SERIAL KILLER: Israel Keyes Pt. 2

In June 2011, Israel Keyes abducted and murdered Bill and Lorraine Currier from their home in Essex, Vermont, a crime that went unsolved for years. Months later, he targeted 18-year-old barista Samantha Koenig near his own home in Anchorage, Alaska, breaking the strict rules he'd lived by... and leaving a trail that finally led investigators to him. Keyes died by suicide in 2012, leaving as many as eight murders unresolved and families without answers. If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Serial Killers & Murderous Minds to never miss a case! Want all 2 parts of every case all at once? Join Crime House+ and get both parts of each case dropped together on Monday ad-free. Join atcrimehouseplus.com http://crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. Serial Killers & Murderous Minds is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Murder True Crime Stories, Crime House 24/7, and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse https://www.instagram.com/crimehouse/TikTok: @Crimehouse https://www.tiktok.com/@crimehouseFacebook: @crimehousestudios https://www.facebook.com/crimehousestudiosYouTube: @crimehousestudios https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Vanessa Richardson?

  Hi, everyone. Before today's episode, there's another show I want to tell you about. It's called What the Fact with Connor Tomlinson from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum and Carter Roy. Every week, they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Plus Connor's infectious energy that'll make you realize history is the most fascinating thing on earth. Follow What the Fact wherever you listen or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact Pod.

• 0:36Speaker 01

  This is Crime House.

• 0:41Vanessa Richardson?

  Everyone has their own set of rules to keep their lives in order. Maybe it's their sleep schedule, their diet, or the qualities they look for in friends. But for some people, rules aren't about becoming happier, healthier, or more successful. They're about keeping others under their control and hiding the truth about themselves.

• 1:04Vanessa Richardson?

  Israel Keyes was one of those people. He abided by a strict set of self-imposed rules, not to improve his career or personal life, but to do irrevocable harm. In the 2010s, Israel used careful planning and preparation to commit heinous crimes. And he may have gotten away with it for a long time, until eventually, Israel's own hubris caused him to slip. He broke one of his own rules, and it led investigators right to him. However, over a decade later, the full horrifying truth of Israel's crimes remains a complete mystery.

• 1:59Vanessa Richardson?

  The human mind is powerful. It shapes how we think, feel, love, and hate. But sometimes, it drives people to commit the unthinkable. This is Serial Killers and Murderous Minds, a Crime House original. I'm Vanessa Richardson.

• 2:15Tristin Engels?

  And I'm forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Ingles. Every Monday and Thursday, we uncover the darkest minds in history, analyzing what makes a killer.

• 2:24Vanessa Richardson?

  Crime House exists because of listeners like you. Want even more? Join Crime House Plus and get both parts of every story dropped on the same Monday completely ad-free. No waiting three days for part two, plus Crime House bonus episodes every month. To join, go to crimehouseplus.com. Or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap "Try Free" at the top of the Serial Killers and Murderous Minds page. Before we get started, be advised, this episode contains discussion of explicit sexual violence against women, dismemberment, and murder. So please listen with care. Today, we conclude our deep dive on Israel Keyes, a meticulous killer with a sordid past.

• 3:08Vanessa Richardson?

  Not only was Israel exposed to extreme violence at an early age, but he also formed ties to one of America's most notorious crime families. As he grew up, Israel learned to hide his dark side and operate in the shadows. And he went to grotesque lengths to cover his tracks.

• 3:26Tristin Engels?

  As Vanessa goes through the story, I'll be talking about things like how some violent offenders create rules to avoid getting caught, why some killers choose victims based on chance or opportunity, and how some killers may react when their own rules fail them.

• 3:42Vanessa Richardson?

  And as always, we'll be asking the question, what makes a killer?

• 3:52Vanessa Richardson?

  In June of 2011, 33-year-old Israel Keyes had traveled to Essex, Vermont in search of the perfect murder victims. For years, Israel had been assembling so-called "kill kits", which contained items he would need to carry out a murder, like zip ties, guns, ammunition, and duct tape. And he buried them in remote locations all over the country so they'd be there when he was ready to strike. It's likely he buried one in or around Essex. And now that he had it, he continued with the rest of his plan. Israel spent a few days scouting a location to carry out his murder. Soon, he found an abandoned farmhouse in the woods. After that, he started watching homes in Essex

• 4:35Vanessa Richardson?

  in search of a house that seemed easy to break into, somewhere he could "abduct" someone before bringing them to the farmhouse. After a few days, he found one. A couple named Bill and Lorraine Currier lived just three miles from the farmhouse. They were in their 50s and had been married for 25 years. Bill and Lorraine lived a quiet life and were known as kind, decent members of their community. But Israel didn't care who they were. To him, all that mattered was that he could take advantage of them.

• 5:07Tristin Engels?

