Israel Keyes, a confessed serial killer, was found dead on Sunday in his Alaska jail cell where he was awaiting trial in March. In a news conference, that included U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler, the FBI, and Anchorage police authorities said they believe there was no foul play suspected in his death because he was alone in his jail cell.
The confessed serial killer, Israel Keyes 34-years old, was being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex for the murder of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, who disappeared in February from a coffee kiosk. He was charged with “kidnapping resulting in death” and could have face the death penalty.
A surveillance camera showed an apparently armed man in a hooded sweat shirt leading the teen away from the coffee stand. During the press conference on Sunday, Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew said Keyes, confessed to kidnapping Samantha Koenig from her job at the coffee kiosk. He said he took her to her truck, took her ATM card and killed her later that night, using a chainsaw to cut a hole in the ice at Matanuska Lake , he disposed of her body.
Keyes left the state and began using her ATM card. He made withdrawals from automated teller machines in Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas before his arrest in Texas, according to prosecutors. It was through the ATM transactions that Police and the FBI were able to track the serial killers movements. They did not know his name until he was pulled over in Lufkin, Texas on March 13. Police found Koenig’s ATM card and pieces of her cell phone in the vehicle. Koenig’s body was pulled from the lake in April.
Anchorage police chief Mark Mew said Keyes also confessed to killing a Vermont couple, Bill and Lorraine Currier in June 2011. The Curriers have never been found, after they were reported missing, investigator’s found evidence of forced entry and a struggle at their home. The couple’s car was also stolen and recovered several days after their disappearance at an apartment complex about three-quarters of a mile away from their home.
Prosecutors claim that Keyes also confessed to killing five other people, four in Washington State and one in New York, but the names of the victims were never provided. “He did tell us that he had killed other people and that there were bodies of up to four other people in Washington state, as well as a body disposed of in New York state,” Assistant US Attorney Kevin Feldis said after the press conference.
FBI is still working with law enforcement to hopefully identity any of those victims and possibly any others he might have murdered.
“We’ve developed information that he was responsible for multiple additional victims. To our knowledge there are no other victims here in Alaska. They’re all in the Lower 48,” FBI Special Agent Mary Rook said in the press conference. “We do know he traveled extensively and he didn’t always stay where he landed. He would land in one airport, rent a car and drive hundreds of miles.”
Authorities believe Israel Keyes didn’t have a clear pattern in victims, who ranged widely in age. Money appeared to be just a partial motive in the murders.
Israel Keyes, was a self-employed carpenter and Army veteran who had been stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington state. He moved to Anchorage in 2007. He also had a house and property in Constable, New York.
Israel Keyes Linked to 7 Murders Commits Suicide
The man linked to the disappearance and murder of an Alaska woman committed suicide in his jail cell in Anchorage Sunday morning.
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