Florida serial killer makes jarring confession about spring break mystery

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‘Happy Face’ serial killer admits to murdering an 8th victim in interview with Florida officials

In an unannounced September interview with Okaloosa authorities, who traveled to the Oregon State Penitentiary to meet with the suspect, Keith Jesperson said he had met his eighth victim, Suzanne Kjellenberg, at a truck rest stop.

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An infamous serial killer tied to murders all over the country admitted to killing 18-year-old Carol Ann Barrett over 40 years ago, police said.

Barrett’s body was found in a ditch along Interstate 95 in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 24, 1980. A day earlier, the Ohio native had been enjoying spring break in Daytona Beach when she was kidnapped from her motel. 

For decades, all law enforcement had was her body and a sketch of the suspect based on interviews with Barrett’s friends. The case went cold until about 2017.

Billy Mansfield Jr., 65, who killed at least five women and girls coast to coast, admitted that he was the suspect in the sketch, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.

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Carol Ann Barrett was 18 when she was killed during a spring break trip to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1980. (Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office)

Mansfield finally copped to the killing and abduction in September 2022 after two years worth of interviews, according to police.

“Billy Mansfield advised that he was in fact the suspect in the police sketch completed following the abduction,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Thursday. “He went on to confess to the abduction from the Daytona Beach Shores hotel, as well as to her murder shortly thereafter.”

He was 24 at the time of Barrett’s murder.

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Since his admission, police have worked with the State Attorney’s Office, which will not seek prosecution, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.

The State Attorney’s Office in the 4th Judicial District did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Billy Mansfield Jr., a convicted serial killer who is serving a life sentence for murder in California and four concurrent life sentences in Florida for separate cases, admitted to killing Carol Ann Barrett in 1980. (California Department of Corrections )

Mansfield is currently serving a life sentence in California and four concurrent life sentences in Florida for the murders of five women and girls between 1975 and 1980. 

He buried the victims under his Spring Hill home along the west coast of Florida, about a 2.5-hour drive across the state from Daytona Beach, where he killed Barrett.

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Mansfield pleaded guilty to a California murder in order to avoid the death penalty in Florida. He has been in prison since 1982.

Barrett’s cold case is finally closed, but Mansfield’s body count and reign of terror are still coming into focus. 

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“Billy Mansfield continues to cooperate with detectives in other jurisdictions regarding additional cold cases,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said. 

Chris Eberhart is a crime and US news reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to chris.eberhart@fox.com or on Twitter @ChrisEberhart48.