Israel Keyes

Israel Keyes (January 7, 1978 – December 2, 2012) was an American serial killer, bank robber, burglar, arsonist, kidnapper, and sex offender. He murdered at least three people and committed dozens of other crimes across the United States from the late 1990s to February 2012. Keyes was arrested in March 2012 and killed himself while awaiting trial. Evidence in his jail cell led the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to suspect that Keyes murdered eleven people.
Israel Keyes was born in Richmond, Utah, on January 7, 1978, the second of ten children of Heidi Keyes (née Hakansson) and John Jeffrey "Jeff" Keyes (October 4, 1952 – November 13, 2002). His parents were members of the LDS Church from Torrance, California, and his father had been an LDS missionary in Germany.
Keyes and his siblings were homeschooled until 1983. After leaving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Keyes's father moved the family to a remote plot of land north of Colville, Washington, in Stevens County when Keyes was 5. Isolated from society, the family lived in a one-room cabin without electricity or running water on Rocky Creek Road.
In Colville, the family attended services at a church called the Ark, which subscribed to white supremacist Christian Identity ideology. Keyes later described the Ark as an Amish-like environment. During this period of attending the Ark, the Keyes family befriended the neighboring family of Chevie Kehoe, who was later convicted for a 1996 triple murder.
The family attended another church in Colville called the Christian Israel Covenant Church that taught British Israelism as doctrine, that miscegenation was abominable and deviant, and that Anglo-Saxons were to rule over the perceived inferior races. Keyes later alleged it to have been militia-like. For years, some of the Keyes children were forced to sleep in a tent due to their cabin's small size and made to hunt their food, chop firewood, and work on local farms to support the family. As a hobby, Keyes hunted "anything with a heartbeat"; he freely admitted to skinning a deer alive to his peers at the church. As a result, Keyes was ostracized by other children who attended the Christian Israel Covenant Church, with one girl recounting that Keyes's presence "made my skin crawl."
As a youth, Keyes—who stood 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall by age 14—admitted to shooting at neighbors' houses with his BB gun and starting fires in the woods. He also broke into houses with another youth, who subsequently avoided Keyes after witnessing him shoot an animal. On one occasion, Keyes stole several guns from his neighbor's residence and was forced to apologize by his parents after they discovered the cache. Keyes would also sell stolen guns to local adults.
Around this time, Keyes's parents provided shelter to personal friends; in the presence of their son and daughter and Keyes's sister, Keyes tied a cat to a tree with a parachute cord and gored it with a .22 revolver. The cat then began circling the tree before crashing into it and vomiting; Keyes allegedly chuckled before noting that the boy—who later informed his father—had vomited in response to the incident. Keyes had an epiphany in which he felt that he was different from his peers, who ran away from him. Upon this realization, he kept his increasingly antisocial behavior to himself. In addition, Keyes's mother began to notice "some troubling signs" in Keyes during this period, when he began tuning into various "radio stations and different things."
By his teenage years, Keyes had become a skilled carpenter, building his first wooden cabin for his family at age 16. He also worked for a Colville contractor from 1995 to 1997. Around this time, Keyes kept a journal including Biblical quotations, documenting daily sins for which he felt shame, such as lusting after his girlfriend. Later, the family relocated to Smyrna, Maine, where they collected sap for maple syrup production in a mostly Amish community. Due to their mother's religious zealousness, the Keyes children were forced to hide from their parents to watch movies with friends and were forbidden to learn musical instruments. Some time during this period, Keyes renounced his Christian faith.
Keyes declared his atheism to his parents—both of whom he had previously made tireless and constant efforts to please—after an intense argument. This led them to evict Keyes for blasphemy; they then instructed his younger siblings, who looked up to Keyes, to never have contact with him again. Keyes then became interested in Satanism, and planned to commit a ritualistic murder.
