In 2012, Alaskan law enforcement came face to face with one of America’s most notorious serial killers, Israel Keyes. Over the next seven months, he played a cat-and-mouse game with investigators divulging clues about his other victims
The FBI believes skulls drawn in blood are the number of victims murdered by a prolific serial killer
israel keys is a serial killer who hid his crimes for many years , hewas meticulous, he ws incredibly bright and he was significant lethal.
FBI believe that the 11 skull is the total number of victms.
in february of 2012 the residents of anchorage alaska were shaken by a frightening mystery it was the evening of february 1st
when 18 yearold Samantha Koenig vanished after her night shift
at this road espresso stand.
her boyfriends was supposed to pick her up that night -but that didn’t happen multiple calls went ubabswered ,several hours later her boyfriends’s cell phone lit up with a message from samantha’s phone.
the text messages said something to the effect of ” im going on vacation ,im tired “family and friend knew something was wrong .
something was terribly wrong and the next day investigators watched it all unfold on security camera video .this is samantha 8:00 pm is closing time so she’s doing all of her normal things she would do to get ready for closing .
that’s when a masked man walked up to the window.he wanted much more then just coffe. samantha is over at the window here she handed something to the customer she’s backs up and this is where samantha raise her arms.
what started as an apparent robbery suddenly took a darker turn.
she turns the lights off and then you see two individuals walk away its looks like an abduction .
as the news spread james Koenig went public
as time went on there was a tremendous amount of fear about what happened and who was in the community
that could do somethin like this
the FBI joined anchorage police department in looking at family and friends.
samantha’s boyfriend was quickly ruled out as a suspect.
10 days after samantha disappeared a vigil was held hundreds of people came.
as friendsand family fan out across anchorage to try to find samantha
the question is could she also be out here somewhere in Alaska wilderness,then finally fter three agonizing weeks . thatäs when the text came in that said there was a ransom note and where to go.
the text to samantha’s boyfriend was as mysterious as her disappearance , it said to look in connor park under pick of albert it also said aint’t she pretty.
there was a pictureof a missing dog named albert and right underneath is a plastic bag with a clipping and a photograph in it.
that note contained a picture of samantha and a long typed out message that talked about putting 30,000 dollars into samantha’s bank account.that acount was connected to samantha’s debit card which the kidnapper had
and the photo which has not been made public was of samantha holding a newspapper.ir was dated february 13th so well after samantha’s abduction so hope is that samantha’s alive.
samantha’s dad deposited 5 ,000 dollar into her account, several hours later a man makes a ATM withdrawal using samantha’s card. investigators rushed to the ATM but were to late missing the suspect by minute.
one week later another ATM withdrawal is made.this one is very different this withdrawal occurs in wilcox ,Arizona.nearly 4,000 miles away .and then a short time later , one in lordsburg new mexico then umble Texas, then shepard texas-he’s heading east .
they could see that he’s moving across the I 10 corridor.
but the suspect had made a crucial misstakeduring the ATM withdraw in arizona a white ford focus can be seen in the background, that information was pushed out to law enforcement across that entire corridor.
then – on march 13th a state trooper notices a vehicle matching that description in a Texas hotel parking lot .in a short time later a man comes out he gets in the vehicle and he starts to drive away.
the trooper follows and once that vehicle exceeds the speed limit he has his probable to pull that vehicle over.
and when he asks the driver for identification, he ultimately presents him with an identification cards
for israel keyes ,he wasn’t even on FBI s radar.
that troopers instinct were spoton a search of the car uncovered samantha’s ID her debit card her cell phone, and a gun .
along with a disguise that match the man in the ATM photos.
at this point they believe they have their guy.but now the FBI wanted to know what had israel keyes done with samantha
the race is on because FB still don’t have samantha ,they have him.but they don’t have samantha.so if samantha is alive then FBI really need to find her quickly.
in march 2012 two weeks after isarel keyes was arrested in Texas he was extradited to anchorage alaska. at the point the FBI didn’t ewllt know was he the one who took and kidnapped samantha or was he someone who was just using a credit card that he found
investigators scrambled to learn everything they could about israel keyes- the man he had a DUI but that was it , no crimes of violence in his history no sex offenses in his history nothing.his a 34 year old man from alaska who has a construction business, small kind of quiet life.
this is someone you felt comfortable giving a key to your house so he could go there whne you weren’t there to fix things.
