EP. 65 ALASKA - Serial Killer Israel Keyes: Crimes and Confessions (PART 2)
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He's the most terrifying serial killer you've never heard of. Haddon Clark has confessed to several murders, but investigators say he could have over 100 victims. At the center of the mayhem, a cellmate of Haddon's that was able to get key evidence into Haddon's murder spree across America,

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In our episode last week, we discussed the abduction and murder of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, a crime that led investigators on a nationwide chase directly to one of America's deadliest serial killers, a man named Israel Keys. Now, if you haven't listened to that episode, go back now and give it a listen because it is full of twists and turns. But even though Samantha's story is over, we are just now getting started.

Yes, Israel is in jail and his reign of terror has finally come to an end. But in today's episode, we will be unveiling his past. A past filled with deception, murder, bank robberies, arson, you name it.

Israel Keyes had been murdering people across the country long before the murder of Samantha Koenig. In fact, he was the man responsible for a number of unsolved disappearances that had left investigators scratching their heads for years. And he was so good at it, the FBI didn't even know they had a serial killer on their hands until his confession in 2012.

Israel Keyes flew under the radar, drifting across America, meticulously planning his kills and picking his victims at random. And as the FBI slowly starts to pull out these stories, they come to realize they had just captured one of the most prolific killers in American history.

This is the story of Israel Keyes' crimes and confessions. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America. There is no one who knows me or who has ever known me who knows anything about me really.

In our last episode, Israel had just confessed that he had dumped Samantha Koenig's remains at the bottom of Matanuska Lake. Once she was recovered and investigators were able to close her case, it was now time to learn everything they could about their killer, Israel Keys.

Because based on his confession, it was clear that Samantha wasn't his first kill. He knew how to cover his tracks, he knew how to clean a crime scene and get rid of DNA, and he also knew how to dismember a body and properly dispose of it. All of which prove he was no amateur. But as we will come to find out, Israel isn't as willing to confess to his other murders like he was Samantha's.

We ended the last episode with Israel telling investigators, I've got lots more stories to tell. But when they tried to ask him about those stories, he was tight-lipped. Maybe his confession of Samantha's murder was enough for him that day. So detectives decided that they would try again later. In the meantime, they do everything they can to try and track down Israel's whereabouts throughout his life. They search for phone records, money trails, travel records, car rentals,

Everything they even set up a tip line hoping people would come forward with information Interestingly enough they would get a lot of calls from people who had a lot of good things to say about him Like we mentioned in part one Israel had a business called keys construction and 17 different people from around Alaska would call the tip line saying that they hired Israel and he was a pleasure to work with one woman even said that Israel had access to her money and Nothing ever happened with it

Which made it seem like Israel knew how to separate his different lives. When he needed to be a businessman or father, he would play the part. But then at night, in the shadows, he was someone completely different. But there was one tip that was different from the rest. It was from a client of his named Heather Andrews. And she too said that Israel was a good worker. She also said that he would sometimes bring his daughter to work and that he seemed to be an amazing dad.

But one morning, about a week before Samantha was abducted, Israel didn't show up for work. Heather was worried, so she drove by his house to make sure he was okay. But when he answered the door, he reeked of alcohol and told her that he was in a really bad place. Which isn't that alarming, but this next instance changed her perspective of him. While he was working on the job one day, Israel walks over to Heather and gives her this look.

She didn't know why, but something about it made her fear for her life. She ended up removing herself from the situation and later convinced herself that it was all in her head. But knowing what she knows now, she felt like she got a glimpse of his other side.

There were many other tips that came in of people who claimed to know Israel and his family, but none of them really gave investigators the answers they were looking for. Something that would be of interest, however, would be found on Israel's computer. Investigators found file after file of missing person articles, and they included all different types of victims: men, women, children, the elderly, all different races and sizes.

Some victims were rich, others were poor. Some were even sex workers and drug addicts. But as investigators continue to scroll through the photos of these missing people, they suddenly see a picture of Samantha Koenig, and their hearts drop. Could these all be Israel Keyes' victims? The thought was terrifying because there were hundreds.

When investigators asked Israel about his computers, he said his main laptop was smashed at the bottom of a landfill. There's no telling what was on that laptop after learning about what was on his home computer. But either way, investigators know that they need to get him talking again. Now, if you remember, the main reason Israel won't make a full confession is because he didn't want his name in the press for the sake of his daughter. Really big concern to me is, um...

You know, my kid's gonna be around. I don't want her to like type my name in the computer and have it pop up. I want my kid to have a chance to grow up and not have all this hanging over her head. My concern isn't for my own reputation, it's for my family and stuff. And everybody I've known to a certain extent, you could say they're my victims too because they're gonna have to pay for this for years to come.

So, authorities do the best they can to keep the details out of the media. But after discovering Samantha's remains, it was inevitable that the people of Anchorage were going to start talking.

On April 2nd at 11am, the press release details about Samantha's body being recovered, including a blip about the person responsible being held in custody. But they don't release his name. They're playing by his rules because, unfortunately, the balls in his court

But when investigators sit down and try and get a confession, Israel immediately tells them: "There are very specific things that I want and I'm not going to talk about anything until I know whether or not those things are possible. Samantha's case is not the end. It doesn't matter in my mind whether I talk or not. I'm not going to do it for the heck of it. There's not anything they can threaten me with or say to me or take away from me or give to me except for what I want. Like I say, I'm happy to help, but it's on my terms."

One of the investigators seems to become a little impatient and he tells Israel, "You know, we have maps of all the places you've been over the years. So, we're eventually going to find out what you did. And at that point, we won't be able to keep your name out of the media.

But Israel confidently replies, The first thing Israel demands is an execution date.

Which is interesting because at first he told investigators he wanted the death penalty taken off the table.

He then tells them, I want this whole thing wrapped up and over with as soon as possible. I mean, I could end up in federal supermax prison somewhere for the rest of my life, which is what, if my attorney had his way, that's where he wants me to go. And that's not what I want. I want this whole thing done in a year, from today's start to finish, basically. I'll tell you about everything. I'll give you, plead guilty to whatever, I'll give you every single gory detail you want, but that's what I want. I want my kid to have a chance to grow up.

She's in a safe place now. She's not going to see any of this. I want her to have a chance to grow up and not have all this hanging over her head. If I end up in prison for who knows how many years, 10 years, 20 years down the road, I know how this works. You're going to keep looking. You're going to keep going back. And I don't want news about me. And frankly, I already talked to my attorney about this. There's no jury in the world or in America that if I went to trial and got convicted, there's no jury in the US that would not vote for the death penalty. I already know that.

And it seems like this would be a no-brainer. He confesses to every crime he's ever committed, reveal where the bodies are, bring closure to all the families he's affected, and all they have to do is execute him within a year?

Sounds like a great deal to me, but unfortunately that's not how our legal system works. As many of you know, it can take decades to actually execute someone after they are convicted. And that doesn't even take into account the years of preparation before the trial.

But I feel like there should be some exceptions to these rules. If someone wants to confess to a number of murders, why not speed up that execution process and bring closure to the families? And as much as investigators wanted that, they knew it would be impossible. But they don't tell him that right away. Instead, they suggest he give them the name of another victim. And then they can work on his execution. At first, Israel refuses.

But then the agents tell him, look, if you don't want to help us out, our bosses are going to start interviewing everybody they can and putting your pictures up in the media. And once that's out there, we have no control. You got to give us something to work with. Israel seemed conflicted and he takes a long pause before he responds. All right, I'll give you two bodies, two bodies and a name. Give me something to work with. Give me a car.

I'll give you two bodies and a name. Israel asks the detectives for a map. When they pull it out, he points to Essex, Vermont. Last summer, a couple went missing in this town. It was me. I killed them. Investigators do a quick Google search, typing in, quote, missing couple, Vermont. And what do you know? The first thing that pops up is a missing person flyer of a husband and wife named Bill and Lorraine Currier.

The flyer read, "'Missing. Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, Vermont are missing. They were reported missing by friends and family after neither showed up for work, which was not in their character. Police believe the couple disappeared sometime between 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 8, 2011 and 10 a.m. Thursday, June 9, 2011."

Especially concerning is that both have serious medical conditions that require medication which was left behind at their home. Bill 49 is described by police as a white man, 6 feet tall, weighing 220 pounds. Lorraine 55 is described as a white woman, 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing approximately 160 pounds with brown hair. Police are stating that they are missing under suspicious circumstances.

Their family and friends are terribly worried and ask the public to please provide whatever info you may have that could help locate the couple. The investigators then click on the picture of the couple and show it to Israel. "Are these the two people you killed?" they ask. He responds, "Yep." "Had you met them before?" "Nope." And investigators prepare themselves for the horrific story of Israel Kies' next two victims.