  And that, to me, is one of the most revealing aspects of Israel's psychology. Because many serial offenders demonstrate victim preferences, whether it's age, sex, appearance, or some other characteristic that's part of their fantasy. Israel's different. And we've been seeing that difference all along, starting with the kill kits. And like we discussed, he buried that months and sometimes years before he even knew who his victims would be. Everything was in place long before a victim had ever even entered the picture. So that means he knowingly wasn't planning around a specific person. He was planning around opportunity and access. His focus truly was on the whole process,

• 5:50Tristin Engels?

  the planning, the anticipation, the control, and reducing risk. In episode one, I talked about how remarkable his executive functioning was when he was 23. I wonder whether his military experience reinforced something that was already there psychologically, because the military places a lot of emphasis on preparation, logistics, contingency planning, and reducing a necessary risk. Those are adaptive skills in context. When I look at Israel's offending, there are conceptual similarities. He was preparing for possibilities in his crime. The military did not cause him, obviously, to become a serial offender. His violent fantasies clearly predated his enlistment.

• 6:34Tristin Engels?

  But I do wonder whether it refined a style of thinking that became central to the way he actually committed and prepared for his crimes.

• 6:43Vanessa Richardson?

  Does this seem like this is something he's done before?

• 6:46Tristin Engels?

  Okay, so from a behavioral standpoint, it certainly appears that way. Because he's not improvising. He has a system. He buried kits in advance. He's traveled long distances. He's selected a location, waited for an opportunity, and then he executed a plan that appears well rehearsed. Psychologically, his behavior also doesn't look like someone who's just figuring it out as they go. It looks like someone who has practiced this strategy already. Obviously, we can't say for certain whether this was his first homicide. If it was, then the level of organization is likely from a combination of military training, extensive fantasy rehearsal, and years of preparation.

• 7:29Tristin Engels?

  And refining his methods, obviously, from the lessons that he's learned from other offenses, starting from when he was younger in his childhood and then also from the kiosks.

• 7:40Vanessa Richardson?

  Once Israel found Bill and Lorraine, he was eager to act. He didn't seem worried that there were two people to overpower. He felt confident he could do it. And on June 8, 2011, he put his plan into motion. First, he parked his rental car in a lot about a mile from the couple's home. He then walked to their house and cut the phone lines outside before breaking a window and entering the garage. He got into the house from there and moved quietly while Bill and Lorraine slept. Eventually, Israel was standing inside their bedroom. The couple awoke to find him standing over them. He was dressed in all black, wearing a headlamp, and holding a gun. They were terrified.

• 8:26Vanessa Richardson?

  But since he was armed, they knew they were powerless against him. Israel ordered the couriers not to move as he zip-tied their hands. He stole their ATM cards and cell phones. After that, Israel forced Bill and Lorraine into their own car and drove them to the abandoned farmhouse. Once there, he separated them. Israel left Lorraine alone in the car, then took Bill inside. He brought him down to the basement and tied him to a stool. But he was interrupted when he noticed a small commotion from outside. Lorraine had escaped from the car, and she was running away. Israel made a mad dash after her. And unfortunately, he caught up to Lorraine. He tackled her, dragged her into the house,

• 9:10Vanessa Richardson?

  and tied her up in a bedroom. From the basement, Bill cried out for his wife, trying to make sure she was okay. And when Israel went back downstairs, he realized Bill had nearly broken free from his restraints. When Israel saw this, anger swelled inside him. Things weren't going according to his plan. Without thinking, he grabbed a shovel, struck Bill several times, then shot him to death.

• 9:39Tristin Engels?

  One thing we've talked about throughout this case is how much Israel valued planning and control. Again, he spent months, years, planning and waiting for this very moment. But no matter how meticulous someone's plan is, like we discussed in episode one, reality has variables they don't anticipate. So when Lorraine escaped and Bill nearly got out of his restraints, Israel suddenly lost the control he had worked so hard to maintain. And the anticipation and the buildup that he had been fantasizing about was threatened. At that point, he's reacting to a situation that was changing very quickly, a situation that he had been waiting for, for a very long time.

• 10:23Tristin Engels?

  I can't say exactly what he was feeling. It could have been panic, it could have been frustration, it could have been anger that everything was about to unravel. But people who place a very high value on control often struggle a great deal when they lose it. The more someone believes in their ability to control for every variable, the more impacted they are when that's challenged. In Israel's case, this forced him to improvise, which, when you think about it, is exactly what he'd spent years trying to avoid doing. That's what his kill kits were for. That's what this farmhouse was for. That's what the wait and anticipation was all about.

• 11:04Tristin Engels?

  And in mere moments, everything he carefully thought he accounted for had nearly unraveled.

• 11:09Vanessa Richardson?

  So when victims fight back or change the killer's plan like this, does it typically make a crime escalate to more violence?

• 11:17Tristin Engels?

  It certainly can, but not always. Once a victim resists or escapes, the crime becomes unpredictable. Some offenders will flee, others become more violent because they want to regain control or prevent their victims from escaping or even identifying them. But the research doesn't support one universal pattern, because offenders respond differently depending on their motives and the circumstances. What victim resistance almost always does, though, is it forces the offender to adapt in some way. How they choose to do that will vary.

