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  • I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

  • By: Jack Olsen
  • Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
  • Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (140 ratings)
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I: The Creation of a Serial Killer cover art

I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

By: Jack Olsen
Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
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Summary

Prize-winning journalist Jack Olsen, armed with unprecedented access to one of the most infamous serial killers in American history, provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a murderer in the killer's own words....

In February 1990, Oregon State Police arrested John Sosnovke and Laverne Pavlinac for the vicious rape and murder of Taunja Bennet, a troubled 23-year-old barfly who had suffered mild retardation since birth. Pavlinac had come forth and confessed, implicating her boyfriend and producing physical evidence that linked them to the crime. Authorities closed the case.

There was just one problem. They had the wrong people. 

And the real killer wasn't about to let anyone take credit for his kill. Keith Hunter Jesperson was a long haul truck driver and the murderer of eight women, including Taunja Bennet. As the case wound through police precincts and courts - ending in life sentences for both Sosnovke and Pavlinac - Jesperson began a twisted one man campaign to win their release. To the editors of newspapers and on the walls of highway rest stops, Jesperson scribbled out a series of taunting confessions: 

I killed Tanya Bennett.... I beat her to death, raped her and loved it. Yes I'm sick, but I enjoy myself too. People took the blame and I'm free.... Look over your shoulder. I may be closer than you think.

At the end of each confession, Jesperson drew a happy face, earning for himself the grisly sobriquet "The Happy Face Killer".

Based on access to interviews, diaries, court records, and the criminal himself, I: The Creation of a Serial Killer is Jesperson's chilling story. It chronicles his evolution from angry child to sociopathic murderer, from tormentor of animals to torturer of women. It is also the story of the fate that befell him after two innocent citizens were imprisoned four years for one of his killings.

Edgar Award winner Jack Olsen lets the killer to tell his story in his own words, offering unprecedented insight into the twisted thought process of a serial murderer. Olsen takes his listeners along on Jesperson's vicious cross-country killing spree, letting him describe how he played his "death game" with eight innocent victims and how he finally came to grips with the fate he deserved.

I: The Creation of a Serial Killer is one of the most revealing and insightful pieces of crime reporting ever published.

©2018 Jack Olsen (P)2018 Jack Olsen Literary Works

What listeners say about I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

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Exellent

brilliant history from both angles of perspective hard to stop lustening too well read and executed

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7 people found this helpful

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The story told by the HFK

Remember seeing the movie about this the happy face killer hearing him tell the story was so weird but couldent stop listening to this kevin pierce true crime best narratar

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Listener received this title free

One of the best true crime

One of the best I've listened to.
Told thru a serial killer words and thoughts.
Gripping and horrifying tale of a truck driver who murders 8 women. Of his strange childhood to his captivity in prison.
Jack Olsen was a master of these style of books.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this honest review. .

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excellent book

absolutely loved this audio book, loved the way it was told from Keith's jerspersons view

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Great read

This is one of the most Frank and unbiased book on the inside of a serial killer's mind.
It doesn't condone or glamorous what he has done but goes some way into explaining his true motivations.
It is told as if he himself is telling you what happened instead of someone looking in from the outside.

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Eye opener

Pretty chilling history! Makes your thinking and stomake twist, and you learn much more about the dark side of the man than you think

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Gripping!

Listened to the whole thing in one sitting. I enjoyed how the book was written , very unique and added to the overall chill factor. What a piece of work. Fantastic narrator. I will try all of Olsens books now and any book narrated by Pierce.

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brilliant

loved it and one of the narrators very different to hear it from the killer perspective

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brilliant book from a different perspective

loved the narrator. the book was a great listen and offered a different perspective of the murderer from the usual podcasts ABOUT the murders...

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Excellent

Kevin Pierce has got to be one of the best narrators out there.Brilliant story,brilliantly delivered

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