1 00:00:08,734 --> 00:00:09,734 [Keith speaking] 2 00:00:56,166 --> 00:00:58,066 Welcome to Very Scary People. 3 00:00:58,066 --> 00:00:59,700 I'm Donnie Wahlberg. 4 00:00:59,700 --> 00:01:00,000 He was a long haul truck driver with a wife and kids 5 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,734 He was a long haul truck driver with a wife and kids 6 00:01:02,734 --> 00:01:05,367 who spent most of his time on the road. 7 00:01:05,367 --> 00:01:08,734 Travelling state to state, he would hear tales of other drivers 8 00:01:08,734 --> 00:01:10,734 literally getting away with murder. 9 00:01:11,367 --> 00:01:12,433 But that wasn't him. 10 00:01:12,867 --> 00:01:14,500 He was a family man. 11 00:01:14,500 --> 00:01:19,100 So when a young woman went missing in 1990 on a cold day in Portland, Oregon, 12 00:01:19,100 --> 00:01:22,700 no one would suspect this friendly mild mannered trucker. 13 00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:24,900 But there would be several more bodies to come. 14 00:01:25,734 --> 00:01:28,800 This is part one of The Happy Face Killer. 15 00:01:43,266 --> 00:01:46,734 [Doug] The Colombia Gorge is a scenic wonder. 16 00:01:46,734 --> 00:01:50,233 It draws a lot of tourists in Oregon and Portland. 17 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,533 Soaring whitecap mountains, 18 00:01:53,867 --> 00:01:55,367 huge river, 19 00:01:55,367 --> 00:01:58,467 second only to the Mississippi in terms of size. 20 00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:00,000 [Judge] It's a kind of a unique geographical formation. 21 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 [Judge] It's a kind of a unique geographical formation. 22 00:02:04,066 --> 00:02:06,634 100 foot high walls of rock. 23 00:02:06,634 --> 00:02:09,367 It's covering out this wide valley. 24 00:02:10,467 --> 00:02:12,367 The carving out of the Gorge left 25 00:02:12,867 --> 00:02:14,600 sort of a plateau and 26 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,800 you have a number of waterfalls that come off at the plateau. 27 00:02:19,867 --> 00:02:21,734 The biggest of which is Multnomah Falls. 28 00:02:23,367 --> 00:02:26,734 Columbia River gorge is a very popular place for 29 00:02:26,734 --> 00:02:28,533 sight-seeing and hiking. 30 00:02:29,467 --> 00:02:30,000 It's a really beautiful place. 31 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,166 It's a really beautiful place. 32 00:02:33,266 --> 00:02:37,900 Unfortunately, probably also a good place to get rid of a body. 33 00:02:41,100 --> 00:02:42,800 [Keith speaking] 34 00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:30,000 It was just a nude woman with no clothing there and no, um, forms of identification. 35 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:35,533 It was just a nude woman with no clothing there and no, um, forms of identification. 36 00:03:35,533 --> 00:03:40,166 They lift her fingerprints and match them to a set in the system. 37 00:03:40,166 --> 00:03:43,433 [Monty] We were able to detect her identity as Julie Winningham. 38 00:03:47,700 --> 00:03:49,634 When they said they found my mom, 39 00:03:50,166 --> 00:03:51,533 I had lost it. 40 00:03:51,533 --> 00:03:57,066 She was truly a kind hearted free spirited loving and caring person. 41 00:03:57,066 --> 00:03:59,166 She didn't do people wrong. 42 00:03:59,166 --> 00:04:00,000 I... just couldn't, I couldn't believe it. 43 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,467 I... just couldn't, I couldn't believe it. 44 00:04:02,467 --> 00:04:07,634 The killer dumbed this woman's body off of the highway into the Columbia River Gorge. 45 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:10,533 [Joey] But this wasn't the first time. 46 00:04:15,500 --> 00:04:16,900 [Michelle] I was her big sister. 47 00:04:18,467 --> 00:04:19,634 My family, 48 00:04:19,634 --> 00:04:22,367 you know, even though I had two older brothers, 49 00:04:22,367 --> 00:04:25,166 they were supposed to babysit us. No. 50 00:04:25,166 --> 00:04:28,100 It was me and my sister, Taunja. 51 00:04:28,100 --> 00:04:30,000 Because they were working or my mom was working. 52 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,700 Because they were working or my mom was working. 53 00:04:31,700 --> 00:04:34,600 We get out of school, go home, no one's home. 54 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,266 We grew up poor, so it was oatmeal, 55 00:04:37,266 --> 00:04:40,900 cream of wheat, whatever we had in the refrigerator, in the cupboard I made. 56 00:04:41,500 --> 00:04:43,166 We were just always together. 57 00:04:44,700 --> 00:04:48,266 [Alafair] Taunja Bennett was a 23 year old resident of Portland. 58 00:04:48,266 --> 00:04:55,100 She lived with her mother, um she was described as being mildly mentally disabled. 59 00:04:55,100 --> 00:04:57,800 She was kind of slow but she wasn't to me. 60 00:04:58,734 --> 00:05:00,000 She went all the way to high school and graduated. 61 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,333 She went all the way to high school and graduated. 62 00:05:03,367 --> 00:05:05,900 So, she had intelligence there. 63 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,734 And she was known for walking around with a Walkman, 64 00:05:09,734 --> 00:05:12,333 being very cheerful, kind of a neighborhood local. 65 00:05:17,266 --> 00:05:19,000 [Keith speaking] 66 00:05:44,367 --> 00:05:48,433 [Michelle] Taunja said she had to go to the dentist. 67 00:05:48,867 --> 00:05:50,700 I was like, on a Sunday? 68 00:05:50,700 --> 00:05:53,500 The... the dentist doesn't open on a Sunday. 69 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:57,500 So I said, "Oh, since you are going to the dentist, 70 00:05:57,500 --> 00:05:59,867 could you drop off the movies? 71 00:05:59,867 --> 00:06:00,000 'Cause it's on the way." 72 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,533 'Cause it's on the way." 73 00:06:02,266 --> 00:06:05,066 And she... "Okay I will, I will." 74 00:06:05,867 --> 00:06:08,734 [Alafair] Instead, Taunja had left her house 75 00:06:08,734 --> 00:06:12,066 to walk over to a local tavern called the B & I bar. 76 00:06:12,467 --> 00:06:14,634 And went by herself 77 00:06:14,634 --> 00:06:17,266 wearing a jacket carrying her purse, 78 00:06:17,266 --> 00:06:18,467 carrying her Walkman. 79 00:06:19,367 --> 00:06:22,166 Back then, you know what it was, Madonna. 80 00:06:22,166 --> 00:06:25,367 The tape of Madonna in 1990. 