• 11:50Vanessa Richardson?

  Well, once Bill was dead, Israel's rage shifted to Lorraine. He stormed upstairs to the room where she was restrained, cut off her clothes, and sexually assaulted her. During the assault, he strangled her until she lost consciousness. But he let go just before Lorraine died. He waited until she woke up, then dragged her to the basement and forced her to look at Bill's dead body. Then, as Lorraine stood there, facing her husband, Israel snuck up behind her with a rope and strangled her to death. Afterward, Israel stuffed their remains into garbage bags, which he placed in a corner of the basement and covered with debris.

• 12:34Vanessa Richardson?

  He then left the house and drove the courier's car to the lot where he'd left his rental. He abandoned their vehicle, got into his own, and drove away. The next day, June 9, 2011, Bill and Lorraine failed to show up to work, and they were quickly reported missing. When officers arrived at the couple's home, they immediately spotted the broken window and knew something was wrong. The officers carefully made their way inside and searched the area, but there was no sign of Bill or Lorraine. Their fears deepened when officers found important prescription medications left behind. Whatever had happened to the couple, police knew they weren't safe. There was no way Bill and Lorraine had decided to leave on their own.

• 13:18Vanessa Richardson?

  Their suspicions were confirmed the next day, when Bill and Lorraine's car was found right where Israel had left it. Unfortunately, despite all the evidence that something terrible had happened to the couple, there was nothing concrete for investigators to go on. Israel hadn't left any clear physical evidence in the couple's home or car.

• 13:40Tristin Engels?

  The fact that Israel could plan so well that police couldn't tie him to the crime, yet lose control so easily in the farmhouse, seems contradictory, but I actually don't think it is. There are really two different kinds of control happening here. One is control over his victims and the crime itself. The other is control over his broader strategy. Israel lost control over the first, and only briefly, but he never completely lost sight of the second. Again, he's a highly organized offender. He's skilled at risk management. Part of that likely comes from his military experience, which we talked about. In that experience, given what we know about what his MOS was, likely emphasized mission

• 14:22Tristin Engels?

  planning, contingency planning, logistics, navigation, rehearsing, and just thinking ahead. Those skills could also transfer to how he's able to anticipate law enforcement. Not to mention, he does have experience on how to evade law enforcement. From his time traveling, offending overseas, he's a hunter, and from what he reportedly had been taught from the key hosts. They also had family members who were tried for murder, and he was exposed to those murder trials. And we briefly talked about that in episode one. All of that could have caused him to learn more about this so that he can manage the risk himself.

• 15:03Tristin Engels?

  Israel has a combination of skills and intelligence that make him an exceptionally dangerous predator.

• 15:10Vanessa Richardson?

  Bill and Lorraine seemed to vanish without a trace, and Israel knew that in order to evade the law, he'd have to do the same. By the time the investigation was underway, he was already back on the road. By June 16, eight days after the murders, he was home in Alaska. At the same time, Israel knew he'd eventually have to return to Vermont to dispose of Bill and Lorraine's remains. However, an act of complete coincidence was about to change everything.

• 15:51Vanessa Richardson?

  In June of 2011, 33-year-old Israel Keyes claimed the lives of a married couple from Vermont named Bill and Lorraine Carrier. After murdering them, Israel hid their bodies inside an abandoned farmhouse about three miles from their own home. Then he made his way back to his home in Anchorage, Alaska, where no one suspected a thing. Meanwhile, police in Vermont were stumped. There was no clear evidence to work with. Investigators had no idea that Bill and Lorraine's bodies were still nearby, and no way of knowing that any sign of their remains were about to disappear forever. Even though Israel had plans to return to the farmhouse one day and set it on fire, he never had to.

• 16:36Vanessa Richardson?

  Because in September of 2011, the house was demolished for property development. And without anyone realizing what was inside, the debris was bulldozed, scooped up, and hauled away to a landfill, including Bill and Lorraine's remains. It's unclear whether Israel knew the house had been demolished, but he never returned to Vermont after that.

• 17:00Tristin Engels?

  I think it's psychologically significant that Israel did not burn the farmhouse at the time. He knew it introduced unnecessary risk. It may have only increased his risk slightly, because if he knew or believed there was nothing tying him to Bob and Lorraine or their home, even that small increase in risk appears to have been too much for Israel. So he refrained from doing it, instead being willing to travel all the way back from Anchorage to burn it down at a later date. That's the level of risk management that he operates with, at least as of now. He is going to eliminate as much of the risk as possible. That said, leaving Bob and Lorraine's bodies there in the farmhouse carried its own risk,

• 17:44Tristin Engels?

  too, because they could have been discovered at any time. But to him, that carried less of a risk. Burning down the farmhouse that night that he took their lives would have immediately alerted authorities, but keeping them quietly hidden, there was a chance they would just be considered missing. Now, Israel learned that their bodies were demolished with the farmhouse and went undiscovered. That outcome benefited him rather than exposed him. It's reasonable that that would have made him more confident. Every time his planning succeeded and every time circumstances unexpectedly worked in his favor, it's reinforcing, and we've talked about reinforcement before. That can strengthen his belief in his strategy or his abilities.

