Israel Keyes: A Different Type of Serial Killer

Anchorage, Alaska is the largest city in Alaska, with a population of almost 300,000 people. Although it is a popular tourist destination during the summer, winters in Anchorage are rough. Cold weather and complete darkness highlight the dark nature of this city. The crime rate in Anchorage is the highest in the country with the most crimes per capita. Per every 100,000 people, 718 of them will be incarcerated annually.

Samantha Koenig and her father, James, lived in Anchorage. James supported the two by driving trucks for a living. Samantha was 18 years old and a senior in high school. Her boyfriend, Duane Tortolani, who in spite of only dating for a handful of months, lived with the Koenig’s. Samantha worked at a small coffee kiosk in the parking lot of a shopping center. Since Duane and Samantha shared Samantha’s car, they agreed Duane would use the car while Samantha worked and he would pick her up at the end of her shift on February 1st, 2012. Duane showed up that evening around 8:30 to pick Samantha up. When he arrived, the lights in the kiosk were off and she was nowhere to be found. He rushed to James to see if he knew anything about Samantha’s whereabouts. That was when Duane received a text from Samantha’s phone saying she was going away with friends for a few days and to let her dad know. Duane and James both knew this was out of character for Samantha and quickly began to search for her. After being reported missing, locals and police jumped into action to find Samantha. Thousands of fliers and other items with Samantha’s photo on them were circulated around the town. It was not long before her disappearance made national news.

In an effort to find any clues that could point them in the right direction, police reviewed the security footage in the coffee shop. A little before 8 P.M., Samantha is seen taking an order and making a drink. When she turns around and faces the drive-thru window, she is startled by something. With a terrified look on her face, Samantha turns off the lights in the kiosk. After she does this, a gun is pointed in the window and Samantha puts her hands up. She proceeds to get on he ground for three minutes before standing up and walking to the register to take out money. After getting back on the ground, a figure leans through the window and ties Samantha up. In the blink of an eye he leaps through the window completely, inches away from Samantha. After a few minutes, he leads the bound teenager out of the door and into the night. When police realized Samantha had definitely been kidnapped, the FBI had to get involved. The few minutes of videotape was all investigators had to go on for two weeks. They had identified the car that took her as a pickup truck between the years 1999 and 2007, but thousands of people in Anchorage alone owned a car that fit that description, making it worthless information. On February 17th, Duane received another text from Samantha’s phone, this one far more disturbing than the last. The message wrote “Connor park sign under pic of albert aint she purty”. James and authorities rushed to the park to find what the cryptic text message was talking about. Right where it was said to be, they found a ransom note and a picture of Samantha wearing eyeliner with her hair in braids, holding the newspaper from four days earlier. The note demanded $30,000 be deposited into Samantha’s bank account. Her father studied the picture for a few minutes before confirming that the girl in the photo was in fact Samantha. However, he noted that her hair was in braids, a style Samantha never wore. Nonetheless, James funneled the reward money donated by Anchorage citizens into her account. After doing so, the FBI made a deal with the bank so they would be notified immediately after there was any activity on Samantha’s debit card.

It was not long until her card was used to withdraw the daily limit of $500 from an ATM in Alaska. Even though they were notified right away, they missed the man using the ATM by minutes. Hopeful that they could see his face or car in the ATM security camera, they review the footage. Unfortunately, the man using Samantha’s card was covering his whole face. Days passed by without more money being withdrawn. Suddenly, the FBI was alerted that her card was used in New Mexico. Followed by another in Arizona. Similar to what happened in Alaska, police were immediately dispatched to find the man was already gone. The security footage was also similar, all they could see was a man in a mask looking tauntingly into the camera. But this time, the camera was able to get a view of his car in the background, a white Ford Focus. There was one more period of a few days where her card was not used before there was another hit. Finally, another withdrawal was made from her account in Lufkin, Texas on March 13th. Subsequently, an APB was sent out to be on the look out for a man driving a white Ford Focus, who was responsible for the kidnapping of a young woman in Alaska. One officer, Corporal Bryan Henry, saw the car and remembered the APB recently sent out. He began following the vehicle, looking for a reason to pull the man over. When the man failed to use a turn signal, Bryan promptly pulled him over. The man in the drivers seat was identified as 34 year old Israel Keyes. When searching the car, Bryan found a gun, dyed money from a robbery along with Samantha’s phone and debit card. This gave the corporal enough reason to arrest Keyes. At last, James, Anchorage police and the FBI were going to get the answers they were looking for. But, they had no idea that they were about to open Pandora’s box.

