She was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life in prison with a 10-year minimum served. I didnt murder anybody in 1990, he said. On Sept. 25, Phelan met in the district attorneys office with McIntyre and his second chair, Keith Meisenheimer. He felt scared, and unprepared, but looking out over the playing field, he saw no other choice. View more 10.Laverne Pavlinac - PeoplePill. . Pavlinacs eyewitness account, Sosnovskes polygraphs, Sosnovskes handwritten statement. Was she making all this up to get rid of Sosnovske? He hadnt had ample time to review them, he said. . Laverne Pavlinac, 57, a plump, gray-haired hospital worker, confessed to helping her boyfriend, John Sosnovske, 39, attack the girl. He was late, he was busy. She'sgiveher the shirt off her back," McAlpine said. Case tapes reveal woman's incriminating confession to involvement in Why else? Weve received some reports, his boss, the Multnomah County district attorney, was murmuring on his voice mail. Laverne Cox Opens Up About Childhood Bullying, Suicide Attempt - HuffPost McIntyre reached for his phone. Her first husband divorced her after 26 years and four children, her second died of cancer. Both were convicted of the crime but were released five . He knew nothing about these anonymous letters, but he knew all he wanted about the Taunja Bennett murder. Goddamn, he fumed. McIntyre waited for the pen to come out, waited for the release order to be signed. Talking about some dead girl. The Happy Face Killer is a nickname given to a serial killer who took the lives of at least eight women in the 1990s. 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. He talked of seeing the dumped body from the far side of a hairpin turn, which was physically impossible. People took the blame and Im free.. Sosnovske pleaded no contest to the killing of Taunja Bennett, believing it would steer him clear of the death sentence. Not a great deal is known about Bennett's background, but the 23-year-old was first reported missing on 21st January 1990. According to 20/20, Laverne Pavlinac passed away in March 2003 due to heart failure. She has changed her confession many times, and there is not a shred of physical evidence tying either of the two to the crime, but a jury convicts her. He wanted everything put on the AP wire. Particularly since they had not one scrap of evidence pointing in any other direction. I have been a killer for five years and have killed eight people.. What a hassle, what an irritation. Pavlinac had made the whole thing up. Before him, a jumble of letters and documents spilled across his desk. Where Is John Sosnovske Today? '20/20' Is Covering His Story ET on ABC. As they passed where Taunjas body was found, Pavlinac pointed to almost exactly the precise spot. How A False Confession Led To The 'Happy Face Killer' Name Its correction time, she said. Death came quickly, on Sept. 4; McIntyre buried his dad on Sept. 8. The informant turned out to be Sosnovske's girlfriend, 58 year old Laverne Pavlinac. Both proclaimed their innocence. Both insisted they didnt know each other; neither showed any indication of deception. When the killer came forward, Sosnovske was released from prison; his conviction overturned. Details of the murder were made public by the police in the hope that someone would come forward with insider knowledge. In the 11 months between then and her trial, they only multiplied--as various defense lawyers and investigators more than once pointed out. A Multnomah County sheriffs sergeant, he wasnt as experienced in homicide cases as Corson, but he had a good feel for people. I have information about the Bennett murder, he told Schrunk. Pavlinac had told police she helped her boyfriend kill Bennett and dispose of her body. She would pop in and pop out, and over the years, She was that type of person.". I don't," Sosnovke is heard saying on the tape. Both grumbled when McIntyre spoke to them. Police interviewed Sosnovske, who denied Pavlinacs claims. And they were laughing," Pavlinac told investigators. Now it was another prosecutors problem. She was going to send John Sosnovske to jail - by any means necessary. That made it their case again. Even in honorable hands, the criminal system could convict the innocent. McIntyre never wavered. But in the process, she also falsely implicated herself. 