On June 2nd, 2011, about 8 months before the murder of Samantha Koenig, Israel flies from Anchorage to Chicago. He claims his reasoning for this trip was to visit his brothers in Maine. But instead of flying directly to Maine, he decides to land in Chicago, rent a car, and take a little road trip going east.

Which was interesting to detectives because Chicago to Maine is about a 17 hour drive So what was he doing along the way? Israel tells them that after he left Illinois, he stayed in Indiana for a few days Then at his family's farmhouse in upstate New York And the last stop he made before Maine was in Essex, Vermont

He ended up checking into a hotel there on June 7th and for the next few days he drove around the town, shopped at a Lowe's, went fishing in the national park, and strolled around taking in the scenery. Now, Israel didn't know anyone in that town and he really had no reason to be there, but out of all the cities in Vermont, he was deliberate in choosing Essex.

You see, years earlier in 2009, Israel drove through the beautiful town and figured it would be the perfect place to kill someone. It was far enough away from Anchorage, no one there knew who he was, and it was a big enough city to where you could blend in with the crowd. So he decided that he would eventually come back and murder someone there. But this plan wasn't just a thought in Israel's head. He actually purchased everything he would need for the kill. That day, two years prior to 2011,

His purchase included a five-gallon bucket, a gun, ammunition, a silencer, zip ties, duct tape, and Drano to help with disposing the bodies. After he purchased everything he needed for the kill, Israel went and buried the kill kit in a remote area where it sat underground for years. He didn't know exactly when he would come back to Essex to carry out this murder, but he knew that if he was ever in the mood to kill, it would be there waiting for him.

And what do you know, two years later in 2011, when Israel was back in Essex, he returned to the location and dug it back up. Everything had been right where he left it. And it was perfect because since he bought all of the supplies years earlier, he knew that it couldn't be traced back to him.

And now that he has everything he needs for the kill, it's time to find a victim. So on the night of June 8th, 2011, Israel leaves his hotel on foot with his backpack full of kill supplies. It's about 8pm and it's raining, so he knew nearly everyone in town would be nestled into their homes, not expecting any visitors.

And as Israel looks around, trying to decide where he should find his next victim, he sees a small apartment complex across the street. And this is what he tells investigators next.

Next.

He almost got it that night. If he had been about five seconds slower getting out of his car and going into his apartment, he would have been the one that night.

But after he got away, Israel decides to go back to his hotel room and try again later. And this time, he wanted to find a house with a couple living inside. It was around midnight when Israel left for a second attempt, and he made sure to take the battery out of his phone so he couldn't be traced. He ends up taking off towards a small neighborhood near Colbert Street.

It wouldn't be long until he was standing in front of a small little ranch house with an attached garage. He didn't know why he chose this house, but he knew it was the one he was going to hit. I think I even had it pegged down just from looking at the outside because of the way they had their backyard set up. It just looked like an older couple that didn't have kids kind of house. Israel was wearing all black with an unlit headlamp around his head. He also had gloves on so that he wouldn't leave behind any prints.

and he slowly crept around the house, peeking through the windows. He noticed that the home didn't have any animals or any children's toys lying around, which he claimed was a rule of his. He never hit houses with dogs because they always complicated his kills and he claimed he never killed anyone if children were present. He even bragged to investigators, quote, the one thing I won't do is mess with kids, end quote.

But that night, he continued to creep around the outside of the home, where he noticed the family didn't have an alarm system. He did find a phone line, so he pulled out a knife and cut it. I cut the phone lines because usually if there's an alarm system, it'll trigger the alarm. So after I cut that, I was outside for probably an hour or two waiting for it.

Now all he has to do is await. The next door neighbor was still awake and he kept coming outside with his dog for a smoke. And like we mentioned, Israel was no amateur and he had all the time in the world. So he waited in the woods nearby, keeping a close eye on the home.

He could tell by looking in the windows that an older couple lived there. He could also tell that based on the air conditioning unit in the window, the master bedroom was at the front of the house. Israel knew his way around most homes because of his job in construction. Now, after waiting in the woods for about an hour, the neighbor finally went to sleep and it was around 2:00 a.m. when he tied a cloth rag over his face and made his way towards the home.

He grabbed a patio chair and used it to hoist himself through a garage window. There was a green sedan inside. Israel went through the car and found that it belonged to Lorraine Currier. From there, Israel decides to walk towards the home. Using his knife, he pried open the screen door, but the second door into the home was deadbolted. So, Israel quickly breaks one of the window panes, reaches his hand through, and unlocks it.

Now that he's inside the home, Israel turns on his headlamp. He's standing near the kitchen and it's still quiet, so the glass breaking didn't wake them up. Up ahead, he sees a long hallway leading to the master bedroom. Israel quickly walks down the hall, barges in the room with a gun in hand, and wakes the couple up. This is a robbery, he tells them. They are confused at first, having just woken up out of a deep sleep, but they quickly come to terms.

When Israel starts to zip tie their wrists, he then asks the couple, Are there any guns in the house? Tell me now! Yes, Lorraine says as she points to her nightstand. Inside was a loaded .38 Smith & Wesson. Israel goes through the nightstand and finds the gun. He also finds some lingerie. When detectives ask him if he made Lorraine put it on, Israel again gets shy and he tells them, I don't know if I want to go into that.

But Israel had already told detectives that his motive behind the attack was sexual, so it's likely that he did make Lorraine change into the lingerie. It was here when Israel ordered the couple to roll over on their stomachs so he could tie more zip ties around their wrists. He then started asking them questions. Are there any other guns in the house? Do you have a safe? Are there prescription drugs here? Where's your ATM card and jewelry?

Once Bill and Lorraine told Israel where everything was located, he grabbed his suitcase and started filling it up with any valuables he could find. And just like he did with Samantha, he scratched the PIN number into their ATM card. He also found some prescription pills, like Vicodin and Percocet.

But while all of this was happening, Lorraine tried to roll herself off the bed in an attempt to escape. When Israel saw this, however, he quickly slammed her face down in the pillow and whispered, "If you try that again, I won't be happy." Once I was actually in the house, I was probably in the bedroom within five or six seconds. Were they cooperative at first? Yeah.

People never expect stuff to happen to them.

During his raid on the home, Israel found some military memorabilia. Bill had been in the army's 25th infantry. Israel even made a comment to Bill that he too was in the army. It was a weird and almost friendly comment. A comment that sort of eased the couple's mind.

Maybe this guy won't hurt us after all. But Israel knew that the couple wouldn't make it out of this alive, and he would say anything to calm their nerves and make them think otherwise. After about 15 minutes inside of the home, Israel orders the couple to stand up, and he tells them that they're going to take a drive. He then pauses his story to tell detectives, I seriously doubt you're going to find DNA or fingerprints anywhere.

He was skilled at breaking and entering. He was also very knowledgeable about how to kill without leaving any evidence. And with the couple's hands still tied around their backs, he forces them into the green sedan that was parked in the garage. Lorraine sat in the passenger seat while Bill sat in the back. As Israel pulled out of the garage, the couple begged him to let them go. Bill even says,

They were convinced that I had the wrong people, that it was a case of mistaken identity or something.

But like with Samantha, Israel does his best to reassure them that everything would be okay as long as they follow his orders. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just taking you for ransom. I'm going to drop you off at a house and other people will be there to help with the ransom. You're going to be fine though, don't worry. But Israel knew that they weren't going to be fine.

In fact, along the drive, he couldn't stop thinking about his backpack full of kill supplies and how he was going to use it on the couple. It was nearing 4am when Israel exits off Route 15 and pulls the sedan into a property with an abandoned farmhouse. The property was clearly not taken care of, which was perfect because it meant he wouldn't have to worry about any interruptions.

Once he parked, Israel ordered Lorraine to wait in the car while he and Bill went inside. I've taken so many vitamins in my life. I'm diabetic and oftentimes you take a whole regimen of vitamins and nothing happens for you. I've done it many, many times in my life. I've wasted a lot of money. But finally, Courtney and I have found a multivitamin that is really healthy, really helpful, and that we both really love.

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the two-story house was old and decrepit it was sitting up on a hill off the highway but a huge tree blocked them from any curious eyes there was also a forced sale sign out front israel told detectives that he always chose houses with forced sale signs and this comment made them raise their brows a bit how many times had he been in this situation but the

but that was a question for later. Israel continued, telling investigators that as he and Bill approached the abandoned home, he was pleased to find out that the front door was unlocked. So he quickly forced Bill into the basement. There, he tied him to an old stool. There was barely any furniture in the home, aside from a small couch and recliner, and some old bed frames. Most of the doors weren't even on the hinges, and there was a giant hole in the ceiling of the living room. It was the perfect location

location to carry out a murder. It was clear no one had even stepped foot in this house in years, and Israel started to grow more and more excited for the night ahead. Now that Bill was tied up, it was time to get Lorraine from the car. But when Israel walked outside to get her, he saw her standing outside of the vehicle trying to escape. When their eyes met, the

Lorraine took off running towards Route 15, with her hands still tied behind her back. But the 55-year-old woman couldn't run fast enough. Just like he did with Samantha when she tried to escape, Israel tackled Lorraine to the ground. Cable tied his hands so he couldn't stand up. It must have taken me longer than I thought because she had got out of the car.

