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Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt For Justice

Summary

Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt For Justice is a TV series produced by Oxygen TV that examines possible victims of the smiley face murder theory. The six existing episodes each focus on one victim, including the information on the case prior to investigation during the show, how the smiley face murder theory may apply to the case, and the outcome of the investigation. All cases covered share some common factors; all victims were college-aged males who had disappeared after a night out with friends, whose bodies are found later in a body of water, and deaths are ruled as accidental drownings. Retired police officials Kevin Gannon, Anthony Duarte, and Dr. Lee Gilbertson lead the investigation throughout the series, with help from their team and locals in the victim's community . The typical timeline of the episodes starts with introducing the case and meeting the victim and their loved ones, finding discrepancies in the case that may tie to the smiley face murder theory, and finding a way to reopen the case or find additional answers. Most of the episodes in the series don't conclude with a closed case, but rather expose the audience and investigators to new information that may support a new case or conclusion.

Production Company

44 Blue Productions is the production company that produces the Oxygen series, Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt For Justice. 44 Blue Productions was founded by Rasha Drachkovitch and Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch. The company produces non-fiction and unscripted series which have won them numerous awards including many Emmy nominated series like the Wahlburgers, Split Ends, and Family Court With Judge Penny. 44 Blue Productions hosts series that have aired in over 120 countries and are on over 20 television networks. Some of the networks under 44 Blue Productions include A&E, Animal Planet, MSNBC, E! Entertainment, and many more. Red Arrow Studios, a larger company, now owns a 65% stake in the 44 Blue Productions as of July 2016.

Series Producer

Alison Dammann is the producer of the Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt For Justice series. Alison has previously been with 44 Blue Productions, but has been signed with Vox Media since March 2018.

Investigators Involved in Series

Throughout the episodes of Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt For Justice, there are two main investigators involved in the series, Anthony Duarte and Kevin Gannon. The two investigators and their team help the parents and/or loved ones of the victims throughout each episode of the Oxygen series. Kevin Gannon is a retired New York Police Department Sergeant and has received nearly 100 medals for bravery, being named as one of the most highly valued members of the Special Investigation Division of the Detective Bureau and NYPD Sergeants before he retired in 2001. Anthony Duarte is a retired U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a TSA Transportation Security Manager as well as a retired NYPD second-grade detective. Duarte has been awarded ten Excellence in Police Duty Awards and five Commendations for Meritorious Services. In addition to Gannon and Duarte, Mikey Donovan and D. Lee "Doc" Gilbertson are featured in some of the episodes of the series. Mikey Donovan is a retired NYPD Detective, was a first responder at the World Trade Center on 9/11, and specializes in interrogation. D. Lee "Doc" Gilbertson has a doctorate in Sociology and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice. Gilbertson is also employed at the National Gang Crime Research Center and is an Executive Editor for the Journal of Gang Research.