• 18:27Tristin Engels?

  At the same time, this part was simply luck.

• 18:32Vanessa Richardson?

  The demolition of that abandoned house was a massive stroke of luck for Israel, because now Bill and Lorraine's bodies would never be found, and he didn't have to go back to Vermont and risk getting caught. So Israel slipped right back into normal life. He was going on dates with his girlfriend Kimberly, spending time with his 10-year-old daughter, and running a successful construction business. For a while, Israel seemed satisfied. He had killed and gotten away with it. But things never stayed steady for long. At this point, Israel and Kimberly had been together for a few years, and they'd reached a point where they either needed to commit or go their separate ways. Kimberly was hesitant to commit to family life forever,

• 19:16Vanessa Richardson?

  and Israel was more devoted to murder than anything else. So by early 2012, they were in a sort of limbo. However, they had a vacation planned with Israel's daughter, so they were leaving Anchorage and going on a cruise on February 2nd. So they decided to stick it out. However, Israel's criminal urges were taking over. He needed a quick fix, and that meant breaking his own rules. So on February 1st, 2012, one day before the cruise, Israel decided to rob a local coffee stand just four miles from his home. He was breaking one of his own core rules, which was to never commit a crime close to home. But he couldn't help himself.

• 20:02Tristin Engels?

  All right, so this actually isn't entirely new for Israel. We've seen this pattern before with the bank robbery. Israel appears to have a very high need for stimulation and novelty, or what we call sensation-seeking. He wasn't someone who seemed satisfied with ordinary experiences. He was drawn to challenge or excitement in high-risk situations, especially between his kill kit excursions. What's different here isn't necessarily the behavior. It's where he's willing to do it. He had very rigid rules to reduce his risk, particularly staying far away from home. Well, this time, he's willing to violate that rule. The timing of that stands out to me. He's about to leave on a cruise where his freedom

• 20:47Tristin Engels?

  and his opportunity to offend would be significantly limited. On a cruise, some aspects of your control are restricted. In addition to that, there is also uncertainty in his relationship with Kimberly. And that relationship, which we discussed in episode 1, is important to him because he values the mask of an ordinary life. These aren't necessarily causal factors, but they could have absolutely influenced the timing of this. Stress can increase highly rewarding behaviors, like highly stimulating ones. And these two stressors may have added to the psychological pressure and the decision for him to break one of his core rules.

• 21:28Vanessa Richardson?

  At this point, do you think Israel was changing? Or maybe his perception of risk was changing?

• 21:34Tristin Engels?

  I think it's possible. Risk perception isn't fixed. It changes with experience. The objective risk of committing a crime four miles from home hadn't changed. If anything, it was just as dangerous as it always has been. But his perception of that risk may have changed after years of successfully offending without getting caught, and even more so with what just happened with Bob and Lorraine. And obviously, what's happening with him currently. He's having some relational discord, and he's going on this cruise. There's a time crunch as well that could be adding pressure to him, to feeling like he needs to do this, and that he doesn't have the time to plan an extended trip to get it done. We see this in everyday life. The first time someone speeds, they may be incredibly anxious about it.

• 22:19Tristin Engels?

  If they do it repeatedly without getting a ticket, it starts to feel less risky, even though, obviously, the objective risk hasn't changed. The same thing can happen with anything. Repeated success can create a false sense of confidence. So I think it's possible that years of successfully managing risk changed the way he evaluated it in this particular moment, given what is happening. There's the time crunch, there's the stress, there's the urge, there's the confidence. His rule may have started to feel less necessary, because in his mind, I've proven myself repeatedly that I could get away with it. It's also possible that the practicality of the nomadic lifestyle was becoming less sustainable

• 23:04Tristin Engels?

  as a father and a partner. Just for perspective, Anchorage is over 4,000 miles from Virginia. Being a parent is demanding. Running a business is demanding. Maintaining a relationship is demanding, even if your partner is a traveling nurse. Constantly traveling across the country to offend would have become increasingly difficult to sustain. It's very possible that the life he built eventually became incompatible with his broader criminal strategy. So if that's true, then he may have been forced to adapt, not because it's his motivation that changed, but because his circumstances did.

• 23:44Vanessa Richardson?