She started running and I tackled her and roughed her up a little bit and tied her back up. She was feisty. She was fighting the whole time.

And he felt a rush of anger knowing that she almost got away. After he gets a hold of her, he drags her into the home and forces her up the stairs into a bedroom where he duct tapes her arms and legs to the bed and tightly wraps a rope around her neck and the mattress. The entire time this is happening, Lorraine is screaming, pleading for her life. But the fear in her eyes made Israel excited and he grew even more excited when Bill started screaming from the basement.

But then Israel hears a loud crash, so he runs down to the basement where he sees Bill almost completely free from his restraints.

The stool was broken. After hearing his wife struggling upstairs, Bill mustered up the strength to crush the chair and loosen the rope. Seeing this made Israel angry. Things were not going as planned and he became even more angry when Bill got up and started to fight him. He managed to put up a good fight.

And he tells investigators...

Israel then found a shovel in the basement and he used it to hit Bill on the head multiple times. But surprisingly, Bill kept fighting. It took several more hard hits to finally render him unconscious. Now, at this point, investigators ask Israel what his intentions were with Bill. And like many times before, Israel gets a little embarrassed.

and he tells them that he doesn't want to talk about it. But investigators have a pretty good idea. Israel had already admitted to them that he was bisexual, and a little while earlier, he told them that he brought a water bottle into the basement. When investigators asked him why he brought the bottle, he didn't want to answer. Their conclusion was that Israel intended on raping Bill, using the water as some sort of lube. But luckily, he wouldn't get the chance.

Because after he knocked Bill unconscious, Israel hears a propane stove fall through the ceiling. He had set it up in one of the rooms, but because the house was so old, it fell right through the floor. This sent Israel into a panic, because if propane was leaking, the house could go up in flames, so he knew he needed to wrap things up.

The first step being to kill Bill. Israel runs up the stairs and grabs his .22 that has a silencer on it. But when he came back to the basement, Bill was standing up again, screaming at him. Israel then holds up his gun and starts to fire off as many rounds as he can, shooting Bill in the neck.

chest, arms, and head. And to his surprise, Bill remained standing, using his last bit of strength to try and fight off his attacker. But eventually, he would fall to the ground and succumb to his gunshot wounds. Usually, Israel felt a relief after taking the life of an innocent person. But this time was different. Israel felt almost stressed that things weren't going as planned. He even stepped outside to smoke a cigar before returning back to Lorraine, who was still tied up in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

At this point, it started to rain, and water was slowly pouring in through the open windows. But despite that, Israel felt a little more relaxed. The propane situation was taken care of, Bill was dead, and now he was able to have some real fun. And to make Lorraine a little more relaxed too, he gives her a cigarette. He tells investigators that he then boiled some water on the propane stove. When they asked him why, he didn't want to get into it.

But the only thing my mind can think of is that he was using the boiling water to torture Lorraine, who at this point was crippled with fear. She could no longer hear her husband screaming from the basement, which wasn't a good sign. Her fear only grew stronger when Israel started cutting off her clothes with a knife. Lorraine screamed as loud as she could, but no one could hear her.

Israel then shoved paper towels and duct tape into her mouth. Then he raped her two separate times. The same amount of times he raped Samantha while she was alive. And during Lorraine's second rape, Israel strangled her unconscious.

But he didn't want to kill her just yet. That wasn't a part of his plan. When Lorraine eventually comes to, Israel unties her and brings her down to the basement. He wanted her last moments on earth to be filled with pain and agony, having a look at her dead husband, whose blood was all over the basement. It's hard to even imagine Lorraine's thoughts at this time.

But Israel was enjoying every second of it and when he finally had enough, he slips a rope around Lorraine's neck and pulls it tight until he feels her body go limp. Then, just to make sure she's dead, he puts a zip tie around her neck, pulling it even tighter.

Reyn's bodies now both lay dead in the basement of the abandoned house. Now, it was time for Israel to take care of the bodies. First, he cuts off all the restraints around their arms, legs, and neck. Then he takes the Drano from his kill kit and pours it all over their hands and faces. He does this so that if they're ever found, it would be difficult to identify them. Drano also helps the body decompose at a faster rate.

Next, Israel puts each of their bodies into a 55-gallon trash bag and rolls them over onto a trash pile in the corner of the basement. And then he leaves the property in the couple's green sedan. Israel admits to investigators that he was pretty messy with this crime scene. For one, he never intended on shooting Bill.

His plan was to strangle him, but since he kept fighting back, Israel was left with no choice but to shoot him, and now his blood covered the basement floor, which is never a good thing when you're trying to keep a crime scene clean.

Israel also admits that he was in such a hurry to leave town that he didn't even try to hide the bodies very well. If anyone were to walk in that home, they would have immediately known that a murder had taken place there. He didn't even stop to pick up the shell casings. All he was worried about was getting out of there.

Plus, he thought, even if someone did find their bodies, there would be no way anyone would ever link him to their murders. After all, he lived in Alaska and he bought all of the killing supplies years prior. And as Israel pulled their green sedan onto Route 15, he felt a rush.

The urge to kill was finally satisfied, for now. Israel then makes his way to the Rite Aid parking lot where he had parked his rental car the night before. Like with every kill, Israel thought out each and every scenario. He had even made sure to park away from any surveillance cameras so they couldn't track down his rental. The sun was up at this point, and Israel discreetly exited the courier's green sedan and hopped into his rental.

and then took off for Maine to visit his brothers. And as he drove out of the city, no one in Essex, Vermont had any idea of the atrocities he had just committed. No one would until Israel's confession that day, one year later.

When detectives heard the full story of Bill and Lorraine, Israel's two other victims, they were shocked. He really was one of the most ruthless and methodical killers the FBI had ever seen. At the end of his confession, Israel tells them, I don't consider myself that different than hundreds of thousands of people. I just take it to the next level. The sexual fantasies, the money, the adrenaline rush. Once you get started, there's nothing like it.

investigators were slowly starting to take everything in and they quickly realized that israel did seem to have a pattern with both samantha and lorraine he tied ropes around their necks he gagged them with paper towels raped them twice then strangled them to death he allowed both of them to smoke a cigarette to let their guard down and after the murders he took off to another state putting distance between him and the crime

And detectives couldn't help but wonder how many other victims experienced the same fate as Samantha, Lorraine, and Bill.

Israel told detectives that after the murder he planned on using the courier's ATM card, but he decided it was too risky. He also went camping in New Hampshire afterwards to burn some of their belongings. Then he went to Maine to have a good time with his brothers. Israel felt amazing getting to spend time with his family while also relishing in the high of the kill. On his way back from Maine, he took a detour and drove right by the courier's house. By then,

The town of Essex was in a frenzy, wondering what happened to the sweet couple that simply vanished into the night. Officers saw that their garage window had been broken and that many valuables had been stolen from their home, including their car, which they later found in the Rite Aid parking lot.

But other than their abandoned sedan, law enforcement didn't have any leads on what happened to the couple. It was clear that they hadn't taken off on their own. Their medication was still in the house and their credit cards hadn't been used. And given the broken window and stolen valuables, authorities assumed foul play.

There was one witness that came forward, claiming to have seen a white man with long dark hair driving the couple's car. That witness worked with authorities to make a composite sketch, but it didn't look anything like Israel. And other than that, there were no leads. Like many small towns, the people of Essex were going online commenting their theories on what happened. And disturbingly, Israel loved going online and looking at the comments.

He would later tell investigators...

I kept checking back on the story and getting kind of a kick out of, because obviously I know what happened. And seeing the difference from their perspective versus my perspective. And then on top of that, when people would read the news story, everyone wants to comment on their theories of what happened. And so I got really hooked on that too. I would be home late at night and be like, wow, I wonder if there's any more stories. A couple of glasses of whiskey and I'd be like, I'm going to check on that. And I'd do searches and read and start commenting on stuff.

And when I read this, I was so disturbed. Bill and Lorraine's killer was on these online forums commenting to people. It makes you wonder how many other killers out there do the same thing. And even though the people of Essex were spreading theories about what they thought happened, the Curriers' family members were still holding on to hope that they were out there alive. Bill's sister told the media, quote,

But now, a year later, their families were finally going to get answers.

answers that were far more devastating than they could have ever imagined. And the town of Essex would soon learn that one of America's deadliest killers drove through their town and picked out two of his victims at random.

