Another victim of Oregon 'Happy Face Killer' identified from 1990s murder spree

A new victim has been connected to convicted Oregon serial killer Keith Jesperson, also known as the Happy Face Killer.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office and the District 1 Medical Examiner's Office last week announced the identity of the victim as 34-year-old Suzanne L. Kjellenburg. Her remains were found in Okaloosa County, Fla., in 1994, and her murder had gone unsolved.

"Suzanne deserves a voice," Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said. "We're that voice for her today and this case has been years in the making."

Background of the Happy Face Killer

Jesperson, 68, is already serving several life sentences without the possibility of parole for murders in Oregon, California and Wyoming. He has been incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem since 1995.

He gained notoriety during the 1990s for preying on multiple women throughout the Pacific Northwest. He worked as a long-haul truck driver and is connected to eight strangulation murders of women in Oregon, Washington, California, Wyoming and Nebraska.

He got the name "Happy Face Killer" for drawing happy faces in letters in which he boasted of committing five murders on the West Coast.

In 2006, Jesperson wrote a letter to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office in California as well as former Statesman Journal reporter Jan Davies admitting to sexually assaulting and killing an unknown woman along a dirt turnout between Dinosaur Point and El Toro on Highway 152 in California, southeast of San Jose.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree homicide the following year for killing the unidentified woman known as “Blue Pacheco," named for the denim she was wearing and the nickname of Highway 152, Pacheco Pass Highway.

The woman last year was determined to be Colton, Ore., mother Patricia Skiple, thanks to assistance from Santa Clara Sheriff's Office cold case detectives and DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that provides investigative geology services to identify crime victims. She was about 45 at the time of her death.

Jesperson was also convicted of killing Laurie Ann Pentland, 23, of Carlton, whose body was found Nov. 14, 1992, behind an east Salem store, and Taujna Bennett, 23, of Portland, in 1990.

Suzanne L. Kjellenburg's death, identification

In August 1994, Jesperson picked up Kjellenberg, who was best described as a drifter in Tampa. Authorities believe she was raped, beaten and then strangled before her body was dumped in a wooden area off Interstate 10 near Holt, Fla.

Kjellenburg is believed to be the sixth of eight victims of Jespersen.

In 1994, the Medical Examiner's Office received the skeletal remains and sent them to the University of Florida. The initial analysis showed that the remains were of a white female in the age range of 35 to 55. A clay reconstruction of her face was made, but there were no leads.

In 1996, Jesperson admitted to killing Kjellenburg and told investigators that she referred to herself as either "Susan or Suzette."

In 2007, a new facial reconstruction was created, but to no avail. One year later, the Medical Examiner's Office sent additional anthropological analysis to the University of West Florida, and specimens were also sent to the FBI for DNA analysis and entry into the National Missing Persons DNA Database.

In late 2022, Dr. Deanna Oleske, the chief medical examiner for District 1, was at the National Association for Medical Examiners conference. A new approach for identifying remains through genealogy was discussed. Six weeks after the remains were sent to Othram, a company that uses this method, it made the identification of Kjellenberg.

"It was unbelievable," Oleske said. "I had no idea we would do it in six weeks."

What's next?

A news release from Florida officials notes that Jesperson has been charged with the murder of Kjellenberg. Officials will be working with the Oregon Department of Corrections to arrange prosecution in Florida. It is not expected that he will be extradited to Florida.

The family of Kjellenberg has been notified of the investigation and, according to the release, has expressed gratitude for the perseverance of the investigators. The family has also asked for privacy at this time.

Statesman Journal senior news editor Alia Beard Rau contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Florida woman identified as victim of Oregon 'Happy Face Killer'