The FBI says Israel Keyes, who has already admitted to three killings, said he had killed at least five additional people as the FBI seeks more information from the public on his activities following his Sunday death in an Anchorage Jail cell.
According to an FBI statement released Monday, Keyes, who confessed to killing barista Samantha Koenig and Essex, Vt. couple Bill and Lorraine Currier, is believed to have committed numerous kidnappings and murders across the nation over the course of 11 years, from 2001 until his March arrest in Lufkin, Texas.
Keyes told officials he had killed four people in Washington state: a couple he had murdered between 2001 and 2005, as well as two other people in separate incidents during 2005 and 2006. Keyes also said he murdered a fifth person on the East Coast, disposing of the body in New York.
“It is unknown if these victims were residents of Washington or if they were vacationing in Washington but resided in another state,” officials wrote. “It is also possible Keyes abducted them from a nearby state and transported them to Washington.”
Keyes had lived in Alaska since 2007, but often traveled in his line of work as a general contractor.
“In a series of interviews with law enforcement, Keyes described significant planning and preparation for his murders, reflecting a meticulous and organized approach to his crimes,” FBI officials wrote. “It was not unusual for Keyes to fly into an airport, rent a car, and drive hundreds of miles to his final destination.”
According to the bureau, Keyes said he visited isolated locations such as “parks, campgrounds, trailheads, cemeteries, (and) boating areas” to look for victims. He said authorities had recovered one of his victims, in a case whose specifics have not been identified by investigators, but had ruled the death accidental.
The FBI says the Curriers, who were reported missing in June 2011, were victims of such premeditation, with Keyes flying into Chicago and driving a rental car to their farmhouse. After killing Bill Currier, then sexually assaulting and killing Lorraine Currier, authorities say Keyes continued to tour the East Coast before driving back to Chicago and flying back to Alaska.
Keyes told investigators he had hidden caches of supplies, including “weapons and other items used to dispose of bodies,” across the U.S. Two such caches -- one in Eagle River, and one near the Blake Falls Reservoir in New York -- have been found by law enforcement officials.
The cache in Eagle River contained several chemicals. "Specifically Drano, some heavy duty garbage bags, and a shovel." said Anchorage Police investigator Jeff Bell. "The Drano would be used to accelerate decomposition in bodies."
In a chilling audio file released by the FBI Monday, Keyes discusses the duplicity necessary to separate his ordinary life from his life of crime, including confessions to the Curriers’ deaths as well as that of Anchorage barista Samantha Koenig. He also said he had committed bank robberies, including two confirmed by investigators in New York and Texas, in order to fund his travels.
“There is no one who knows me, or has ever known me, who knows anything about me really,” Keyes says in the recording. “They know -- they’re going to tell you something that does not line up with anything I tell you, because I’m two different people, basically. And the only person who knows about what I’m telling you -- the kind of things I’m telling you -- is me.”
“How long have you been two different people?” an investigator asked.
“A long time -- 14 years,” Keyes said, laughing softly before he answered.
Anyone with additional information on the case is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The FBI has released the following timeline of what it believes to be Israel Keyes’ whereabouts over the last decade, grouped by regions rather than specific locations due to his tendency to travel by car:
10/05/2004 to 10/16/2004 Eastern U.S.
04/20/2005 to 04/25/2005 WA, British Columbia
05/10/2006 to 05/15/2006 Western U.S.
09/01/2006 to 09/07/2006 Alaska
10/21/2006 to 10/23/2006 Western U.S., Mexico
11/08/2006 to 11/16/2006 Alaska
02/05/2007 to 02/08/2007 Southwest U.S.
03/01/2007 to 03/09/2007 WA, Canada (drove to Alaska)
04/24/2007 to 05/04/2007 Western U.S., Mexico
08/26/2007 to 09/06/2007 Western U.S.
10/29/2007 to 11/02/2007 Western U.S.
11/12/2007 to 11/13/2007 Western U.S.
12/04/2007 to 12/17/2007 Midwest and Western U.S.
01/05/2008 to 01/08/2008 Western U.S.
01/28/2008 to 02/15/2008 Southern U.S. and Western U.S.
05/11/2008 to 05/17/2008 Western U.S.
07/03/2008 to 07/07/2008 Western U.S.
09/16/2008 to 09/24/2008 Western U.S.
10/24/2008 to 11/05/2008 Southwest U.S., Midwest U.S. and Western U.S.
12/05/2008 to 12/07/2008 Hawaii
12/11/2008 to 12/25/2008 Mexico
02/23/2009 to 02/27/2009 Western U.S.
04/01/2009 to 04/14/2009 Eastern U.S., Western U.S.
09/11/2009 to 10/03/2009 Southern U.S.
12/17/2009 to 12/29/2009 Southern U.S.
01/11/2010 to 02/25/2010 Western U.S.
03/01/2010 to 03/10/2010 Western U.S.
04/24/2010 to 04/30/2010 Western U.S.
05/19/2010 to 07/18/2010 Midwest U.S. and Western U.S.
07/18/2010 to 07/22/2010 Southwest U.S.
10/15/2010 to 10/25/2010 Midwest U.S., Eastern U.S.
06/02/2011 to 06/16/2011 Midwest U.S., Eastern U.S.
09/15/2011 to 09/25/2011 Western U.S.
02/02/2012 to 02/18/2012 Southern U.S.
03/06/2012 to 03/13/2012 Southwestern and Southern U.S.
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