Related Articles
In the Nineties, Keith Hunter Jesperson murdered at least eight woman over a five-year time span. Soon he got the name Happy Face Killer, after sending law enforcement post-murder notes featuring the cheerful expression. Paramount+ released a trailer Monday for the true-crime series Happy Face, tracing the former truck driver’s murdering spree.
Happy Face catches up with Melissa Moore, played by Annaleigh Ashford, after a decade of no contact with her serial killer father, played by Dennis Quaid. With limited time, Melissa must determine if an innocent man will be framed for a crime her father committed. As the eight-episode series continues, Melissa discovers her father’s impact on the victims’ families and struggles with her own identity, as the daughter of a killer. Jennifer Cacicio (Your Honor) serves as the showrunner and the series stars James Wolk (Mad Men), Tamera Tomakili (Fruitvale Station), Khiyla Aynne (Circuit Breakers), and Benjamin Mackey (The Morning Show).
The series draws inspiration from Moore’s true story, featured in the Happy Face podcast, and her autobiography Shattered Silence, co-written with M. Bridget Cook. The Happy Face podcast, a 12-part podcast from How Stuff Works, follows Moore’s life as she reckons with her father’s identity at age 15 to meeting the son of her father’s last victim. Moore changed her name from Melissa Jesperson in an effort to sever herself from her serial killer father, born Keith Hunter Jesperson. He is currently serving a life sentence in prison.
In 2014, the Jespersons’ story was adapted into the 2014 TV movie Happy Face Killer. The first two episodes of the true-crime series Happy Face will release March 20 on Paramount +. New episodes will drop each week.