And one thing detectives were curious about was how no one ever found Bill and Lorraine's bodies. Israel told them that he had originally planned to burn the bodies and set the house on fire, but he decided against it. He felt like it would draw too much attention. And the house was so old that he figured if anyone were to buy the property, they'd probably just tear it down and rebuild. And Israel was right about that.

About six months after the murders, someone bought the property and bulldozed the house down without ever knowing the two bodies were inside. The smell in the basement must have been overwhelming. But I'm sure the owners just assumed it was a wild animal that had crawled in there and died. So they tore it down without inspecting. So this is the place that was ultimately demolished and that we searched and did not find the bodies in. I had no idea.

Neighbors say it was a known hangout for squatters until it was demolished last fall. The debris from the home was taken to a landfill in Coventry, which contains over 400,000 tons of trash. Finding Bill and Lorraine's remains would be even more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack, and it would take a lot of time and money. Israel did have one request upon finding the remains. He wanted pictures of their bodies so that he could admire his handiwork one last time.

Now, authorities would search through the landfill for 11 weeks and they never found a trace of Bill and Lorraine. There was over 13,000 cubic yards of trash that was searched, which translated into over 10,000 tons.

But two and a half months later, the location of Bill and Lorraine Currier's bodies remains a mystery. But even without their bodies, they were positive that Israel Keyes was indeed responsible for their murders. Everything he confessed to matched up with the evidence at their home. The broken garage window, the couple's green sedan, even the abandoned house checked out.

But how devastating it must have been for their families to learn that a random man came through, kidnapped them, and brutally murdered them at random. And then to find out that their bodies are sitting at the bottom of a landfill and can't be recovered.

Things like that just don't happen. And much like with the murder of Samantha Koenig, it's hard to even fathom the magnitude of this random act of evil. Bill Currier was an animal care technician at the University of Vermont, and Lorraine was a healthcare worker. They lived good, hard-working lives, and they didn't deserve the fate that they were met with.

Neighbors of the couple said that they were kind and every Christmas they would always go all out with their decorations. But since the murders, the holidays on their street are a little more quiet. Right now, Bill and Lorraine are still in that landfill and it's likely that they will never be found, much like many other victims of Israel Keyes.

Authorities said the couple's garage window was broken. Lorraine's .38 caliber handgun was missing and the phone line to the home had been cut. We have even more details about the man whose sources say killed Bill and Lorraine Currier.

Israel Keyes was indicted for kidnapping and killing an 18-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska. Sources tell Channel 3 News that while Keyes was being questioned about the Alaska murder, he told investigators where they could find the bodies of a missing Vermont couple. But before we get into his other suspected victims, let's talk about Israel's other crimes. Immediately after confessing to the murders of Bill and Lorraine,

Israel wanted a break from all the murder talk, so he decided to confess to something else. Israel Keyes wasn't just a murderer, he was also an arsonist and a bank robber. So, let's rewind a bit and talk about the weeks after Samantha's murder. If you remember, Israel murdered Samantha just hours after he abducted her. Then he and his daughter left Alaska to go on a cruise out of New Orleans. He wanted to put some distance between he and the crime.

And he spent the following week in Mexico, drinking by the beach and having the time of his life.

But something we didn't mention in last week's episode was that Israel and his daughter stayed with his family in Texas for about a week after the cruise. Maybe he was nervous to go back to Anchorage, knowing that everyone was looking for the 18-year-old girl whose body was in his shed. So he decided to stay with his mom and let some time pass. He and his daughter's flight back to Anchorage was scheduled for February 13th, nearly two weeks after Samantha's murder. But interestingly enough,

In the early hours of that morning, Israel took off, missed his flight, and his family wasn't able to find him for days. When the FBI talked to Heidi, Israel's mother, she remembered that night very well. So you've probably heard before about micro dosing. If you search a little bit on the internet, you'll find out that all sorts of people are micro dosing to feel healthier and perform better. And our show today is actually sponsored by micro dose gummies. Now micro dose gummies deliver perfect

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Heidi recalled watching Israel leave around 2:00 a.m. When she went into his bedroom, she found a note that read, "Gone to fix the window and find a place to hide my guns." But by 8:00 a.m., Israel still hadn't returned home. His family tried to contact him, but there was no answer.

It wasn't until later that night when Israel finally reached out, telling them that he was stuck in the mud out in the middle of nowhere. So, his family keeps texting him saying "Tell us where you are and we can come help you." But hours and hours would pass and there was still no word from Israel. It wouldn't be until the next day when they finally get a text from him saying that he's parked at a shopping center.

But when his family drives over, he's nowhere to be found. Again, they're texting him over and over saying, hello, we're here, where are you? But there's no response. Israel doesn't end up calling them until the following morning, two days after he left. When they finally do find him, he's sitting in his rented blue Kia Soul that is literally covered in

in mud. His family said that he's disoriented and he tells them that he ran out of gas, his credit cards were frozen, he had no cash, and that he hadn't eaten or slept in two days. And Heidi and his siblings were shocked.

I mean, he had a phone. All he had to do was call and they could have come and helped him. So why didn't he call? What was he doing during those two days? The thought of him getting lost in suburban Texas in broad daylight while he had a cell phone seemed unbelievable.

But no one questions him about where he was or what he was doing and his mom ended up rebooking two plane tickets to Anchorage for him and his daughter. They didn't even want to ask him any questions, they just wanted to get him back home. But then, right before their flight, Israel disappears again, this time for a day and a half. When he finally comes back, he has $900 in cash to reimburse his mom for the plane tickets.

No one ever questioned where he got the money. But now that Israel is arrested, investigators want to know what he was doing during those mysterious days in Texas. Israel starts by admitting that he felt invincible after killing Samantha. There was a sort of high knowing that he had just committed his riskiest crime yet and they still hadn't caught him. He tells investigators that after he returned from the cruise, he decided to leave his mom's house and drive around town looking for another victim to kidnap.

He figured it would be the perfect time to kill someone because he was about to fly back to Anchorage so no one would suspect him. And he tells investigators, "I was looking for an abandoned house and I was looking for out-of-the-way ATMs. I was going to grab somebody from an ATM and take them to the house."

Israel also admits that he had been driving around Texas looking for a church. His plan was to kidnap someone, bring them to the church, then rape and torture them inside while they "begged for their lives to a God who isn't real." Afterwards, he planned to place their bodies on the altar in an explicit position for a priest to later find.

That, or he wanted to just burn the church down with the bodies inside. Along this drive, while looking for a victim, Israel finds one on the Glen Rose, Texas river trails. It was getting pretty late and there was a woman that came and she was going for a walk on the trails up and down the river. And I almost went after her. She had a big dog, like a mastiff or something.

But like we mentioned before, one of Israel's rules was that he never kidnapped people with dogs. Dogs tend to complicate things. So he decided to ditch that plan. And can you imagine hearing this story and realizing that you were the woman on the trail that day? It seems like there were countless people all over the country that were almost victim to Israel Keyes.

People that escaped death without even realizing it. But anyways, Israel decided that kidnapping probably wasn't the best idea, especially in Texas where most people own a gun. So he decided he was going to rob a bank instead. He admits that something he loved to do in his free time was look up banks that could be easy to rob.

He specifically looked for banks that were in small towns and had a lot of different highways that he could escape from. Then he would research the banks' surveillance system. If they didn't have a lot of money invested in their security, he would mark it down for a potential hit. Israel would research how far away the police stations were. He would look up pictures of their parking lots so he knew exactly where to park.

Just like he did with his murders, Israel planned out everything. Believe it or not, most of the things I've done have to do with the death of my son.

But this bank robbery was different. Israel didn't really plan it out. But because he was feeling invincible after killing Samantha, he decided to go for it on a whim.

But first, he needed to cause a distraction in the city so that the cops wouldn't be anywhere near the bank. While Israel was driving around, he decided that he was going to set a house on fire in a neighboring town so that when he robbed the bank, first responders would be far away. If you want...

But he had a hard time finding a house that he could get into, saying...

I was surprised that security is actually pretty tight. Most people have locked gates and so it took me a while. The house he eventually found was in Aledo, Texas. After breaking into it, Israel said, It was a mess. Every room was packed. The place was a freaking fire hazard. They had like two or three freezers running around the house and extension cords running to everything. The place basically looked like it had just been abandoned.

In the family's garage, Israel found a tank of gas. He then opened all of the windows, poured gasoline everywhere, and set it on fire. He then went back to his rental car and watched as every first responder in the town hurried over to the burning house. Now, it was time to rob the bank. Israel drove his rental car to a bank in Azle, Texas. But before going inside, he smoked a cigar out in the parking lot. And he must have looked suspicious.

Because while he was doing so, an elderly woman approached him and asked him who he was and what he was doing there. But this didn't deter him. Afterwards, he put on a disguise, grabbed a gun, and entered the bank.