81 00:06:25,367 --> 00:06:28,266 Whenever she came out, that was it. 82 00:06:28,266 --> 00:06:30,000 [Casey] Her sister described her as being very trusting and maybe a little bit slow. 83 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,533 [Casey] Her sister described her as being very trusting and maybe a little bit slow. 84 00:06:32,533 --> 00:06:35,333 But this just means that she was very vulnerable. 85 00:06:37,700 --> 00:06:42,066 She went in and would go around hugging people, very social. 86 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:44,533 [Keith speaking] 87 00:06:57,867 --> 00:07:00,000 She went in and was playing with two men. 88 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:00,533 She went in and was playing with two men. 89 00:07:01,500 --> 00:07:03,166 [Keith speaking] 90 00:07:23,166 --> 00:07:26,266 [Casey] Later the two men that Taunja was playing pool would leave, 91 00:07:26,700 --> 00:07:28,600 and Taunja would leave. 92 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:30,000 Nobody could say for certain when she left or with who. 93 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,867 Nobody could say for certain when she left or with who. 94 00:07:32,867 --> 00:07:35,367 [Monty] That was the last time that she was seen alive. 95 00:07:49,734 --> 00:07:53,000 [Alafair] Her mother reported that Taunja Bennett had left her house 96 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,166 to walk over to a local tavern called the B & I Bar 97 00:07:57,100 --> 00:07:59,166 and then she did not come home. 98 00:07:59,166 --> 00:08:01,900 [Michelle] I said, "Oh, my God, my sister's gone." 99 00:08:01,900 --> 00:08:04,000 Where could she go? 100 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,433 Said, "I went to go look for her and she's gone, mom. 101 00:08:07,467 --> 00:08:09,266 I don't know where she went." 102 00:08:20,266 --> 00:08:25,166 [Judge] I got a call from the Chief Deputy who makes the assignments of murder cases 103 00:08:26,367 --> 00:08:29,166 that we have a body in the Columbia Gorge, 104 00:08:29,166 --> 00:08:33,367 it looks like a homicide, we need you to go out to the scene. 105 00:08:33,367 --> 00:08:36,166 [Chris] The location where the body was discovered, 106 00:08:36,166 --> 00:08:40,000 was on the scenic highway which parallels Interstate 84 107 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,066 that runs east and west out of Portland. 108 00:08:44,467 --> 00:08:44,505 I found where the police vehicles where, 109 00:08:44,505 --> 00:08:48,367 I found where the police vehicles where, 110 00:08:48,367 --> 00:08:54,533 and then, uh, walked into the forest I would estimate 25 feet. 111 00:08:54,533 --> 00:08:56,533 There was, uh, her body. 112 00:09:01,634 --> 00:09:04,467 [Chris] She was dumped in a very steep hillside. 113 00:09:04,467 --> 00:09:07,266 The hillside was probably a 45 degree hillside 114 00:09:07,266 --> 00:09:09,900 of off the... of off the paved road. 115 00:09:09,900 --> 00:09:14,166 And it was very rugged covered with trees and brush. 116 00:09:14,166 --> 00:09:14,505 [Alafair] Her body was found partially unclothed, 117 00:09:14,505 --> 00:09:17,533 [Alafair] Her body was found partially unclothed, 118 00:09:17,533 --> 00:09:20,266 pants have been pulled down, her top was up. 119 00:09:20,266 --> 00:09:23,266 One arm was out of the sleeve of her jacket. 120 00:09:23,266 --> 00:09:26,467 [Judge] So we, of course, from the very beginning 121 00:09:26,467 --> 00:09:28,433 suspected sexual assault. 122 00:09:29,367 --> 00:09:32,734 [Casey] The woman had a rope around her neck. 123 00:09:32,734 --> 00:09:34,100 [camera shutter clicking] 124 00:09:34,100 --> 00:09:38,166 [Casey] And curiously somebody had removed the fly, 125 00:09:38,166 --> 00:09:41,533 like, the button and zipper area of the jeans, they've been cut away. 126 00:09:44,166 --> 00:09:44,505 Because there was no identification on the body police had no clue as 127 00:09:44,505 --> 00:09:48,467 Because there was no identification on the body police had no clue as 128 00:09:48,467 --> 00:09:49,800 to who this woman was. 129 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,600 The only clues were that nearby there was a small Swiss Army Knife 130 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,266 and the headphones to a Sony Walkman. 131 00:09:57,900 --> 00:09:59,734 [Judge] She'd been strangled, 132 00:09:59,734 --> 00:10:01,166 she'd been beaten badly, 133 00:10:02,100 --> 00:10:05,634 we didn't know for sure what race she was, 134 00:10:05,634 --> 00:10:07,734 'cause her face was so badly beaten. 135 00:10:09,533 --> 00:10:12,700 [Chris] It's hard to imagine that you can 136 00:10:12,700 --> 00:10:14,505 kill a... a helpless person and that you can beat them to the point 137 00:10:14,505 --> 00:10:18,266 kill a... a helpless person and that you can beat them to the point 138 00:10:18,266 --> 00:10:22,634 uh, where their face is essentially unrecognizable. 139 00:10:22,634 --> 00:10:24,467 I have no words to describe what kind of a... 140 00:10:24,467 --> 00:10:27,734 what kind of an animal does that sort of thing to another human. 141 00:10:29,100 --> 00:10:33,166 [Judge] We were just needing to gain all the clues we could 142 00:10:33,867 --> 00:10:36,634 to help us find out who was responsible. 143 00:10:36,634 --> 00:10:41,166 And there was a head hair that was taken into evidence 144 00:10:41,166 --> 00:10:43,467 that was found, I believe on her leg 145 00:10:43,467 --> 00:10:44,505 or somewhere under the clothing. 146 00:10:44,505 --> 00:10:45,266 or somewhere under the clothing. 147 00:10:46,100 --> 00:10:47,867 And the head hair wasn't hers. 148 00:10:47,867 --> 00:10:50,166 And she didn't have her purse. 149 00:10:50,166 --> 00:10:51,900 That becomes significant later. 150 00:10:54,467 --> 00:10:56,100 [Jeff] This was a news story 151 00:10:56,100 --> 00:10:59,533 on the fact that a body was found in the Columbia River Gorge. 152 00:10:59,533 --> 00:11:03,800 The victim had been raped and killed. That just didn't happen. 153 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,433 Now, Portland was a much more innocent place at that time. 154 00:11:09,266 --> 00:11:13,533 [Chris] Identifying bodies in criminal investigations, police investigations, 155 00:11:13,533 --> 00:11:14,505 uh, oftentimes clearly one of the ways you identify 156 00:11:14,505 --> 00:11:16,467 uh, oftentimes clearly one of the ways you identify 157 00:11:16,467 --> 00:11:20,467 a body is if someone can recognize a person's face. 158 00:11:20,467 --> 00:11:23,100 [Casey] Police composed a sketch of the female victim 159 00:11:23,100 --> 00:11:25,433 and put it out on the news media. 