  Israel not only chose a location close to home, he chose an easy target. The coffee stand was called Common Grounds. It sat in a large, mostly empty parking lot about 100 yards from a gas station. It was only big enough for one employee to work at a time. Israel arrived there just before closing and approached the stand wearing a mask. In the middle of an Alaskan winter, that wasn't unusual. When he approached the window and ordered a coffee, he seemed like any other customer trying to stay warm. The barista working that afternoon was 18-year-old Samantha Koenig. Samantha had only recently started the job. She was still figuring out her long-term career goals. She had a boyfriend she loved,

• 24:27Vanessa Richardson?

  and the two of them wanted to build a life together in Alaska. When Samantha showed up for work that day, she had no reason to think she'd be in grave danger. She got to work making Israel's coffee, but when she handed it to him, she was immediately overcome with fear, because Israel pulled out a gun and demanded money. Samantha turned around to grab cash from the register. Then Israel did something completely unexpected. He climbed through the coffee stand window and tackled Samantha to the floor. He then zip-tied her hands, dragged her out to his truck, and forced her inside. Israel had gone there with the intention to commit robbery,

• 25:09Vanessa Richardson?

  but once he realized Samantha was alone and isolated, he snapped. He wanted to kill her.

• 25:16Tristin Engels?

  He saw an opportunity.

• 25:19Vanessa Richardson?

  Now with Samantha in his truck, Israel lied and told her he'd kidnapped her for ransom, and that once he got the money, he'd let her go unharmed. Samantha tried to explain that her family didn't have much money, but Israel didn't care. He seemed determined to get some cash out of this. So he demanded she hand over her cell phone and ATM card, but there was a problem. Samantha didn't have either one with her. Her phone was still back at Common Grounds, and because she shared a bank account with her boyfriend, the ATM card was inside his truck. So Israel drove back to the coffee stand, left Samantha bound in his truck, and went inside to get her phone. Once he had it, he sent two text messages impersonating her.

• 26:03Vanessa Richardson?

  He sent one to her boyfriend and another to her boss, saying she was leaving town for the weekend unexpectedly. Then he removed the battery from her phone and hid it in his car. After that, he took Samantha back to his home. He needed somewhere to contain her while he looked for her ATM card. So he locked her in a shed on his property, bound and gagged her, then turned on a radio inside the shed so Kimberly and his daughter wouldn't hear any noise Samantha made. Israel then drove to the home Samantha shared with her boyfriend. He was taking a huge risk. He pulled right into the driveway where her boyfriend parked his truck. Israel got out and immediately started tearing through the truck

• 26:47Vanessa Richardson?

  in search of the card. He was being reckless. And soon Samantha's boyfriend noticed what was going on. He ran outside and shouted at Israel, but he was too late. Israel had found the debit card. He got back into his own vehicle and sped off. Now that Israel had everything he needed, he decided to get rid of Samantha. When he returned to the shed, he sexually assaulted her before strangling her to death. Afterward, he didn't bother disposing of her remains. He knew they would quickly freeze in the cold Alaska temperatures. He just locked the shed door so no one could get inside while he was on the cruise. Israel then sauntered into his house and packed for his trip.

• 27:34Tristin Engels?

  All right, so I know in episode one that Israel is not an impulsive offender, and I would describe that in episode two, and here is what I meant. There are a couple of things here that I want to unpack. And the first is, I want to talk about his rule. Because he's not only committed a crime close to home, but he then abandoned his original plan of robbery, kidnapped Samantha, and quite literally brought her to his home with him, where his daughter, whom his rule was made for, she was there. Then he kept Samantha there, returned to Samantha's home to get her debit card from a boyfriend's truck, and then left Samantha's body in his shed when he went on vacation.

• 28:16Tristin Engels?

  All of that sounds impulsive, but again, for him, it's actually not. Because this robbery was planned. The deviation of the plan all happened the moment that he saw the opportunity for it. And with that, the immediate reward. And he was still managing risk throughout all of it. Because remember, impulsivity is about not thinking about the future risks and the consequences. He was sending text messages from her phone and then concealing her phone. He was thinking about how to get her ATM card. He was thinking about where he was gonna put her body. Opportunity fundamentally changes his objective.

• 28:58Tristin Engels?

  And now I think we understand why Israel needs to be prepared for that. Why he creates kill kits and has them at the ready. He knows that he will act on those opportunities, and that's where the real risk lies for him. And this tells me that Israel likely has quite a bit of insight into his own behavior. Now, the fact that he is able to leave Samantha in his shed and then go on this cruise and play the devoted father and family man so seamlessly speaks to his ability to compartmentalize. He can mentally separate those roles from one another in a way that most people cannot. We also know that people with high psychopathic traits often show reduced emotional interference.

• 29:41Tristin Engels?

  In other words, they're better able to pursue something like this without any emotion like guilt, empathy, or anxiety disrupting what they're doing. If that's what was happening here, then packing for a cruise with Kimberly and his daughter wouldn't necessarily conflict with what he'd just done. It also highlights the hypocrisy in his own moral boundaries. His rule exists to protect his family, so he says, but he just broke it. He has a code never to go after children or parents of children, but he just killed essentially a child, if you want to ask me. I know she's 18, but she's someone who will now never get to become a mother herself, and she is someone else's child.

• 30:24Tristin Engels?

  Which is why I think that these rules only existed to serve him.