In the summer of 1997 or 1998, Keyes sexually assaulted a teenage girl who had been tubing with her friends down the Deschutes River in Maupin, Oregon. Keyes admitted that he stalked her from a tree line before "very violently sexually assaulting" the girl—whom he estimated to be between 14 and 18—at knifepoint. Originally planning to murder her as part of a Satanic ritual, Keyes let her go in the river tube he had abducted her from. "I was too timid. I wasn't violent enough," he told investigators. "I made up my mind I was never going to let that happen again."
On July 9, 1998, Keyes relocated and enlisted in the United States Army in the state of New York, where he served as a Specialist in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. He passed a month-long preliminary course for United States Army Rangers training. He was stationed at Fort Lewis and Fort Hood, also spending some time abroad. While stationed in Sinai, Egypt, Keyes befriended several soldiers, informing one of them that he would "like to kill" him.
While at Fort Lewis, Keyes served on a mortar team. Former Army friends of Keyes have noted his quiet demeanor and habit of keeping to himself. On weekends, he was reported to drink heavily, consuming entire bottles of his favorite drink, Wild Turkey bourbon; in February 2001, Keyes was arrested in Thurston County for driving under the influence. Pursuant to a plea agreement, he was fined $350. Keyes was also a fan of the hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse and displayed posters of the musical act in the barracks.
Keyes was awarded an Army Achievement Medal for his service as a gunner and assistant gunner from December 1998 to July 2001. He was then honorably discharged and relocated to Neah Bay, Washington.
For a period, Keyes had lived in the Makah Reservation community of Neah Bay, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. He had a Native American girlfriend, who he had met online and subsequently had a daughter with. Keyes and this girlfriend broke up, and at the time of his arrest he was dating a woman who worked as a nurse.
In 2007, Keyes started a construction business in Alaska called Keyes Construction, while working as a handyman, contractor, and construction worker. He was generally regarded as a skilled and trustworthy worker, but several female customers reported Keyes exhibited brief facial expressions or dark moods that made them uncomfortable.
Keyes also had ties to New York; he owned 10 acres (4.0 hectares) and a dilapidated cabin in the town of Constable.
Keyes targeted random people all across the United States to avoid detection, planning for months before he committed a particular crime. He specifically frequented campgrounds and isolated locations. He claimed to only use guns when he had to and preferred strangulation; this was due to the pleasure he derived from witnessing victims lose consciousness in the struggle. He claimed to not kill children or parents of children, primarily because of his daughter, whom he feared finding out about him and his crimes. However, police and FBI investigators were skeptical of this claim and suspected Keyes of killing several teenagers and children.
Keyes did not admit to any murders during his three years in the United States Army. However, he did confess to attempting to rape a sex worker while on leave in Egypt, as well as a college student he met while on leave in Israel. He also confessed to committing bank robberies in New York and Texas. The FBI later confirmed that Keyes robbed the Community Bank branch in Tupper Lake, New York in April 2009. He also told authorities that he burglarized a Texas home and set it on fire. An FBI report stated that Keyes burglarized twenty to thirty homes across the United States and robbed several banks between 2001 and 2012.
Keyes is believed to have begun killing in 2001 following his discharge from the Army. He has been held responsible for as many as eleven deaths in the United States. Unlike most serial killers, he did not have a victim profile, stating that he chose victims randomly. On his murder trips, he kept his mobile phone turned off and paid for items with cash. For the Currier murders, Keyes flew to Chicago, where he rented a car to drive 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to Vermont. He then used a "murder kit" he had hidden two years earlier to execute the murders.
During interviews with FBI agents and officials in Alaska, Keyes directly admitted to three murders whose identities were confirmed:
Keyes hinted at other murders, and/or was a suspect in other murders that coincided with his whereabouts or matched his modus operandi. However, he was not definitively linked to these crimes and some of the victim identities are uncertain:
A search of Keyes's residence found dozens of books about murders, both fiction and non-fiction. Keyes re-read Dean Koontz's 1995 thriller Intensity on several occasions and closely identified with the serial killer antagonist. He closely studied Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by FBI profiler John E. Douglas in his youth. Keyes also undertook a meticulous study of other serial killers. Keyes idolized Ted Bundy and felt that he shared many similarities with him. Both Keyes and Bundy were methodical and felt as though they possessed their victims despite their difference in victim choice and modus operandi. Keyes went as far as imitating Bundy's court escape and was immediately seized by guards.
