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Israel Keyes

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Israel Keyes
BornJanuary 7, 1978
Richmond, Utah, U.S.
DiedDecember 2, 2012(2012-12-02) (aged 34)
Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.
Details
Victims3 confirmed
5+ possible
State(s)Alaska, New York, Washington State, Vermont
Date apprehended
March 13, 2012

Israel Keyes (January 7, 1978 – December 2, 2012) was an American criminal who committed suicide in his Anchorage, Alaska jail cell after confessing to being a serial killer, rapist, arsonist, burglar, and bank robber. The earliest crime which Keyes admitted to was the violent sexual assault of a teenage girl in Oregon, sometime between 1996 and 1998.[1]

Biography

Keyes was born in Richmond, Utah in 1978. He was raised in a Mormon family, and was homeschooled.[2] At some unknown date, his family moved to near Aladdin Road, north of Colville, Washington, where they became neighbors and friends with the family of Chevie Kehoe; here, they occasionally attended a Christian Identity church.[3] In March, 2012, while attending the wedding of his sister, Keyes identified as an atheist.[4]

Keyes was a veteran, having served in the U.S. Army from 1998 through 2000 at Fort Lewis, Fort Hood, and in Egypt.[1] He started a construction business in 2007 in Alaska,[5] Keyes Construction,[2] working as a handyman, contractor, and construction worker.[6][7] Keyes was a registered Democrat.[2]

He first came to the attention of law enforcement in 2012 when he became the prime suspect in the kidnapping of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, a barista working in Anchorage, Alaska. Authorities said that Keyes kidnapped her from her place of employment, stole her debit card and other property, then murdered her the following day. Police stated that Keyes sexually assaulted Koenig before he murdered her. After her death, Keyes left on a cruise out of New Orleans, leaving her body in a shed. When he returned home, he took a photograph of her body with a 4-day-old issue of the Anchorage Daily News, which he used to maintain the illusion that she was alive in his ransom demand. After demanding US$30,000 in ransom, Keyes dismembered Koenig and disposed of her body in Matanuska Lake north of Anchorage. The ransom was paid, and police tracked withdrawals from the account as Keyes moved throughout the American Southwest.[7] Keyes was arrested in Texas after using her debit card, which had also been used in New Mexico and Arizona. Keyes was subsequently extradited to Alaska, where he confessed to her murder. He was indicted in the case, with a trial scheduled to begin in March 2013.[8]

Keyes was also linked to the deaths of Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, Vermont. Along with his confession, authorities say they have enough evidence to link Keyes to their deaths. The Vermont couple was last seen after leaving work in June, 2011. Keyes reportedly broke into the Curriers' home on the night of June 8th and tied them up before driving to an abandoned farmhouse, where he shot Bill Currier before sexually assaulting and strangling Lorraine Currier. However, their bodies have not been found.[6]

Keyes admitted to other crimes. He told investigators that he killed four people in Washington State, claims which are the subject of an active investigation by the FBI as well as police in that state. He lived in several places in the state from the late 1990s until about 2008. As a specialist in the U.S. Army, he was stationed at Fort Lewis sometime between 1998 to 2001. Keyes also lived in the small city of Colville in Eastern Washington and in the Makah Reservation community of Neah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula.[9][10] Keyes did not have a felony criminal record in Washington, although he had been cited in Thurston County (in or near Olympia) for driving without a valid license and, in an earlier incident, pled guilty to driving under the influence. Authorities are reviewing unsolved murder and missing persons cases to determine which cases, if any, may link to Keyes.[11]

He confessed to at least one murder in New York State, authorities have not determined who may have been his victim, the victim's age or gender, or when and where the murder may have occurred.[12] Keyes also confessed to bank robberies in New York and Texas.[13] The FBI later confirmed that Keyes robbed the Community Bank branch in Tupper Lake, New York in April, 2009. The FBI said that Keyes threatened people in the bank with a handgun, although there were no injuries.[14] He also told authorities that he burglarized a Texas home and set it on fire.[1]

While being held in jail at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on suspicion of murder, he committed suicide on December 2, 2012, via self-inflicted wrist cuts and strangulation.[15][16][17] He was survived by at least one child, a school-age daughter.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Demer, Lisa (December 5, 2012). "Israel Keyes told investigator he let his first victim go". The Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b c McAllister, Bill (December 5, 2012). "Few Details Known About Person of Interest in Koenig Abduction". Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  3. ^ Morlin, Bill (December 4, 2012). "Alaska serial killer raised racist, anti-Semitic - Israel Keyes, who's been implicated in at least eight murders, attended a Christian Identity church called The Ark". Salon. Retrieved 5 December 2012. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Keyes' family pastor says killer ranted at sister's Texas wedding about his atheism". Washington Post. December 3, 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Serial Killer Found Dead: Israel Keyes, Samantha Koenig Murder Suspect, Commits Suicide In Jail". International Business Times. December 3, 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  6. ^ a b Anderson, Ben (December 3, 2012). "After Israel Keyes' suicide, authorities open up about Vermont double murder". Alaska Dispatch. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  7. ^ a b Pearce, Matt (December 5, 2012). "Attacks by suspected serial killer Israel Keyes followed a pattern". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  8. ^ Demer, Lisa (December 2, 2012). "Israel Keyes dead in apparent suicide; suspected in Lower 48 deaths". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  9. ^ "Former Colville resident, linked to 7 killings, commits suicide in jail". KXLY. AP. December 3, 2012.
  10. ^ "FBI: Israel Keyes a 'force of pure evil working at random'". KING 5. AP. December 3, 2012.
  11. ^ Carter, Mike (December 3, 2012). "Alleged serial killer's claim of 4 Washington state victims is being investigated". Seattle Times. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  12. ^ D'oro, Rachel (December 3, 2012). "Alaska Barista Slay Suspect Linked to NY Killing, 6 Others". ABC News. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  13. ^ D'oro, Rachel (December 3, 2012). "Israel Keyes, Admitted Alaska Serial Killer Found Dead, Linked To 7 Slayings". Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 December 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "FBI: Alaska murder suspect robbed northern NY bank". Wall Street Journal. December 4, 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  15. ^ http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-troopers-release-some-details-about-keyes-death-20121205,0,5371591.story
  16. ^ D'oro, Rachel (December 3, 2012). "Man Charged in Barista Death Linked to 7 Killings". ABC News. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  17. ^ Boots, Michelle Theriault (December 3, 2012). "Vt. murder investigator: Keyes 'a force of pure evil acting at random'". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
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