• 30:28Vanessa Richardson?

  Less than 24 hours after killing Samantha, Israel, his daughter, and Kimberly flew to New Orleans and boarded their cruise ship. The trip gave Israel a chance to distance himself from what he'd done and create a plan for his return. When the cruise was over, instead of flying home with Kimberly and his daughter, Israel rented a car in New Orleans and started driving back himself. He claimed he was gonna visit relatives in Texas along the way, but during that drive, Israel's criminal urge got the best of him again. He stopped in Texas to rob a bank, and he got away with it. Killing Samantha hadn't quieted Israel's need for destruction.

• 31:10Vanessa Richardson?

  If anything, it seemed to make it stronger, and he was about to go to grotesque lengths to satisfy his needs.

• 31:25Vanessa Richardson?

  After returning from a family vacation, 34-year-old Israel Keyes was back in Anchorage with a horrifying secret. The body of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig was still in his shed. By then, Samantha's family and the police had been searching for her tirelessly. Investigators had spotted a man on the coffee stand's surveillance footage, but since Israel had worn a mask, they couldn't identify him. That led investigators to focus on the wrong people, including her boyfriend. They had no idea that Israel Keyes was involved at all. And even though Israel had broken his biggest rule by committing crimes in his own hometown, he still seemed to feel untouchable.

• 32:08Vanessa Richardson?

  And that's likely why he felt comfortable enough to do what he did next. On February 18th, Israel went into the shed and applied makeup to Samantha's face. He then sewed her eyes open, posed her body to make it look like she was holding a recent newspaper, and took a photo. Israel still wanted to try and get ransom money for Samantha, so he tried to make it seem like she was still alive. But before sending the photo, he disposed of the evidence. Israel dismembered Samantha's body, then drove to a frozen lake. He cut a hole in the ice and dropped her remains into the water.

• 32:48Tristin Engels?

  It's been 17 days since he killed Samantha, and then he started posing her body for a ransom photo. And this tells us a lot about how he viewed her. She'd become an object, one to serve a purpose. The nature of this would ordinarily raise concerns regarding someone's psychological state, especially when there's dismemberment. But Israel wasn't posing her body because he was detached from reality or experiencing psychosis. In fact, I think the opposite is true. He knew Samantha was dead. He knew the photograph was a lie. He understood that her family and investigators would believe she was alive if this worked. That means that this wasn't some break from reality for him.

• 33:30Tristin Engels?

  It was a deliberate attempt to manipulate other people's perception of reality.

• 33:35Vanessa Richardson?

  Do you think this kind of behavior points to emotional detachment? Or is there an element of power and cruelty in making her loved ones and authorities believe she still might be alive?

• 33:46Tristin Engels?

  It's a bit of both. We talked about his ability to compartmentalize his, quote, "normal" family life from this aspect of himself, but this reflects an extreme level of emotional detachment. Israel lacks any empathy, remorse, guilt, regret, or even disgust. Even now, his focus is on control, organization, planning, and manipulation. Let's talk about the ransom a little more. If money were his only objective, let's say, he could have easily gone about this without posing her, or taking a photo, or even killing her. He could have sent a personal item of hers, provided information she only knew, recorded her, saying something.

• 34:28Tristin Engels?

  I mean, he did tell her himself, when he kidnapped her, that she was going to be used for ransom. So that idea was already in his head. He could have delayed her death, or not even killed her at all, like we talked about, until he collected something. And there's just so many other ways he could have gone about it, but he didn't. And that tells us a lot about what he was gaining here by doing what he just did, with posing her after she died, photographing her, and deceiving her family and the authorities. He was gaining control over other people's reality. In this situation, for at least some period of time, Israel was the only person who knew the truth about Samantha and what happened to her, and he deliberately manipulated that

• 35:12Tristin Engels?

  truth for his own benefit. The deception itself placed him in a position of psychological power over so many people, including her family. His primary motivation was not money, it was control, power, and manipulation. We've seen how he enjoyed watching other people scramble in the past following something he's done. He gets gratification from that.

• 35:35Vanessa Richardson?

  After dumping Samantha's body in the frozen lake, Israel then targeted her loved ones. A week later, he used Samantha's phone to send the staged photo to her boyfriend. Israel included directions to a local park where he'd placed a typed ransom note demanding $30,000 to be deposited into Samantha's bank account. Samantha's family came up with $5,000 and quickly put it into her account. They were also working with the police, which meant investigators knew that if the person responsible tried to withdraw that money, it would create a paper trail. And that's almost what happened. One week later, on March 1st, Israel used Samantha's debit card to withdraw $500 in Anchorage.

• 36:20Vanessa Richardson?

