Israel Keyes (January 7, 1978 – December 2, 2012) was an American serial killer, bank robber, burglar, arsonist, kidnapper, and sex offender.
Evidence in his jail cell led the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to suspect that Keyes murdered eleven people.
[7] Isolated from society, the family lived in a one-room cabin without electricity or running water on Rocky Creek Road.
[8] In Colville, the family attended services at a church called the Ark, which subscribed to white supremacist Christian Identity ideology.
[12] For years, some of the Keyes children were forced to sleep in a tent due to their cabin's small size and made to hunt their food, chop firewood, and work on local farms to support the family.
"[12] As a youth, Keyes—who stood 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall by age 14—admitted to shooting at neighbors' houses with his BB gun and starting fires in the woods.
[5] Around this time, Keyes kept a journal including Biblical quotations, documenting daily sins for which he felt shame, such as lusting after his girlfriend.
Due to their mother's religious zealousness, the Keyes children were forced to hide from their parents to watch movies with friends and were forbidden to learn musical instruments.
[9] In the summer of 1997 or 1998, Keyes sexually assaulted a teenage girl who had been tubing with her friends down the Deschutes River in Maupin, Oregon.
[22] Keyes was also a fan of the hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse and displayed posters of the musical act in the barracks.
[19] For a period, Keyes had lived in the Makah Reservation community of Neah Bay, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.
[7][25] He was generally regarded as a skilled and trustworthy worker, but several female customers reported Keyes exhibited brief facial expressions or dark moods that made them uncomfortable.
Keyes targeted random people all across the United States to avoid detection, planning for months before he committed a particular crime.
However, he was not definitively linked to these crimes and some of the victim identities are uncertain: A search of Keyes's residence found dozens of books about murders, both fiction and non-fiction.
Keyes re-read Dean Koontz's 1995 thriller Intensity on several occasions and closely identified with the serial killer antagonist.
[46] Keyes called Dennis Rader a "wimp" for apologizing in court and showing remorse for his crimes,[15] but expressed admiration for serial killers "that haven't been caught.
"[48] When FBI agents informed him of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting he inquired as to the status of the shooter and had expressed mild interest in the perpetrator, James Holmes.
Keyes came to their attention when law enforcement officers were monitoring hotel parking lots for out-of-state rental cars matching the police bulletin.
Officers stopped Keyes after he drove slightly over the speed limit[20] and searched his vehicle after they noticed cash stained with bright ink, indicating a dye pack from a bank robbery.
Keyes was subsequently extradited to Alaska, where he initially claimed Koenig's ATM card and phone came into his possession after someone tossed the items in his open car window.
Keyes said he wanted to avoid publicity due to the negative attention his young daughter and family might face, but largely stopped cooperating after his identity was discussed in the media.
Maureen Callahan reports part of Keyes's FBI file was not released due to claimed national security concerns.
[20] Callahan notes his military experience and documented interest in explosives, and speculates he may have had known or suspected ties to violent extremist groups.
[citation needed] While being held in jail at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, Keyes managed to conceal a razor blade in his cell.
[56] In 2020, the FBI released the drawings of eleven skulls and one pentagram, which had been drawn in blood and found underneath Keyes's bed after his suicide.