Israel then approached the teller with his gun and told her this is a robbery. And because all of the cops were tending to the house in Alito, Israel made it out of there with $10,000 cash, which according to him was not that much money. He tells investigators that he's gotten away with a lot more in his previous bank robberies.

Now, like we mentioned, Israel was supposed to have a flight back to Anchorage, but instead he went missing from his mom's house for 4 days. And all of the events we just described happened on February 13th, 14th, and 16th. But for some reason, Israel skipped over February 15th, which happened to be the day his family found him in his car covered in mud.

So what happened on February 15th? According to Israel, he had been driving all over Texas at that point, running on barely any sleep. And that day, he decided to bury one of his kill kits. Remember the big five-gallon bucket he buried in Vermont? The one that he dug up and used to kill the couriers?

Well, Israel had those buried all over the United States, and that day, on February 15th, 2012, it's believed that he buried one in Stephenville, Texas, but for some reason, Israel was very vague on what he did that day. He sang like a canary when admitting to his other crimes, but he didn't want to talk about February 15th, leading investigators to believe that he

killed someone that day. And interestingly enough, after a little digging, investigators found a man in Texas that went missing on February 15th, 2012, and the story of his disappearance seems to match up with Israel's other abduction cases.

His name was Jimmy Tidwell. He was a 58-year-old electrician in Longview, Texas, who often worked the night shifts. On February 15, 2012, Jimmy didn't leave his job until about 5.30 a.m. It had been a long night of work, and all he probably wanted to do was go home and sleep.

But Jimmy never made it back home and no one would ever see him again. Days after his disappearance, Jimmy's white Ford truck was found 5 miles from his home at the intersection of I-315 and Farm to Market 95.

There weren't any broken windows or any signs of forced entry, but something disturbing is that his glasses were found inside of his truck, which was concerning because Jimmy always wore his glasses and he couldn't do anything without them. Authorities also noticed that his cell phone wallet and keys were all missing, and there was no foreign DNA left at the scene. Now, finding someone's abandoned vehicle is strange in and of itself,

But it's even more strange that Jimmy was a very respected guy. He didn't have any drug problems, he didn't owe anybody money, and he wasn't considered high risk. He was married with two adult children. He had been working at his company for a decade with no problems whatsoever. And everyone in his family said that he would have never in a million years run off, especially without his glasses.

And the idea that he left his truck on an interstate and just walked away seemed impossible. So what happened to Jimmy Tidwell? After his disappearance, both state and local law enforcement came together to search the five-mile woods near where the truck was found.

but they came up with nothing, and still to this day, we have no clue what happened to him. Many people, however, suspect that Israel Keyes was responsible. It fits his MO. It wouldn't be the first time Israel kidnapped someone, killed them, and then abandoned their vehicle. Now, this incident happened the day before Israel robbed the bank in Azle, Texas. And interestingly enough,

Israel was wearing a white hardhat during the bank robbery, the same type of hardhat that Jimmy Tidwell owned. Now, it's not that hard to stop somewhere and purchase a hardhat, and Israel himself worked in construction, so it could have possibly been his own. But something that investigators noticed on the bank robbery footage sent a chill down their spine.

Remember how Israel put on a disguise before robbing the bank? Well, they noticed that Israel's hair was a lot longer during the bank robbery than it normally was. So at first, they were thinking that maybe he wore a wig.

But when they ask him about it, he denies wearing one. But you know who did have long hair about the same length as Israel's during the bank robbery? Jimmy Tidwell. It was the same length, same color, and same hard hat. Investigators were sick to their stomach.

Is it possible that Israel killed Jimmy, scalped him, and then used his hair for his bank robbery disguise? It doesn't seem that far-fetched to me knowing the kind of person Israel is. I mean, he had no issue sewing Samantha Koenig's eyes open for a ransom photo, so it wouldn't surprise me if he did.

Now, some people think that this theory is a little out there considering there's no proof Israel even killed Jimmy. He never admitted to his murder.

But to me, the theory becomes even more probable when investigators ask Israel about the bank robber disguise. After he told investigators it wasn't a wig, they ask him, "Is it real hair? If so, where do you buy real hair?" Israel laughs and then he responds, "You don't have to buy real hair to get real hair. Hair is free. Everything is free if you take it."

Now, Israel wouldn't admit to murdering Jimmy Tidwell. In fact, he wasn't going to make any more murder confessions without authorities giving him what he wanted, an execution date. I don't know how much of this stuff I want to talk about until I know whether or not I can get what I want. Of course, if I get what I want, ultimately, then I'll tell you.

And he told investigators,

I'd like to try and make it happen because that'll make it easier on everybody. I'm not a patient person, I don't think I've ever lived anywhere more than five or six years, I get bored easily, so you can see why sitting in jail year after year waiting for the stuff to resolve is not really that attractive to me. But again, there was absolutely no way authorities were able to give him an execution within a one-year period. That's just not how our system works, unfortunately.

So, Israel was done talking for the time being. Now all investigators could do was try to figure it all out on their own. And they started by tracing all of Israel's steps over the last decade based on plane tickets, hotel stays, and car rentals. They gather a list of some of the states he would frequent the most. California, Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Texas, Vermont, Alabama,

Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nevada, Illinois, Kansas, and Hawaii. And they start by trying to link missing persons cases to the times when Israel was in that current state. But it was a very difficult task because Israel was very good at covering his tracks. When he committed Samantha's murder, he was admittedly sloppy.

But before that, he had been very good at what he did. He always used rental cars. He always took the battery out of his phone before killing someone so that he couldn't be traced. And he almost always cleaned up his crime scenes.

And with that amount of skill, investigators knew that tracking down his recent victims would be hard. But what about his first kills? The kills before he learned to cover his tracks? Because after all, everybody has to start somewhere, right? So investigators take a look into Israel's early life. In part one of this story, we took a look into Israel's upbringing. There, we learned that he lived a very secluded life.

When he was a teenager, his parents practically kicked him out, and he lived in the woods all by himself. I had the thought that everybody else was faking it, and everybody was like me, they just didn't act like it. Or I figured that I was a demon child or whatever, I don't know. I've known since I was 14 that there was things that...

He didn't have any supervision, and he spent the majority of his time robbing people, torturing animals, and stalking people in the woods. But what if there was more to that story than Israel wanted to admit?

Earlier, he told investigators that he would never hurt a child, but maybe that was only his rule after he had a child of his own. In 1996, when Israel was 18 years old, a young girl went missing out of Colville, Washington, the same town where Israel lived.

The girl's name was Julie Harris. She was only 12 years old at the time and she was different from most girls her age. You see, Julie had two prosthetic feet, but she never let it get in the way of her life.

In fact, she loved to ski and actually won a gold medal in the Special Olympics. Because of this, nearly every person in Colville knew who she was. But on the morning of March 3rd, Julie left her home and was never seen alive again. There weren't many leads in her case, but one of the leads was that she was last seen walking with a man wearing a trench coat.

About a month after her disappearance, her prosthetic feet were found near the Colville River. And a year after that, her remains were found in the woods, right near Israel Keyes' old stomping grounds. Now, I couldn't find the population of Colville in 1996, but as of 2020, there were less than 5,000 people in the entire town. So this is a very small place where abductions are not common.

What are the odds that a little girl goes missing in the same town where 18-year-old Israel Keys lived? Could Julie Harris have been his first kill? It seems pretty likely to me, but I was convinced even more so when I found out that another little girl went missing out of Colville the year after Julie Harris. In June of 1997, 12-year-old Cassie Emerson was reported missing after her mother's trailer burned to the ground by an arsonist.

The Colville Police Department found her mother's body inside, but there was no sign of Cassie. No one had any idea who was responsible, but they were sure it was the same person who killed Julie Harris. Cassie's remains would later be found in the woods right outside of Colville. So that means there are two possibilities here.

Either Israel Keyes didn't kill them and there was another serial killer living within Colville's 5,000 people or Israel Keyes killed them. When investigators questioned him about their murders, he denied ever killing them. But I don't think he's telling the truth. There's just too many coincidences. Israel spent most of his time in the woods where both of the girls' bodies were found. He's a known arsonist.

And he himself admitted that his first kill was before he went off to the army, which was around the time of their murders. And the most damning evidence of all is that before investigators even brought up the two girls from Colville, Israel admitted that his first arson experience was when he burned down a trailer when he was younger. And if that doesn't give you your answer, then I don't know what will.

Israel most likely lied about killing the two girls because he didn't want to be labeled as a child killer, especially since his own daughter was around their age at the time of his arrest. As you have seen throughout this story, Israel is very secretive about some of his kills.

When they get really brutal, he shies away from the details. He knows he's a monster, but admitting to it means that his crimes could eventually be exposed to the world. And like he said from the very beginning, he doesn't want his daughter to know about what he's done. Now, there was never enough evidence to link Israel to these crimes, so they're still considered unsolved. But many people believe...

that they were his first two victims. - And although Israel never admitted to those murders, he did admit to a sexual assault that took place around the same time. He tells investigators that when he was about 19, his family moved to Oregon for the summer and they often hung out at a beach along the Deschutes River.

