Keith Jesperson, often known as the “Happy Face Killer” who just lately admitted to his eighth serial homicide, mentioned he has a brand new pen pal behind bars.
Suspected Gilgo Seashore serial killer Rex Heuermann purportedly complained about jail meals and train circumstances and fretted that guards could be studying his mail, in accordance with a handwritten letter that Jesperson forwarded to the “Lighter Side of Serial Killers Podcast” host and creator Keith Rovere.
Jesperson talked about the letter final month when police in Florida visited him in an Oregon jail to document his confession within the cold-case murder of Suzanne Kjellenberg. A picture that Rovere shared with Fox Information Digital reveals it was dated Aug. 31.
“You had been proper about letters — I’ve gotten plenty of them — asking for interviews, to be associates, pen friends, and one man who despatched me three letters asking me to put in writing again and add to his ‘collection of letters,'” the letter reads. “You are the only person who I have written back to and plan to write to.”
SUSPECTED GILGO BEACH SERIAL KILLER REX HEUERMANN TAKEN OFF JAIL’S SUICIDE WATCH, SHERIFF SAYS
A photo illustration shows portions of a handwritten letter attributed to suspected Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann superimposed over a photograph of him in court. (James Carbone/Pool via REUTERS, Inset: Keith Rovere/The Lighter Side Of Serial Killers)
Heuermann’s lawyer Michael Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rovere, who said he has interviewed numerous murderers over the years, including “Son of Sam” David Berkwotiz, went public with the letter earlier this week after discussing it with Jesperson on the latest episode of his true crime podcast.
Read the letter (Mobile users go here)
“Being only a month and a half into this, as you know, I have had a lot to think about,” the letter reads.
At another point, he warned that, “I am not sure if my mail is not being read. I did have one officer make a comment to me that he knew you were writing to me.”
Rovere said he spoke with Jesperson over the phone Tuesday night and they both picked up on a similar vibe in the letter.
“You have to look into it a little bit, but it seems like he’s already at peace in his coronary heart that he is aware of that he’s busted,” he mentioned, noting the dialog was informal, speaking about jail meals and ready for discovery.
“Keith was the same way,” he mentioned of Jesperson. “He’s already at peace in his heart, and the calmness in the letter, the way he’s writing.”
WATCH: ‘Joyful Face’ serial killer discusses new pen pal Rex Heuermann earlier than admitting to murdering an eighth sufferer
Jesperson, in his October jailhouse interview, mentioned he tries to advise suspects who’re responsible to fess up — but in addition mentioned on the podcast that Heuermann ought to hold quiet about his personal case till it performs out in courtroom and discouraged him from exchanging letters with anybody else.
“I always try to tell people to own it, just admit to it, you’re caught,” Jesperson informed Florida authorities. “If you’re arrested it means the prosecutor has enough evidence to take you to court and prove you guilty. They wouldn’t have arrested you if they didn’t.”
He claimed that Heuermann wrote him again to say, “I’ll take it under advisement” — however that phrase does not seem within the letter.
Gilgo Seashore murders victims Amber Costello (high left), Maureen Brainard-Barnes (high proper), Melissa Barthelemy (backside left), and Megan Waterman (backside proper). (Suffolk County Police Division)
On Rovere’s podcast, he mentioned the correspondence in better element. He mentioned that jail is extra snug and extra protected than jail, citing the deaths of Jeffrey Dahmer and Jeffrey Epstein. And he bragged that when he was convicted himself of three murders in 90 days, it led to the discharge of two wrongfully convicted suspects. (A girl made a false confession in a type of murders with the intention to get away from her abusive boyfriend, who she claimed killed and murdered the sufferer. Each had been despatched to jail.)
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Heuermann is accused of killing three ladies and has been labeled the prime suspect within the homicide of a fourth lady whose stays had been discovered close to the others.
Heuermann has been held on the Suffolk County jail in Yaphank, New York, since mid-July on six homicide expenses within the cold-case deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27, whose our bodies police present in 2010 whereas trying to find a special lacking lady, Shannan Gilbert, 23.
Crime scene investigators use metallic detectors to go looking a marsh for the stays of Shannan Gilbert, Dec. 12, 2011 in Oak Seashore, New York. A Lengthy Island architect has been charged, Friday, July 14, 2023, with homicide within the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings referred to as the Gilgo Seashore murders. (James Carbone/Newsday by way of AP, Pool, File)
Police have said Gilbert’s demise was an accident. However they’re additionally Heuermann in reference to the demise of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose stays they discovered close to the others.
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Jesperson’s daughter is presently fundraising for Heuermann’s now-estranged spouse, Asa Ellerup, who filed for divorce shortly after his arrest.
Rovere, who describes himself as a Christian who beforehand labored with jail ministry, mentioned he believes in constructive interactions with the worst of the worst prisoners.
“Most of the people I talk to aren’t believers and aren’t religious. I don’t push it on them, but that’s my personal foundation,” he mentioned. “It’s mostly about making a positive change in their lives, because no one else is doing it.”