Episodes

No.	Title	Original Air Date
1	Dakota James	January 19, 2019
During a night out with friends on January 25, 2017, 23-year-old Dakota James left his friends at a bar on Liberty Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh. Dakota was presumably going home to the north side of Pittsburgh. Surveillance camera footage from the Cultural District caught Dakota walking through Katz Plaza as well as down an alley toward Fort Duquesne Boulevard. This footage seems to be the last known footage of him alive. The main theory for Dakota was that he used the alley to cross Fort Duquesne Boulevard to Clemente Bridge to go pee in the Allegheny River. According to his friends, Dakota had been possibly drugged and attempted to be abducted six weeks before his disappearance. Kevin Gannon thinks that Dakota was also drugged on the night he disappeared. Gannon believed that Dakota was drugged, abducted, held for some time, killed, and then dumped in a body of water. 40 days after Dakota's disappearance, his body was found in the Ohio River near Interstate 79 bridge over Neville Island. After the discovery of Dakota's body, his death was ruled as an accidental drowning by the medical examiner. Dr. Cyril Wecht found that the level of decomposition on the body didn't match a person who had been in the water for 7 weeks, especially in the weather and conditions of the river during the winter of 2017. Pam James, the mother of Dakota, also mentioned that Dakota had no marks on his body, which would normally be found on a body that had traveled down a river for 10 miles, and supposedly through a dam. From these findings, the detectives and Doctor Wecht believed that Dakota's body was placed in the river beyond the Emsworth Dam on the back channel of the river. Robinson Township's Volunteer Swift Water Rescue Group members Kenny Kisow and Scott Grahn also corroborated these findings and agreed there was no way Dakota's body would have looked as pristine as it did if he had traveled that far and gone through a damn. The District Attorney allowed the family and investigators access to the autopsy report, including the pictures. One picture that shows the back of Dakota's neck with ligature marks on the back of his neck was focused heavily on by Doctor Wecht and the detectives. Wecht believes that these marks are evidence of a ligature around the neck, even though these findings weren't reported in the original autopsy report. Because there was no internal damage on the neck reported in the autopsy report, Wecht cant determine that Dakota was strangled to death but the marks are evidence that something was around his neck. In addition to the ligature marks on the neck, pooled blood was found in the fingers of Dakota's hands, which Wecht indicates could be the result of trying to pull this supposed ligature away from his neck during a struggle of some sort. After this finding, the investigators and the family of Dakota went back to the District Attorney because Pam believed that they could look into this finding and possibly reopen Dakota's case. When the D.A. sent homicide detective to the Medical Examiner's office, it was concluded that there were no ligature marks. Stephen Zappala states that the marks on Dakota's neck was just dried blood that was washed off during the autopsy. The problem with this is that if Dakota's body had been in the water for 40 days, the dried blood would've already been washed off as Pam believes, especially with the pooled blood located him Dakota's fingers. Zappala explains this as saying there were two sets of pictures, the first where blood is located out of the nose, mouth, and pooled around the neck and the second set where the neck is clean and there are no ligature marks there. Wecht states that the death should be listed as undetermined instead of accidental. As for the theory, Pam, the D.A., and Wecht all doubt that there are serial killers are involved but Wecht and Pam believe that foul play is involved. Kevin Gannon states that there is enough unanswered questions in the case for police to take a second look. Gannon urges the police to reopen the case to try and see if something happened. Pam James still believes that her son did not drown as a result of being reckless and drunk and says that her family will never give up until they know what happened to Dakota.
2	Lucas Homan	January 26, 2019
During the fall in 2006, 21-year-old Lucas Homan had been been celebrating with friends at Oktoberfest in downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin when he disappeared. After three days, Luke's body was found off the shore of the Mississippi River. During this time when Luke went to college, his family was weary for him to go because there had been other instances of seven young men drowning in the river, but Luke had assured his parents that he would be alright. Law enforcement ruled Luke's death as an accidental drowning. The autotopsy report also indicated that Luke had acute alcohol intoxication and this was a major factor into his death. Those who don't believe that Luke accidentally drowned include his parents, Jerry and Patti Homan and best friend Sam Donaldson who was with Luke the night he disappeared. It is indicated that anyone going to La Crosse would know that if you were near the river, you were going the wrong way as it is almost half a mile away from the area with the bars frequented by university students. When Lucas left with his friend after barhopping, the two got seperated and the friend ended in the ER with a head injury later that night. This friend