Riley, the detectives soon learned, was clean as a whistle. But the judge did not overturn Pavlinac's conviction, writing he did not find a constitutional defect with her trial since she had been convicted by a jury of her peers. As they drove, Pavlinac described Tanyas appearance precisely, getting every detail right. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. How can you ever know for sure? Pavlinac then told police that she had found items in the trunk of her car that matched those sought in a search warrant. Right or wrong, the district attorney was saying, this is a problem. Thered been lots of press attention, all sorts of bizarre elements. "I thought the sky was going to fall," she said, "But it was like nothing. Now 66, Jesperson is serving five non-consecutive life sentences in Oregon's state penitentiary. . After contacting police, Ms. Pavlinac and Mr. Sosnovske were charged with the murder, the latter eventually pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty. He was late, he was busy. Mike was in grade school at the time. In November 1995, a judge released Pavlinac and Sosnovske from prison. 20/20 'Happy Face Killer' The false confession of Laverne Pavlinac After Jesperson came forward in March 1995, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges for Bennett and Winningham of Camas, Washington, his last known victim. On the way home, he threatened to kill Pavlinacs whole family if she told anyone. The courthouse got one, the Oregonian another. JUSTICE STORY: Sick smiley face sealed killer's fate The states memo, he explained, while troubling, is not conclusive in establishing either the guilt of Keith Jesperson or the innocence of Pavlinac and Sosnovske . By that time, Pavlinac replied, I didnt care if I lived or died.. Nonetheless, upon leaving the sheriffs office, McIntyre drove with Det. . All during the negotiations, hed been telling Meisenheimer they were giving away too much. After the verdict, though, it matters little what a Mike Schrunk or a Jim McIntyre thinks of his own 5-year-old murder case. She started offering the detectives whatever she thought they wanted, whatever would make them believe her. Good Piece printed in pencil. His dad, a Pirates fanatic, let him and a buddy use his two bleacher tickets while he sat out in the parking lot, listening to the radio. That took precedence for McIntyre. 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. In both, an informant reported overhearing Sosnovske bragging about killing Taunja Bennett. Some were even accurate. Yes, some stuff she could get from the newspaper articles, but not everything. Hed heard good things, but hed also been told McIntyre was hardheaded. Thats how she figured it out; thats how she knew. Certainly this was terribly upsetting, certainly this has shaken all of us who work within the legal system. But no, no. Following the news of Pavlinac and Sosnovske's arrests, authorities found another confession written on a restroom wall in a Montana Greyhound bus station. Goddamn, he fumed. Corson invited. Laverne Pavlinac - Innocents Database of Exonerations - Forejustice "I'm told to place her into a holding cell I say, 'OK, Laverne, now you need to go into that room right there,' She turned around and she looked at me and she gave me a hug. He then wrote a confession on the wall of a truck stop he was passing through, but to no avail. Over the years, Mike Schrunks staff had earned uncommonly high regard in Portland. Mac, I know its screwy, Ingram told McIntyre when he finished his account. For a while, the prosecutors held back. No, I want to correct it.. Where do you have her? Who cares about rules of law? asked Jespersons attorney, Tom Phelan. The murders all started when I wondered what it would be like to kill someone. McIntyre wished this whole affair would go away; he wished he could call the whole thing off. She knew from news reports and a search warrant receipt that it was 1 1/2 miles east of Vista House, below an embankment, in a loop between switchbacks before Latourell Falls State Park. She hadnt bailed them out, she hadnt convinced them. I dont have time for this.. She was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 10 years. . She told investigators she had gone to the bar to meet Sosnovke, but Bennett was alive when she picked them up and both got in the car with her. In 1990, 23-year-old Taunja Bennett was beaten, raped, and strangled to death not far from Portland, Oregon, and Laverne Pavlinac started down the bizarre road of false . It looks like I truly am a black sheep . What a nightmare it has been. He started out thinking hed be a cop. Do you believe that by pulling that rope tight that you caused the death of Taunja Ann Bennett?, Yeah, Pavlinac said. This time they brought machetes and clippers. If Jesperson threw anything, it should still be here. Two people got the blame so I can kill again.. She claimed to be scared of her boyfriend. Police science in college had felt different, though. They saw crackpot stuff like this all the time. She did well at identifying the place where the body had been found, but failed to accurately identify places where personal items belonging to Bennett had been located. The judge insisted, "Pavlinac has selfishly engaged in an obsessive and persistent obstruction of justice which deflected the investigation at an early stage, causing it to focus on her boyfriend, Sosnovske, while the real killer remained free to kill and kill again". Talking about some dead girl. . 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.. His attempted murder trial lasted four weeks. There Sosnovske and Bennett exited the car, leaving her view. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. McIntyre still remembered the detectives expressions that gloomy afternoon. In April 1989 shed called the FBI to say a bank robbers photo resembled Sosnovske. ABCs 20/20: Happy Face Killer chronicles Taunjas gruesome death and portrays how the entire country was left shocked once Lavernes confession turned out to be false. On January 21, 1990 the body of 23-year-old Taunja Bennett was found in a remote area of the Columbia Gorge, just outside Portland, Oregon. . Hell, he thought. "I don't think she was in love with him. She talked of him being violent during sex and having a thing about knotting rope. Her conduct has been an affront to our entire criminal justice system. The cost to taxpayers has been enormous, the cost to Sosnovske incalculable. Yet to continue to imprison a factually innocent person would violate Oregons constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment. He knew nothing about these anonymous letters, but he knew all he wanted about the Taunja Bennett murder. . 