Keith Hunter Jesperson

Short Biography

Keith Hunter Jesperson (born 6 April 1955) is a Canadian-American serial killer who embarked on a murderous spree in the United States during the early 1990s. Jesperson was known as the "Happy Face Killer" for the smiley face he drew on his many letters to the media and prosecutors. He had a violent and troubled childhood under a domineering, alcoholic father. Treated like an outcast by his own family and teased by other children for his large size at a young age, Jesperson was a lonely child who showed a propensity for torturing and killing animals. Despite consistently getting into trouble in his youth, including twice attempting to kill children who had crossed him, Jesperson graduated from high school, secured a job as a truck driver, got married, and had three children. In 1990, after 15 years of marriage, Jesperson was divorced and saw his dream to become a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman dashed following an injury. After returning to truck driving, it was that year that Jesperson began to kill.