laverne arlyce pavlinac (née johnson; december 19, 1932 march 4, 2003) was an american woman who falsely confessed to assisting in the 1990 murder of 23-year-old taunja bennett of portland, oregon; she also implicated her boyfriend, john sosnovske, in bennett's murder. both pavlinac and sosnovske were convicted, with pavlinac receiving a 10-year sentence. they served four years before both were exonerated after serial killer keith jesperson confessed to bennett's murder.