Arrested for using stolen debit cards, Keyes was put in jail. His first interrogation with the FBI lasted 45 minutes, Keyes did not say anything of value to interrogators. The following day, Keyes agreed to give a full confession. However, he had a few demands first. He said he not only wanted the death penalty, but he wanted to be given a date to be executed, soon. Since this is not how the death penalty works and Alaska does not even have the death penalty, investigators decided to play to Keyes’ demands. They told Keyes that the best way to ensure he would get the death penalty would be to start talking. To do so, Keyes requested a few more things, a snickers bar, an Americano and a cigar. While they were confused about his requests, the investigators gave him what he asked for, desperate for answers. Finally, Keyes began to talk. He admitted to taking Samantha from the coffee kiosk on the night of February 1st, 2012. After tackling Samantha when she tried to escape, Keyes bound her again with zip ties and placed her in his car. During the drive, Keyes explained to Samantha that she was going to live, he simply wanted ransom money. When Keyes realized they had left Samantha’s phone at the coffee shop, he quickly drove back and broke in again to get it. The cell phone was the tool he needed in order to make the ransom request to her family. After this, they drove to Samantha’s house to get her debit card from her car. It was after this that Keyes drove to a different part of town to text Duane and her boss, explaining she was upset and going away for the weekend. He then drove to his home that he shared with his girlfriend and ten year old daughter. It was there he duct taped Samantha’s mouth and blasted music from the radio to drown out his heinous acts. He raped Samantha before stabbing and strangling her to death. He then wrapped her body in a carpet and put her in a box. All with his partner and daughter sleeping yards away. The next day, he took his family to New Orleans for a two week long cruise. Because the weather in Alaska was so cold, Samantha’s body froze while he was away, preventing decomposition. Upon his return, Keyes “thawed” Samantha, put makeup on her, braided her hair the way he braided his daughter’s, and took a picture of her for the ransom note. Samantha was already dead for weeks when police found the note. He then dismembered her body and dumped it in the Matanuska Lake under the guise of ice fishing. His already disturbing confession was made worse by his attitude. He talked about the rape and murder in a cavalier fashion, laughing quite frequently. His confession was so disturbing and gruesome that the FBI refuses to share it with the public. Only short segments have been released.

After his confession, it was abundantly clear that this was not Keyes’ first murder. Investigators needed to know more. Keyes said he would tell them everything, if he got another snickers, Americana and cigar. Keyes then told investigators that he was two different people. There was the Israel Keyes that worked and had a family, then there was the Israel Keyes that was evil. When investigators asked how long this other person had been in Keyes, he said that it was part of him for the past 12 years. At this point, police knew for sure that he had more victims. While on a trip in Vermont designated for a murder, Keyes began scoping out houses that seemed easy to break into. That was when he discovered the homes of Bill and Lorraine Currier. Both in their 50’s, they lived alone, had no dog and had an easy access point to break into. On the night of June 8th, 2011, Keyes used a crowbar to remove a fan in the garage window. He then crawled through the window and entered the home through the garage entrance. Keyes wearing all black and a headlamp, woke the couple and bound them with zip ties. Once restrained, he began asking the couple about where they kept their valuables and ATM cards. After he took Lorraine’s gun and both cellphones, he forced the couple into their own car and drove them to an abandoned farmhouse. At the farmhouse, Lorraine was left in the car while Bill was brought inside. In a desperate attempt to escape, she jumped out of the car and started running. Unfortunately, Keyes tackled her and brought her into the house where he tied her to a bed. He then disgustingly referred to Lorraine as “feisty” during his interrogation, following that with a chuckle. When he went back into the basement where he left Bill, he realized he had also been trying to loosen his binds. In a fit of rage, he picked up a shovel and beat Bill to death. Keyes told investigators that he was very particular about his crimes. Lorraine’s escape and Bill’s attempt to do the same infuriated him. He was very calculated in what he did and did not like his plans to change. After murdering Bill, he returned back upstairs where he raped Lorraine twice will simultaneously strangling her until she passed out. He then carried her limp body to the basement near Bill, sat her up and strangled her with a rope. He took the corpses and put them in the corner where he covered them in Drano and debris before leaving. The FBI got information about the location of the farmhouse to notify police in Vermont so they could recover the bodies. When police arrived at the house, they made the crushing discovery that the house had been torn down and taken to a landfill. Police organized a large search of the landfill. The FBI, local Vermont and Essex police volunteers searched thousands of cubic feet of garbage. After 11 weeks and 100,000 pounds of garbage searched, the bodies were never found. Cadaver dogs alerted to one area signaling the bodies had been there at one point, but no trace beyond that could ever be found. The largest and most expensive search in Vermont history turned up nothing.

