May 20, 2025 • 32 mins
Israel made one of his murder victims appear alive in order to get ransom money.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hudson River Radio dot Com. I'm Linda Zimmerman, I'm Brian Harrowitz,
and this is Murder in the Hudson Valley on Hudson
River Radio dot Com. And welcome. I am indeed Linda Zimmerman,
and you are Brian Harrowy.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I am not. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
No you are not.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Oh no, you are not Linda Zimerman and I am
not Brian Horowitz. So you have an ambush for me
this season?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I do, I do? All right. I ran the name
by you to see if you had heard, and you hadn't.
We are going to be talking about Israel Keys, someone
you have not heard of, which I'm kind of surprised
with your background.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, let's see what the story is. Maybe I'm just
not connecting the name with the murder, okay for murderers.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, this one is going to take us all around
the country. So, oh, you're gonna have to pack for
twenty and eighty degree weather. Get ready for this. There
you go. Israel Keys. He was originally from Utah, born
in nineteen seventy eight, he was the second of ten children.
(01:09):
His parents were active in the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Saints, as is the entire state.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Of Utah Many. His father was even a missionary in
Germany for a time, so they were heavily involved in
the church. They wound up leaving the church and they
moved to a remote part of Washington State, north of
the city of Colville in Stephens County. When Israel was five,
(01:38):
they lived in isolation in a one room cabin without
electricity or running water, with the ten children. With ten children. Oh,
remember this is nineteen eighty three, not eighteen eighty three.
No electricity, no water at all. Yes, yeah, by choice,
by choice. Yeah, you would think so. While in Colville,
(02:01):
the family began to began to attend a different church
called the ARK, which Israel would later describe as an
Amish type environment. In reality, the ARC was a white
supremacist organization, so they didn't. Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
The family became friends with a guy named Chevy Kehoe,
who was later convicted of a triple murder in nineteen
ninety six. So they're associating with top quality people.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So we have keys and keiho.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
They also attended a different church, the Christian Israel Covenant Church,
which preached British Israelism. I had never heard of this before,
informed me, Yeah, what is British Israelism is a bad crap,
crazy idea that the British were descendants of the ancient
(02:56):
lost tribes of Israel. That's Israel and wound up in Britain.
Absolutely no proof, nothing to back that up. But this
is what they believe. And they also believe that mixed
race marriages were unacceptable.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Great with that whole white supremacist.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, yeah, let's take care of fellow man. Not so
much so. The Keys family would make some of the
ten children sleep outside in a tent because their cabin
was too small to fit everybody in Washington in the wind,
Washington in the winter. Yep, yep. The children also had
to hunt for their own food. They had to work
(03:37):
on nearby farms to help support the family. As I
don't know, I guess you do. What can I say? Also,
around this time, Israel became a crazy hunter killing, in
his words, quote anything with a heartbeat we have.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Oh okay, we.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Have discussed many times before, animal cruelty, torture of animals.
That kind of stuf is. One of the giantessts of
red flags that you can come across.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Is that a word, giant, Tista.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I am making up words to make my point. You
don't not forget this. Israel admitted that he skinned a
deer alive. He began to creep out the other white supremacists,
some of whom decided not to associate with him. Wow, okay,
giant white flag with red in it. I guess I
(04:29):
don't know when white supremacists say you're a little too
nuts for me.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Right, So Israel was a bad kid. This is not
a shocker. He was over six feet tall by age fourteen,
so he was intimidating to a lot of people. He
was a big kid. He shot up the neighbor's house
with a bb gun. He started fires in the woods.
He would break into houses along with a friend and
(04:56):
stole guns, which he would then turn around and sell.
Even that friend with whom he was breaking into houses
and selling guns, got creeped out and stopped hanging out
with him. Wow. Israel tied up and tortured a cat
in front of family friends, causing one of them to vomit,
which Israel found amusing. He thought it was funny.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Why didn't anybody stop this kid?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah? Well his mother now now, Later on said that
she noticed, quote, some troubling signs about Israel. Do you
think what was her first clue? Yeah? What was the
ninth clue? Maybe fifteenth clue? Maybe as a mom, you
kind of stepped in it by joining a white supremacist organization,
(05:42):
two of them actually. Israel himself realized that he was
different from the other kids a little bit, so he
made an effort to keep his anti social behavior to himself.