  But before police could connect that transaction to him, Israel was on the move. He flew to Las Vegas, and by March 7th, he set off driving from there. That same day, Israel made another ATM withdrawal in Wilcox, Arizona, but this time, he made a mistake. Although he covered his face with a mask, when police reviewed the surveillance footage, they could see the car he was driving, a white Ford Focus. And as Israel made stops over the next couple of days in New Mexico and Texas, they saw the general direction he was heading, so they alerted local law enforcement to be on the lookout for the vehicle. Israel had no idea they were on to him, and by March 12th, he arrived in Lufkin, Texas

• 37:04Vanessa Richardson?

  for his sister's wedding. While there, he clearly seemed to think he was outsmarting the authorities because he had a chilling conversation with family members. Israel had grown up extremely religious. The church he'd been raised in was a white nationalist militia group. It was where Israel became friends with members of the infamous Kehoe family. Israel's family was extremely devoted to their church, but after he turned 18, he'd denounced God and left home. Now, at the wedding, one of Israel's family members remarked that they wished he'd find his way back to God. Israel simply replied, quote, "You don't know what I've done," end quote.

• 37:46Vanessa Richardson?

  Israel's family may not have known what he was capable of, but soon the authorities would. Because the next morning, an officer in Lufkin spotted his parked car, but he had to wait for probable cause to apprehend Israel. So he waited until Israel got into the car and started driving. The officer followed, and as soon as Israel went a little over the speed limit, he pulled him over. The officer wasted no time searching the car. He found Samantha's debit card, cellphone, a gun, and the mask that police had seen on surveillance footage at the ATM withdrawal stops. Realizing the weight of what he'd just discovered, the officer called for backup.

• 38:28Vanessa Richardson?

  Officers arrived, and Israel Keyes was officially taken to the station, where he was charged with access device fraud. It was enough to keep him in custody while authorities tried to figure out where Samantha was.

• 38:42Tristin Engels?

  Israel's behavior here might seem like he was wanting to get caught because it's such a contrast to his very controlled and risk averse behavior. But I'd actually argue that it suggests the opposite. He continued wearing a disguise at these ATMs. He traveled across multiple states to throw authorities off, and he made sure to keep moving. Those aren't necessarily the actions of someone who appears to be surrendering. What is interesting is that he seems to have become increasingly willing to accept risks that he previously would have avoided. He built his crimes around minimizing every possible connection back to himself, every possible risk. Here, he's creating a digital trail.

• 39:26Tristin Engels?

  And again, I think it's more related to his own risk calculation. He knows that he can't get away with just anything because if he believed that, he wouldn't be hiding his face and moving around like he is. He just has reassessed the risk of how likely it is he will get caught. There's another possibility, too, that's not uncommon among serial offenders. Israel may have believed that he could stay one step ahead of investigators throughout all of this. Every withdrawal occurred in a different location, and he continued moving across the country. From his perspective, he may have believed that constant movement would keep law enforcement reacting to where he had been, rather than where he was going. And it's between state lines, so their jurisdictions were limited

• 40:11Tristin Engels?

  unless the FBI got involved or they were talking amongst each other. And he might have underestimated that.

• 40:17Vanessa Richardson?

  Do you think there's a point here where Israel's confidence might have just spiraled into self-sabotage?

• 40:23Tristin Engels?

  Honestly, yes. Though I wouldn't call it self-sabotage because that would imply he wants to get caught. But overconfidence can become one of the biggest vulnerabilities in serial offenders. Dennis Rader, Ted Bundy, and Gary Ridgeway are great examples of that. They were caught because they eventually made decisions they likely wouldn't have made earlier in their offending. After years of getting away with serious crimes, it's possible that they started trusting their own judgment a little too much. They begin believing that their system is stronger than it really is. And in Israel's case, that's what stands out to me. He starts making exceptions to rules that had actually protected him for years. Those exceptions didn't guarantee he would be caught, but they absolutely narrowed the margin of error.

• 41:08Tristin Engels?

  And eventually, one mistake is all investigators need.

• 41:13Vanessa Richardson?

  Israel didn't speak much with investigators in Texas. But a couple weeks later, he was extradited to Alaska, and now the FBI was involved. Agents met with Israel in early April, and they quickly realized that they'd only be able to get him to talk if they went along with his games. After sitting down with the agents, Israel requested a cup of coffee from Starbucks. And once he got it, he confessed to the murder of Samantha Koenig. Israel told police where they could find her remains. And on April 2, 2012, investigators recovered Samantha from the frozen lake. But as investigators talked to Israel more, they realized that there was much more to his story and that Samantha was just one chapter

• 41:58Vanessa Richardson?

  in what might have been a long criminal history. Because Israel hinted at other victims, including one who he claimed was his first murder, which occurred in Washington State in 2001. Israel also told investigators about his kill kits and where some of them were buried. However, as they asked more questions, Israel sensed they were beginning to see the truth about him, and he understood the consequences of the truth coming out. His name would be everywhere, and his daughter would be unable to escape his dark shadow. He quickly started looking for a way out. Israel said he had information about a missing couple in Vermont, but that he'd only tell them if the Vermont authorities agreed

• 42:41Vanessa Richardson?

  to keep the story out of the media. The FBI reached out to law enforcement in Vermont, and they agreed to Israel's terms. With that agreement in place, Israel began to talk. He told investigators everything he'd done to Bill and Lorraine Currier.