160 00:11:30,266 --> 00:11:34,000 The neighbor came down and she told me to watch the news. 161 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,533 Because [gasps] she's seen something on the news about a girl getting killed, 162 00:11:38,533 --> 00:11:39,634 I was like, 163 00:11:40,867 --> 00:11:42,000 no. 164 00:11:43,533 --> 00:11:44,505 But the portrait they have, didn't even look like her. 165 00:11:44,505 --> 00:11:47,166 But the portrait they have, didn't even look like her. 166 00:11:48,100 --> 00:11:49,533 Nothing like my sister, 167 00:11:50,533 --> 00:11:55,467 but what they had her clothes, that's what did it. 168 00:11:55,467 --> 00:12:01,634 Taunja's sister saw the sketch on the news along with photographs of the clothing 169 00:12:01,634 --> 00:12:03,066 and got in touch with police. 170 00:12:04,533 --> 00:12:06,634 [Michelle] Wanted to identify her. 171 00:12:06,634 --> 00:12:10,233 So I had to think of something to identify her. 172 00:12:11,700 --> 00:12:14,505 And there... at that time all I could think of is she had very flat feet 173 00:12:14,505 --> 00:12:16,467 And there... at that time all I could think of is she had very flat feet 174 00:12:16,467 --> 00:12:19,900 and she had a mole on her hand. 175 00:12:21,367 --> 00:12:25,166 [Casey] She confirmed that it was indeed her sister Taunja Bennett. 176 00:12:30,100 --> 00:12:34,233 [Chris] Once someone who is am unidentified victim is identified, 177 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,100 then what detectives do is they start 178 00:12:38,100 --> 00:12:41,533 working closely with everybody that knew that person. 179 00:12:41,533 --> 00:12:44,505 Whether it be a family member, whether it be a, uh, roommate, 180 00:12:44,505 --> 00:12:44,900 Whether it be a family member, whether it be a, uh, roommate, 181 00:12:44,900 --> 00:12:47,000 whether it be a spouse and... 182 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,100 and you have to start building the story from the ground up 183 00:12:50,100 --> 00:12:53,734 trying to determine why this person was murdered. 184 00:12:54,533 --> 00:12:56,166 [indistinct chatter] 185 00:12:56,166 --> 00:13:01,367 [Chris] She went to a tavern in the east Multnomah called the B & I tavern. 186 00:13:01,367 --> 00:13:05,166 And, uh, apparently she was a fairly regular customer in that... 187 00:13:05,166 --> 00:13:09,467 in that particular location because people knew her. 188 00:13:09,467 --> 00:13:14,100 People from the bar recalled seeing her playing pool with two men. 189 00:13:14,100 --> 00:13:14,505 Police are interested in these two guys and are trying to track them down. 190 00:13:14,505 --> 00:13:17,734 Police are interested in these two guys and are trying to track them down. 191 00:13:19,900 --> 00:13:22,166 [Alafair] After Taunja Bennett's body was identified 192 00:13:22,166 --> 00:13:25,000 the police had setup a tip line and they had placed, 193 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,367 it was Crime Stopper, notices in the newspaper with her picture 194 00:13:28,367 --> 00:13:31,467 asking people about any information about where she might have been that night 195 00:13:31,467 --> 00:13:32,967 and who she might have been with. 196 00:13:34,100 --> 00:13:36,734 [Chris] Law Enforcement started getting calls 197 00:13:36,734 --> 00:13:39,700 from a woman who wanted to remain unidentified. 198 00:13:39,700 --> 00:13:44,000 And she was pointing the fingers towards her boyfriend. 199 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:44,505 And her boyfriend was somehow involved in the death of Taunja Bennett. 200 00:13:44,505 --> 00:13:48,900 And her boyfriend was somehow involved in the death of Taunja Bennett. 201 00:14:03,367 --> 00:14:07,367 [Joey] The body of 23 year old Taunja Bennett is found brutally murdered 202 00:14:07,367 --> 00:14:10,967 in the Columbia River Gorge outside of Portland, Oregon. 203 00:14:10,967 --> 00:14:15,433 Investigators are looking for any clue from the public as to who could've done this. 204 00:14:18,967 --> 00:14:20,066 [woman speaking] 205 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,867 [Alafair] After Taunja Bennett's body was identified 206 00:14:33,867 --> 00:14:38,000 the police setup a tip line and they had placed, was Crime Stopper, 207 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,166 notices in the newspaper with her picture asking people 208 00:14:41,166 --> 00:14:43,367 for any information about where she might have been that night 209 00:14:43,367 --> 00:14:45,367 and who she might have been with. 210 00:14:45,367 --> 00:14:51,600 And a woman made a phone call to the parole officer, of her live in boyfriend 211 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:53,467 a man named John Sosnovske, 212 00:14:53,467 --> 00:14:57,086 saying that she believed that he may have been involved in Taunja Bennett's murder. 213 00:14:57,086 --> 00:14:57,467 saying that she believed that he may have been involved in Taunja Bennett's murder. 214 00:14:58,066 --> 00:14:59,533 [woman speaking] 215 00:15:06,867 --> 00:15:11,066 [Casey] Police learned that John Sosnovske, who is 39 years old, 216 00:15:11,066 --> 00:15:16,066 has an older girlfriend named, Laverne Pavlinac who happens to be 57. 217 00:15:16,066 --> 00:15:19,367 And that the two of them are in a very codependent 218 00:15:19,367 --> 00:15:22,066 possibly abusive relationship. 219 00:15:22,066 --> 00:15:25,433 A relationship that Laverne says she wants to get out of. 220 00:15:26,266 --> 00:15:27,086 [Laverne speaking] 221 00:15:27,086 --> 00:15:27,800 [Laverne speaking] 222 00:15:41,166 --> 00:15:46,166 John Sosnovske works the local lumberyard but he had no criminal history 223 00:15:46,166 --> 00:15:48,734 other than a DUI. 224 00:15:48,734 --> 00:15:53,634 I think she kind of supported him, it's her house that he lived in rent free 225 00:15:53,634 --> 00:15:57,066 and they had a kind of a difficult relationship. 226 00:15:57,066 --> 00:15:57,086 He was by all accounts a very heavy drinker. 227 00:15:57,086 --> 00:15:59,734 He was by all accounts a very heavy drinker. 228 00:16:00,734 --> 00:16:02,166 [Laverne speaking] 229 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,367 [Casey] Police go to interview Laverne 230 00:16:18,367 --> 00:16:22,266 and she confirms that she is the person who made that anonymous call. 231 00:16:22,266 --> 00:16:24,734 And that she knows John killed this girl. 232 00:16:24,734 --> 00:16:27,086 [Chris] She started telling a story about John Sosnovske, 233 00:16:27,086 --> 00:16:28,166 [Chris] She started telling a story about John Sosnovske, 234 00:16:28,166 --> 00:16:31,600 was a regular at J & B Lounge and Wilsonville, Oregon. 