The Night of May 19th, 1983

The Night of May 19th, 1983

Author: iHeartPodcasts September 8, 2020 Duration: 28:46

Could Diane’s obsession with a married man be the possible motive? We explore her former marriage and life leading up to the shooting of the Downs children. 

Melissa G. Moore: IG @melissag.moore; Tik Tok @melissa.g.moore

Lauren Bright Pacheco: www.LaurenBrightPacheco.com

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There’s a particular kind of haunting that doesn’t come from a ghost story, but from a shared name and a familiar face in a family photo. Happy Face is a journey into that specific darkness, guided by Melissa Moore, who as a teenager in 1995 discovered her father was the serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson. This isn't just a chronicle of his brutal crimes or the protracted cat-and-mouse game with law enforcement, though those elements are meticulously examined. The core of this podcast is the profound and unsettling personal aftermath. Melissa grapples with the terrifying inheritance of resemblance-both physical and in traits like intelligence and charisma-and the lifelong question it forces upon her: how do you know what you’re capable of when your bloodline contains such evil? Produced by iHeartPodcasts, the series sits at a raw intersection of true crime, societal reflection, and intimate family memoir. Listeners will hear a story told from an unprecedented perspective, not only detailing the investigation and Jesperson’s own taunting communications, but also following Melissa’s painful, courageous process of confronting her past and identity. It’s a narrative about the crimes that bind a family in infamy and the long, complicated path toward understanding one’s own place within that legacy. Each episode builds a layered portrait of trauma, survival, and the search for self beyond a notorious name.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 25

Happy Face
Podcast Episodes
Broken [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:30
Melissa was 15 years old when she found out her father was a serial killer, and the news couldn’t have arrived at a worse time: she just found out she was pregnant.
Keith [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:37
Melissa’s mother believes Keith wasn’t born a psychopath, but that he was raised to be that way by his father, Les.
Disruption [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:44
For years, Melissa believed her mother held much of the blame for tearing their family apart, but soon comes to understand that her father was never really a hero.
Childhood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:13
Sometimes it's hardest for the people who are closest to see the obvious clues. Melissa Moore reckons with the reality of her childhood and growing up with a serial killer for a dad.