing. He made friends but never kept them. Keith met some new friends and tortured animals and also set fire to houses and wooded areas. His father had a sick sense of humor and Jesperson himself thought it was sick. The Jespersons moved from British Columbia to the United States. In the United States Jesperson had trouble fitting in and making friends. His brothers didn't help him, instead they nicknamed him "Igor" or "Ig" and the name stuck throughout high school. Keith H. Jesperson was also confused about sex. Nudity was not permitted in the Jesperson household and sex was not be talked about.

Keith is quoted, as saying...
" It was their fate to die by my hands, like a car accident or illness. "

References

External links

• Crime Library