235 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:36,166 And that he was talking about the fact that he had met Taunja Bennett 236 00:16:36,166 --> 00:16:38,867 down at the J & B lounge. 237 00:16:38,867 --> 00:16:42,500 And that he had ultimately killed her down there. 238 00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:46,166 [Casey] She says that on the night of Taunja's murder 239 00:16:46,166 --> 00:16:48,367 John came home at about one o'clock in the morning. 240 00:16:48,367 --> 00:16:52,000 He came in and took off all his clothes and jumped into the shower, something that was 241 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,867 very unusual for him to do. 242 00:16:54,867 --> 00:16:57,086 Police gets a warrant and search Laverne's home, the she shares with John. 243 00:16:57,086 --> 00:16:59,100 Police gets a warrant and search Laverne's home, the she shares with John. 244 00:16:59,100 --> 00:17:03,266 They find really nothing except a piece of paper that has the words, 245 00:17:03,266 --> 00:17:06,800 "T Bennett, Good piece" written on it. 246 00:17:08,266 --> 00:17:14,533 The T Bennett, good piece seem like a really an improbable item to find. 247 00:17:14,533 --> 00:17:19,000 And then based on that, of course, went out to interview John Sosnovske. 248 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,000 [Corson] Today is Friday. February 16, 1990. 249 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,086 Time now is 6:40 p.m. 250 00:17:27,086 --> 00:17:27,367 Time now is 6:40 p.m. 251 00:17:35,867 --> 00:17:38,467 They spend quite a bit of time interviewing him. 252 00:17:58,000 --> 00:17:59,734 He denied. 253 00:17:59,734 --> 00:18:02,533 In fact he continued to deny that he knew anything about it. 254 00:18:46,166 --> 00:18:51,734 When he was confronted with the fact that Laverne was accusing him of doing this, 255 00:18:51,734 --> 00:18:54,166 he denied ever meeting Taunja Bennett. 256 00:18:54,166 --> 00:18:56,634 He certainly denied killing her. 257 00:19:13,367 --> 00:19:16,367 [Joey] They didn't have enough to arrest John Sosnovske. 258 00:19:16,734 --> 00:19:18,166 So they let him go. 259 00:19:18,166 --> 00:19:21,367 But not before they took a hair sample which they tried to match 260 00:19:21,367 --> 00:19:23,266 to evidence from the crime scene. 261 00:19:24,734 --> 00:19:27,086 Then detectives hear from Laverne Pavlinac again. 262 00:19:27,086 --> 00:19:29,100 Then detectives hear from Laverne Pavlinac again. 263 00:19:29,100 --> 00:19:31,467 [Alafair] When he still had not been arrested 264 00:19:31,467 --> 00:19:35,867 she continued to press the issue and said that she had found 265 00:19:35,867 --> 00:19:38,100 more evidence incriminating him. 266 00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:41,600 [Judge] Laverne told the detective she'd found some things in the trunk. 267 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:46,000 She had found a purse in the trunk and a piece of fabric 268 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,700 from the crotch of the jeans. 269 00:19:48,700 --> 00:19:52,066 [Alafair] She said that she found a section of denim jeans 270 00:19:52,066 --> 00:19:53,734 that had been cut away. 271 00:19:53,734 --> 00:19:57,086 The button and zipper area of a pair of jeans. 272 00:19:57,086 --> 00:19:57,166 The button and zipper area of a pair of jeans. 273 00:19:57,166 --> 00:19:59,500 And of course that caught Law Enforcement's attention 274 00:19:59,500 --> 00:20:03,367 because that lined up to the condition of Taunja Bennett's 275 00:20:03,367 --> 00:20:05,467 jeans when her body was found. 276 00:20:05,467 --> 00:20:09,867 Subsequently that fly was sent to the State Police's Crime Lab. 277 00:20:09,867 --> 00:20:12,967 By then we'd know one other piece of evidence had developed, 278 00:20:12,967 --> 00:20:18,166 which is that his head hair was consistent with the head hair found on Taunja Bennett. 279 00:20:18,166 --> 00:20:19,500 It's not a fingerprint. 280 00:20:19,500 --> 00:20:23,500 It's not DNA, it doesn't have that power to discriminate. 281 00:20:23,500 --> 00:20:27,086 But it was indication to us to try and to look at all the evidence, 282 00:20:27,086 --> 00:20:27,266 But it was indication to us to try and to look at all the evidence, 283 00:20:27,266 --> 00:20:34,166 and see that's a piece of evidence that supports Laverne Pavlinac's description 284 00:20:34,166 --> 00:20:35,734 in her statement. 285 00:20:35,734 --> 00:20:38,967 Then police came back with a decision on the evidence 286 00:20:38,967 --> 00:20:41,734 that Laverne said she found in the trunk of her car. 287 00:20:41,734 --> 00:20:44,600 A purse like Taunja Bennett's missing purse, 288 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:48,900 and a piece of denim similar to the denim cut from Taunja's jeans. 289 00:20:50,166 --> 00:20:53,166 [Jeff] The interesting this is, the purse was not a match. 290 00:20:53,166 --> 00:20:55,700 And the denim was not a match 291 00:20:55,700 --> 00:20:57,086 to what Taunja Bennett had on her person. 292 00:20:57,086 --> 00:20:59,066 to what Taunja Bennett had on her person. 293 00:20:59,066 --> 00:21:03,367 Investigators thought what's going on here? 294 00:21:03,367 --> 00:21:08,500 [Casey] When police confront Laverne about all of these inconsistent evidence 295 00:21:08,500 --> 00:21:12,533 she admits that she planted the purse and planted the ripped out jeans 296 00:21:12,533 --> 00:21:14,367 denim fly. 297 00:21:14,367 --> 00:21:17,066 And then she tells them a new story. 298 00:21:17,066 --> 00:21:19,367 And that's when she started to tell them that, 299 00:21:19,367 --> 00:21:22,100 she knew that John Sosnovske had killed Taunja Bennett, 300 00:21:23,734 --> 00:21:25,467 because she was there. 301 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,367 Welcome back to Very Scary People. 302 00:21:41,367 --> 00:21:44,367 The brutal and senseless murder of Taunja Bennett 303 00:21:44,367 --> 00:21:45,900 devastated her family, 304 00:21:45,900 --> 00:21:48,166 and sent shockwaves through Portland. 305 00:21:48,166 --> 00:21:53,000 With few leads, investigators are focusing on a tip from a 57 year old woman 306 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:57,900 named Laverne Pavlinac pointed the finger on her 39 year old boyfriend. 307 00:21:57,900 --> 00:22:01,867 Could this women's tip being the key to solve this horrific crime? 308 00:22:01,867 --> 00:22:02,624 Or was it just another dead end? 309 00:22:02,624 --> 00:22:03,734 Or was it just another dead end? 310 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,467 [Judge] Laverne gave three or four different statements. 311 00:22:10,467 --> 00:22:14,100 There was an evolution, a progression to her statements. 