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The Happy Face Killer, a crime-drama series based on a chilling true story of a serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, and his daughter, premiered on March 20, 2025, on Paramount+.
The series highlights the story of Melissa G. Moore, Jesperson's daughter. When she was 15 years old, she discovered that her father was a serial killer. Moore described her experience in a book, Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer's Daughter, published in 2009.
Keith Hunter Jesperson, a Canadian-American, was found to be a serial killer known as the Happy Face Killer. He earned the moniker because he had sent numerous letters to the media and police, each of which featured a smiley face.
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The crime drama features Dennis Quaid as Keith Hunter Jesperson and Annaleigh Ashford as his daughter, Melissa G. Moore. The story of The Happy Face Killer is inspired by Jack Olsen's book I, the Creation of a Serial Killer. The book features interviews with Jesperson and his letters and writings.
Who is Keith Hunter Jesperson? All about The Happy Face Killer explored
Born in April 1955 in Chilliwack, Canada, Keith Hunter Jesperson was a long-haul truck driver serving a life sentence in an Oregon prison for killing eight women in the 1990s.
According to a TODAY article published on March 20, 2025, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in California requested the public's help in identifying the last unidentified victim of Jesperson in 2024. Jesperson confessed to killing this woman in 1992, but her name has not been released until now.
As reported by TODAY, Jesperson's first victim was Taunja Bennett, whom he killed in 1990. He then killed seven more women. Their names include Cynthia Lyn Rose, Patricia Skiple, Suzanne Kjellenberg, Laurie Ann Pentland, Angela May Subrize, and a woman he referred to as Claudia. His last known victim was his girlfriend, Julie Winningham, whom he killed in 1995.
According to TODAY's article, in 1995, while awaiting trial, Jesperson wrote a letter to his brother, Brad, confessing his crimes. He wrote:
"I am sorry that I turned out this way. I have been a killer for five years and have killed eight people. Assaulted more."
The true story behind The Happy Face Killer explored
According to the Oxygen True Crime article published in October 2021, Keith Hunter Jesperson had a troubled childhood like most serial killers. His father beat him, and children at school bullied him daily. Gradually, he began venting his anger in dangerous ways, torturing animals and attacking other children.
Jesperson eventually settled in Selah, Washington, with his wife and three children. In 1990, he separated from his wife after 15 years of marriage. That same year, he marked his first act of murder.
As mentioned in Oxygen True Crime's article, his daughter Moore said:
"I loved my dad, but I didn't really enjoy being around him. He made me anxious. He never molested or beat any of us; it was just a feeling that something was building, seething beneath the surface.
She continued:
"I had once tried to articulate it to a school counselor, but it didn't come out right. He would leer at women in public, make lewd remarks about them, and harass them."
The Happy Face Killer is available to watch on Paramount+.
