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.

More content from NBCNews.com:

  • Disability-compensation claims for veterans lag as 'VA backlog' worsens
  • One month later, GOP finds plenty to blame for election loss
  • More than 20,000 students to miss school as teachers in Chicago suburb strike
  • 'You killed Jesus' scrawled on Hanukkah menorah
  • Video: Friend goes to get beer, finds kittens in freezer
  • Witnesses: Man pushed to his death on NYC subway tracks after argument

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

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

FAQs

How was Robert Hansen caught? ›

A break for law enforcement came in 1983, when a teenage sex worker, Cindy Paulson, who was abducted by Hansen, escaped as he loaded his plane. Paulson led authorities to Hansen, who was arrested.

Was there a serial killer in Alaska? ›

Edward Krause, Alaska's first known serial killer, is said to be responsible for the deaths of at least ten men between 1912 and 1915, killing them for their real estate holdings and bank balances. His true identity was Edward Klompke, a U.S. Army deserter.

Did Israel Keyes have children? ›

Daughter. In 2000, Keyes became involved with a woman living on the Washington Makah Reservation. The next year, their daughter, whose name hasn't been made public, was born. In July 2001, Keyes went to live with the mother of his child after being honorably discharged from the Army.

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

Israel Keyes abducted Samantha Koenig from the Common Grounds coffee stand on Tudor Road in Anchorage, Alaska on February 1, 2012 and took her against her will to his white pickup truck that was parked across the street.

Who was the worst spy in US history? ›

Robert Hanssen
Criminal charge(s)18 U.S.C. § 794(a) and 794(c) (Espionage Act)
Criminal penalty15 consecutive life sentences without parole
SpouseBernadette "Bonnie" Wauck ​ ​ ( m. 1968)​
Children6
12 more rows

What is the most committed crime in Alaska? ›

The vast majority of violent crimes reported in Alaska in 2020 — 69% — were aggravated assault.

Who is Alaska's most prolific serial killer? ›

I saw this movie a couple of years ago called Frozen Ground. It is based on the true story of Alaska's most prolific serial killer Robert Hansen. It is also chronicles how one Alaskan state trooper named Glenn Flothe who is now retired, relentlessly pursued Robert Hansen.

What state has the most serial killer murders? ›

California

How many victims did Keyes have? ›

Evidence left behind in his jail cell—including a suicide note, drawings of eleven skulls, a drawing of Baphomet, and an inscription of "Corozal" on the cell's wall (all written or otherwise stained with Keyes' blood)—led the FBI to suspect Keyes murdered at least eleven victims in total.

How tall was Israel Keyes? ›

Lufkin, Texas

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

Is there a movie on Israel Keyes? ›

What did Israel Keyes do to Samantha? ›

It was all a lie. Instead, Keyes drove Samantha to his home, chained her up in his shed, and sexually assaulted her. Keyes then strangled her to death. Keyes' family, the FBI later determined, knew nothing about the horrors that had just taken place.

Who is the missing woman show in Alaska? ›

Grace Dove on the ABC drama "Alaska Daily" plays an investigative journalist who examines the real-life crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women.

Who was the Alaska cabin serial killer? ›

Robert Hansen

When was Hansen convicted? ›

In February 1984, Hansen agreed to plead guilty to the four murders and several other felony crimes. Hansen eventually admitted to murdering a total of 17 women and accompanied investigators on a helicopter flight where he pointed out the grave sites.

What kind of DNA testing was used in investigating the Green River Killer case? ›

Gary Ridgway, who terrorized women. In 2001, a one-two technological punch brought the case back to life. Forensic investigators decided to re-examine evidence compiled years before with the help of two new modes of DNA analysis: the polymerase chain reaction (P.C.R.) test and the short tandem repeat (S.T.R.)

Who is the killer in Frozen Ground? ›

Based on the crimes of the real-life Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen, the film depicts an Alaskan State Trooper seeking to apprehend Hansen by partnering with a young woman who escaped from Hansen's clutches.

What happened to the butcher Baker's wife? ›

It was not too surprising then that, after many years, Bob and Darla ended up living separate lives. Darla had her own income source, from tutoring learning disabled children. She paid the house expenses, she took care of their two children. Summer vacations saw her and the kids going to Arkansas, where she had family.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Allyn Kozey

Last Updated:

Views: 5271

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (63 voted)

Reviews: 86% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Allyn Kozey

Birthday: 1993-12-21

Address: Suite 454 40343 Larson Union, Port Melia, TX 16164

Phone: +2456904400762

Job: Investor Administrator

Hobby: Sketching, Puzzles, Pet, Mountaineering, Skydiving, Dowsing, Sports

Introduction: My name is Allyn Kozey, I am a outstanding, colorful, adventurous, encouraging, zealous, tender, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.