The Killer with a Happy Face: The Story of Maniac Keith Jesperson

In February 1990, the Oregon State Police arrested couple John Sosnovke and Laverne Pavlinak for the rape and murder of 23-year-old Tanya Bennett. At the trial, Laverne accused John of the murder, admitting to complicity. Authorities closed the case. There was only one problem: innocent people went to prison… The real killer of Tanya and seven other girls was truck driver Keith Jesperson. Picking up victims on the highways, he played a 'deadly game' with each of them, strangling them, then reviving them several times before killing them. In the twisted manner of a maniac craving fame, he started a campaign for the release of Sosnovke and Pavlinak. Jesperson sent mocking confessions of murders to newspaper editors, drawing a smiley face at the end of the messages — for which he earned the nickname The Killer with a Happy Face. Based on numerous interviews with Jesperson and those around him, diaries, and court records, the book 'The Killer with a Happy Face' is a chilling story of a sadist's development, told by him. Edgar Award-winning true crime writer Jack Olsen allows Keith to tell his story himself, immersing readers into the mind of a maniac.