later stated that he had no idea of what had happened the night before. During the investigation, a K9 unti hit on a van used by one of the bands playing at a bar Lucas and his friends were at, but the finding was later ruled inconclusive. Kevin Gannon, his team, and Luke's parents work with underwater forensic expert Bobby Chacon, forensic toolmark analyst William Moore, and forensic footwear specialist Marty Ludas to take another look at Luke's autopsy report. Bobby Chacon concludes that Luke had only been in the water for 3–12 hours, way less than the 50 hours the police had stated. Moore and Ludas find that the injuries on Luke's forehead resulted from the action of someone holding Luke down with their boot. The new evidence collected allow both the investigators and the family of Luke to come to the conclusion that Luke didn't accidentally drown, but was supposedly murdered. Kevin Gannon and Patti Homan take their evidence to the La Crosse Police Department to convince them to reopen Luke's case. As of the air date of the episode, the family is still waiting on a response from the La Crosse Police Department.
3	William Hurley	February 2, 2019
On October 14, 2009, the body of 24-year-old William Hurley was found in the Charles River near the TD Garden stadium. William Hurley had been attending a Bruin's game at the stadium when he left halfway through the game and contacted his fiance, Claire Lebeau for a ride. When Claire arrived at the spot agreed upon, William was nowhere to be found. With the discovery of his body, it was found that William received blunt force trauma to his head, an eye socket, and leg. Alcohol and the date rape drug, GHB, was also found in William's system. The theory in this case by the police was that William stumbled through the stadium parking lot towards the river and had fallen in. The surveillance footage from the stadium shows William stumbling through the parking lot and struggling to keep himself upright. William's death was ruled as an undetermined drowning and was later found that he was one of more than 10 young men who had drowned in the Charles River under mysterious circumstances. Lynn Martin, the mother of William Hurley, had originally disregarded the smiley face murder theory, but eventually came around once she spoke with Kevin Gannon. Gannon and Dr. Lee Gilbertson meet with forensic toxicologist Sabra-Botch Jones to find more information on the GHB that was found in Will's system. Jones states that humans will always have a normal level of GHB in their systems but the 18 micrograms found in William's system suggest that it was administered and was able to impair William. The investigators then meet with forensic pathologist Dr. Elizabeth Laposata and underwater forensic investigator Rhonda Moniz to discuss William's injuries and the area in which his body was found. Laposata concludes that the injuries found on William's body would not have resulted from falling into the river and would not have happened post-mortem. Rhonda Moniz and the investigators discuss how it was odd that William had supposedly entered the water near Nashua Street but his body was found farther upstream than there. Moniz states that there is no way William's body or any body for that matter could travel against the current. This would suggest that William had either entered the water farther upstream or he had been dumped minutes before his body was discovered. Dr. Laposata also concludes that there would have had to have been some other human interaction contributing to William's death besides him falling into the river. The Boston Police Department received a request to look at William's case again during the time in which the episode was being filmed, who then passed it along to the Massachusetts State Police. From there, a detective contacted Lynn Martin and is currently reviewing this new evidence.
4	Brian Welzien	February 9, 2019
During the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2000, 21-year-old college student, Brian Welzien went missing. Brian had been celebrating New Years at a Y2K celebration in Chicago, Illinois before his disappearance. Brian's body was not found until 77 days later on a beach in Gary, Indiana. The theory that came from the police indicates that Brian must've been intoxicated and fallen into Lake Michigan, drowned, and his body then traveled around 30 miles from there over the two and a half months he was missing. Brian's death was ruled as an undetermined drowning. However, despite his body supposedly being in the water for 77 days, his autopsy report only indicated slight decomposition. Detective Sgt. William Fazekas, the original detective on Brian's case was reportedly surprised by the minimal decomposition, even stating that he thought the body had only been in the water for around a week upon his initial viewing of the body. Gannon, Dr. Gilbertson and Fazekas meet with forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht to take another look at the original case files and pictures. With the minimal decomposition and the fact that Welzien's organs were mostly intact, Wecht found it very hard to believe that Brian had been in the water for 77 days. Wecht further states that there was no fluid in the lungs and no sand found in the stomach of Brian Welzien, as indicated by the medical examiner. This evidence shows that Brian did not drown and was most likely dead upon entering the water. Dr. Gilbertson estimates that Brian had only been dead 36 hours before his body was discovered. After presenting the findings to Brian's mother, Stephany Welzien, Fazekas agrees to contact the medical examiner to possibly reopen the case. Currently, Fazekas is pursuing new leads in Brian Welzien's case.