He would later say, as a quote from Israel, I've
known since I was fourteen that there were things that
(06:02):
I thought were normal and that were okay, that nobody
else seemed to think were normal. And okay, Well that's true,
all right, all right? He got that part right. By
the time he was a teenager, we're talking nineteen ninety
five to nineteen ninety seven, he had become a very
skilled carpenter. I guess when you're living in the woods,
(06:23):
you don't have a choice.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
He built another cabin for his family. I guess he
got sick of the tent. He worked for a local
contractor and apparently did good work. Privately, he was keeping
a journal documenting his guilt and sins that he felt
from being involved. I guess stuff that he was taught
from being involved in these white supremacist churches. He was
writing him down. Later investigations showed that in the summer
(06:48):
of either nineteen ninety seven or nineteen ninety eight, after
the family had moved to Oregon, Israel attacked his first victim.
He stalked a girl that was tubing down the Dashoots River.
He later admitted that he violently sexually assaulted this girl
at knife point, but he wasn't violent enough. He planned
(07:09):
to murder her, but changed his mind. He wound up
letting her go back on the tube and down the river.
He later said, quote, I made up my mind. I
was never going to let that happen again. He regretted
not being violent enough and not actually murdering.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
That was his regret, not that he violently assaulted her.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yep, that he wasn't violent.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
And he wasn't violent enough and didn't didn't finish her off.
Shortly after that, the family relocated to Smyrna, Maine, total
other side of the country. Okay, which actually was may
still be.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
I don't know if I can interrupt, So he was
never arrested for that at that time.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
No, Okay, nope, Smyrna, Maine at the time. I don't
know if it still is Uh was actually a heavily
Amish community like he thought he was in the first
time around. Due to his parents' religiousness, the kids were
forced to secretly do gets kids stuff like go to
the movies, all that kind of stuff. They were not
allowed to do it, but there were ten of them.
Good luck keeping track of ten right to sneak off
(08:13):
and go do things that normal kids would do that
they weren't supposed to be doing. Israel just hit the
wall with all this religious stuff and denounced the Christian faith.
His parents kicked him out over his blasphemy and ordered
the other brothers and sisters to have no contact with Israel.
(08:33):
So Israel logically turned to Satanism and decided to plan
a ritualistic murder.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Logical step, yes, that's the logical next step.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yeah. In July of nineteen ninety eight, he moved to
New York State and enlisted in the army. He apparently
did well as a soldier, which is something that we
have seen a few times before. Somebody that all of
a sudden now has structure in their life and a
schedule and they're being told to do things, and they
(09:05):
follow it, and they can handle that well. For some reason,
it just clicks with them. He was an awarded an
Army Achievement Medal for his service. He was honorably discharged
in two thousand and one. Okay, the only major thing
of note during that time was that his colleague said
that during the week he was quiet and mostly kept
(09:25):
to himself. Have we heard that before about crazy neighbors?
But on weekends he was known to down entire bottles
of wild turkey bourbon. It would take me a year
to down a bottle of wild turkey bourbon, and I
like bourbon. He was arrested for dui in that span
(09:47):
as well, not really the biggest thing. Later investigations revealed
that during his time in the army he attempted to
rape a sex worker while he was on leave over
in Egypt, and also a college student while he was
on leave.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
In Israel, and the Army didn't do anything.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
The Army was not aware at the time. Came later, Yeah,
they didn't. They weren't aware of this at the time.
He denied any murders during those three years he was
in the Army. He only only committed other crimes, but
not murders, so not. At some point, also in this timeframe,
he bought ten acres of property in the town of Constable,
(10:27):
New York, up in Franklin County. It's north of Malone
along the Canadian border. Oh that's way up there, way
up there. Yeah. I saw no evidence that he actually
lived there. It seems like he just built, bought the property,
and just had it. He didn't actually move to that
property after the army. Israel moved around a lot, he
lived in the He lived on the Maca Reservation in Washington.