312 00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:17,900 [Casey] There is no consistent forensic evidence to prove. 313 00:22:17,900 --> 00:22:21,867 It's all just Laverne's testimony against John. 314 00:22:21,867 --> 00:22:24,100 Now Laverne tells police a whole new story. 315 00:22:24,100 --> 00:22:27,634 She says that she got a call from John in the middle of the night 316 00:22:27,634 --> 00:22:30,000 and that he head a request. 317 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,624 He needed her to come down to the J & B truck stop 318 00:22:32,624 --> 00:22:33,800 He needed her to come down to the J & B truck stop 319 00:22:34,467 --> 00:22:36,166 and bring a shower curtain. 320 00:22:36,166 --> 00:22:40,066 [Casey] And when she got there, there was a body lying right there on the pavement. 321 00:22:46,100 --> 00:22:49,734 She had found him in a dark corner of the parking lot. 322 00:22:49,734 --> 00:22:53,734 At his feet was Taunja Bennett's dead body. 323 00:22:53,734 --> 00:22:56,467 [Casey] She says she asked John looking at the body, 324 00:22:56,467 --> 00:22:57,800 "Is she okay?" 325 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,066 And then John replied, "It's worse than that. She's dead." 326 00:23:11,166 --> 00:23:14,700 [Casey] Laverne says that John made her wrap that body into the shower curtain 327 00:23:14,700 --> 00:23:17,000 and lift it and put it into the trunk of that car 328 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,000 and then together they drove to the Columbia River Gorge 329 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,333 where they threw the body over the embankment. 330 00:23:56,467 --> 00:23:59,734 Detectives asked her, "Could you show us where the body was?" 331 00:23:59,734 --> 00:24:02,367 And she said she could. 332 00:24:02,367 --> 00:24:02,624 [Alafair] She took them out to the Columbia River Gorge. 333 00:24:02,624 --> 00:24:05,533 [Alafair] She took them out to the Columbia River Gorge. 334 00:24:05,533 --> 00:24:09,266 They were driving on these winding roads and, 335 00:24:09,266 --> 00:24:14,533 she told them to stop the car and pointed and said, "This is where we left her body." 336 00:24:16,166 --> 00:24:19,700 She pointed to the exact spot where Taunja's body was dumped. 337 00:24:19,700 --> 00:24:22,266 [Judge] Well I have to say, I'm not sure I could've found it, 338 00:24:22,266 --> 00:24:26,367 I was there but there's all these switchbacks and 339 00:24:26,367 --> 00:24:29,734 I don't know if I could've correctly identified it. 340 00:24:29,734 --> 00:24:32,624 [Alafair] And that seemed, to Law Enforcement at the time, to really 341 00:24:32,624 --> 00:24:33,367 [Alafair] And that seemed, to Law Enforcement at the time, to really 342 00:24:33,367 --> 00:24:35,533 suddenly shore up her credibility. 343 00:24:35,533 --> 00:24:38,900 Um, and the reliability of her confession. 344 00:24:38,900 --> 00:24:43,266 But when that still didn't get the result she wanted, she went further. 345 00:24:43,266 --> 00:24:47,734 At some point she called detectives and said it's correction time. 346 00:24:49,367 --> 00:24:51,533 [Judge] They went out to speak with her the next day. 347 00:24:51,533 --> 00:24:57,533 She proceeded to change her story again to say, he called her 348 00:24:57,533 --> 00:25:00,266 she'd gone to the J & B truck stop, 349 00:25:00,266 --> 00:25:02,333 he was there with Taunja Bennett. 350 00:25:13,367 --> 00:25:16,266 [Judge] And he'd said we're giving her a ride home. 351 00:25:16,266 --> 00:25:21,100 They get in the car and as she's driving, 352 00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:24,967 he directs her out to the Columbia Gorge and to the observation point. 353 00:25:29,100 --> 00:25:32,624 [Judge] He then gets out of the car with Taunja Bennett and they go around the corner. 354 00:25:32,624 --> 00:25:32,634 [Judge] He then gets out of the car with Taunja Bennett and they go around the corner. 355 00:25:32,634 --> 00:25:36,467 He comes back and he's getting something out of the trunk and she asks him what he's doing? 356 00:25:36,467 --> 00:25:37,734 He says come see. 357 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,533 And so she implicated herself as an accomplice. 358 00:26:18,700 --> 00:26:21,867 [Alafair] She probably didn't realize, she hadn't watched enough Law & Order 359 00:26:21,867 --> 00:26:24,533 or taken a law school class in aiding and abetting 360 00:26:24,533 --> 00:26:27,800 but she put herself right there helping him 361 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,367 which makes her just as guilty as him under the law. 362 00:26:31,367 --> 00:26:32,624 [Judge] And the detectives arrested her. 363 00:26:32,624 --> 00:26:33,266 [Judge] And the detectives arrested her. 364 00:26:33,266 --> 00:26:36,467 That began then the next phase of the case, 365 00:26:36,467 --> 00:26:39,166 indicting her and John Sosnovske. 366 00:26:42,634 --> 00:26:46,166 As Laverne Pavlinac's jury trial was commencing, 367 00:26:46,166 --> 00:26:50,266 a truck stop reported a disturbing piece of graffiti. 368 00:26:50,266 --> 00:26:53,166 Somebody scrolled on the wall, 369 00:26:53,166 --> 00:26:59,166 January 21st, 1990. Killed Taunja Bennett in Portland. 370 00:26:59,166 --> 00:27:02,624 Two people got the blame so I can kill again. 371 00:27:02,624 --> 00:27:03,066 Two people got the blame so I can kill again. 372 00:27:14,467 --> 00:27:17,166 Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske are charged with 373 00:27:17,166 --> 00:27:20,100 the murder of 23 year old, Taunja Bennett. 374 00:27:20,100 --> 00:27:24,166 But as the trial of Laverne is about to begin bizarre messages 375 00:27:24,166 --> 00:27:25,433 stun the authorities. 376 00:27:26,533 --> 00:27:30,166 [Jeff] It comes to light that graffiti was found at a 377 00:27:30,166 --> 00:27:32,533 rest stop bathroom in Montana, 378 00:27:32,533 --> 00:27:37,166 and in a remote section of Oregon at another bathroom 379 00:27:37,166 --> 00:27:40,266 confessing to the crime of killing Taunja Bennett. 380 00:27:40,266 --> 00:27:42,130 [Chris] The one in Livingston Montana reads, 381 00:27:42,130 --> 00:27:42,166 [Chris] The one in Livingston Montana reads, 382 00:27:42,166 --> 00:27:47,100 "I killed Taunja Bennett, January 21st, 1990 in Portland, Oregon. 383 00:27:47,100 --> 00:27:50,467 I beat her to death, raped her and loved it. 384 00:27:50,467 --> 00:27:54,000 Yes, I'm sick, but I enjoy myself too. 385 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,700 People took the blame and I'm free." 386 00:27:56,700 --> 00:27:59,900 The one from Umatilla, Oregon, which is just east of Portland 387 00:27:59,900 --> 00:28:03,166 on that bathroom it said, "I killed Taunja Bennett in Portland. 