He also admired and studied other serial killers, yet actively shunned media attention for his crimes as he was fearful for his family and being labelled a "copycat" for his admiration of Bundy and other murderers. Keyes called Dennis Rader a "wimp" for apologizing in court and showing remorse for his crimes, but expressed admiration for serial killers "that haven't been caught." When asked in an interview about Alaska-based murderer Robert Hansen, Keyes replied enthusiastically, stating, "Yeah, I know all about him." He continued: "I probably know every single serial killer that's ever been written about. It's kind of a hobby of mine." When FBI agents informed him of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting he inquired as to the status of the shooter and had expressed mild interest in the perpetrator, James Holmes.
After Koenig's murder, Keyes demanded ransom money, and police were able to track withdrawals from her account as he moved throughout the southwestern U.S. During that time, the police controversially refused to release surveillance video of Koenig's abduction. Keyes was arrested by Texas Highway Patrol Corporal Bryan Henry and Texas Ranger Steven Rayburn in the parking lot of the Cotton Patch Café in Lufkin, Texas, on the morning of March 13, 2012. Investigators had circulated a lookout bulletin for the suspect's car, which had been used at ATMs to withdraw money from Koenig's account.
Keyes came to their attention when law enforcement officers were monitoring hotel parking lots for out-of-state rental cars matching the police bulletin. Officers stopped Keyes after he drove slightly over the speed limit and searched his vehicle after they noticed cash stained with bright ink, indicating a dye pack from a bank robbery. Koenig's ATM card and cell phone were also discovered in Keyes's car.
Keyes was subsequently extradited to Alaska, where he initially claimed Koenig's ATM card and phone came into his possession after someone tossed the items in his open car window. He was charged with fraud related to use of Koenig's bank accounts. He eventually confessed to the Koenig murder. He was represented by Rich Curtner, Federal Public Defender for Alaska. Keyes was indicted and his trial was scheduled to begin in March 2013.
While incarcerated, Keyes spoke to state and federal investigators several times over a period of months. At first, he cooperated to an extent, confessing to some of his crimes and stating a wish to be executed within a year. Keyes said he wanted to avoid publicity due to the negative attention his young daughter and family might face, but largely stopped cooperating after his identity was discussed in the media. On Wednesday, May 23, 2012, Keyes attempted to escape during a routine hearing, using wood shavings from a pencil to pick his cuffs. US Marshals used a taser to subdue him.
Maureen Callahan reports part of Keyes's FBI file was not released due to claimed national security concerns. Callahan notes his military experience and documented interest in explosives, and speculates he may have had known or suspected ties to violent extremist groups.
While being held in jail at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, Keyes managed to conceal a razor blade in his cell. It is uncertain how Keyes obtained the blade, as he was under security restrictions of using an electric razor under supervision. He died by suicide on December 2, 2012, by cutting his wrists and attempted strangulation. A suicide note found under his body consisted of an "ode to murder" but offered no clear clues about other possible victims. In 2020, the FBI released the drawings of eleven skulls and one pentagram, which had been drawn in blood and found underneath Keyes's bed after his suicide. One of the drawings included the phrase "WE ARE ONE" written at the bottom. The FBI believes the number of skulls correlates with the total number of his victims.
Keyes has been the subject of multiple books. Multiple true crime podcasts have discussed him, including True Crime Bullsh**, which focuses exclusively on Keyes and his victims. The podcast's name comes from one of Keyes's FBI interviews, when he mentioned "this true crime bullshit that people are obsessed with." Keyes is also the subject of the documentary Method of a Serial Killer released in 2018 by the Oxygen channel. Most of the FBI interrogations were released publicly by Anchorage Daily News to SoundCloud that same year. They were removed from SoundCloud in 2019 but have since become available on YouTube. Keyes was also the subject of the first season of the podcast Deviant which used interviews with Keyes, as well as original reporting and interviews with case agents, to tell the story of his crimes.