At present, both Laverne and John have left for their heavenly abode. According to 20/20, Laverne Pavlinac passed away in March 2003 due to heart failure. They took her to the Columbia River Gorge to see if she could point out locations only the police and killer would know. But it was earlier, about 10:30 p.m., and Taunja was alive still. Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske were romantically involved for some time, although the show claims the former deemed the relationship quite abusive. She couldnt protect Sosnovske anymore. Not a great deal is known about Bennett's background, but the 23-year-old was first reported missing on 21st January 1990. When Jesperson began talking, McIntyre thought he sounded ill-educated, but not stupid or delusional. Why would Ingram and Corson make such comments to her? Sosnovske would later plead no contest to the murder charge. . On the last day of the trial, McIntyre watched Wendell Birkland beseech the jury for seven hours--Its not logical to assume that this 58-year-old grandmother strangled a girl to death--before finally sitting down. In January 1991, a jury had convicted Laverne Pavlinac of felony homicide; two months later, her boyfriend, John Sosnovske, had pleaded no contest to the same charge. "The greatest human tragedy is that Laverne Pavlinac derailed the investigation in 1990, and in four years, Keith Jesperson killed more women," said Jim McIntyre, the Multnomah County, Oregon, prosecutor who handled the cases. Yes, theyd be fools to say the system hasnt convicted innocent people. He remained convinced, though, that the right people were imprisoned for Bennetts murder. Jesperson addressed Pavlinac and Sosnovske directly in his letter. It was, to him, familiar territory: You take a stand, or else you never get anything done. . Likewise, following conviction and sentencing, the prosecutor loses nearly all power to cause any verdict to be set aside.. It doesnt make sense, the defense team argued. Everyone was joining hands, everyone was singing let these people go. She went on to say that all three were in Johns car when he suddenly punched Taunja unconscious. Then his pager flashed and beeped. When he walked into the B&I;, Bennett hugged him. Phelan agreed so quickly, it startled McIntyre. Thats what his boss Mike Schrunks message was about. Riley, the detectives soon learned, was clean as a whistle. Before him, a jumble of letters and documents spilled across his desk. She walked with him to Vista House, where Bennett was lying in the doorway, laughing, her jeans around her ankles. At the time, Pavlinac said she was able to dupe authorities because she had learned details of the crime from newspaper articles and from reading the search warrant without police noticing. It was true, Pavlinac said, that Sosnovske called her from JBs that night. He wanted newspapers to print his letters in full. She felt trapped within the confines of her toxic relationship, and believed she had to go to extreme lengths in order to distance herself from him once and for all. Still, Ellis was an ex-girlfriend; Ellis didnt like Jesperson anymore. I feel like its my fault . The detectives looked at each other, then turned on their tape recorder. We must undo this wrong. Then she took--and passed--a polygraph exam. Much doubt still remains. Besides, under our rule of law, a jury verdict . On Oct. 24, to see if Jesperson somehow knew Pavlinac and Sosnovske, FBI agents called in by the district attorneys office administered independent polygraph exams to Jesperson and Pavlinac. I didnt plan to kill her . Thats what he did one late November night at his favorite downtown Portland tavern, the Veritable Quandary, which he likes less for its apt name than for its dearth of criminal defense attorneys. Plump and homey, 57, short graying hair, blue eyes, soft, round face. Everything unfolded quickly after that. Tell Even if he had more or less stumbled into it. The last thing he needed was this call. . She started offering the detectives whatever she thought they wanted, whatever would make them believe her. A disturbing case indeed--but also a refreshing one. It wasnt Multnomah Countys case. She ushered them in like always, nice and friendly, then turned and headed toward the kitchen. The truth must be told on this case as God is my witness, he wrote. She opened her door, greeted them warmly--and sighed deeply at what they had to say. Not a fiber or hair strand in his car, not a flaw in his account of that night. He claimed to have victims in five states: Washington, California, Florida, Wyoming and Oregon. McIntyre quickly authorized a polygraph exam. McIntyre coached his sons soccer game that day. Summary of Case: "Laverne Pavlinac was the codefendant of her then boyfriend John Sosnovske. Authorities in Livingston, Mont., had called Det. McIntyre went to confer with Schrunk. She'd been brutally beaten and sexually assaulted before the culprit strangled her to death. Asked by the judge if she wished to speak, Pavlinac, handcuffed and shackled, rose and turned to Sosnovske, sitting just on the other side of her defense attorney. For weeks, investigators had been searching for the girlfriend Keith Jesperson had lived with at the time of Taunja Bennetts murder. . He was late, he was busy. Phelan was already there, waiting in a back conference room. At this news, eyes opened wide all over the Multnomah County district