388 00:28:03,166 --> 00:28:06,100 Two people got the blame so I can kill again. 389 00:28:06,100 --> 00:28:08,333 Cut buttons of jeans as proof." 390 00:28:09,734 --> 00:28:12,130 It's unsettling. Why would somebody do that? 391 00:28:12,130 --> 00:28:13,166 It's unsettling. Why would somebody do that? 392 00:28:13,166 --> 00:28:16,800 But, you don't know what to make of it, right? 393 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,166 [Chris] When the detectives involved in this case 394 00:28:19,166 --> 00:28:22,100 were made aware of those writings 395 00:28:22,100 --> 00:28:25,533 they immediately notified through the District Attorney's office 396 00:28:25,533 --> 00:28:30,000 the court that those things have been found because it was significant, 397 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,533 that someone was writing that on a wall. 398 00:28:32,533 --> 00:28:36,700 We did a forensic evaluation. Didn't find anything that would help us. 399 00:28:36,700 --> 00:28:39,367 But Wendell Birkland, Laverne's attorney, 400 00:28:39,367 --> 00:28:41,467 moved to introduce it into evidence. 401 00:28:41,467 --> 00:28:42,130 Of course the problem was at that point, it could've been any friend of Sosnovske's 402 00:28:42,130 --> 00:28:46,367 Of course the problem was at that point, it could've been any friend of Sosnovske's 403 00:28:46,367 --> 00:28:51,634 or Pavlinac's doing that to short circuit their own issues. 404 00:28:53,634 --> 00:28:59,166 [Judge] We objected, it's hearsay. It's the statement of someone who is not in court, 405 00:28:59,166 --> 00:29:02,266 not subject to cross examination, 406 00:29:02,266 --> 00:29:07,467 and it's been offered to prove that Laverne Pavlinac didn't commit the murder. 407 00:29:07,467 --> 00:29:11,100 A judge decided that it was inadmissible, because, uh, it was 408 00:29:11,100 --> 00:29:12,130 hearsay was being offered for the truth and there was no way to know who 409 00:29:12,130 --> 00:29:14,967 hearsay was being offered for the truth and there was no way to know who 410 00:29:14,967 --> 00:29:18,000 wrote it and there was no indicia that it was credible. 411 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,066 And that made it inadmissible in court. 412 00:29:22,100 --> 00:29:25,900 I was trying this case and I'm going into court and looking at this 413 00:29:25,900 --> 00:29:28,734 grandmotherly looking person that I'm trying for murder. 414 00:29:28,734 --> 00:29:32,734 She went to trial claiming that her confessions had been false, 415 00:29:32,734 --> 00:29:35,634 that she was just trying to implicate him saying that neither of them 416 00:29:35,634 --> 00:29:37,433 had anything to do with Taunja Bennett. 417 00:29:43,700 --> 00:29:47,367 Her defense was that she had made this up, 418 00:29:47,367 --> 00:29:50,734 because she was in an abusive relationship with John Sosnovske 419 00:29:50,734 --> 00:29:53,266 and didn't know how else to get out of it. 420 00:29:53,266 --> 00:29:56,734 This is a very unusual circumstance where someone does 421 00:29:56,734 --> 00:30:00,734 give a detailed statement to the police, then it's recorded 422 00:30:00,734 --> 00:30:05,266 and then they go into the court room and say, well that's all a lie. 423 00:30:05,266 --> 00:30:09,266 And of course what jurors would think in that instance, of course it's a lie 424 00:30:09,266 --> 00:30:12,130 at this point at time because you just realized you're going to go to prison for murder. 425 00:30:12,130 --> 00:30:13,634 at this point at time because you just realized you're going to go to prison for murder. 426 00:30:13,634 --> 00:30:16,734 I think the evidence was so overwhelming of guilt 427 00:30:16,734 --> 00:30:19,533 that the jury unanimously found her guilty. 428 00:30:21,266 --> 00:30:25,367 Of course what convicted her in the court room was her own 429 00:30:25,367 --> 00:30:29,433 recorded statement saying that she was involved in Taunja's death. 430 00:30:42,367 --> 00:30:48,100 Once she was committed of murder, John Sosnovske entered a no contest plea 431 00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:50,100 um, to avoid the death penalty. 432 00:30:50,100 --> 00:30:54,900 He certainly denied killing Taunja Bennett but with time, 433 00:30:54,900 --> 00:30:59,467 his confidence in his recollections started to waver because 434 00:30:59,467 --> 00:31:03,467 he became convinced that it was possible that he could've met Taunja Bennett 435 00:31:03,467 --> 00:31:08,367 and even talked to her but forgotten about it because he was a heavy drinker. 436 00:31:08,367 --> 00:31:12,130 [Judge] He had experienced blackouts in the course of his alcoholism 437 00:31:12,130 --> 00:31:12,734 [Judge] He had experienced blackouts in the course of his alcoholism 438 00:31:12,734 --> 00:31:14,967 and when Laverne told him he had done it, 439 00:31:14,967 --> 00:31:17,166 he was so, 440 00:31:17,166 --> 00:31:22,166 I... I think impacted by his alcohol use that he wasn't sure. 441 00:31:23,467 --> 00:31:26,867 No contest doesn't mean I admit that I'm guilty. 442 00:31:26,867 --> 00:31:32,700 But it says to the court I'm choosing not to contest the charge 443 00:31:32,700 --> 00:31:35,266 and I... I understand I'm going to be found guilty. 444 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,533 [Alafair] Laverne was sentenced to a life sentence but with a minimum 445 00:31:40,533 --> 00:31:42,130 of only 10 years, 446 00:31:42,130 --> 00:31:42,166 of only 10 years, 447 00:31:42,166 --> 00:31:47,634 because the judge reasoned that John Sosnovske had been the major influence upon her 448 00:31:47,634 --> 00:31:51,467 contact, and then he was sentenced, um, also to a life sentence with 449 00:31:51,467 --> 00:31:53,734 a mandatory minimum of at least 25 years. 450 00:31:57,266 --> 00:32:01,533 [Joey] It appears that the case of who killed Taunja Bennett is solved and closed. 451 00:32:01,533 --> 00:32:06,166 But then in the spring of 1994, four years after Taunja's murder, 452 00:32:06,166 --> 00:32:10,634 The Oregonian newspaper receives a letter that may change everything. 453 00:32:21,867 --> 00:32:25,867 [Joey] Authorities believe that the mystery of who killed Portland native 454 00:32:25,867 --> 00:32:29,000 23 year old Taunja Bennett had been solved. 455 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,600 The killers had been convicted and incarcerated. 456 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:36,166 But then in the spring of 1994, four years after Taunja's murder, 457 00:32:36,166 --> 00:32:40,467 The Oregonian newspaper receives a letter that may change everything. 