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Happy Face Killer

What is happy face killer?

· Emily Grant

Key facts

Name Keith Hunter Jesperson[1]
Alias Happy Face Killer[2]
Occupation Truck driver[2]
Victims At least eight women[2]
Time period 1990 to 1995[2]
Sign used Smiley face[2]

The Happy Face Killer is Keith Hunter Jesperson, a truck driver who murdered at least eight women between 1990 and 1995. He earned the nickname by signing anonymous confessions and letters with a smiley face. He was arrested in 1995 and is serving time in Oregon State Penitentiary.

Context

Keith Hunter Jesperson is the serial killer known as the Happy Face Killer. He worked as a truck driver and killed at least eight women between 1990 and 1995 while traveling across the United States [2]. He signed anonymous confessions and letters with a smiley face, which gave him his nickname [2]. Jesperson was arrested in 1995 and later confessed to the murders [3]. He is held at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon [3]. His first confirmed victim was Taunja Bennett [4].

Documented claims

  • Jesperson got the nickname Happy Face Killer because he signed anonymous confessions and letters with a smiley face. [2]
  • He was arrested in 1995 and later confessed to the murders. [3]
  • His first confirmed victim was Taunja Bennett. [4]

Questions and answers

Why is he called the Happy Face Killer?

He signed anonymous confessions and letters with a smiley face, which led to the nickname [2].

How many victims did the Happy Face Killer have?

Sources say he killed at least eight women between 1990 and 1995 [2].

Where is the Happy Face Killer now?

He is incarcerated at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon [3].

Sources

  1. Keith Hunter Jesperson — maamodt.asp.radford.edu (retrieved August 3, 2026)
  2. The True Story Behind Happy Face and Killer Keith ... — time.com (retrieved August 3, 2026)
  3. Is 'Happy Face' a True Story? Revisiting the Harrowing Murders of Serial Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson — and How He Got His Haunting Moniker — people.com (retrieved August 3, 2026)
  4. Keith Hunter Jesperson: Who was the Happy Face Killer? — crimeandinvestigation.co.uk (retrieved August 3, 2026)

Sources last checked August 3, 2026. · More in History