‘Happy Face Killer’ shares letter he says accused Gilgo Beach serial murderer Rex Heuermann sent him from jail moaning about dry bread and gloomy exercise yard

A truck driver who earned the nickname “Happy Face Killer” after killing eight women has become pen pals with accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann.

Keith Jesperson, now 68, received multiple life sentences in 1995, and now writes from his cell in Oregon to others behind bars.

Jesperson wrote to Heuermann, 59, in his prison on Long Island, and on August 31, while awaiting trial for the murders of three sex workers, Heuermann wrote back.

Jesperson advised Heuermann to confess to avoid giving prosecutors the opportunity to “gloat” about finding evidence and to avoid the spectacle of a trial.

He told podcast host Keith Rovere that Heuermann complained about prison conditions – from dry bread to a gloomy training ground.

Rovere, who specializes in interviewing serial killers from prison, told DailyMail.com he was not trying to glorify or justify their actions.

He said he wants to explain them as people and rarely discusses the details of their crimes.

He said he had known Jesperson for many years and had spoken with him several times since he launched his podcast, “The Lighter Side of Serial Killers.”

Jesperson sent Rovere the letter Heuermann had sent him. In his reply to Jesperson, Heuermann thanked him for his ‘letters and advice’.

“They have been a help and comfort to me,” said Heuermann, who was arrested in July. “I understand what you said and I have taken it to heart.”

Heuermann, who was in court on November 15 and was first watched by his wife Asa Ellerup, told Jesperson that he had been busy in recent weeks since his first arrest.

Ellerup has filed for divorce and Heuermann has transferred their marital home to her: she is now being followed by a documentary crew, who have reportedly signed a $1 million deal for the film.

Heuermann told Jesperson that he had been inundated with letters and requests.

“You were right about the letter – I’ve gotten a number of them asking for interviews, to be friends, to be pen pals, and one guy who sent me three letters asking me to write back to share his collection of letters to to fill,” wrote Heuermann .

Heuermann told Jesperson that he was the only person he had responded to.

“So it sounds like OSP (Oregon State Prison) isn’t such a bad place to be,” he continued.

‘Do you have butter for your bread? How is the daily food? I admit that eating at SCCF (Suffolk County Correctional Facility) isn’t much to look forward to every day.

‘The garden outside also just runs in circles.’

Heuermann concluded with a brief update on his case and thanked Jesperson again.

Jesperson told Rovere he expected to hear from the 59-year-old again.

“The message I’m sending him is he has to own it,” Jesperson said.

‘They want the letter to reach him. They want him to listen to this man telling him how the system works.

“So when you finally find out, the police can go out and work with him to solve all the other cases.

“So that’s what I tell him to do: don’t hold anything back. Details, or there are still a few left.’

Jesperson said Heuermann had to confess to avoid the spectacle of a trial and to try to get to prison quickly – where conditions would be better than prison.

“You get into a routine now: you already know what your beliefs are, you’ve been set up,” he said.

‘And you don’t go to court. You don’t do all this by moving back and forth on the field. And you don’t have jail. “I’ll shuffle around with you and go everywhere for hearings.

‘The food is different. The food is better in prison.

‘You know what? He’s what he’s worried about is butter on his gray. Well, it’s getting bigger.’

Jesperson, who Rovere said was extremely dangerous and would certainly kill again if ever released, said he told Heuermann to brace for a lengthy trial.

“I told him, I think Biden has time to see how it plays out,” Jesperson said, apparently believing the president was involved.

‘The system works very slowly. So it could take about six months or a year before he comes to trial.

“Maybe you should sit down with lawyers and assess, right. There is no real defense here. This is what we have to do. Let’s just go ahead and make a deal. And then the lawyers come across as if they’ve made a deal.’

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty, but Jesperson said he had to be honest and tell Heuermann there was no hiding what he had done.

He said his life behind bars would be easier without a trial. “If you want press, you’ll get it,” Jesperson said.

“If you want to be on the news, go to court. ‘They will know in the next six months or a year.

“If you go to jail, everyone will know. It’s a bad thing. Everyone knows what’s going on.’