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. Police science in college had felt different, though. Laverne Pavlinac - National Registry of Exonerations That's when they said she implicated herself in the murder, according to Det. Hardheaded, volatile, a pit bull, but honorable and conscientious--that was McIntyres professional reputation. She even said we could search the house, but we thought we should get a search warrant.. If I killed her, I didnt mean to . Could she really see the patrol cars odometer from the back seat? Except for three on the panel, Pavlinac could have ended up on death row. You cant be a prosecutor if you shrink from making the calls. Eventually, the case was turned over to prosecutors and Pavlinac and Sosnovske were arrested in February, 1990. Tell She then described how she watched Sosnovske have sex with Bennett while he directed her to hold a rope around her neck, and that she believed she pulled the rope too tight, killing Bennett. McIntyre saw nothing to apologize for. Seems like my luck has run out . Detectives first became aware of Pavlinac when she anonymously called them to report that she overheard Sosnovske at a bar bragging about killing Bennett. If the public were more aware of the reality of false confessions the seven women killed by Keith Jesperson after Laverne Pavlinac's false confession might not have been killed, . Yes, Im sick, but I enjoy myself too. Each theory had its supporters. Pavlinac's daughters said their mother "was never the same" after she divorced their father after discovering he left her for another woman. That was when Laverne added details to her story and claimed that on the night of January 21, she met John, and together, the two disposed of Taunjas body alongside the Old Columbia River Highway. I dont have time for this.. Yes, some stuff she could get from the newspaper articles, but not everything. He still felt that way a week after Pavlinacs trial, when authorities discovered a second message scrawled on a restroom wall in Umatilla, Ore. Killed Tanya Bennett in Portland, this one read. "I [had] seen all these tracks and all this and that. McIntyre felt certain now: Jesperson was full of bull. . Pavlinac was found guilty for her 'crime' - being an accessory to rape and murder. He started out thinking hed be a cop. Sosnovske would later plead no contest to the murder charge. That, in fact, was the widespread judgment about the entire Multnomah County district attorneys office. She tells this to her own daughter.. Birkland was haggling over the years but clearly thought this arrangement worth considering. That was telling: How could she know what shape to cut? Eventually he won an acquittal, and went on to serve four terms as Portlands mayor. Yes, that fact did demonstrate how hard it was to know the truth. Not until early July could McIntyre even look up from his desk. Shes tormented by guilt, thats why she confessed. With Laverne implicating herself in the crime, both she and John were arrested and charged with Taunjas murder. . Yes, planting phony evidence, that certainly looked dubious, but Pavlinacs motivation made sense. Pavlinac answered through sobs. We left her at her daughters home. Plump and homey, 57, short graying hair, blue eyes, soft, round face. I was doing what I was told. Ingram and Corson needed to meet with him, as soon as possible. But a few days later, they got another call from Pavlinac. She left with his friend Chuck Riley to have fun. Later he saw Riley in the parking lot, so he asked for a ride home. She was a victim. A few critics snipe at the prosecutors and detectives for buying a confused, depressed womans preposterous story. As Birkland turned to hug a sobbing Laverne Pavlinac, McIntyre rose and reached for his tape recorder. She was convicted anyway and sentenced to life in prison after jurors heard her taped confession. Basically, McIntyre told Schrunk, I just know that a detective up there is shooting his mouth off. Certainly this was terribly upsetting, certainly this has shaken all of us who work within the legal system. But no, no. A woman named Laverne Pavlinac called authorities and mentioned that she overheard a person named John Sosnovske bragging about Taunja's murder at a bar. In a fashion, McIntyre thought, it was like dealing with Laverne Pavlinac all over again. . Where Are Laverne Pavlinac and John Sosnovske Now? Update - The Cinemaholic Shed been trapped, battered, desperate, suicidal. Then, on Aug. 17, McIntyre received a state crime lab report that commanded his attention. He liked to think he moved cautiously while deciding what to believe. Both were serving life. By late afternoon, Corson and Ingram were rolling to the lumber mill where Sosnovske worked as a sawyer. She found him standing outside JBs, in an adjacent truckstop parking lot, Taunja Bennetts body on the ground beside him. Those two should not be in jail. Not until the spring of 1995, almost a year after the Happy Face Killer letters arrived, did McIntyre once again hear about a serial murderer. In January of 1991 she was convicted of felony murder by a jury in Multnomah County Circuit Court. She had reason to know. I grew up with this, he would later say. Her daughters are still trying to understand why their mother did what she did, and why she didn't see another way to end the relationship. On Oct. 7, they searched the Sandy River area where Jesperson said hed scattered Bennetts purse contents. A team of Explorer Scouts, supervised by sheriffs deputies, fighting through the dense foliage, found nothing. . Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? I didnt plan to kill her, Pavlinac sobbed. He had heard rumblings out of Clark County, though. As he suspected, Det. . Especially when the police dont want to admit they are wrong., Mike Schrunk decided to take things up a notch. 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. What the hell, he decided. Maybe Laverne Pavlinac can help us, he finally decided. To find out, McIntyre examined defense attorney Tom Phelans notes from his earliest conversations with his client, before the press contacts began. Did she want them to leave? Jesperson was a giant of a man, 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds. . McIntyre listened as that tape now unwound in an Oregon State Police conference room. Despite defense pleas, the judge had barred the message from the trial, ruling it to be hearsay with no indication of reliability. From where he sat, he could see the radiant bronze statue of a woman, perched gracefully on a terrace by the Portland City Hall. ". I think that she was at a bad place in her life," said her daughter Darlene Carpenter. It appeared to McIntyre that she was making cow eyes at her former roommate. Had they all suffered from tunnel vision once they started hearing Pavlinacs stories? Once he tried prosecuting, he found he enjoyed it. Im sorry I turned out this way. Portlandia, they called this symbol of the town. Laverne Cox Opens Up About Suicide Attempt, Being Bullied As A Child. In 1994 newspapers and authorities began receiving anonymous letters from someone who contended he had killed Bennett. We must undo this wrong. While police didn't get any hard evidence, the recordings demonstrate how Pavlinac attempted to convince her boyfriend he played a role in Bennett's death. . Even after the convictions, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and the police were sure they got the correct people. She was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 10 years. One day he placed five collect calls to Phil Stanford. Much doubt still remains. Besides, under our rule of law, a jury verdict . She had changed her story so many times that investigators said they wondered if she was telling the truth. Nor were any of his own lofty, passionate proclamations to Pavlinacs jury. First they would hack away the blackberry bushes. But Im sorry. Theyd received two anonymous calls, the detectives explained. Episodes three and four of Netflix's Catching Killers details the story of the 'Happy Face' murders, including the elderly couple who spent four years in prison for a crime they didn't commit. He hadnt even decided Jesperson was for real. A strange purse that, the detectives soon saw, contained a newspaper clipping about Taunja Bennetts murder and a piece of fabric cut from the fly area of acid-washed blue jeans. McIntyre now felt certain Jesperson was involved in the crime. Sometimes he thought he should have been a Jesuit. Once there, Bennett was all over him. They ended up on a mattress in the living room. Laverne Pavlinac confessed that she and her boyfriend murdered a woman in Oregon in 1990. The lady who opened the door looked like someones grandmother. Could someone else have put Taunjas stuff out there? Whoever wrote them says he killed Taunja Bennett. Not unlike his own deal, he thought. Pavlinac later changed her story, however, and said that the two of them had met Bennett at a Portland bar and that Sosnovske forced her to help him rape Bennett and dispose of the body. . News of Taunja's brutal death made local news, and 57-year-old Laverne Pavlinac read about its details. Early in the investigation into Bennett's murder, a woman named Laverne Pavlinac came forward to confess, saying she murdered Bennett with and at the direction of her abusive boyfriend, John Sosnovske. She was wrongly convicted after falsely confessing that she and her then boyfriend Sosnovske strangled and disposed of the body of Taunja Bennett. Ive been through cases where cops make mistakes. Ingram was