Now, these beaches had little remote restrooms, and every time Israel would go, he would fantasize about bringing someone in there and killing them. And one day, he decided to bring a kit with him to the beach. The kit back then only included restraints, but it started at a young age.

That afternoon, Israel sat in the woods, waiting for the perfect victim to pass by. And it wouldn't take long to find her. A group of teenagers would eventually walk by, and a girl in the group was lagging behind. I just jumped out of the bushes and grabbed her.

Israel said the girl was white with dirty blonde hair, aged 14-18. He also said that this wasn't the first time he sexually assaulted someone, but it was the first time he took it to that level. He then continued his story.

After he got the girl in the bathroom, Israel says he tied her neck to the handicap bars using the rope he brought.

Then he shut the toilet, laid her down over it on her stomach, and raped her. Israel said that afterwards he wanted to kill her, but he changed his mind. When they asked him why, he said, She just, um, I think maybe she had had something like that happen before or had thought about what she would do in that situation. It seemed like she knew what to say and stuff.

But according to Israel, this girl was different.

Instead of showing fear, she was nice. She even told him, "You're a good looking guy. You don't need to do this. I would go out with someone like you." She continued to tell him that what he did to her wasn't that big of a deal and that she wouldn't tell anybody if he just let her go. And this was a huge turn off to Israel.

A big part of his thrill is seeing the fear in his victim's eyes. And to him, it wasn't even worth killing her if she wasn't scared. So he actually let her go and he even helped her push her tube down the river. But Israel said as soon as she floated away, he instantly regretted letting her go. He would later say that he thought about that girl for years and he always told himself, quote, "I should have killed her." - What's the name of the girl?

Oh, she told me her first name was Leah. Something else, yeah. Was that the first time you had sex with yourself with somebody? Depends what your definition is. Was that the first time you had sex with somebody against their will? No, but that was the first time I had something tied up, you know, like was ready to actually do that, yeah.

She wasn't the first person that you had sex with that wasn't a willing participant. What made this one because you tied her up? Oh, because I was gonna kill her. And she knew I was gonna kill her. She was talking to me and telling me, you know, saying, "Oh, you're a good-looking guy. Why are you, you know, you don't have to do this. I probably would have even gone out with you and all this stuff."

Things never got really violent like they could have if she had been fighting me or something. She was pretty smart. I mean, because it worked. I didn't

Shortly after the assault, Israel would join the army, where he was stationed in Egypt. After interviewing several of his army friends, investigators learned that he would often cross the border into Israel for some rest and relaxation. One evening, he and some other men were drinking and they decided to hire a prostitute and rent a hotel suite. Once the woman arrived, she and Israel went into a separate room.

But after about 30 minutes, the men recall the woman running out with a terrified look on her face. Israel comes out in a panic and quickly jumps in front of her, blocking the door. But the woman then kicks him as hard as she can and takes off running outside. The other men, after watching all of that unfold, are in shock, and they repeatedly ask him, What did you do to her? Why is she so scared? But Israel tries to play it off, and he tells them, No.

When Israel is questioned about the prostitute and his time overseas, he admits to being rough with her. He also says that that wasn't the only time he assaulted a girl in another country.

Around that same time, Israel met a young Norwegian exchange student in Tel Aviv, and the two hit it off. After spending some time together, she invited him to her dorm to hang out. Israel would later admit, I wouldn't say that was, like, an outright rape, because we were hanging out and stuff, and I was going to. I almost...

Well, I did lose control a little bit as things progressed. And that's when I realized that if I was going to do that kind of stuff, it had to be just complete strangers from then on. After the military, Israel moved to Washington with his girlfriend and started his family. And shortly after that, they break up and he starts his new life in Anchorage with his new girlfriend. And on the outside looking in, Israel was your typical all-American guy. He had a daughter, a good job, and a normal looking life.

But somehow, he was able to hide his dark side from everyone around him.

He was a family and businessman by day and a serial killer by night. When he was in the mood to kill, Israel would tell his family that he had a contracting job somewhere so he'd have to be gone for a couple of days.

Then he would rent a car and drive thousands and thousands of miles to find a victim and then satisfy his urge to kill. I may have gone to Eastern Washington, but it doesn't mean I went to see old friends. I don't have any old friends in Washington.

As investigators continue to look at Israel's timeline over the years, they also see he spent some time in Mexico in 2006 and 2007. There's no doubt in my mind that Israel assaulted people here too.

But from what they could find, according to his journal, the main reason Israel went to Mexico was for plastic surgery. On May 12th, 2006, he wrote about traveling to Mexico for surgery where he stayed in the hospital for two days. Then, on June 21st, 2006, he wrote, quote, Mexico for surgery follow-up.

Underneath was the surgeon's phone number. So the FBI calls and they find out that Israel got a lap band procedure, which is typically for weight loss.

Now, this was extremely odd considering Israel was 6'2" and really skinny. So why would he want to limit his food intake? Investigators also see that he went to Mexico again on April 29th, 2007 for another procedure. Now, it's not uncommon for serial killers to get plastic surgery to avoid detection.

But everyone was a little confused because Israel looked the exact same. So why was he spending all of this money on plastic surgery? Some investigators believe that he was trying to alter his body so that he wouldn't leave DNA behind at his crime scenes. Israel had mentioned before that he was confident in his kills. The only thing that scared him was leaving behind DNA through sweat.

There are many procedures out there that can limit the spread of your DNA. You can get your fingerprints surgically modified, you can have your sweat glands altered with botox, and your body hair can be lasered off.

All things that could prevent you from leaving behind DNA. As for the weight loss surgery, some investigators believe Israel got it because he wanted to be able to go as long as he could without eating. If he had just driven across state lines to kill someone and he had to stop by a McDonald's a few times along the way, then people would see his face

Now, this may be a little far-fetched, but it's hard to think of other reasons why this tall and skinny man would want weight loss surgery. And investigators couldn't help but wonder if Israel was trying to alter his body so that he could become the perfect serial killer.

On Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012, Israel was brought into an Alaskan federal courtroom. He was wearing a jumpsuit and his wrists and ankles were chained as he slowly made his way to the defense table. Some people in the courtroom that day said they could see Israel's eyes darting around the room, almost like he was plotting something. And he was. As soon as Israel turns to face the judge, he suddenly jolts away from the nearby officers and makes a run for the exit.

Within seconds, he's hurtled over the gallery railing and is jumping over chairs, dragging the guards behind him. Luckily, officers were able to tase him and bring him down, but he made it pretty far. Can you imagine if he would have escaped? Alaska wasn't used to dealing with such risky criminals, and from that point forward, they knew to always keep a close eye on Israel Keyes. And you may be wondering, how was Israel able to run if his feet were cuffed?

Well, one day, while FBI agents were interviewing him, they noticed he was making strange movements with his jaw. Knowing there was something in his mouth, the agents forced him to spit it out.

He hesitates, but eventually, he spits out a little piece of wood onto the table. The guards had been giving him pencils, and he was using the wood to pick his handcuffs. And before he went to court that day, Israel managed to unlock the shackles on his feet. Then, he used a plastic string that was wrapped around his sandwiches to tie his feet together and make it look like he was still bound.

Israel Keyes was smart and just like he did with his murders, he also meticulously planned out his escape that day. Luckily, he failed.

From that point forward, Israel had to be double shackled at the legs. He admitted that picking the lock took him about 3 hours. When they placed the double lock around his legs, Israel joked that this one would probably take him 6 hours. After that, he was no longer allowed to have pencils, all of his food had to be unwrapped for him and thrown away, and he wasn't allowed to wear shoes with laces, only slippers.

After his attempted escape, Israel was watched more closely, and by now the FBI is starting to get a little impatient. This is getting frustrating over the weeks and weeks and weeks. We are not moving forward because we've been kind of heading over backwards. I understand that you've got your schedule, you've got your deadline, you've got things you've got to get done, but honestly, that's of no concern to me.

Not only is he trying to run out of the courtrooms, but he is still being tight-lipped about his other murder victims. And after countless hours of digging through every possible lead they could find, they realized it would be nearly impossible to track down another victim without a confession from Israel himself. So they bring him in for another interview. And of course, his first question is, Do you have my execution date yet? To which they tell him,

No, but they had been successful so far in keeping his name out of the press. And investigators tell Israel that they are doing the best they can to hold their end of the deal. But with his escape attempt, it was becoming harder to give him what he wanted. The courts weren't going to play by his rules anymore with that kind of behavior. Realizing that they were probably right, Israel decides to give them more information.

and this time he would drop a bombshell. There are four bodies in Washington State, two on the east side and two on the west. The first two were together. I killed them sometime between July of 2001 to 2005. The other two were killed separately in either 2005 or 2006.