Over the course of several interrogations, after receiving his three odd requests, Keyes admitted to some new terrifying information. During trips across the country, he would bury “kill kits” in various locations with the intent of coming back at one point to use them. To avoid suspicion, Keyes would tell his girlfriend he had a work trip or a trip with friends. Instead, he wold get a rental car and drive thousands of miles to murder or hide a kill kit. This made Keyes different from every serial killer in history. He did not have a victim type at all and he was able to achieve delayed gratification. None of his victim’s matched a certain type. Age, looks, race, etc. did not matter to Keyes. His ability to bury kits and return to them later also showed delayed gratification. Meaning, he did not get off on immediately committing a murder. Instead, he liked hiding the kits in advance knowing he could return back to that spot and commit another murder. at any time.

At this point, investigators know that there had to be more victims out there that Keyes had not confessed to. While in custody, Keyes made it very clear that he did not want any information about what he did getting out until he was dead. He did not want his girlfriend and daughter to suffer for his crimes. He refused to be alive when they finally found out what he did. After information about him was leaked to the media, Keyes stopped talking. Eventually, investigators were able to gain his trust again. However it wasn’t long until more information got out. Keyes was reportedly so devastated by this that he somehow got ahold of a razor and committed suicide in his cell on December 2nd, 2012. Under his body was a suicide note that seemed to be more of an ode to murder. Eleven skulls drawn using his blood were also found, one with the words “WE ARE ONE” written underneath. While nobody is positive about what this means, investigators believe this symbolized the amount of victims he actually had.

To date, only three murders were confirmed to have been committed by Keyes, Samantha Koenig and Bill and Lorraine Currier. He admitted to investigators that there were at least five other victims, but did not give any names. He did however, give vague dates and places. He confessed to four murders in Washington, a couple in 2001, one person in 2005 and another in 2006. He also confessed to another murder in New York. Many believe it was a sex worker who’s name was found on Keyes’ computer. Police claim that there is no connection between the two, thus the belief that was his victim. But no other evidence has ever been found. There is also a lot of speculation that he also murdered New Jersey native, Julie Harris, in 1996. Her prosthetic feet were found a month after she disappeared but her body was not found until 1997. However, he did deny this. But, he did tell investigators that he murdered someone on the East Coast in 2009. Investigators believe this victim was Debra Feldman. Keyes owned a run down cabin in Constable, New Jersey where Debra went missing in 2009. He also robbed a bank in Tupper, New York, where they speculate he buried Debra. Internet sleuths have also made connections to Keyes and the disappearance of Maura Murray in New Hampshire of 2004. But, these connections are unsubstantiated and quite weak. The FBI has been working feverishly to find unsolved cases across the country in attempt to tie them to Keyes, this is been unsuccessful. Other than murders, he confessed to burglarizing between 20-30 homes all across the country, one resulting in a fire in Texas, and robbed “several” banks between 2001 and 2012.

Israel Keyes is one of the most terrifying serial killers to ever exist. His extreme calculation, caviler and smug attitude, lack of victim preference and delayed gratification makes him different from any other serial killer. He told police that he looked up to Ted Bundy and took some of his “skills” from him. He even called the horrifying BTK killer, Dennis Rader, a wimp for showing remorse for his crimes. He was the true embodiment of evil. But, his arrest and suicide have left us with more questions than answers.