5	Tommy Booth	February 16, 2019
On January 19, 2008, 24-year-old Tommy Booth disappeared from a bar in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. Booth had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday with a group of his friends. The security camera footage from the night only shows Tommy entering the bar but never leaving. However, two weeks after his disappearance, Tommy's body was found face down in a creek located behind the same bar in which he was last seen despite the area being searched multiple times during the time in which Tommy was missing. When Tommy's body was found, it was found that his body was in full rigor mortis, but this is usually only characteristic of a person who has been dead 24–36 hours. Kevin Gannon and Dr. Gilbertson agree that this evidence goes against the idea that Tommy drowned the night he disappeared. Gannon and Gilbertson also found that it was almost as if Tommy's body was staged, with sticks placed around his body and footprints and marks in the soil around the discovery site. Tommy's death was ultimately ruled as a probable drowning by the medical examiner. Gannon and Dr. Gilbertson meet with Scott Roder, a crime scene reconstruction specialist who built a CGI model of the site where Tommy's body was found. Roder states that he took his findings to Captain Scott Willoughby, who originally found no evidence of foul play but was weary once he found smiley face graffiti near the bar Tommy was last seen. Roder also concluded that Tommy's feet were placed in a way that suggested that he was dragged through the sand by his legs. Willoughby, however, disregards this information and states that it could just be formed by the flow of the water. Roder also believed that the condition of Booth's body would have looked a lot different if he had actually been in the water for the two weeks he had been missing. Roder then supports the idea that if Booth had been dead since the night he disappeared, his body would not be in rigor mortis. With this information, Willoughby suggested that Dr. Cyril Wecht look at Tommy's autopsy report, who agreed with Roder's findings and said that Tommy's death was "highly suspicious of foul play". Willoughby has since contacted the Delaware County Medical Examiner to look at the new evidence. Currently, the family and the investigators are waiting on a response.
6	Todd Geib	February 23, 2019
22-year-old Todd Geib was attending an orchard party in Muskegon, Michigan on June 25, 2005. Todd's body was found 22 days later upright in a private lake near the location of the orchard party he had been at. The theory from the police was that Todd had left the party and ended up at the lake and drowned. Todd's death was ruled as an undetermined drowning. Todd's body was found with his head and shoulders out of the water, almost as if he was swimming, and his body had minimal decomposition, suggesting that he had not been in the water or even dead for 22 days. Alcohol and antidepressants were found in Geib's system, despite him not reportedly suffering from depression at the time of his disappearance. It was later found that Geib had made a lot of calls from his phone the night he disappeared, including one to a friend who heard Todd say, "I'm in a field" before the call ended. Gannon and Dr. Lee Gilbertson meet with pharmacist David McDiarmid to find out more information regarding the medication found in Todd's system. McDiarmid states that the medications found in Todd's system would not normally be given together because when given together, they are known to cause side effects such as confusion, agitation, and risk of hallucinations. McDiarmid adds that these drugs could easily be slipped into a drink and could cause an overdose. Gannon, Gilbertson, and McDiarmid all agree that the level of drugs in Todd's system would leave him completely incapacitated and unable to get to the lake himself. Kathy Geib, mother of Todd, and Kevin Gannon take these findings to the Michigan State Police and they are able to get a meeting with the Muskegon County Prosecutor to look at the new evidence. Kathy is currently awaiting a response from the prosecutor as to whether her son's case will be reopened or not.

Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt For Justice
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6
Original release
Network	Oxygen
Release	January 19 (2019-01-19) – February 23, 2019 (2019-02-23)

Critical Response

According to IMDb, the show maintains a 7.2/10 rating based on 48 reviews with the majority of the reviewers being in the 30-44 age range. According to Amazon, the show maintains a 4/5 rating based on 13 reviews. According to some of the more critical reviews on Amazon, the show seems to come off as exploitative, containing a lack of forensic knowledge and could be grasping onto a thin theory. The reasoning behind these reviews explain that the show might be exploiting the families of the victims and could be connecting cases all across the U.S. that may not even relate to each other. Another common critique in the reviews is that the smiley face graffiti is very common and should not warrant a criminal investigation or serial killer theory.

External links

• https://www.oxygen.com/smiley-face-killers-the-hunt-for-justice
• https://www.gdinvestigations.com/about
• http://www.44blue.com/homeblue
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9478324/