right, Pavlinacs story did still fit the facts. It wasnt his custom to try to convince people of a clients guilt. I dont know what those letters are about, he told his boss. I always wanted to be liked . When investigators asked him why he decided to come forward, Jesperson listed two reasons. First, just before it began in late January, Pavlinac officially recanted her confession. . Still, McIntyre couldnt help wonder: Why didnt Sosnovske just say What are you talking about, I wasnt there? First he doesnt know Taunja, then he flunks a polygraph, then he says he does know Taunja. Bennett was found strangled to death near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. McIntyre threw up his hands when he heard this. That's whyall ofthis doesn'tmake sense. The murders all started when I wondered what it would be like to kill someone. There were forensic tests to arrange, cross-county assignments to figure out, evidence to corroborate. . "I think what happened to mother was she was in an abusive relationship, and she was desperate, and desperate people do desperate things, not to say that it was right, but that's what I think happened," said Pavlinac's daughter Bonne McAlpine. I will say this about McIntyre and Schrunk, they were very dogged, said Phelan. Hi Brad, the handprinted letter began. You cant drop a case, he figured, just because someone writes on a bathroom wall. "I don't think she was in love with him. . Shes 18 years his senior, shes an enabler, she wants to be free of him. Something about a guy whos confessing to a case we already have a conviction on. Knowing Taunjas jeans had been cut, she produced a replica--a replica that closely matched the real patchs shape. At her trial, Pavlinac recanted her confession, but the jury found her guilty. Or was this a setup of some kind, a smoke screen? After both got into Pavlinacs car, they started arguing. When he did, he started to hear the full story out of Clark County. Corson, with the Oregon State Police, was the more hardnosed; some in the district attorneys office even called him a right winger. He believed people should go to jail, he was a sniper on the state SWAT team, he pursued suspects relentlessly. Saying he took this girl into the gorge and strangled her. She recanted her confession and said that she had made it up to escape from Sosnovske. Ingram, on the other hand, dreamed of taking early retirement, of starting a new life as a fishing guide out on the coast. . "Her persistence in this manipulation resulted in her own conviction.". The real killer, however, was still a free man. When they took his handcuffs off, Jesperson reached out to shake the prosecutors hand. McIntyre thought the two men complemented each other. 20/20 'Happy Face Killer' The False Confession Of Laverne Pavlinac McIntyre went to confer with Schrunk. He was living with a girlfriend, Roberta Ellis, but she was out of town driving a long-haul truck. Some involved tangible evidence--the crime lab could find no physical trace of Taunjas presence in Pavlinacs car, for instance. Please enable scripts and reload this page. Next morning, he returned to the gorge to scatter the contents of Bennetts purse along the Sandy River. Investigators had been trying to nail down a suspect for weeks when Pavlinac brought Sosnovske to their attention. Not a word of Laverne Pavlinacs story was true. Hes a news hound; he loves the attention. Why Did Laverne Pavlinac Come Forward? I'llgo to the pen. Then she took--and passed--a polygraph exam. This is a waste, the detectives insisted. Though she was legally guilty, though her conviction would stand, Pavlinac could walk free. Once authorities determined that Laverne and John were a couple, they brought them in for questioning. Jesperson was linked to murdering six other women, some of which remain unknown to this day: an unidentified woman who Jesperson said was named "Claudia" in August 1992 near Blythe, California; Cynthia Lynn Rose in September 1992 in Turlock, California; Lori Ann Pentland in November 1992 in Salem, Oregon; an unidentified woman who Jesperson said was named "Carla" in June 1993 in Santa Nella, California; an unidentified woman who Jesperson said was named "Suzanne" in September 1994 in Crestview, Florida; and Angela Subrize in January 1995 in Laramie County, Wyoming. Bring something plastic that wont leak. He was not skeptical about the Bennett murder case, though. She told investigators she drove them to a scenic overlook at the Columbia Gorge, where Sosnovske told her to pull over. On Oct. 14, 1995, after checking with McIntyre, Peterson ordered the Explorer Scouts back out to Sandy River. When he walked into the B&I;, Bennett hugged him. Thered been lots of press attention, all sorts of bizarre elements. Just days before, hed won custody of his three children after one final, brutal hearing. Investigators installed a hidden recording device in their home hoping to catch Sosnovske making incriminating statements. You listen to those words and that emotion, he told the jurors, and you will look at Laverne Pavlinac and see the face of a murderer.. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it? He needed an income; the Multnomah County district attorneys office was offering a $13,000-a-year internship. Why might someone lie about committing murder? - Slate Magazine You could tell where people had been in and out, the vehicles and everything else, limbs broke. No one really paid attention to this, even though he'd signed the confession with a hand-drawn happy face. . Shes not in custody. If the murder happened up at Vista House, that put it back in Multnomah County. Only occasionally does someone--as Wendell Birkland did recently--suggest that this isnt an isolated case, Laverne is not the only innocent person convicted by people of goodwill.. In late March 1991, Sosnovske, looking bewildered, pleaded no contest to a charge of felony murder. We think weve got the right people, he declared. Pavlinac and Sosnovske were sentenced to life in prison, with both parties knowing full well they were innocent. At first, she denied everything. They couldnt blow this off. Pavlinac would plead guilty and testify against Sosnovske; in return shed get just six to eight years. None of it could be corroborated. Mike Schrunk, as a result, no longer was just asking questions. Al Corson did not readily embrace the notion of chasing press reports on a murder hed already solved. Well, she said, maybe she only glanced at it. On the line, Ingram sounded baffled. For various reasons, his ex-wife couldnt function correctly; all involved in the settlement conference had recommended he take the kids. Evidence Clears Two. The Law Doesn't. - The New York Times Then she dropped her guard. How we can build a clean and renewable future. Just days later, she made the first anonymous call. Laverne Pavlinac, who, along with John Sosnovske, was convicted for the killing of Taunja Bennett, waits at the Oregon Women's Correctional Center in Salem, Ore., Oct. 27, 1995, for word on her release. Yes, shed planted those items in the trunk, Pavlinac admitted. He sent a letter to the authorities laden with smiley faces, bragging about his '90s killing spree and simply admitting he was 'done killing'. And she [said], 'Well, they told me I had to tell you thisbecauseif I told you then they would believe me,'" Carpenter said. Come on in, fresh pot of coffee, like a grandmother. He described Bennetts underwear and shirt incorrectly. Listening to Ingram, McIntyre settled into a seat, fighting a vague dread. Pavlinac's son also died shortly after due to medical reasons. Thus, Laverne and John were released from prison in 1995. Moreover, during her trial, an unknown person claimed to take responsibility for Taunja's murder through a couple of restroom graffitis. Even their fiercest opponent, Pavlinacs defense attorney, Wendell Birkland, thought them men of good will. Mac, I know its screwy, Ingram told McIntyre when he finished his account. In 1990, Taunja Bennett was found dead near a scenic overlook at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. . 10 Laverne Pavlinac Breaking up with someone can be tough, but there aren't too many people that feel the need to falsely confess to a murder to get out of a relationship. I got exposed to liars. Sosnovske called her from JBs Lounge late that night, Pavlinac began. She's told her own daughter the same story, very convincingly.' Peterson asked his second question: Why did you confess? He would never, McIntyre reminded himself, put before a jury a story he didnt believe to be true. Youre on Jesperson full time. How to know the truth, how ever to know for certain? McIntyre reviewed all they had. For a while, the prosecutors held back. When do you ever see two different people confessing to the same crime, both with facts only the killer could know? Here, after all, was an unprecedented scene: Oregons most prominent district attorney rising to confess error. So thats where they formally arraigned Sosnovske that evening. It was Det. He already had the kids much of the time. Pavlinac remarried, but her second husband died a few years later. McIntyre, reeling, had to admit: Here was the key, here was evidence that put Jesperson in while taking Pavlinac and Sosnovske out.