Chilling details released in Alaska barista's killing (2024)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A security video showing the abduction of an Alaska barista is unnerving on its own, but it only hints at the horror ahead for the 18-year-old woman.

Samantha Koenig would soon be sexually assaulted and strangled after she was kidnapped from an Anchorage coffee stand, her body left in a shed for two weeks while her killer went on a cruise. After he returned, Israel Keyes photographed Koenig for a ransom note and then dismembered her body.

Those details were released by the FBI on Tuesday, two days after Keyes was found dead in his Anchorage jail cell in an apparent suicide. It's the most comprehensive account yet of a crime at the hands of a man who confessed to the slaying and told authorities he killed at least seven other people across the country over the past decade.

Serial killer found dead in Alaska jail cell, officials say

"These details are being provided both to fully explain the courage and resolve Samantha displayed in the final hours of her life, as well as in the hopes that the release of additional details will help investigations of other murders committed by Israel Keyes," the FBI said in a statement.

Once home from his trip, Keyes posed Koenig's body to make it appear she was still alive and took a Polaroid photo of her tied up, along with a newspaper dated Feb. 13 — 12 days after the abduction from a coffee stand, according to the FBI. Keyes later typed a ransom note demanding $30,000 from Koenig's family on the back of a photocopy of the photo and sent a text message to the woman's boyfriend on her cellphone with directions where he'd left the note at a local dog park.

Keyes dismembered Koenig's body and disposed of the remains in a frozen lake north of Anchorage after he cut a hole in the ice with a chain saw, authorities said.

Keyes, 34, was arrested in March in Texas, after using Koenig's stolen debit card at ATMs there and in Alaska, Arizona and New Mexico. He was facing a March trial in Koenig's death.

After his arrest, Keyes confessed to killing Koenig and at least seven other people. His other known victims were Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, Vt., who disappeared in June 2011. Keyes told authorities he also sexually assaulted and strangled Lorraine Currier.

Father of abducted barista, 18, pleads for her return

The couple's bodies have not been found.

Keyes did not identify the other victims or say where their remains were, other than that four were killed in Washington state and one was killed on the East Coast with the body disposed of in New York. Keyes had lived in Washington state and had property in upstate New York.

He told one of the lead FBI investigators in the case that his first victim was a teenage girl in Oregon that he sexually assaulted but did not kill, the Anchorage Daily News reported. FBI special agent Jolene Goeden told the newspaper that Keyes admitted that he was a teen at the time and that "he had the intention, he said, of killing her but but did not. And he did let her go."

Surveillance video

Also Tuesday, authorities released video footage of Keyes abducting Koenig, caught by a surveillance camera. Another video sequence shows him returning for Koenig's cellphone late that night, leaving Koenig bound in his truck, followed four minutes later by a man identified by the FBI as Koenig's boyfriend, who was looking for her. Keyes would use the cellphone to send text messages to the boyfriend and coffee stand owner that purported to be from Koenig saying she had a bad day and was leaving town for the weekend.

In the first video sequence, Keyes walks up to the small coffee stand and orders an Americano coffee, which Koenig makes. He then pulls out a gun and Koenig is then seen putting her hands up several times. At some point, Keyes makes her turn off the light. The light switch was close to a panic button, but Koenig never pushed it, probably because she was too afraid, police said.

Keyes then climbs into the kiosk and, police said, used zip ties to bind Koenig's hands behind her back before leading her out. He told Koenig he would let her go if her family paid a ransom, but that was never his intention, police said.

Body in icy lake is missing Alaska barista, police say

"He knew all along he was going to kill her," Anchorage homicide Detective Monique Doll said.

Police said Keyes removed the battery from Koenig's cellphone to avoid being tracked.

Koenig's body was recovered from the lake in April after Keyes told authorities of its location.

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Chilling details released in Alaska barista's killing (2024)

FAQs

Chilling details released in Alaska barista's killing? ›

Samantha Koenig would soon be sexually assaulted and strangled after she was kidnapped from an Anchorage coffee stand, her body left in a shed for two weeks while her killer went on a cruise. After he returned, Israel Keyes photographed Koenig for a ransom note and then dismembered her body.

