Killer in the Family: The Hidden Costs of Loving Someone the World Hates

What's it really like to be related to a murderer? Beyond the shock value of crime dramas and documentaries, there are real people who know this painful reality, yet their voices often go unheard.

What if the son you took to Little League grew up to kill your grandchildren? What if your Nana who served you cookies also served time for dismembering her mother? What if the father who called you princess and kissed your forehead at bedtime was a serial killer?

Could you still love them knowing what they had done?

Author Melissa G. Moore, daughter of Keith Jesperson, "The Happy Face Killer," has made it her mission to connect with other families who know the heartbreak and shame of learning that one of their own secretly committed monstrous acts. For six years, Moore was invited into the private lives of nine families tied to some of the most infamous, headline-making crimes in the world, and welcomed as a trusted fellow family member who understood their unique kind of grief.

Through deeply personal interviews with spouses, siblings, children, grandchildren, and more--including some individuals who agreed to speak for the first time--this book exposes the shared undercurrent of guilt and betrayal that unites these families. Stories include:

• Chris Watts, family annihilator. Left behind: Parents Ronnie and Cindy/Sister Jamie
• Keith Jesperson, serial killer. Left behind: Daughter Melissa Moore
• Diane Downs, monstrous mother. Left behind: Ex-husband Steve Downs
• Diane Downs, biological mother. Left behind: Daughter Becky Babcock
• John E. Robinson, the Internet's first serial killer. Left behind: Kidnapped niece Heather Robinson
• Drew Peterson, killer cop. Left behind: Son Stephen Peterson
• Magen Fieramusca, baby stealer/killer. Left behind: Brother Corban Bates
• Christine Varness, slayer granny. Left Behind: Granddaughter Kourtney Nichole
• Nicole Brown Simpson, crime of the century. Left Behind: Sister Denise Brown

Killer in the Family is the intimate, unflinching account of what it's like to love a killer in the family. Moore and coauthor Michele Matrisciani share these rare, unguarded conversations resulted from asking deeply uncomfortable questions that until now have gone undiscovered--moments where these families opened up exclusively and without reservation about the hidden cost of loving someone the world hates.

Author: Melissa G. Moore,Michele Matrisciani
Publisher: Benbella Books
Published: 10/13/2026
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
ISBN13: 9781637749586
ISBN10: 1637749589
BISAC Categories:
- True Crime | Murder | Serial Killers
- True Crime | Historical
- Psychology | Grief & Loss

About the Author
Melissa G. Moore is a New York Times bestselling author, executive producer, and the real-life subject of the Paramount+ series Happy Face. A true crime documentary filmmaker for Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and Lifetime, she has been featured in Forbes, TIME, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The daughter of the "Happy Face Killer," Moore takes readers deep inside the hidden world of families bound by love, betrayal, and the dark legacy of a killer's crimes.

Michele Matrisciani is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author and founder of Bookchic LLC, where she offers an array of editorial services to authors, agents, and publishers. With more than twenty years in publishing, Michele has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, and Publisher's Weekly, to name a few. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, holds an MFA from Stony Brook University, and is the coauthor of the self-help book, Whole.