I've gained the trust of America's worst serial killers... they just need someone to talk to and even send me gifts
‘I love women. I love them to death,’ Keith Hunter Jesperson likes to joke over the phone when speaking to podcast host Keith Rovere from the maximum security prison he now calls home.
Better known as the Happy Face Killer, Jesperson murdered at least eight women between 1990 and 1995.
As a long-haul truck driver, the serial killer prowled for victims during long, lonely nights driving up and down the highways. He was known for strangling women and dumping their bodies along the roads.
He earned the disturbing moniker after leaving chilling smiley faces next to confession letters scrawled on restroom walls and in notes taunting the media.
Now serving multiple life sentences at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Jesperson shares new details about his heinous crimes when he calls into the The Lighter Side Of True Crime podcast.
In a recent eight-part series by Rovere, Jesperson delved into each murder in meticulous detail, covering one victim per episode including where he found them, how he felt in the moment he killed her and how he committed the murder and disposed of her body.
The Happy Face Killer is just one of many serial killers and violent offenders who join Rovere’s podcast from prison where they are serving life or lengthy sentences or are awaiting execution on death row.
Other recent callers have included the Cross-Dressing Cannibal, Hadden Clark, who joined the show to weigh in on a recent docuseries, which detailed how he confessed to a jailmate because he thought the man looked like Jesus.
Better known as the Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson murdered at least eight women between 1990 and 1995
Keith Rovere speaks with America's most notorious serial killers on his podcast, The Lighter Side Of True Crime
The so-called Selfie Killer, Amanda Taylor, told Rovere what led her to brutally stab her father-in-law to death and then pose for a selfie with his corpse.
And Bruce Davis, a member of the Manson Family, called in to recall his encounters with infamous cult leader Charles Manson. (Davis’s latest parole hearing was postponed because of his appearance on the podcast.)
But, Rovere says, the vast majority of killers he speaks to do not want to talk about their horrific crimes.
‘Part of the podcast is about letting people know who they really are,’ Rovere tells the Daily Mail.
‘I bring them on to tell their side of the story. They get their truth out, because most documentaries and movies about these men and women have never interviewed them... so they never really get their side of the story out.’
There's a lot of each story that remains untold, Rovere adds.
‘We know this person killed this many people. We know this is the person's name and who they killed, but [we don't know] the motivations behind it, the why and things like that, and the back stories about everything from their childhood to them growing up.
‘So I give them a platform if they want to let people get to know them.’
Part of getting to know Jesperson includes the likes of his dark jokes about his crimes.
Keith Hunter Jesperson sends Rovere paintings from inside prison where he is serving multiple life sentences
The Happy Face Killer has mailed dozens of colorful paintings to Rovere since they started talking
‘That's his little joke,’ Rovere says. ‘He has a dark sense of humor.’
Rovere launched his podcast after spending around three decades working in prison outreach programs run through Christian ministries.
Today, he speaks to around 50 or 60 serial killers and violent offenders in prison each week - far more than those choosing to join his podcast.
While some might come on his show to rehash their grisly pasts, Rovere says most simply want someone to talk to.
‘A big part of it is loneliness,’ he says.
Because of their horrific crimes, serial killers have typically lost any relationships they once had with friends and family and ‘the world hates them,’ he tells the Daily Mail.
‘They just want to have a normal conversation. 90 percent of the time, if not more, they just want to hear about my life… They want to hear “what was I doing today?”… we're talking like you would talk to anybody else,' he explains.
‘For the most part, the last thing they want to do is talk about their crime,' Rovere adds. 'We're just talking about everyday stuff, basically building relationships.’
Manson family member Bruce Davis (seen in 2014 and 1970) called in to recall his encounters with the infamous cult leader Charles Manson
BTK killer Dennis Rader admitted killing 10 people in the Wichita area between 1974 and 1991
This is exactly why Rovere says he has been able to uniquely gain the trust of some of the most prolific serial killers and criminals in America.
‘I'm not a journalist. I'm not going to try to poke and prod. I just want to say “this is your platform, get your truth out there, and then people can think what they think,”’ he says.