• 43:00Tristin Engels?

  I think it's important to remember that people aren't psychologically consistent. We want people to fit neatly into categories, but people can hold contradictory parts of themselves. Everything Israel said suggests that he cared about protecting his daughter from the public consequences of his crimes. He reportedly didn't want her identity exposed, and he expressed concern about the stigma she would face growing up as the daughter of a serial killer, which he's right to be concerned about. At the same time, his behavior unquestionably exposed her to danger. He committed murders while she was in his life. He brought Samantha onto his property while she was inside the house.

• 43:42Tristin Engels?

  And he lived this double life that guaranteed she would have devastating consequences. So was that concern for her genuine? I think it's likely, but was the attachment genuine? I don't know. I mean, it's possible, but that doesn't necessarily mean he loved her in the healthy, selfless way that we typically think about parental love. It's entirely possible that he loved his daughter while also lacking the empathy and capacity to consistently place her well-being above his own needs. It's also possible that he valued what this protection represented. Throughout my career, I have encountered a lot of offenders who maintain personal codes or rules, like Israel, about who they believe is, quote, "off limits"

• 44:27Tristin Engels?

  and who they believe they are protecting. A lot of that involves children. Those codes don't necessarily reflect empathy. They often reflect identity. They allow them to see themselves as different from other offenders or to believe that they still possess some moral boundary despite committing their own heinous criminal acts. And Israel grew up around violent offenders and extremist influences. And it's reasonable to wonder whether he internalized a similar way of thinking or a similar criminal code of some kind. It would have allowed him to preserve a particular image of himself. To me, that's the real contradiction here.

• 45:09Tristin Engels?

  He refused to target children or people with children because that crossed one of his personal lines. Yet every one he murdered was someone else's child. Also, Samantha was 18. She was just barely an adult. Did he even know that, truly? She could have still been a minor, working with a permit for all he knew. It's not like he checked her identification before kidnapping her. Did he know that she was not a mother? It's not like he asked her first for proof. And that's the problem with self-created moral codes. They often make sense only to the person who created them, and they exist to protect the offender.

• 45:50Vanessa Richardson?

  Well, if Israel felt true remorse, it only went so far. Because when the authorities from other jurisdictions turned down the same deal, he stopped talking. In total, the FBI spent more than 40 hours interviewing Israel Keyes. And even though they didn't learn as much as they'd hoped, by the time those interviews were over, they had enough to charge him for the murder of Samantha Koenig. By late 2012, prosecutors were preparing for his trial, which was scheduled to begin the following March. But that trial would never happen. Because on December 2, 2012, Israel died by suicide in his jail cell. He'd never go to trial for any of his crimes.

• 46:33Vanessa Richardson?

  And when Israel died, so many unanswered questions died with him. Investigators only ever recovered two kill kits, one in New York and one in Alaska, and they were never able to definitively tie Israel to any other murders. However, based on his partial confessions, the FBI believes he may have killed as many as 11 people between 2001 and 2012. In 2013, authorities told the public they believed Israel may have been responsible for the death of a 48-year-old woman named Deborah Feldman. Israel had once admitted to kidnapping a woman from the East Coast and transporting her across multiple state lines into Tupper Lake, New York,

• 47:16Vanessa Richardson?

  the same place he'd once robbed a bank. He said he killed the woman and buried her remains there. Based on the timeline of Deborah's disappearance, investigators found it likely that she was the victim Israel described. However, they've never been able to confirm this theory or the identities of any other potential victims, which means their families have never gotten answers or the justice they deserve. All the authorities can offer is the advice to put personal safety first and the hope that someday, someone will come forward with the information they need to bring victims' families some closure.

• 48:12Vanessa Richardson?

  Thanks so much for listening. Come back next time for a deep dive into the mind of another murderer.

• 48:18Tristin Engels?

  Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on all social media at @CrimeHouse. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Serial Killers and Murderous Minds wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference.

• 48:41Vanessa Richardson?

  And to enhance your listening experience, join Crime House Plus and get both parts of every story dropped on the same Monday, completely ad-free. No waiting three days for part two, plus Crime House bonus episodes every month. To join, go to crimehouseplus.com, or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap "Try Free" at the top of the Serial Killers and Murderous Minds page.

• 49:07Vanessa Richardson?

  Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson, and forensic psychologist Dr. Tristin Engels, and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Serial Killers and Murderous Minds team: Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Lori Marinelli, Natalie Pritzowski, Sarah Camp, Alyssa Fox, Marky Lee, Sarah Bachelor, and Carrie Murphy. Thank you for listening.

• 49:41Vanessa Richardson?

  If you're looking for your next podcast, check out What the Fact with Connor Tomlinson from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum and Carter Roy. Every week, they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Follow What the Fact wherever you listen or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact Pod.