Melissa G Moore worried she was like her dad, serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson Melissa G Moore has spoken of coming to terms with learning her father was a serial killer. Picture: shatteredsilencebook.com Source: Supplied Keith Hunter Jesperson, the "Happy Face Killer," taken after he was extradited to California in 2009. He has been in prison since 1995. Jesperson's daughter, Melissa G. Moore has appeared on several television programs to discuss what it was like growing up as the daughter of a serial killer. Keith Jesperson brutally murdered eight women He signed confessions with a happy face His daughter grieves for the father she knew HE was the smiling father who tucked her into bed every night. But when he told his teenage daughter from behind a glass partition she would need to change her name, Melissa G Moore realised her father really was the serial killer she'd read about in newspapers. Keith Hunter Jesperson, known as the "Happy Face Killer," had tucked her into bed at night "like a burrito," but during the 1990s he also brutally murdered eight women. He became even more notorious as he taunted journalists and police with confessions signed with a happy face. Moore, now 33, has now spoken of coming to terms with what her father did, reports CNN. "When I was growing up, my dad had put so much pride in my last name, and he gave me lessons on how to be a good citizen," Ms Moore said. My name was now known for these horrific murders, and it started to make me wonder if I was like my dad. After her father's arrest, Moore's friends began to avoid her. She later discovered they had been told by their parents to avoid her. She cut ties with her father when she married at 21, and took her husband's name. But she said she had to deal with the grief of losing the father she had loved. She had many happy memories of her childhood including playing games with her father and laughter filled meals. But she also tried not to think about the darker memories like a bitter divorce and watching him kill their family dog. "I would check out 'Death of a Loved One' kind of books," she said. That was the most relateable help I could get because I was going through this death of his identity.