Many inmates are wary of the media ‘because all they want to do is talk about their crimes or their brains or whatever,’ he says.
And, due to the public's current true crime obsession, infamous inmates can also be wary of the strangers who reach out to them in prison.
‘With the true crime market, it's hard for them to trust anybody,’ Rovere tells the Daily Mail, adding that some people are just trying to get their hands on a piece of true crime memorabilia they can cash in on.
He explains that, if someone gets a letter from Son of Sam David Berkowitz, for example, they could auction it online for hundreds of dollars.
Through his years-long relationships with serial killers, Rovere actually has enough true crime memorabilia to fill a museum.
BTK killer Dennis Rader has sent him cards and letters, Berkowitz has sent pamphlets about his Son of Hope journey, the Happy Face Killer has mailed dozens of colorful paintings, and Spokane serial killer Robert Yates gifts Rovere intricate origami birds.
Selfie Killer Amanda Taylor shared with Rovere what led her to brutally stab her father-in-law to death and then pose for a selfie with his corpse
Spokane serial killer Robert Yates sends podcast host Keith Rovere intricate origami birds
The list goes on, but Rovere’s collection is not for sale.
‘Anything that I've received personally, that's personal to me,’ he tells the Daily Mail.
The podcast host also explains that prison pen pals are often looking for ‘a thrill’ when they speak to a serial killer.
‘They're expecting, like, Hannibal Lecter,’ Rovere says. When they realize ‘that's not what they're getting, they get quickly bored.’
Rovere says it shouldn’t come as a surprise that most conversations with serial killers are the same normal, mundane conversations they would have with anyone else.
After all, many of the most notorious serial killers were fully functioning members of society with jobs, families and good standing in their local communities before they were caught.
Beyond giving listeners this opportunity to get to know the person behind the notoriety, Rovere says the other main aim of his podcast is to talk about ‘positive changes’ some of the inmates have made in their lives since being jailed.
Rovere says he understands people might question why it matters whether a criminal has changed their ways if they’re never going to see the outside world again.
David Berkowitz, 24, is led into the Gold Street Station House by officers following his arrest for the Son of Sam murders in 1977
Police on the scene after a young couple was shot in Brooklyn by the Son of Sam on July 31, 1977
‘People might think, why am I showing love and kindness to serial killers? They're never getting out,’ he says.
‘But even somebody who's not getting out of prison, like David Berkowitz, can still do good.’
Between the summers of 1976 and 1977, the Son of Sam terrorized New York City - killing six victims and wounding seven in eight separate shootings at the height of the Satanic panic sweeping America, and at a time when the Big Apple was plagued by violent crime.
Following his arrest in August 1977, Berkowitz claimed he had been driven to kill by a 6,000-year-old demon called Sam which spoke to him through his neighbor’s dog.
For the past 50 years, he has been behind bars, where he says he has turned his life around, discovered faith and rebranded himself as the Son of Hope.
In a pamphlet titled Son of Hope: The David Berkowitz story, shared with the Daily Mail, Berkowitz utilizes a colorful cartoon to chronicle his childhood, crimes and then life behind bars.
‘I’m living proof that God can make a dramatic change in anyone,’ Berkowitz writes.
Berkowitz also runs a website dedicated to his story, featuring his ‘apology’ to victims and journal entries about his day-to-day prison life.
A pamphlet titled Son of Hope: The David Berkowitz story, shared with the Daily Mail
In the pamphlet, Berkowitz chronicles his childhood, crimes and then life behind bars through a colorful cartoon
Son of Sam seen in March 2003. He has claimed to have turned his life around and rebranded himself as the ‘Son of Hope'
From what Rovere has seen, some serial killers like Berkowitz and Manson Family member Charles ‘Tex’ Watson - who has also found religion in prison - are capable of change and can now help others from their positions behind bars.
Both men have websites, through which Rovere says they've ‘changed the hearts of thousands of other people' who may have turned to violence.
‘So if all they did was be punished in there and they didn't have a voice, there would have been thousands of people still struggling in their lives out here, on the outside, let alone on the inside.’