This admission was huge and the agents were eager to hear more. Israel went on to say that his ex's father had given him a boat years prior and after he killed two of the victims, he dropped their bodies down into Lake Crescent. He chose that lake because it was one of the deepest in the entire state, but he wouldn't go into any more detail about the victims besides the fact that one of them was a male and the other three were female. Now, the FBI agents start to get the idea that Israel was lying to them.

They thought this because he knew every single detail of every one of his crimes. But for his Washington state victims, he gave them a five-year window of when he could have killed them. Maybe he was lying about the details because he didn't want them found. Either way, the FBI did a little digging and they found a story that could possibly be linked to Israel Keyes. You probably already know this by now, but Israel had an affinity for national forests. It's where he grew up.

where he buried his kill kits, and where he looked for potential victims. And investigators suspect that that's exactly what he was doing on July 11, 2006 in Washington State. That summer day, 56-year-old Mary Cooper and her daughter, 27-year-old Susanna Stauden, went on a hike at the Pinnacle Lake Trail in the National Forest. While there,

They came across two other people, a husband and wife, and although they didn't know each other, the four of them walked the trail together, making friendly conversation along the way. Now, eventually, the four of them reached a crossroads. Mary and Susanna decided to turn left, and the husband and wife took a right. Not long after, the wife hears a loud noise in the distance, but she doesn't think much of it and they continue on.

Hours later, however, along the trail, the husband and wife find Mary and Susanna slumped over dead. Both were shot with a .22 caliber gun, the same gun Israel liked to use. Their case ended up making national headlines. It's not every day when a mother and daughter are murdered in broad daylight while hiking, and their case would never be solved.

But through cell phone records, the FBI was able to place Israel near the park that day. His cell phone pinged near the towers from 3 am to 5 pm on the day that they were killed. But interestingly enough, at 1 pm, during the time that they were murdered, Israel's phone was turned off. Had Israel been hunting people in the woods?

like he had when he was a teenager? Investigators weren't ever able to prove it, but it seems pretty likely.

So, Mary and Susanna were two possible victims in Washington state, but we weren't able to find out whether or not the FBI found the other two of the four. But according to Israel himself, he said that he dumped two bodies at the bottom of Lake Crescent. Now, with the conditions of that lake, the bodies would still be in good shape, but unfortunately, the FBI decided that it would be too much money to search it.

So I guess we'll never know if his other two Washington state victims are down there. But another location investigators were interested in was New York. Israel had spent a lot of time there throughout his life and they were sure he had some victims there too. But when they ask him about it, Israel doesn't want to talk about murder. Instead, he wants to talk about his kill kit.

in New York. "Bring me a map," he tells investigators. Once they place the map in front of him, Israel points to the Blake Falls Reservoir. There, you're going to find two big rocks leaning against one another. They form a triangle. Underneath that slab is an orange Home Depot bucket, and it's well hidden. It's got a bunch of brush and other rocks and moss and stuff piled and packed in around it. And what do you know?

When authorities were sent out to the location, they find the kill kit. Inside the 5 gallon bucket was a .22 caliber gun, empty magazines, ammunition, and a silencer. We will be posting pictures of this kill kit on our Instagram and they are so creepy so make sure to go and check those out but although authorities were grateful for this admission about the location of the kill kit, they still needed more.

With each passing day, they were losing credibility with the public and with Israel himself. Up until now, they were able to keep his name out of the papers, but without another confession, they can't make any promises. So Israel decides to give the authorities a little more information, but first he has a request.

Do I get a cigar today? It'll help. I can give you something on... I'm not going to give you a body yet, and I'm not going to talk about anything that happened on that trip, but I will give you something that can verify the timeline of what I'm talking about. Like always, they bring Israel a cigar. Satisfied with his trade, Israel lights it up and takes a long, deep inhale before he starts.

The agents quickly do a Google search and they find that the bank robbery was on April 21st, 2009. Israel then tells them that he dug up the kill kit from Vermont.

and he used one of those guns during the robbery. I walked through the door and there were a lot of people holding the gun out, but then I already had the note and I was like, this doesn't make sense, I've already got the gun out. There's literally a picture where you've got note in one hand and gun in the other. And then Israel tells them that that's all he had for them. End of story. But the agents weren't very impressed. And they tell him, quote, if you want your name out of the media, you're going to have to give us more than that.

We want a body. To which he responds, Well, like I say, there are more things I could talk about in New York, but I'm not going to give any specifics right now. Losing his patience, they remind him that they can't protect his family for much longer. Israel sits in silence for a good four minutes before saying, There's one in New York. Finally, now they have something to work with.

They try to ask him more questions about the victim like if their disappearance made the news, to which Israel nods his head. He also admits that he buried their body somewhere, but he refuses to give up any more information about the victim in New York. If they wanted to find it, they were going to have to search for it themselves, and the search would take months.

It was October when investigators finally found a missing person that seemed to align with Israel's New York trip Her name was Deborah Feldman She was a 49-year-old sex worker living in New Jersey Deborah also had a drug addiction and she was last seen on April 8th, 2008 When authorities showed Israel her picture, he had a weird reaction

almost like he was shocked that they had discovered who she was. Investigators also found Debra's name and Google search on his computer, but when they asked him about it, Israel once again refuses to talk. Do you know this person? That's... I... I don't know where this person is. Her name was on your computer. Yeah, I don't... I don't understand.

You don't understand why the name was on my computer? Well, put it this way. There's a lot of names on my computer. Well, just explain so we're not sitting here wondering. No, I'm not. I'm not. No, I'm not going to talk about what's on my computer. With Deborah, New Jersey FBI is asking questions, basically, because it fits. It fits. The date fits. The place fits. A number of things fit. And the fact that she's on your computer. Um...

Now, although Deborah's remains were never found, the FBI is confident that Israel Keyes was responsible for her murder. But like with all the other cases, they were just never able to prove it. Now, we have discussed a number of murders and disappearances that are likely linked to Israel Keyes. And you can find a lot more suspected victims on online forums and subreddits.

But the last one we are going to discuss before this story comes to a tragic end is the Boca Raton murders in Florida.

On August 7th, 2007, a woman and her two-year-old son walked out of the Nordstrom's exit at the Boca Raton mall after spending a few hours shopping. As they walked to their car, the mom unlocked her black SUV and opened the trunk. She didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as she strapped her toddler into his car seat. But as she walked to the back to put her bags away, she suddenly heard her son scream.

When she looked up, there was a man in sunglasses and a military-style green hat sitting next to her son holding a gun. And he tells her,

Get in the car. And with a gun pointed at her son's head, she listens. Next, the man orders her to drive to an ATM, and he tells her that if she cooperates, he will take them back to the mall. The man ended up forcing her to drive to four separate ATMs, withdrawing $200 every time until she reached her daily limit. Sound familiar? He then orders her to pull into a parking lot, where he forces her into the back seat.

The woman thought that she was for sure about to be killed, but instead, he pulled out some zip ties. First, he ties her ankles together, then her wrists, and lastly, he ties her neck to the headrest. And he wanted to make sure she wouldn't be able to see him, so he duct tapes goggles around her eyes.

Now, the zip tie around her neck was very tight, so she began to choke. And to her surprise, the man loosens it and says, Is that better? The man then gets into the driver's seat and takes off down the road. The mother, whose identity has never been revealed, sees a knife in the abductor's possession. And she begins to panic. Please don't kill me, she begs. And he assures her he won't.

At this point, the 2 year old starts to cry after he drops his bottle and because his mom's hands were zip tied, she couldn't grab it. But strangely enough, the abductor reaches back, grabs the bottle, and hands it to the baby. Like we've seen in many of Israel's cases, this guy would randomly be nice.

Now, it doesn't seem like a lot of time has passed, but they were in the car for four whole hours. And the kidnapper kept going back and forth on whether or not he wanted to let them go. At some points, he would say, "I need to put another zip tie around your neck." And then in the next moment, he was promising to take them back to the mall. It was an agonizing four hours for the mom and her baby, and she wasn't sure they were going to make it out alive.

But eventually, her captor tells her, "I'm going to let you call someone. You can say your truck broke down and they need to come get you. Who do you want me to call?" Relieved, she gave him the number of her son's father. He types it in on her phone, and when he answers, she calmly tells him, "My truck's broken down. Please come and get me." Shortly after, the man drives back into the mall's parking lot.

He then parks the car, grabs her ID and says: "Now when the police come, I want you to tell them I am short, fat and black. If I see anything on the news with my face or my picture, my description, I will come after you." But now that the goggles were off her face, she was able to get a good look at her kidnapper and he was definitely not short, fat and black.

