David Arquette and Gloria Reuben Star in Lifetime's THE HAPPY FACE KILLER, Airing Tonight

By: Mar. 01, 2014
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David Arquette (Scream) and Gloria Reuben (Lincoln) star in the Lifetime Original Movie Happy Face Killer, premiering tonight, March 1, at 8pm ET/PT. The movie follows the grisly true-crime story of a truck driver who, during his work travels across the country, kills numerous women and hauntingly leaves a confession of each murder with a scrawled happy face as cryptic evidence of his crime. Reuben portrays Melinda Gand, the FBI investigator leading the case.

Inspired by real-life events, Happy Face Killer follows The Hunt and ultimate Capture of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson (Arquette). An aspiring cop turned long-haul truck driver after a failed marriage, Jesperson strangled his first victim following an argument and was back on the road again the very next day, killing at least eight women over a five-year span as he crisscrossed the country. Upset after a woman falsely confesses that she and her boyfriend are responsible for one of his murders, Jesperson begins to taunt the authorities by sending a series of disturbing letters to newspaper editors, even scribbling confessions on the walls of highway rest stops admitting that he loved killing his victims. By signing his morbid notes with a happy face, he earned himself the notorious nickname, "Happy Face Killer" and forever left his mark of fear.

Happy Face Killer is produced by Happy Face Productions/Front Street Pictures and executive produced by Tom Patricia (Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story) and produced by Harvey Kahn (Abducted: The Carlina White Story). The script was written by Richard Christian Matheson (Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes) and directed by Rick Bota (Beauty and the Beast).

ABOUT LIFETIME: Lifetime is a premier female-focused entertainment destination dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning scripted series, non-fiction series and movies. As a result of the network's aggressive programming strategy that has doubled the hours of its original programming, 2013 marked Lifetime's second straight year of growth among Total Viewers. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LL0C, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride



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