What was found in Israel Keyes' car? ›

Koenig's ATM card and cell phone were also discovered in Keyes's car. Keyes was subsequently extradited to Alaska, where he confessed to the Koenig murder. He was represented by the Rich Curtner, Federal Public Defender for Alaska. Keyes was indicted in the case, and his trial was scheduled to begin in March 2013.

Was there a serial killer in Alaska? ›

Robert Christian Boes Hansen (February 15, 1939 – August 21, 2014), popularly known as the Butcher Baker, was an American serial killer active in Anchorage, Alaska, between 1972 and 1983.

Who was the girl abducted from the coffee shop in Alaska? ›

On the morning of Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, 18-year-old Samantha Koenig was reported missing from her workplace — a small roadside coffee kiosk she had worked the night before, alone, in Anchorage, Alaska. Her disappearance rocked the city. The FBI joined local police in the search, yet weeks went by with no leads.

How tall was Israel Keyes? ›

In 2012, Israel Keyes was 34 years old and described as 6'2” tall and 190 pounds.

Which serial killer appeared on the dating game in 1978? ›

Rodney Alcala was an American serial killer whose good looks and high IQ helped him lure victims. His 1978 appearance on the television show 'The Dating Game' resulted in his nickname of "The Dating Game Killer."

What is the most committed crime in Alaska? ›

The most commonly reported crime in Alaska is aggravated assault. Twenty-one percent of Alaska's crime rate is reported violent crime.

Who was the worst serial killer? ›

7 of History's Most Notorious Serial Killers
  • Jack the Ripper. We call him “Jack the Ripper,” but we don't really know who the person behind one of the older and most notorious murder sprees was. ...
  • Jeffrey Dahmer. ...
  • Harold Shipman. ...
  • John Wayne Gacy. ...
  • H.H. Holmes. ...
  • Pedro Lopez. ...
  • Ted Bundy.

What state has had the most serial killers? ›

New York is the state with the most serial killers, with a total of 18 serial killers born in the state. California comes in as the second state with the most serial killers, with 15, followed by Texas with 8, and Illinois and Ohio with 7 each.

Who was the serial killer in Alaska coffee shop? ›

Keyes was arrested on March 13, 2012, in Lufkin, Texas, in connection with Koenig's disappearance from the Anchorage coffee stand where she worked. About four weeks earlier, he confessed to burning down a house in Aledo, Texas, and robbing a bank in Azle, Texas, according to the new details released by investigators.

What is the show about missing girls in Alaska? ›

'Alaska Daily' star Grace Dove proud to bring topic of missing indigenous women to TV. Grace Dove on the ABC drama "Alaska Daily" plays an investigative journalist who examines the real-life crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women.

How were Israel keyes caught? ›

How did Keyes get caught? Keyes was arrested in 2012 when authorities were investigating the disappearance of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig from Anchorage, Alaska. Keyes posted a ransom note and used Koenig's ATM card, which led police to Lufkin, Texas, where he was arrested.

How did they find Samantha Koenig? ›

Mew said a team of forensic divers discovered the body believed to be Samantha in the lake. The state medical examiner will conduct an autopsy and determine the official identity. Mew added that investigators believe Koenig died "within hours" of her Feb. 1 abduction.

Who was the Redding shopping cart serial killer? ›

Next to their bodies there was also an abandoned shopping cart. Later that day, Nov. 23, 2021, police arrested Anthony Robinson, 37, a factory and waste-removal worker, on charges of first-degree murder and other crimes in connection with the deaths of Redmon and Smith.

Where did they find Samuel Little? ›

Little was arrested on September 5, 2012, at a homeless shelter in Louisville, Kentucky, and extradited to California to face a narcotics charge, after which authorities used DNA testing to establish that he was involved in the murders of Linda Alford, killed on July 13, 1987; Guadalupe Duarte Apodaca, killed on ...

What happened to Bill and Lorraine Currier? ›

After discovering Bill had altered his plans, Keyes told investigators he “lost control” and struck him with a shovel repeatedly before taking out a gun and fatally shooting him multiple times. Keyes returned to the bedroom where he cut Lorraine's clothes with a knife and raped her twice.

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