Israel Keyes: What Happened to the Serial Killer?
Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murders and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
Israel Keyes, a confessed serial killer, committed suicide in his Alaska jail cell on December 2, 2012, reported the FBI. Keyes used a weapon he allegedly made by embedding a razor blade into a pencil and then slashing his left wrist. After this, he used a strip of bedding to strangle himself. His death came at a time when he was “slowly confessing to a string of methodically planned killings” committed across the country.
Law enforcement first arrested Keyes in March 2012 for the murder of an Alaskan teenage barista. The investigation then revealed his previous crimes as one of the most sinister and meticulous serial killers in American history. At the time of his suicide, he had admitted to eight murders. However, the confessed killer was yet to tell investigators the identities of all his victims.
The FBI and police believe Keyes killed at least eight to twelve people, including the teenage barista and a Vermont couple. Investigators have been able to definitively link only the three victims to Keyes. Search for other victims continues.
What crimes did Israel Keyes commit?
According to the FBI, Israel Keyes traveled to multiple locations across the country to find victims to kill or to prepare for future crimes. He would bury “murder kits” of weapons, cash, and tools to dispose of the victims’ bodies. This cash came from bank robberies he committed to support his criminal activities as well as cover his tracks afterward. This made him one of the most meticulous and diabolical serial killers.
Special Agent Jolene Goeden from the FBI’s Anchorage Division said, “Although he [Israel Keyes] chose many of his victims randomly, a tremendous amount of planning went into these crimes. Keyes enjoyed what he did, and he had no remorse at all. He told us if he hadn’t been caught, he would have continued kidnapping and murdering people.”
While Israel Keyes had confessed to eight murders at the time of his suicide in early December 2012, investigators believe there could be more victims. However, they have only been able to link three killings to Keyes so far, including that of a teenage barista from Anchorage, Alaska. According to ABC News, the killer kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and strangled the barista. He then went on a two-week cruise and only returned to dismember and hide the victim’s body.
Authorities revealed that Israel Keyes chose the coffee stand for its location and late hours to attack the 18-year-old as she was working. He had no previous connection to the teenager. He approached the coffee cart just before closing hours on February 1, 2012, pulled a gun, and demanded money. The victim complied, but he tied her up with zip ties and forced her outside the cart and towards his white truck.
As per ABC, investigators stated, “[the victim] broke away from Keyes and tried to run away. Keyes chased her and tackled her to the ground. He put one arm around her and pointed a gun at her body with the other hand, telling her that she needed to cooperate, that the gun had very quiet ammo, and that she should not do anything to make him kill her.”
Keyes then “drove around town,” telling the teen that he was kidnapping her for ransom. But police believed he intended to kill her all along. His other victims included a middle-aged married couple who were murdered in 2011 in Vermont. He also told investigators “about a couple in Washington state,” said Special Agent Jolene Goeden. Keyes also mentioned “another victim in that area and possibly others in surrounding states.”
According to the FBI, Law enforcement arrested Israel Keyes on March 13, 2012, in connection with the barista’s murder. He not only confessed to the killing but, over several months, pointed investigators to three other victims. At the time of his death, the confessed killer left behind a blood-smeared suicide letter.
CBS 48 Hours, among other true crime shows, has previously chronicled Israel Keyes’ crimes.
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