This man was white, tall and skinny, with long wavy brown hair, just like Israel Keys. And surprisingly, when she went to authorities, they didn't believe her. They even asked her to take a lie detector test because they didn't find her story believable. But soon enough, the authorities would have to eat their words.

Because 5 months earlier, they remembered a similar crime. That incident happened in March of 2007 with a woman named Randy Gorenberg. Like the other woman, she too was abducted from the Boca Raton mall and their cases had a lot of similarities. Randy was also driving a black SUV with tinted windows.

She was taken from the same garage at the same time of day around 1:15pm. But Randy's fate ended a lot differently. About 40 minutes after her abduction, a call came in to 911. The man on the line said that he had just witnessed a man push a woman out of the passenger seat then drive away. He then walks up to the woman who was laying on the ground and he tells dispatch,

Randy Gorenberg was a 52-year-old mother of two living in Palm Beach. She was a kind woman who didn't have any enemies.

and authorities marked her murder up to be a robbery gone wrong because the man stole her handbag. But because DNA wasn't left at the scene, her case went cold. It wasn't until the second kidnapping with the mother and her toddler when authorities came to the conclusion that the same person was responsible for both.

And sadly, that wouldn't be his last kidnapping at the Boca Raton mall. Months later, on December 12th, 2007, the mall security was in the parking lot around midnight doing their typical drive around. By that point, the mall had been closed for hours so most of the cars in the lot were gone. But there was one car up ahead that caught his attention. It was a black SUV that was still running.

But there didn't appear to be any movement inside. When the security guard pulled up to the vehicle, he was horrified.

Inside were the bodies of 47-year-old Nancy Bocchicchio and her 7-year-old daughter, Joey. And just like with the previous kidnapping, Nancy's arms and wrists were bound with zip ties and her neck was tied to the headrest. She also had goggles over her eyes. Her daughter, Joey, was tied up as well. Both of them died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Nancy had also stopped at multiple ATMs before her murder. Authorities were now positive that the same man was responsible for each of the attacks. Both Nancy and Joey left the mall out of the same door that Randy Gorenberg exited from.

All three were driving a black SUV. Nancy was forced to withdraw money from the same ATM as the previous mother and the attacker used the same zip ties, duct tape, goggles, and gun in the attacks. And investigators were sure that whoever was responsible was no amateur. The killer was smart and he never left any DNA at the scenes.

And because of this, their cases went cold for years. The killer was named the Boga serial killer and his identity to this day remains a mystery. Now, investigators were never able to find any proof that Israel was even in Florida at the time, but he did spend some time there over the years. And if the Boga serial killer isn't Israel Keyes, then they sure do have a lot in common.

Their similarities include kidnapping people from a public place in broad daylight, the use of ATMs, zip ties, duct tape, and using the victims' cars to escape. Israel was also known to tie up his female victims around their neck.

just like the women in Boca. And although Israel always claimed that he never hurt children, no one in the FBI ever believed him. Around 2009, Israel's crimes started happening more frequently and it was getting harder and harder for him to control his urges. And this is also where he starts getting a little sloppy.

Instead of driving thousands of miles to find his victims, he wants to kill a little closer to home. Before the murder of Samantha, Israel claims that he was near Earthquake Park in Anchorage when he saw a couple walking. Upon seeing them, Israel decided he was going to kill them. But suddenly, right as he was about to strike, cops pulled into the parking lot. So he had to ditch his plan.

And then February of 2012 came around and Israel's urges were stronger than ever. That's when he decided to kidnap and murder Samantha Koenig, the crime that ultimately led to his downfall. Now, at this point in our story, Israel is done talking with investigators. His name has slowly started to leak in the media. His family started to get threats from people and he and the FBI's deal was slowly starting to dissipate. And Israel was angry.

Investigators always knew that he was at risk for suicide considering how badly he wanted an execution date After he tried to escape from jail earlier that year, authorities searched his cell phone and found a letter he had written to one of his brothers In the letter, there was a line that said "They can't convict a dead man" They also found a homemade noose Israel had made from his bedsheets and he constantly made threats about how he would find a way to kill himself if the government wouldn't speed up his execution

Because of this, Israel was supposed to be on suicide watch, but all that they really did was put a sign on his cell that read, Do not give this man a razor blade. No other safeguards were put into place, something that authorities would later go on to regret. Shortly after 7 p.m. on December 1st, 2012...

12. Israel can be seen going into the prison's library for about two hours. Then, he's escorted back to his cell. The prison guard on duty did all of his walkthroughs throughout the night. But the next morning, when he walked by Israel's cell, he noticed blood pooling on the ground beneath his bed. It looked like he was sleeping.

But when he called out Israel's name, he was met with silence. The guard quickly barged into his cell and pulled back his blanket. There, he found Israel Keyes lying on his stomach, his head was turned to the right, and his arms were folded underneath his chest. His body and the bedding were covered in blood.

Israel Keyes had died by suicide using a razor blade in a homemade noose. By the time paramedics arrived, he was stiff and all of his coloring was completely gone. Based on his state of rigor mortis, they estimate he killed himself sometime between 10.12 and 10.24 p.m. the night before. Underneath his body, they find a small razor blade attached to the end of a pencil for leverage.

He had used it to cut open his left wrist. Attached to his foot,

was a bed sheet that had been tied into a noose. He put the other end of it around his neck. And as he started to lose consciousness from the blood loss, his elevated foot would fall and strangle him in the process. He wanted to make sure the job was done, and he succeeded. The paramedics also find two cups and two milk cartons full of blood. They also find a blood-stained suicide note.

To everyone's disappointment, Israel's rambling suicide note didn't give investigators the answers they were wanting. They had hoped he would reveal more of his victims, maybe give them a location as to where their bodies were. But throughout this entire story, Israel Keyes loved control. He loved being one step ahead. And even in death, he's still able to victimize the people around him.

He did leave some clues, however. In his cell, underneath his bed, Israel drew a picture of Baphomet and then 11 different skulls of all different sizes. Each of the skulls had been illustrated

with Israel's own blood. Investigators believe that this could have been Israel's way of letting them know that he had 11 different victims. Some of the skulls were a lot smaller than others, possibly indicating that some of his victims were children. We aren't really sure, but underneath one of the skulls, written in blood, read, We are one. And the last clue, written in

Once again, Israel's own blood was a word, Belize, which would be one of the many clues that we still to this day don't quite understand. After Israel's suicide, investigators no longer had to keep their end of the deal of keeping his name out of the media. And when word got out about his sick and twisted crimes, many people came forward claiming that they too were almost victims of Israel Keyes.

Some people said he followed them on hiking trails. Others said he followed them for miles in his car. It's likely that there are hundreds of other people in the US that were potential victims of Israel Keyes and you never even know it. If you're listening to this right now,

You yourself could have crossed his path if you were alive from 1997 to 2012. He was all over the US during that time. I was 15 years old when Israel Keyes was driving around my area in Houston, Texas. And something to think about, there are currently over half a million missing persons in the US, and a number of those victims are Israel Keyes'

Although he only drew 11 skulls, the FBI believed that his victim count could be a lot higher, even possibly in the triple digits. If someone you know went missing in America from 1997 to 2012, there's a possibility that they too could have been victimized by Israel Keyes. The scariest thing of all is that he didn't have a preferred victim type.

Age, gender, size, wealth, none of that mattered. Each and every one of his victims just happened to cross his path at the wrong place and the wrong time.

For 15 years he roamed all over the country, using innocent people as a pawn in his sick little game. And the extent of his depravity will forever be a mystery because like Israel told investigators from the very beginning, you will never find his victims unless he tells you where they are.

And now he can't. The potential of finding his victims died with him that day in 2012. And before we wrap this story up, I want to pose another question. If Israel Keyes was capable of all of this, then how many other Israel Keyes' are there out in the world? People who have clean records, who know how to make people disappear without ever raising any suspicion.

According to the FBI, stranger abductions are rare, but what if they're not? What if there's just a lot of people who know how to get away with it, just like Israel Keyes? It's a scary thought, and it's even scarier that we will never have those answers unless those people are caught and brought to justice.

Hey everybody, it's Colin here. So this week has been a doozy. I actually haven't seen Courtney for over, well, almost over a week right now. I saw her last, last Friday. It's crazy how fast time flies. I've been filming every single night this last week for my YouTube channel, the paranormal files. I'm actually recording this outro from a haunted hotel room here in Kansas. It's crazy. It's thunderstorming out. It's been a long week, but I'm

I want to shout out all of our new patrons. Thank you everybody who has joined in the last week. We offer ad-free versions of all of our episodes on Patreon as soon as they drop on all streaming platforms every week, but we're going to shout out everybody on Patreon who joined next week when we have a longer outro for now. I'm trying to get this out to y'all and we are so thankful to have everybody out there listening. Thank you again and have a great Friday the 13th, everybody. The dead don't talk or do they?

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