attorneys office. OK, he said. They found Taunja Bennetts Oregon ID card., No, Im not. You fix on your theory, you argue your vision, the jury decides whats true. Meisenheimer shook his head. . Additionally, the show and reports mention Johns passing, but the exact date and reason behind it are still unclear. Sosnovske carried Bennetts body like a baby into the woods. He felt scared, and unprepared, but looking out over the playing field, he saw no other choice. "I [had] seen all these tracks and all this and that. All NRE reports represent a moment in time. First they would hack away the blackberry bushes. McIntyre listened as that tape now unwound in an Oregon State Police conference room. By 8 p.m., after a second test, the examiner put it unequivocally: Sosnovske killed Taunja Bennett. In February 1987 shed called county probation to report he was drinking. Sometimes Jesperson got details right, often he did not. The further he delved, the murkier everything looked. With Laverne implicating herself in the crime, both she and John were arrested and charged with Taunjas murder. Little by little, they admit more. Despite defense pleas, the judge had barred the message from the trial, ruling it to be hearsay with no indication of reliability. In 1995, Bennett's real killer revealed himself to the authorities. But at her trial, Pavlinac recanted, saying that she had lied in an attempt to escape her abusive. He slapped her. Yes, that fact did demonstrate how hard it was to know the truth. Were going after a serial killer. He ordered McIntyre to give him daily briefings; he appealed for results; he told reporters, I dont want our office to do wrong. Helping victims felt good. He had dozens of other matters pressing; a senior prosecutor with three small kids had no time to squander. Then theyd search the bare ground. We left her at her daughters home. Hi Brad, the handprinted letter began. She hadnt bailed them out, she hadnt convinced them. This was the most amazing and perplexing case any of them had ever encountered. Phelan had expected some resistance from him. Hed called around, checked them out. The womans voice he heard sounded earnest, genuine, emotional. At Schrunks side, agreeing, stood two assistant state attorneys general and Pavlinacs defense lawyer. She was frightened, she wanted to make sure they took Sosnovske away. He alone killed Bennett, he declared. It was still true. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Sometimes he thought he should have been a Jesuit. Why was he screwing up their case? They never came up with anything, though. In a fashion, McIntyre thought, it was like dealing with Laverne Pavlinac all over again. Then you tell us how you think it happened. But Pavlinac claimed she knew where she and Sosnovske had left Bennett's body in the Columbia Gorge outside of town, and took investigators to the exact remote wooded area where Bennett was found. As they drove, Pavlinac described Tanyas appearance precisely, getting every detail right. They told her they were going to have to release him. Just after McIntyres impassioned final argument, just hours after he once more played Laverne Pavlinacs taped confession, 12 Multnomah County citizens proclaimed the defendant guilty of felony murder. Listening to Ingram, McIntyre settled into a seat, fighting a vague dread. As they passed where Taunjas body was found, Pavlinac pointed to almost exactly the precise spot. McIntyre never wavered. In various contacts with reporters beginning in mid-September 1995, Jesperson so incessantly claimed he was the Happy Face Killer that a judge ordered him to stop talking. Laverne Pavlinac is seen here showing investigators where Taunja Bennett's body was found, even though she had nothing to do with the crime. Police interviewed Sosnovske, who denied Pavlinacs claims. He already had the kids much of the time. They also had a strand of hair, lifted from the victims body, that matched Sosnovskes. A series of strange confessions Police brought. I put them away. During intercourse, he told Pavlinac to hang on to the rope. Most of what Jesperson related, hed already told the news media. Her own daughter. On those occasions, Jim McIntyre more often than not bristles. Surely she was telling the truth. McIntyre felt certain now: Jesperson was full of bull. As they drove out there, she just watched the odometer. It started in late January 1990 with the body of an unidentified female, found strangled in the brush off an isolated road in the Columbia Gorge. Had they all suffered from tunnel vision once they started hearing Pavlinacs stories? I want to deal.. McIntyre sat in his office, studying the first anonymous letter. Somethings going on up in Clark County, the district attorney began. OK, Det. Pavlinac and Sosnovske had nothing to do with it. Chris Peterson to the Clark County Jail. . She claimed that she overheard Sosnovske peacocking to a friend about assaulting and killing the 23-year-old. They sat down across from each other. If McIntyre harbored any doubts, they evaporated the next morning, when Corson and Ingram drove Pavlinac out to the Columbia Gorge. On Jan. 10, 1990, shed again called county probation about his drinking. She made it all up, she said, to escape Sosnovske. Nonetheless, upon leaving the sheriffs office, McIntyre drove with Det. To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders, Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications, .css-o3g03s{color:black;}Published14:12,08 