Another example is serial killer Wayne Adam Ford, who opened up about his mental health struggles on Rovere's podcast.
‘He's one of the few people who actually turned himself in because he knew he couldn't stop killing. He knew he had a problem with mental health,’ Rovere says.
‘[On the podcast,] he talked about his autism and psychopathy, of how he struggled with it, how he's trying to overcome it, how he's working through it.’
Rovere says Ford really resonated with listeners, prompting many people to reach out about the issues he raised.
In some cases, Rovere has been able to connect Ford with people ‘struggling with psychotic and violent urges’ to help prevent them from making the same mistakes he did.
‘Let's just say, he has been there, done that, and he can give those people, and does give these people advice,’ he says.
‘There's a lot of good that they can do from there.’
Rovere reveals that some of the serial killers he speaks to also want to connect with their fellow serial killers.
Serial killer Wayne Adam Ford (seen in November 1998) opened up about his mental health struggles on the podcast
Keith Hunter Jesperson (left) and Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann (right) were briefly prison pen pals
Jesperson and Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann had a brief relationship as prison pen pals.
Meanwhile, Dana Gray - who murdered three elderly women in the early '90s - wrote to BTK in prison. Rader then reportedly complained to serial killer expert Dr. Scott Bonn that Gray wasn’t ‘in the same league’ as him and his crimes.
Rovere believes some serial killers are ‘curious about why they are what they are.’
‘[Gray] wanted to know if she was really like other serial killers… what she found out was, “No, I am nothing like these people. I do have remorse. I'm not like them. I regret what I did,”’ he says.
When Gray joins Rovere's podcast, she refuses to talk about her crimes out of respect for the victims. Instead, she and Rovere discuss things like prison reform and the current talking point about transgender women in women’s prisons.
But Rovere acknowledges that not all inmates are capable of - or want to - change.
Clark is someone Rovere describes as one of the ‘most fascinating, more mentally unstable’ inmates he speaks to.
His is a chilling tale of a family where his mom forced him to wear girls’ clothing growing up and his brother murdered, barbecued and ate a woman who rejected his advances.
But Clark’s crimes are even more disturbing.
Dana Gray - who murdered three elderly women back in the early 90s - (left) wrote to BTK Dennis Rader (right) in prison
A hand-drawn card sent to Keith Rovere from the BTK serial killer Dennis Rader
Hadden Clark confessed to a cellmate who he thought was Jesus that he had killed more victims
Clark is someone Rovere describes as one of the ‘most fascinating, more mentally unstable’ inmates he speaks to (pictured footprints sent by Clark to Rovere)
On Memorial Day 1986, he lured six-year-old Michele Dorr into a home, cut her throat, drank her blood and then buried her body.
Six years later, he murdered 23-year-old Harvard graduate Laura Houghteling.
After his arrest in Houghteling’s case, he confessed to Dorr’s murder - finally leading police to the little girl’s grave 14 years after her disappearance.
Behind bars, Clark confessed to a cellmate that he had actually killed at least a dozen victims.
When investigators took him from prison to the alleged gravesites, Clark dressed in women’s clothing as his alter ego Kristen.
‘You never know what he's going to say [on the podcast] - or what he's going to send you in the mail,’ Rovere says.
Clark has so far sent him artwork depicting the horrific murder of Dorr and a portrait of himself.
‘Then he shaved his beard off and sent me the beard in a little plastic envelope and said, “Here you can glue my beard onto my picture”… You never know what's going to happen,’ he says.
Keith Rovere says 'part of the podcast is about letting people know who they really are'
Despite what he believes are the positives, Rovere understands some of the backlash against giving serial killers such a public platform.
‘I can understand from a distance, somebody saying, “Oh, these people don't deserve any platform.” Okay, if that person is just spilling, spewing violence out of his mouth and hatred out of his mouth, I agree that they probably shouldn't have a platform,’ he says.
But, if they are doing ‘positive things’, he feels it’s 'a no-brainer.’
‘They get a bigger voice, one for positive change, and to get people to know who they are as a person and why they did what they did, and get the truth out there,' Rovere says. 'At least, their version of the truth.’