an anchorage resident since 2007 keyes lived in this house with his girlfriend and his 10 year old daughter from a previous relatonship neighbor say ge didn’t stand out .nothing suspicious at all exept that he worked hard.
but investigators had suspicions and one very pressing question investigators stared of with where is samanatha .no one knew if samantha was still alive. so they confronted keyes about samantha.
keyes admitted he had killed samantha so FBI wanted to find out why he did what he did.
but before he would say more keyes began what would be become a pattern for giving information. he wanted an americano coffe from starbucks , he wanted a snickers bar and he wanted a particular cigar ultimatley keyes lays out the entire story of how the abduction of samantha occured.
the video of the confession had never been made public before.
in it keyes says he pointed a 22 caliber pistol at samantha, the question about why he did pick that coffe cart at that time ,it was open late.
meaning he chose her completely at random.keyes says as they walked off into the night samantha broke free and ran. he chased after her and tackled her indicate that this plan is to hold her for ransom suggesting to samantha that if she cooperates he’ll release her she’ll be able to go home .
it was all a lie.
instead keyes drove samantha to his home shed and sexually assulted her keye’s then strangled her to death.keyes famly the FBI later dtermined knew nothing about the horrors that just had taken place.
he was talking about the murder of this girl like someone else would discuss what they had for lunch.within hours of murdering of samantha ,israel keyes left anchorage fo a caribbean vacation with his family and samantha was stil in the shed at his house.
two weeks later it was then he posted the ransom note and texted’s boyfriend knowing shewas already dead.
keyes told investigators he had driven som 35 miles nort anchorage to manusa lake where over the course of three trips he disposed of samantha’s remains.
he had drilled a hole and went ice fishing in the lake and he had tied uit up with bailing wire and weights and had placed parts of her body down the lake as he fished.
it took the FBI’s dive team 10 hours to recover samantha’s body
after talking to keyes investigators realized they had a depraved killer on their hands and that samantha was likely keye’s only victim .
and says he had been two different people long time . fourteen years. and that tells that he had bee a serial killer for fourteen years
every aspect of keyes life needed to be examined,so FBI started a deep dive into his paper trail
cell phones recrods
financial records
anything they could find out about his background
his travels
anything that would just tell FBI a better story about Israel keyes.
it startin to look like keys could have victims across the united states
Israel keyes travel to places such as washington,california , wyoming,Texas and vermont.
and he teased his interrogators with details of other murders b but before keyes would agree to do that he wanted something extraordinary in return – he wanted an execution date
and he said he want a promise that he’ll get the death penalty and if FBI did that he’ll tell FBI all about it.and tell them all the people he had killed what FBI said is the more murders keyes give them more likely it is that they’re going to inpose the death penalty on keyes
without a guarantee of death keyes was relucted to say anything more.
but finally keyes folded
there are odd moments to see ,investigators casually bonding with their interview guest.in some ways to the outsider it looked like FBI were in a way befriending a serial killer.
but there was method to this madness says assistant US Frank russo it was just the act that they had to put on when they went in that room it was just trying to kind of do anything they could to get information.
Israel keyes voluntarily granted two dozen interviews to various investigtors in the seven months after his arrest. he enjoyed the rush he enjoyed the thrill of it. that strategy paid off when keyes fave up the names of two victims.
a married couple more than 4,000 mil from anchorage in vermont. he gave FBI the names of the people they wrote them down.-bill and lorraine courier and have been missng for some time .bill and lorraine courier are a couple that lived in in Essex ,vermont.nothing stands out really about them ,they were just kind of living their life.
the couriers vanished on a night in june 2011 leaving their family bewildered.
affter interviewing neighbors police drew this sketch of a possible suspect
police say this composite of a man who have been seen driving the couple’s dark green saturn sedan is a big break.but the cae went cold for nearly a year.
until keyes laid out the road map of what had happened. he flew into chicago and he drove east he intended on that trip to commit a homicide he didn’t know hwo it would be yet.
on that trip keyes stayed at this hotel in essex ,vermont.
while there he dug up a bucket similar to this one that he had biroed a few years prior
for the first time the FBI is showing 48 hours…..
several boxes of 22 ammunition.