458 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:47,233 I remember that day, dark, haunting but, not forgettable. 459 00:32:53,100 --> 00:33:00,967 [Doug] I recall we had a news aid who would bring me a stack of mail every morning, 460 00:33:00,967 --> 00:33:08,066 on the top of her pile of mail was a handwritten letter six pages long, 461 00:33:08,066 --> 00:33:13,000 stapled together, and she plopped this on my desk and said, 462 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,467 "You've got a weird one here today." 463 00:33:15,467 --> 00:33:19,467 And I read it, just a few lines of it 464 00:33:19,467 --> 00:33:19,562 and realized this is somebody trying to confess to a murder. 465 00:33:19,562 --> 00:33:24,734 and realized this is somebody trying to confess to a murder. 466 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,867 I'm reading a letter, sent to The Oregonian newspaper in Portland. 467 00:33:31,867 --> 00:33:34,066 At the top of the letter is a happy face, 468 00:33:34,066 --> 00:33:36,533 and it says, "All five of five. 469 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:42,100 I would like to tell my story. I am a good person at times. 470 00:33:42,100 --> 00:33:43,867 I always wanted to be liked. 471 00:33:43,867 --> 00:33:46,600 I've have been married and divorced with children. 472 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,500 I didn't really want to be married but it happened. 473 00:33:49,500 --> 00:33:49,562 I have read your paper and enjoyed it a lot. 474 00:33:49,562 --> 00:33:52,367 I have read your paper and enjoyed it a lot. 475 00:33:52,367 --> 00:33:54,867 I always have wanted to be noticed. 476 00:33:54,867 --> 00:33:57,900 So I started something I don't know how to stop." 477 00:33:59,367 --> 00:34:02,600 My first thought was, yeah, it's a hoax. 478 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:04,266 I mean... we get these. 479 00:34:04,266 --> 00:34:06,266 But I kept reading it. 480 00:34:06,266 --> 00:34:10,166 [Chris] "On or around January 20th 1990, 481 00:34:10,166 --> 00:34:14,000 I picked up Sonya Bennett and took her home. 482 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,900 I raped her and beat her real bad. 483 00:34:17,734 --> 00:34:19,562 Her face was all broke up. 484 00:34:19,562 --> 00:34:20,367 Her face was all broke up. 485 00:34:20,367 --> 00:34:22,266 Then I ended her life." 486 00:34:23,100 --> 00:34:25,266 [Jeff] He calls her Sonya Bennett. 487 00:34:25,266 --> 00:34:29,166 But this letter to The Oregonian was very detailed 488 00:34:29,166 --> 00:34:31,433 on how he met Taunja Bennett that night, 489 00:34:31,967 --> 00:34:34,500 how exactly he killed her. 490 00:34:34,500 --> 00:34:37,367 How he left her body. 491 00:34:37,367 --> 00:34:41,500 He gave information in that letter that only a killer would know. 492 00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:45,166 [Chris] "I went back home and dragged her out to the car. 493 00:34:45,166 --> 00:34:48,500 I want to know that it was my crime. 494 00:34:48,500 --> 00:34:49,562 So I tied a half inch soft white rope, 495 00:34:49,562 --> 00:34:52,066 So I tied a half inch soft white rope, 496 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,000 cut on one end... 497 00:34:55,867 --> 00:35:01,367 The further down into this letter I went the more 498 00:35:01,367 --> 00:35:06,266 detail was provided about crimes, horrific crimes. 499 00:35:06,266 --> 00:35:10,467 [Jeff] He talks about how two people are falsely imprisoned for this killing. 500 00:35:10,467 --> 00:35:12,467 But then comes the stunning news. 501 00:35:13,967 --> 00:35:16,967 [Jeff] He confesses to a murder 502 00:35:16,967 --> 00:35:19,562 in California describing exactly how he killed this person, 503 00:35:19,562 --> 00:35:21,166 in California describing exactly how he killed this person, 504 00:35:21,166 --> 00:35:23,166 where he left the body. 505 00:35:23,166 --> 00:35:26,333 [Chris] "One day in California I picked up a girl named Claudia. 506 00:35:26,867 --> 00:35:30,000 I took her. I taped her up. 507 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,367 I kept her for four days alive. 508 00:35:32,367 --> 00:35:38,967 Then I killed her and dumped her body about seven miles north of Blythe on 95." 509 00:35:38,967 --> 00:35:43,367 He confesses to another murder in California. 510 00:35:43,367 --> 00:35:47,000 Once again leaves out details that only a killer would know. 511 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,367 Says exactly where he left the body. 512 00:35:49,367 --> 00:35:49,562 [Chris] "This time I just strangled her right there without sex. 513 00:35:49,562 --> 00:35:53,367 [Chris] "This time I just strangled her right there without sex. 514 00:35:53,367 --> 00:35:56,166 She was in my truck only five minutes. 515 00:35:56,166 --> 00:35:59,367 I dropped her body off behind the Blueberry Hill cafe 516 00:36:00,066 --> 00:36:02,367 10 miles south on 99. 517 00:36:02,367 --> 00:36:07,166 I placed her body in the dirt and stepped on her throat to make sure she was dead." 518 00:36:07,967 --> 00:36:10,867 Confesses to another murder? 519 00:36:10,867 --> 00:36:12,700 [Chris] "I felt so much power 520 00:36:12,700 --> 00:36:17,266 I then told her she was going to die and slowly strangled her. 521 00:36:17,266 --> 00:36:19,562 And dropped her off behind GI Joe's in Salem. 522 00:36:19,562 --> 00:36:20,867 And dropped her off behind GI Joe's in Salem. 523 00:36:20,867 --> 00:36:26,000 I put her against the fence under the blackberry wines and covered her with leaves." 524 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,367 And then confesses to a fifth murder. 525 00:36:28,367 --> 00:36:32,166 [Chris] "I stopped at a rest area near Williams and had her. 526 00:36:32,166 --> 00:36:35,634 I put her body on or near a pile of rocks. 527 00:36:35,634 --> 00:36:40,000 About 50 yards north of Highway 152 West bound. 528 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,734 About 20 miles from Santa Nella." 529 00:36:42,734 --> 00:36:47,166 And perhaps the most chilling this is, he makes a happy face. 530 00:36:47,166 --> 00:36:49,562 [Doug] I'd never seen anything like this before. 531 00:36:49,562 --> 00:36:49,967 [Doug] I'd never seen anything like this before. 532 00:36:49,967 --> 00:36:53,600 I read through the letter all the way to the end and found it 533 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:58,634 nauseating, upsetting and potentially credible. 