‘Happy Face’ serial killer nearly confessed murders to teen daughter

Melissa G. Moore had breakfast with her father, Keith Jessperson.

A high school student preparing to get her driver's license was vomiting about getting her freedom. She was also excited to spend time with her father, a truck driver who had divorced Moore's mother at the time.

“I was about to turn 16,” Moore recalled to Fox News Digital. “He visited without notice and asked if my brother and I wanted to have breakfast with him before school began. My brother had other commitments.

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“Then I started to look at the topic the next time I met him,” Moore shared. “He was looking forward to seeing us during the summer break, but the way he spoke it sounded like a hopeful idea. … And he began to say, “I need to tell you something, but you say to the authorities.” It stopped me.

Melissa G. Moore said that there was an early indication that something was wrong with her father, Keith Jessperson. (AP photo/Don Ryan)

“In the beginning, I thought, “It must be a rumor that my mother told me. He was fired for stealing from his employer.” Did he steal it? He's like, “No, no, I can't tell you.” I started to get sick in my stomach.

“Looking back at that conversation, he feels he knew his crime was catching up with him.”

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“Happy Face” is inspired by the story of Melissa G. Moore. She wrote her autobiography, “The Broken Silence.” (Paramount+)

Moore was 15 when Jess Person, the prolific serial killer who was notoriously captured for portraying smileyface in letters to the media and prosecutors. The incident is the subject of Paramount + true crime drama “Happy Face,” starring Annaly Ashford and Dennis Quaid.

Moore previously shared the story on his bestselling memoir, Shattered Silence, and his 2018 Happy Face podcast.

Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore will be taking part in Paramount+'s “Happy Face” New York premiere on March 18, 2025 at Metrograph in New York City. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

“I'm proud of the series because I think I'll feel like I'll be able to see the victims' families, so too are the perpetrator's families,” she explained. “I've never seen anything like this. When I watched a show about serial killers, they didn't show the complicated nature of their relationship with their own family.”

Here is a preorder photo of a serial killer Keith Jessperson from the Clark County Sheriff's Office from around 1995. (AP photo)

Moore described her childhood as “pretty ordinary” in the Washington countryside. Her father stood towering 6 feet 6, 300 pounds, working as a long-distance truck driver. Her mother was at home with the couple's three children.

“I grew up in a countryside where I had the freedom to walk around,” Moore said. “When my dad got home from driving his long-distance truck, he was very dotted. He was very loving.”

Watch: Happy Face Serial Killer admits to killing the 8th victim in an interview with Florida officials

“He once loved riding bikes and always wanted kids with us,” she shared. “He was a very practical father. He read our bedtime stories. He was playing games with us.

Dennis Quaid is Keith Jessperson in “Happy Face.” (Katie Yu/Paramount+)

However, there were indications that her family life was less idyllic. Moore said she witnessed “animal cruelty to our property” when she was five years old.

“My dad will kill animals for sports,” she explained. “He's going to kill a cat. He's going to kill a dog. As a young man… you felt it wasn't right. But it wasn't really discussed. It was just Keith.

Watch: “Happy Face” star Dennisquaid reflects on playing the real life serial killer Keith Hunter Jess Person

Jesderson was arrested in 1995 on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend in Washington state. He eventually confessed that he killed eight women between 1990 and 1995 in California, Washington, Oregon, Florida, Nebraska and Wyoming. The victims, including his girlfriend, acquaintances and sex workers, were sexually assaulted and strangled.

Keith Hunter Jessperson, 40, right, listen to the moment of his lawyer, Tom Phelan, before pleading guilty to murder in Clark County Courthouse, Vancouver, Washington, October 18, 1995. (AP Photo/The Columbian, Troy Wayyrynen)

He was arrested just before Moore's birthday.

“I learned through my mother,” Moore said. “In the series, it's portrayed accurately. I went home from school and my mother called us to our brothers together. She had something to tell us. She informed us all that our father was in prison and he was charged with murder. She didn't give any more details.

Watch: “Happy Face” stars James Uruk and Tamera Tomakiri work in collaboration with Dennisquad on the serial killer series

“Looking back, I don't think the adults…she probably wasn't relieved to discuss those details with us.”

Melissa G. Moore has no connection to her father, Keith Jessperson. (Jesse Grant/Variety by Getty Images)

The news quickly spread to Moore's hometown. Her friend watched Jessderson on TV while watching the news and chained her up in an orange jumpsuit. He was called the “Happy Face Killer.”

“I was deeply embarrassed and regretted going to school,” Moore said. “Whenever I turned on the TV, my dad's face was flashing, and my friend said his parents had seen the news and they didn't want to hang out with me.

For the series, Melissa G. Moore provided an unread letter from her father. (Amy E. Price/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)

“I internalized it,” admitted Moore. “I took it like something was wrong with me. Maybe the apple isn't far from the tree. It was the beginning of this deep descent in my struggle with my own identity. I internalized his crimes in a way that was enveloped in my own identity.

Don Findlay (right) and Keith Jessperson (orange jumpsuit), sons of murder victim Julie Anne Winnham, on December 19, 1995, at Clark County Courthouse in Vancouver, Washington. (AP Photo/Colombia, Jeremiah Cofran)

“It took me years to settle with that,” the 47-year-old added.

Today, 69-year-old Jesperson serves several life sentences without the possibility of parole.

“He's never explained why,” Moore said. “I'm still interested in why he chose to choose the life he did and commit these crimes. I think he felt a deep sense of anxiety within himself and wanted control. I think it's about power and control.

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Kate Marie as Melissa G. Moore and Dennis Quaid as Keith Jessperson in “Happy Face.” (ed Araquel/Paramount+)

On the show, viewers will see a letter from Jesperson mailed to Moore. She said the scene was accurate.

“He has been writing to me since the first day of his prison, [those letters] She said. “I will not write him back. I have collected them and I have given them all the letters [executive producer] Jennifer Katsio. She used letters in dialogue in the series.

“Sadly, her home was one of those lost in the California fire. Those letters were burned. They were gone.”

Keith Jesder was called the “Happy Face” serial killer. Because he sent a letter to the media detailing his crimes. (Ocaloosa Sheriff's Office)

Today, Moore has her own family. In sharing her story, Moore created a network of over 300 people involved in the murderer, speaking on the phone and directly for support. People Magazine It has been reported. She said before BBC News The project gave her “meaning and direction in life.”

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Over the years, Melissa G. Moore has connected with others who have been involved in and struggle to deal with the murderer. (John Nasion/Variety by Getty Images)

“I'm not proud of who my father is, but I don't feel the need to hide anymore,” Moore said. “I am no longer ascribed his crimes to humans. And I am not alone in dealing with these unique issues. … There is no support group for the family of the perpetrator. There is really no support group for the family of the victim.

He also spoke up to help Moore get in line with her painful past.

Melissa G. Moore said she is no longer afraid to share her story in the hopes of helping others. (Jesse Grant/Variety by Getty Images)

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“My dad gave me my biggest sadness, and it was the trauma I grew up with him as a father,” she said. “I think this series does a really good job of showing this deep desire within me that my childhood father, my father, doesn't exist anymore. He's not here anymore.