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The daughter of a serial killer is going viral on TikTok sharing the story of her relationship with her father

Oct 14, 2022, 20:44 IST
Insider
Melissa Moore is using TikTok to share her experience as the daughter of "The Happy Face Killer" Keith Jesperson.Melissa Moore via TikTok
  • Melissa Moore is the daughter of serial murderer Keith Jesperson, known as the "Happy Face Killer."
  • Moore has recently started sharing details of her experience with viewers on TikTok.
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Melissa Moore, a TikToker with 160,000 followers, is going viral for reading mail that she says her serial killer father sent her from prison.

Over the past decade, Moore has made numerous press appearances sharing her experience as the daughter of Keith Jesperson, a Canadian-American convicted murderer who was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he signed his confession note with a smiley face.

Moore posted her first TikTok in May 2021, to promote her true crime podcast "Life After Happy Face." She began posting frequently in September, initially by responding to the release of a Netflix series about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

She has since gained over 160,000 followers, posting various videos about her experience as the daughter of a murderer, and sharing the contents of letters and packages that she said her father sent her from prison.

In a video posted on September 29, which has 8.3 million views, Moore said her father sent her a letter after she got married in July, which came with a picture of her on her wedding day.

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"So he's somehow able to see my Instagram from prison. In the letter, he says I'm fat and my husband is fat," she said.

According to Moore, Jesperson's letter ended with the words, "Why wasn't I invited? Remember most of all daughter, I never stopped loving you."

The TikToker went on to say that her father sent her a package last Christmas, holding a parcel up to the camera.

"I was very terrified to open it, but here were its contents: A purse that his inmate friend from prison made me," she said, holding up a small brown bag.

Commenters under Moore's video said they were surprised by the letter, as they thought her father would not make such seemingly rude remarks to his own daughter.

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"Damn I thought the letter was going to go a nicer route," and, "I thought this was gonna be sweet," commenters wrote.

One top commenter suggested to Moore that "It angered him to see YOU free and happy," and Moore replied, saying, "You should see how DEEP the ink was into the paper — it was embossed with anger."

On October 7, Moore posted a follow-up video, in which she invited her friend Collier Landry, whose father was convicted of murdering his mother, to read a letter he said he received from his father while in prison.

"So sorry for both of your losses. Stay strong!!," read the top comment under the post.

In a 2015 interview with ABC News show "20/20," Moore said she faced guilt and found it difficult to heal after finding out her father was a murderer.

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"There's no books like what to do if your dad is a serial killer. There's no pamphlets, no support groups, and the best answer that I could find for myself was just little by little," she said.

"We are secondary crime victims. We carry that shame and we want to remove that," she continued, adding, "I feel in a sense I am related to my father, but I didn't cause the pain. But knowing that my father caused some pain causes me pain."

Jesperson was arrested in 1995 on suspicion of murdering his then-girlfriend Julie Winningham. According to Forensic Magazine, he confessed to the murder and claimed to have killed 185 women, although only eight deaths have been confirmed.

He is currently serving four life sentences without possibility of parole in Oregon State Penitentiary, as reported by NBC.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.

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