….the contents of what keyes like to call- a kill stach
so he would prepositon these caches in and then when the urge came upon him if he happened to be in that state he had his tools of destruction ready to go or he’d plan a trip to a particular state knowing he already had a stach there .
he didn’t know who he was going to kill but he already knew that he had the items there that he needed.
the cilencer for the 22….
a wood stock for 22 ….
a plastic stock for 22 ….
a portion of a 22 rifle….
and then the drum magazine the 22. and the number of 22- caliber bullets.
the stach used in the courier attack has never been found
but keyes told the FBI where they could find this a weapon he had used in vermont -this is a silencer that keyes actually constructed himself.
with his murderous tools in hand keyes went hunting for victims and found himself outside the courier’s house.
keyes decided to look for a house with couple in it .he was looking for a farily easy way to get into the garage and there was the first house he foun that had all those things.
he just happens to take a walk from his hotel into a neighborhood and this unsuspecting couple just living their lives is about to have a monster at their door.
but the monstger didn’t knock he was very quickly in the house, he restrains bill and lorraine very quickly.
and ten he moves them to their car
and drives them to an abandoned farmhouse that he had scoped out earlier
keyes attacks lorraine first , she’s upstairs in the bedroom , he had restrained bill downstairs.but the couriers were not going down without a fight.bill was yealling for his wife and bill ultimately starts to break free from the restraints and keyes has to go back downstairs in order to restrain him again
and there is a struggle that ensues
FBI think this silencer might have been used in the murder of bill courier.
keyes then strangled lorraine courier and left the couple in the basment of the abandoned farmhouse
did anyone ever find these bodies?
short time after this happened , the house ended up being demolished and it ws taken to the landfill
FBI made numerous attempts at the landfill,it was 10 or 12 week search at the land land fill the FBI was searching in an attempt to find them but they were not able to recover the bodies.
but as meticulous as keyes was in coveringhis tracks- he slipped up.
this is the one item in all the things FBI found belonged to keyes that actaully had his fingerprints on it-a perfect right thumb print for israel keyes.
what othe clues had keyes left behind?
what other murders had he committed? investigators befan focusing on his time in washington state where keyes was eaised a place where he wouldadmit to killing at least four more people…..
to undestand Israel keyes you have to go deep into the vast remote wilderness where he was raised the place where he lived off and on for more than 20 years.-washington state.
FBI special agents ted and coleen first question keyes in 2012 they have spent eight years investigating his life and crimes in washington searching for more victims.
the opening scenes of keye’s life took place in a secluded cabin outside the small town of colville.he grew up poor he grew up in a large family there were 10 children in all and they kind of live apart from society.
john smith and his wife desiree knew israel keyes when he was a teenager desiree hasn’t been in this area since she was 15.
desiree rember it being long and steep and kind of headed up the mountain side and it was completely impossible through most of the winter.
it was built to be completely off the grid, to be completely isolated from society, no radio no television no electricity- nothing.the keyes family attended a chuch that preached christian identity theology a philosophy john and desiree were also raised on but has since disavowed.
schooled at home cut off from the outside world keyes was socially akward very quite very loner standoffish.desiree felt unsafe being near him.but just when keyes commited his first murder is still an open question.
sheri harris is holding a picture of her daughter julie marie harris, she was 12 years old and disappeared on march 3rd 1996. sheri says her daughter julie a special olympics athletes with prosthetic feet vanished from colville while waiting for a ride to church.
israel keyes then 18 year old lived in the area at the time , julie’s prosthetic feet were discovered at the mouth of the colville river .
the next year her skeletal remains were found. keyes was aware of it but that he as not involve in it.keye’s told investigators the birth of his daughter convinced him to never target children but keye’s daughter was born after julie harris was murdered.
48 hours tracked down friends of julie who had never spoken with law enforcement one of those friends told that she remembers keyes talking to julie at the pool where she often swam .and that julie ended up giving him her adress and phone numeber.- that didn’t julie’s mum heard of.
does that sound tantalizing a possible clue?
like any other lead that FBI agents ted and coleen would want to investigate it fully they would certainly be interested interesting talking with her and cheri harris woundering if her daughter was isreal keyes very first victim too.
despite the intrigue surrounding julie harris , keyes claims his first attempted murder came in 1997 or 1998 when he abducted and sexually assaulted a young women near bend oregon.he indicated he never let another go after that .
after that assault keye’s joined the US army.FBI agents ted and coleen investigation lent them to believe that he was a model soldier and excelled in the army.
keyes told the investigators he waited until he completed a three year stint in the army before he stalked his next victim.
