Israel Keyes was a serial killer, among other crimes, that spanned between 1996 until his capture in 2012. He is suspected to have killed 3 or more people, including his most known and last victim Samantha Koenig. Israel Keyes died by suicide while awaiting his trial for the murder of Samantha in 2012.
Israel Keyes was born on January 7, 1978 in Cove, Utah and was the second child of a family of 10 children. His family was apart of the Mormon community, but later rejected this when Israel was about 5 and moved to Colville, Washington. While here, the family began attending a white supremacist church. When Israel reached his teen years, he denounced his beliefs and began following the ideas of Satanism. Israel displayed many serial killer tendencies, such as torturing and killing animals as well as stealing from neighbors.
Israel later served in the United States Army from 1998 to 2001 at Fort Lewis, Fort Hood, and in Egypt. After the military, he travelled across the United States. Israel later moved to Alaska and began a construction business in 2007.
When Israel began his crimes in 1996, they spanned all across the United States since he travelled a lot. This was so that he could attack random people to avoid being detected, and he usually planned these crimes months ahead, even making a “murder kit” and just attacking whoever is at the wrong place at the wrong time. These crimes included: burglary, arson, rape, bank robbery, and murder. Most of these known crimes were committed in the states of Vermont, Alaska, New York, and Washington and he is believed to have burglarized 20-30 homes. These crimes came to light after he was arrested for the murder of his last known victim Samantha Koenig.
Samantha Koenig was an 18 year old coffee booth worker from Anchorage, Alaska. On February 1, 2012 Samantha was working alone at her coffee booth in Anchorage, Alaska. Her boyfriend was supposed to pick up Samantha after work at about 8 P.M., but she wasn’t there. He then went to their home, where both he and Samantha’s father discovered she was missing. After an investigation, surveillance footage was taken from the coffee booth, where it showed footage of Samantha being kidnapped.
While she was working that evening, Israel Keyes approached Samantha’s booth and bought a coffee. After purchasing his coffee, he left the booth, only to return with a gun and kidnapping Samantha at gunpoint. He took her bank cards and began using them. After this, he took Samantha to a shed, where he raped her, then strangled and stabbed her to death. He then stored her body in a freezer in the shed and left with her money. Israel travelled to New Orleans, whilst using Samantha’s bank cards all across the states, and departed on a two-week cruise in the Gulf of Mexico with his girlfriend and child.
After returning from the cruise, Israel went back to the shed where he retrieved Samantha’s body. By this point, Samantha’s kidnapping was making national headlines and people were searching for her. Israel had a news clipping of an article talking about Samantha’s kidnapping of the Anchorage Daily News.
WARNING ⚠️ Graphic detail below!
After getting Samantha’s body, Israel put make up on her and then sewed Samantha’s eyes open. He then sat her upright so that it would appear that she was alive. Israel then took a photo of Samantha whilst holding the news article next to her. He then demanded a $30,000 ransom for Samantha’s return. However, he didn’t plan on returning Samantha because after making this ransom, he dismembered and disposed of her body in Matanuska Lake in Anchorage.
After weeks of evading police, Israel was finally tracked down through his use of Samantha’s cards in Lufkin, Texas on March, 13, 2012. He was the interrogated whilst awaiting his trail for Samantha’s murder. During these interrogations, Israel admitted to 3 other murders, and is suspected and linked to many more.
The 3 other murders he confessed to were that of Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, Vermont and Deborah Feldman of New Jersey. He burglarized the couples’ home on June 8, 2011. He then tied up the couple and drove them to an abandoned farmhouse. Israel then shot Bill and then raped and strangled Lorraine to death. Their bodies have still not been found. Israel had been stalking and planning to kill the couple for 2 years, even making a “kill kit” and leaving it near their home until he returned and was ready to kill them. Deborah Feldman went missing from the area she lived in 2009, which Israel also happened to be at at that time. Her name was also found on his computer and he eventually confessed to her murder.
Upon further investigation, detectives suspected that Israel may have been responsible for several other murders; it is said to be as many as 11 deaths in the United States. It is suspected he may have other victims outside the United States that took place during his time in the military. Israel planned his murders ahead of time to avoid being detected by the FBI. He chose his victims as random, killed far from home, and never killed in the same area twice. He also paid with cash during his crime sprees to avoid payments being linked to his accounts. He also had no connection to his victims, which made it even more difficult to link him to his crimes at first.
During his interrogations, it was noted that Israel kept a very calm demeanor and told the detectives about his crimes as if he were “talking about what he had for lunch”. Israel stated that those close to him never really knew him and only he knew his real self. On May 23, 2012, Israel tried to escape from a hearing, but failed. On December 2, 2012, Israel used a concealed razor blade to commit suicide. He left a suicide note that consisted of an “ode to murder”. In 2020, the FBI released 11 drawings Israel made before his death. The drawings were all skulls and 1 pentagram made using Israel’s own blood. Detectives believe this number of skulls correlates to the number of victims Israel has.
The crimes of Israel Keyes is absolutely horrific. I without a doubt believe he has many more victims out there, maybe even more than 11. Though it is great that he was caught, now that Israel is dead and authorities cannot directly talk to him for information, it makes it that much harder to figure out his crimes. Israel was very calculated and planned his crimes, so there may be some obstacles to track his crimes. Despite this, I still have hope that other victims will eventually be brought to light and the crimes of Israel Keyes will all be put together.
Resources-
TRUE CRIME REPORT 