- Keith Jesperson sent four drawings to Laura Ingle of NewsNation
- The individual colored pencil drawings are portraits of the Beatles
- Jesperson is serving life without parole for triple murder
(NewsNation) — Keith Hunter Jesperson, commonly known as the “Happy Face Killer,” has written countless letters from prison. Recipients of his letters include Ashleigh Banfield and NewsNation's Laura Ingle. But Ingle received more than just one letter from Jesperson this week.
“It was a total shock,” Ingle said of receiving a large, flat package from the Oregon State Penitentiary. “I opened it. I had no idea it was coming. I was just stunned as I opened the packages here in the newsroom.”
What Ingle found were four large, colorful drawings of the Beatles — Individual portraits of John, Paul, George and Ringo. Each was signed and included the date Jesperson drew it, his inmate number and “OSP” for Oregon State Penitentiary.
Ingle says the accompanying note from Jesperson says he did them “because I wanted to. They are colored pencil drawings. Enjoy.”
“I noticed that the eyes all looked the same,” Ingle told Banfield. “I wondered if the eyes were supposed to belong to Jesperson. They are all a similar shape and look like his eyes.”
While Jesperson is serving three consecutive life sentences in Oregon, he was also convicted of another murder in California and is responsible for four other deaths. However, Jesperson claims to have killed nearly 200 people in six states between 1990 and 1995.
He became known as the “Happy Face Killer” because he had a smiley face next to his signature on the confessions he wrote to news media and police departments before his arrest.