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. She made a pot of coffee, talked about her family. Once authorities determined that Laverne and John were a couple, they brought them in for questioning. And that's how I remember her," said Melissa Gavin, her longtime friend. By then, it was clear theyd been pursuing nothing but a divorced couples bitter dispute. A funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 8, 2003, in Valley Christian Church. Its covered with mud. Pavlinac's daughters said their mother "was never the same" after she divorced their father after discovering he left her for another woman. I beat her to death, raped her and loved it. I want to be released.. You know what happened? he started asking his colleagues. We have the wrong people in jail, he told Schrunk. He offered unlimited access to Jesperson--in exchange for no death penalty. I have been a killer for five years and have killed eight people.. Trials and cops were better than writing briefs. For days after McIntyres visit with Keith Jesperson at the Clark County sheriffs office, the truck drivers credibility rose and fell in the prosecutors eyes. Hes seen news reports, McIntyre reasoned. Only occasionally does someone ask how often other such mistakes go undetected. At her trial, Pavlinac recanted her confession, but the jury found her guilty. Sosnovske really did kill that girl. Go arrest her, McIntyre said. If you need help or need help supporting someone else, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. Her murder case struggled to gain momentum at first, due to a lack of leads. . She was very co-operative with the police. Sometimes Jesperson got details right, often he did not. I'llgo to the pen. Come fast, he said. It wasnt, their adversaries allowed, that these prosecutors were dishonorable. McIntyre recoiled, but forced his hand up; he needed this mans cooperation. On those occasions, Jim McIntyre more often than not bristles. Not a great deal is known about Bennett's background, but the 23-year-old was first reported missing on 21st January 1990. Through the parole officer, detectives discovered that the anonymous caller was likely to be John's 58-year-old girlfriend, Laverne Pavlinac. Bring something plastic that wont leak. I didnt plan to kill her, Pavlinac sobbed. The experience shaped him. Theres no longer any doubt that these two individuals are innocent. Per Murderpedia, the first message Jesperson wrote to make his crimes public was found on a restroom wall at a truck stop in Oregon. . Sosnovske would later plead no contest to the murder charge. He kept saying hang on, hang on. Punched her, slapped her. Pavlinacs house was different. Working as an Army Airborne MP had been fun. Helping victims felt good. In a fashion, McIntyre thought, it was like dealing with Laverne Pavlinac all over again. Much doubt still remains. Besides, under our rule of law, a jury verdict . Pavlinac had become obsessed with details of the crime during interrogation by police. Investigators installed a hidden recording device in their home hoping to catch Sosnovske making incriminating statements. Truth, so elusive during an investigation, becomes fixed by a jurys verdict. Keith Jesperson proved even more eager than Pavlinac to confess. As he suspected, Det. He was divorced, with two children. I feel like its my fault . At 39, he folded laundry and washed dishes most nights now, rather than join colleagues for drinks in downtown Portland. That seven-page statement obviously wasnt true, not literally. He slapped her. How can you absolutely know what the truth is? Maybe Laverne Pavlinac can help us, he finally decided. Few knew he was a highly decorated infantry commander in World War II and Korea, for he talked little of himself. Whatever the reasons, McIntyre had to admit: Theyd all been utterly, colossally mistaken. How could she possibly not be telling the truth?. Why else? Shutterstock Following Laverne Pavlinac's false confession, Keith Hunter Jesperson decided to become the latest serial killer to take credit for his own crimes. Hed met Taunja Bennett at the B&I; Tavern in January 1990, Jesperson said. Based on Pavlinac's statements, and that Sosnovke failed a polygraph test, authorities arrested Sosnovke on murder charges. . In 1990, Laverne Pavlinac had reached her breaking point. As she started to fall asleep that night, Jesperson told her that while she was gone, hed met a girl at the B&I; Tavern, brought her home, then killed her. I had been worried about this for a long time. Far more express understanding--Pavlinac and Sosnovske, after all, looked awfully guilty not just to the prosecutors, but to a jury and judge. Pavlinac had been with Sosnovske, a farmhand 18 years her junior, for a decade when the Bennett case caught her attention in 1990. Four days later, Pavlinac led the detectives to the trunk of her car. On Oct. 7, they searched the Sandy River area where Jesperson said hed scattered Bennetts purse contents. Pavlinac would plead guilty and testify against Sosnovske; in return shed get just six to eight years. Eventually, the case was turned over to prosecutors and Pavlinac and Sosnovske were arrested in February, 1990. News of Taunja's brutal death made local news, and 57-year-old Laverne Pavlinac read about its details. Surely she was telling the truth. Police interview tapes obtained by "20/20" show the lengths Pavlinac went to convince investigators she and Sosnovske were the killers responsible when they weren't. Not only did they have an airtight eyewitness, not only was Sosnovske already in jail--he was in another countys jail. Bennett was dead. Well, she said, maybe she only glanced at it. It was, to him, familiar territory: You take a stand, or else you never get anything done. Both grumbled when McIntyre spoke to them. 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. Still the judge demurred. They now had Pavlinacs confession, Sosnovskes statement, Sosnovskes two failed polygraph tests. Moreover, the show portrays how other witnesses came forward and claimed that Taunja was seen at a bar with two unknown men on the evening of January 21, and none of them resembled John Sosnovske. Pavlinac and Sosnovske had nothing to do with it. OK, he said. That night, he scrawled, he saw Taunja Bennett at JBs. Police interviewed Sosnovske, who denied Pavlinacs claims. Not because of the years, Birkland explained, but because Pavlinac was innocent. McIntyre frowned, looking as if he were in pain. Those two should not be in jail. "She slapped him. 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.