Neah bay at the fartherst northwestern tip of washington is best known as home to the legedary tribe whale hunters.keyes moved here after marrying a tribe member he met online.they started a family.he lived there he rented the house
eric johnson worked with keyes att he parks and recreation departement this shop here the blue part that was his shop that’s where he worked
there are reminders of keyes skilled capentry allaround town including this structur.
and go out with friends, go out to bars… ffor all the years they’ve known him they actally don’t know him at all .
about 60 miles southeast of neah bay is another spectacular location lake crescent in washington one of the deepest lakes in the united states.investigators suspect is also a watery grave.
he reveleald to the FBI agent ted and colleen that one of the washington state victims was actually their body was sunk in this particular lake. the crescent lake is five to seven hundred feet deep.
here’s a picture of israel keyes’s boat sometime in 2005 or 2006 keyes had a body in ths boat.
in the ,ast mounth of 2012 special agent’s john and coleen were hopful that keyes would give them more information onwho is at the bottom of this lake.but the killer had another plan.
keyes laughting when he spoke about memories.
after 7 months of interrogations 7 months of reasing investigators with bits and pieces ofis violent past Israel keyes decided to takeone more life -his own.
the serial killer was found dead at the the achorage correctional complex
FBI received acall early in the morning that december 1st 2012 , israel keyes had committed suicide in his jail cell.heused a disposable razor to slit his wrists and keyes attempted to strangler himself with bedding
the reaction to that ?
a lot of these secrets are going to die with him now.
for samantha’s loved ones the news hit like a gut punch. they think they he should have been executed. now his killed himself that’s great but it’s not what they wanted.
they wanted him to stand trial , they wanted him to answer for what he did but they say the world’s better off he’s gone.
inside keye’s cell jailers discovered a bizarre blood soaked suicide note with passages like
“crush like a bug you still die”
FBI hoped that note was going to be clues and tips for them on and thet he was finally going to give them all the information on the homicides. and it really wasn’t it was kind of a rant.
but the end of keyes was by all means the end of this case a few months before his suicide investigators find those macabre drawings. he drew a series of 11 skulls and these wer found underneath his bed in his jail cell. drawn in israel keyes own blood.FBI think this is the entirety of his crimes and it indicates that are seen victims FBI have identified.
prior to his death keyes hadpointed the FBI to another victim but refused to provide that victim’s name but investigators believe it happened when keyes took a road trip through new york state.in the spring of 2009 so FBI comb through missing persons reports and keyes computer..and the name was on his computer .
when they confronted him with photos one in particular rattled him it was a photo of a women named deborah feldman.
given the way he looked at it and hestarted shaking a little bit FBI wouldsay she isdefinitely one of his victims.
deborah feldman is a women who went missingfrom new jersey it was in 2009 , her body has never been recovered, FBI is relatively confident about deborah feldman however, bbut do not have any forensic evidence to make that connection .
according to the FBI that would make deborah feldman keye’s fourth known victim
along with samantha koenig
and bill and lorraine courier
agent now determined to identify the remaining seven
and there are clues that point at least two other states.
the green river in wyoming is where keyes had buried his stach
FBI have a strong suspicion that keyes may have a victim located in that area.
in the late 2000s israel keyes also spent time in california’s wine county
including visiting the posh sonoma town of healdsburg in may of 2007
keyes often talked to investigators about using boats and also kayaks in the disposal of bodies.
FBI know that he rented a single person kayak in healdsburg near a campground during that time in 2007
but keyes road trips weren’t limited to the US,2007 he drove along the Alcan highway byhimself for about a week of that year .- the alcan goes through canada up to alaska.
FBI know that keyes traveled to canada quite extensively and specifically said that he would go to montreal . when he was asked about whether he killed anyone in canada he said
“canadians don’t count”
it’s been several year since isreael keyes killed himself
the FBI hopes investigators acroos the country will take a second look at suspicious deaths in their area
they ‘re also hoping the public can help .
if anyone has any information on israel keyes and his travels or family member that they think may have been potential victim of israel keyes that they come forward with the FBI with that information .
that includes the lake Crescent area of washington state where keyes told investigators he had dumped a body .
and what about those kill stash
buried throughout the country.
contact local law enfocement in their community who can then reach out to FBI
for the FBI their focus is clear, samantha and bill and lorraine and all the victims that FBI don’t have identfied that’s what this case is about and there commitment unwavering.
FBI have a ptimisticstreak that says they can find answers to the other seven cases.but it won’t be easy by any means and it may take a long time but FBI will never give up.