534 00:37:03,367 --> 00:37:06,467 The letter to The Oregonian was basically saying, 535 00:37:06,467 --> 00:37:10,367 "Ha ha ha. You guys are so dumb you convicted the wrong people. 536 00:37:10,367 --> 00:37:12,867 I'm the killer." 537 00:37:12,867 --> 00:37:18,000 The letter detailed five homicides that they claimed responsibility for, 538 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:19,562 including Taunja Bennett, all of women in various states. 539 00:37:19,562 --> 00:37:23,100 including Taunja Bennett, all of women in various states. 540 00:37:23,100 --> 00:37:27,333 [Doug] The skeptic in me wanted to throw it into the recycle box, 541 00:37:27,967 --> 00:37:30,367 and the editor part of me said, 542 00:37:31,266 --> 00:37:32,867 better check it out. 543 00:37:32,867 --> 00:37:37,700 So, I called one of the reporters on our team, 544 00:37:37,700 --> 00:37:40,367 his name was Phil Stanford, 545 00:37:40,367 --> 00:37:44,066 and I gave him the letter and I asked him to check it out. 546 00:37:46,967 --> 00:37:49,562 He contacted every police agency and talked to every investigator he could 547 00:37:49,562 --> 00:37:52,967 He contacted every police agency and talked to every investigator he could 548 00:37:52,967 --> 00:37:57,266 on the murder cases that could be identified from the letter 549 00:37:57,266 --> 00:38:01,100 to try to find details that 550 00:38:01,100 --> 00:38:03,867 would corroborate and authenticate 551 00:38:03,867 --> 00:38:05,367 the confession letter. 552 00:38:05,367 --> 00:38:11,000 He came back to me and he said, I don't think it's a hoax. I think they put 553 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,600 the wrong people in prison 554 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,634 for the murder that he's confessing to in here. 555 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:33,600 [Casey] So, in May of 1994, 556 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:37,867 The Oregonian decides to publish the six page handwritten letter that 557 00:38:37,867 --> 00:38:41,967 they've received from somebody that they call "The Happy Face Killer." 558 00:38:41,967 --> 00:38:44,000 [Doug] From day one, Phil and I 559 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:48,000 described the letters, The Happy Face Killer, letter 560 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:49,562 because of the happy face at the top of it. 561 00:38:49,562 --> 00:38:51,266 because of the happy face at the top of it. 562 00:38:51,266 --> 00:38:55,734 [Jeff] So once the letter comes out in The Oregonian it becomes big news. 563 00:38:57,500 --> 00:39:02,367 All the media is reporting on the letter sent to the newspaper 564 00:39:02,367 --> 00:39:05,634 and speculating on is this real, is this a hoax? 565 00:39:05,634 --> 00:39:10,367 And the focus turns to Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske 566 00:39:10,367 --> 00:39:11,734 who are sitting in prison. 567 00:39:13,734 --> 00:39:16,700 [Doug] I wondered if we might 568 00:39:16,700 --> 00:39:19,000 blow the lid off this story and get 569 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:19,562 the investigation reopened. 570 00:39:19,562 --> 00:39:21,700 the investigation reopened. 571 00:39:21,700 --> 00:39:25,367 [Joey] If this letter is real, if the killer's claims are real 572 00:39:25,367 --> 00:39:27,867 then Laverne and John are innocent. 573 00:39:27,867 --> 00:39:30,367 And there's a serial killer on the loose. 574 00:39:30,367 --> 00:39:33,367 [Jeff] He was claiming that he did these murders. 575 00:39:33,367 --> 00:39:35,867 There was still no hard, hard proof. 576 00:39:35,867 --> 00:39:37,266 They hadn't captured him. 577 00:39:37,266 --> 00:39:40,166 So there was still that doubt that this could be a hoax. 578 00:39:40,166 --> 00:39:43,600 [Doug] The Happy Face Killer story was lurid 579 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:48,000 and sensational and all the things that press critics 580 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:49,562 like to fault the media for doing. 581 00:39:49,562 --> 00:39:51,000 like to fault the media for doing. 582 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,867 But, uh, the end of the day this was news. 583 00:39:53,867 --> 00:39:56,500 A serial killer at large, 584 00:39:56,500 --> 00:40:01,867 killing women, that's the newspaper's job to report it when somebody 585 00:40:01,867 --> 00:40:03,433 tries to confess to it. 586 00:40:15,500 --> 00:40:17,367 [Chris] He was so proud of his work, 587 00:40:17,367 --> 00:40:19,562 and he really wanted to be noted as a serial killer. 588 00:40:19,562 --> 00:40:22,166 and he really wanted to be noted as a serial killer. 589 00:40:22,166 --> 00:40:26,367 He basically, beat, raped and suffocated my mother 590 00:40:26,367 --> 00:40:30,266 in the cab of his truck and then tossed her out of the truck 591 00:40:30,266 --> 00:40:32,867 like a piece of garbage. 592 00:40:32,867 --> 00:40:35,734 [man] It wasn't until we actually got into the interview room 593 00:40:35,734 --> 00:40:37,734 that we told him we're investigating 594 00:40:37,734 --> 00:40:39,700 the death of Julie Winningham. 595 00:40:39,700 --> 00:40:43,500 [Chris] I've spent a lifetime looking at these kind of stories 596 00:40:43,500 --> 00:40:49,266 and I have no explanation for how a person can be so demented that 597 00:40:49,266 --> 00:40:49,562 that becomes a way of life for him. 598 00:40:49,562 --> 00:40:51,500 that becomes a way of life for him. 599 00:40:51,500 --> 00:40:54,867 [Jeff] He targeted sex workers, prostitutes, 600 00:40:54,867 --> 00:40:58,734 people who sort of are on the fringe of society and are already forgotten. 601 00:41:07,367 --> 00:41:13,367 [Jeff] As he's talked about how he killed these women, how he cleaned up 602 00:41:13,367 --> 00:41:16,433 after the murders, he became the monster. 603 00:41:26,367 --> 00:41:29,600 Two people are in prison for the murder of Taunja Bennett. 604 00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:31,500 Four more women are dead. 605 00:41:31,500 --> 00:41:34,967 Then an anonymous letter arrives at The Oregonian newspaper, 606 00:41:34,967 --> 00:41:39,700 from a man who claims that he is responsible for all of the murders. 607 00:41:39,700 --> 00:41:42,266 He signs the letter with a happy face symbol. 608 00:41:42,266 --> 00:41:45,266 Is it a hoax? Investigators aren't certain. 609 00:41:45,266 --> 00:41:48,734 If not, can they find him before he strikes again? 610 00:41:48,734 --> 00:41:49,562 In part two of The Happy Face Killer. 611 00:41:49,562 --> 00:41:52,100 In part two of The Happy Face Killer. 612 00:41:52,100 --> 00:41:55,100 I'm Donnie Wahlberg. Thanks for watching. Good night.