November 2021 GMT.css-1aaqh7x{color:#666666;}@media (min-width:1024px){.css-1aaqh7x{color:#666666;}}| Last updated14:12,08 November 2021 GMT. The Happy Face Killer. Thats what an Oregonian columnist, Phil Stanford, was calling him. Whered you put her?, The detectives shifted in discomfort. After hed retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel, hed directed public works projects for the Department of Commerce. McIntyre reviewed all they had. Then Jespersons appointed defense lawyer, Tom Phelan, called. No news account had ever provided a hint. Cant you see this is all bogus? McIntyre frowned, looking as if he were in pain. But I was wrong . She hadnt been able to see the odometer. Some details were new, though. More than 25 years have passed since the ordeal, and in that time, both Sosnovske and Pavlinac have died. "Now, I'm thinking, 'She's confessed she's pointed out the dump site, she's confessed to us on tape. Still the judge demurred. The emotion in Pavlinacs taped confession--that was just too genuine to be faked. Peterson asked his second question: Why did you confess? To no avail--he coughed and moved so much, they had to stop midway through the test. I got into a bad situation and got caught up with emotion. Laverne Pavlinac paged him late last night, Ingram reported. Shes 18 years his senior, shes an enabler, she wants to be free of him. He looked huge to McIntyre. In February 1990, the police thought they had a massive breakthrough in Taunja Bennetts murder investigation when Laverne Pavlinac called them and implicated her partner, John Sosnovske. . Remembering the first known victim of Happy Face serial killer. He was 40. He flat out couldnt act, he would advise Schrunk. Sosnovske called her from JBs Lounge late that night, Pavlinac began. Could a journalist have fed information to Jesperson? Laverne insisted that she tried her best to move away, but most of her efforts were unsuccessful. When the Bend mans lawyer finally told them to put up or shut up, McIntyre backed off. Or was this a setup of some kind, a smoke screen? John Ingram shook his head in regret and puzzlement. Alone in his office, McIntyre wrestled with other news as well. McIntyre laughed when he heard the news. . Investigators installed a hidden recording device in their home hoping to catch Sosnovske making incriminating statements. Hoping to un-fix it, Schrunk arranged for an expedited hearing at the Marion County Circuit Court in Salem, near where Pavlinac and Sosnovske were imprisoned. When investigators asked him why he decided to come forward, Jesperson listed two reasons. After that, Pavlinac explained, the story just snowballed. I was given a ride home with the dead female in the back. McIntyre thought they had a done deal. McIntyre glowered at the phone, sport coat in hand. Yes, he said. People glowering at you. If I killed her, I didnt mean to . He sat down on his bed and picked up a phone. She told her daughter the same exact story. No way, McIntyre thought. I have been taking it out on different people . She was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 10 years. McIntyre resisted for one more day. Hed quickly switched to an English major, figuring hed go to law school and become a criminal defense attorney. She would pop in and pop out, and over the years, She was that type of person.". Laverne was a victim herself. Although the judge vacated Johns sentence, the show mentions that he refused to overturn Lavernes conviction claiming that she had abused the system and obstructed justice which allowed the real killer to roam free. She knew because shed helped him dispose of the body. First, just before it began in late January, Pavlinac officially recanted her confession. One of the murders he confessed to was that of Taunja Bennett. I feel badly that I couldnt see through this, he said. Hed lived most of the time in central and eastern Washington. McIntyre felt angry. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Who in their right mind is going to put himself in a car with a homicide victim if he didnt even know her? That, in fact, was the widespread judgment about the entire Multnomah County district attorneys office. Things like Internet chat rooms were off-limits to his kids; hed rather keep the password to himself, hed rather drive home at midday to log them on when they needed to download something for school. You want to deal before your client has even been charged?, It seemed weird to Phelan, too. Punched her, slapped her. After years of alleged abuse at the hands of her boyfriend, 58-year-old grandma Laverne Pavlinac had decided enough was enough. Yes, he acknowledged. Still, detectives continued to interview Pavlinac. He would never, McIntyre reminded himself, put before a jury a story he didnt believe to be true. A woman named Laverne Pavlinac. The evidence against them consisted primarily of Pavlinacs recorded confessions and accusations as well as her success in identifying the place the body was found. Eventually, the case was turned over to prosecutors and Pavlinac and Sosnovske were arrested in February, 1990. Judge Paul Lipscomb of the Circuit Court of Oregon agreed to vacate Sosnovske's sentence after ruling his no-contest plea violated his constitutional rights because it had not been voluntary since he was facing the death penalty. Mike Schrunk, as a result, no longer was just asking questions. He was divorced, with two children. Jespersons account had too many inconsistencies. Pavlinac had told police she helped her boyfriend kill Bennett and dispose of her body. Returning to get a piece of rope from the car trunk, Sosnovske told Pavlinac to come watch. Before long, her claims began to implicate herself in the murder as well. In late March 1991, Sosnovske, looking bewildered, pleaded no contest to a charge of felony murder. Theyd also fixed on a suspect. I beat her to death, raped her and loved it. In late March, detectives had arrested Keith Jesperson, a long-haul trucker whom Winningham had been dating. This has been an awful three months, McIntyre allowed; just ask his family and colleagues. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Id trust her to baby-sit my own daughter, Ingram declared. This case hasnt made him gunshy about his job. on our list, Other Case tapes reveal woman's incriminating confession to involvement in 1990 murder case Laverne Pavlinac claimed she was involved in Taunja Bennett's death. Shes been convicted legally, Libscomb declared. Laverne Pavlinac, 57, read about the murder in depth and decided Bennetts case could be used to end her 10-year abusive relationship with her 39-year-old boyfriend. Keith Hunter Jesperson - more widely known by his nickname - turned himself in after committing a further six murders. He has to sell the goddamn car. Maybe she can take us out of this. During intercourse, she said something insulting to him about getting it over with. Just like his ex-wife used to say. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? . Then, on Aug. 17, McIntyre received a state crime lab report that commanded his attention. Once you make the decision to enter a battle, you damn sure better be ready to fight it. Could she be getting even for some long-ago offense? That this never happened. The evidence is compelling, Circuit Judge Paul Lipscomb said. Daily News reports 57-year-old Laverne Pavlinac confessed she and her boyfriend, 39-year-old John Sosnovske, kidnapped, attacked, and killed Pavlinac before dumping her body along the highway. Her sister Michelle White said Bennett was the only one in their family who graduated from high school, someone who read a lot and loved music. For an hour and a half, Ingram just took notes. He placed the body in the cars backseat on top of a shower curtain, then told her to drive out the Crown Point Highway. Trials and cops were better than writing briefs. McIntyre was not in a good mood. She talked of him being violent during sex and having a thing about knotting rope. When she recanted, Pavlinac said she falsely confessed because she was stuck in a volatile relationship with Sosnovske, desperately seeking a way out and wanting him in prison. McIntyre thought the two men complemented each other. Saying he took this girl into the gorge and strangled her. "Then it becameserious,a seriousargument. Laverne claimed that Taunja was still alive when she and John met her on the night of January 21. The anonymous writer now claimed Taunja Bennetts was the first of five murders hed committed while working as a long-haul trucker. . Pavlinac and Sosnovske were sentenced to life in prison, with both parties knowing full well they were innocent. Only occasionally does someone ask how often other such mistakes go undetected. He liked the political aspects of the law, he liked the idea of working for himself. Holding a trident, she stood bent over, with one hand cupped. Those two should not be in jail. John Ingram, who worked on the case. The experts findings were unequivocal: The handwriting in the Happy Face letters matched the handwriting in Jespersons letter to his brother; fingerprints on the Happy Face letters matched Jespersons; saliva retrieved from a Happy Face envelope matched Jespersons DNA type. Not only did they have an airtight eyewitness, not only was Sosnovske already in jail--he was in another countys jail. As reported by the New York Daily News, Laverne Pavlinac confessed to the murder of Taunja Bennett in January 1990. Jesperson, he saw, had told his attorney everything right from the start. Laverne claimed to have then tied a rope around the womans neck while John allegedly sexually assaulted her before strangling her to death. At a second hearing on Nov. 27, Judge Libscomb finally relented. Particularly since they had not one scrap of evidence pointing in any other direction. Meanwhile, the real killer carried out a series of murders over five years. Now 66, Jesperson is serving five non-consecutive life sentences in Oregon's state penitentiary. Nor was McIntyre. She felt trapped within the confines of her toxic relationship, and believed she had to go to extreme lengths in order to distance herself from him once and for all. Julie Winningham is seen here in this undated photo. She was convicted anyway and sentenced to life in prison after jurors heard her taped confession. Jims favorite story about him concerned the seventh game of the 1971 World Series, Pittsburgh at Baltimore. Ingram and Corson, they told her there was insufficient evidence to hold Sosnovske. . Still, McIntyre wondered. Three times before making the anonymous calls about Bennetts murder, shed tried to pin other things on Sosnovske.
Hogan's Secret Elbow Move,
Abigail Johnson Political Affiliation,
Florida Man September 14, 2005,
Articles L