(10:51):
Wound up having a daughter with an American Indian girlfriend.
I don't know anything further about the two of them.
Apparently they really protected their privacy after Israel's case came
to light. Okay, so I honestly didn't even do any
further digging, because give them their privacy. In two thousand
and seven, he moved to Alaska and started keys construction.
(11:13):
He had a good reputation as a contractor, but a
number of female customers would later say that he had
crazy mood swings and that his facial expressions alone made
them uncomfortable. Just the way he looked at these women.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Ah, that gives me goosebumps just thinking of what this guy.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I think we've all had some level of that experience
where somebody who's just nuts just looks at you and
you could see straight through into the craziest deep inside.
It's hard to explain, but when you experience it, you
know it's there.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Oh yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah. The FBI would later confirm that Israel robbed a
bank in tupper Lake, New York in two thousand and nine.
I know where tupper Lake is. Yes, they're not sponsoring us,
but the Racket River Brewery standing. We stopped there many
times on our way up and down upstate. So if
somebody is listening from that area, you got your free plug,
(12:06):
go check it out. Uh. He confessed to another bank
robbery in Texas, and the FBI also reported that Israel
burglaries between twenty and thirty homes across the country, as
well as committing several bank robberies between two thousand and
one and twenty twelve. So he was a busy boy.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
It's isn't it a little odd to go from a
sexual predator to a bank robber. It's usually different skill.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Sets, I guess you gotta financial hobby somehow, I don't.
I guess yeah, Yes, he did a lot of traveling.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Just complete disregard for any loss.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah. By the two thousands, guests was getting super expensive,
So I guess you gotta make it up somehow.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Rob a bank.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So all right, all right, we're gonna take a break
and let that all just just you know, kind of
sore in your brain for a little bit, because it's
going to get worse. Okay, we'll be right back. Hudson
Riverradio dot com Lutson Riverradio dot com.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
We are back with the infamous Israel Keys. Now, has
he had any legal action taken against him by this point?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Or this is all things that came out later.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
This is all it came out later, except for that dadcast,
except for that wow a soldier who drank oay exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, nothing to see here.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
So you may remember that I mentioned he wanted to
commit a ritualistic murder. Yes, well, Israel would plan for
months before committing a crime. He targeted random people around
the country with no pattern. He is one of the
few serial killers that had no specific victim profile, something
that we've seen over and over. They have their type
(13:57):
this is right. One that doesn't. He chose his victims randomly,
but he would plan out the details at least months
in advance, if not longer. He would turn off his
cell phone while he was traveling, and he would pay
cash for things that he bought to make it difficult,
if not impossible.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
To Okay, I hate to say it, but you know
that's smart. You know how many people have gotten caught
by their cell phone being pinged or credit card or there.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Was that one where the guy paid off the hit
man with a check a person.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
You know, you want to make sure you get your
tax deductions at the end.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Of the Yeah, there you go. Is there a column
for that?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Did you know what ransom money is a write off?
Speaker 1 (14:43):
If you pay No, I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
If you pay kidnap ransom money, that's a write off
on your taxes.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Wow, I wonder how many times H and R block
here's that per year there was the ransom money?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, I don't know. I wonder. I don't.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Well, see, now, now you've just given all these crazy
people in the audience and out. If they're in debt,
maybe they can you know, they're having some financial problem,
they can claim ransom money.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I go for the tax deduction.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Let us know how that plays out for you.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, blame Brian, Yeah, bring it.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
All right. So Israel has three confirmed murders and a
number of possible ones. So I thought I would just
go through them in chronological order. Okay, So some are
the possible ones, some are confirmed. So we just I
figured chronological is that kind of the easiest way to
follow his activities here? So we start with Julie Marie Harris,
(15:40):
who was a twelve year old special special Olympian in skiing.
Oh god, she was a double amputee. She went missing
in Colville, Washington, member the first Yez church that they
were involved with. Uh. She was waiting for a ride
on March second, nineteen ninety six. She was outside waiting
to be picked up. Her body was found on April
(16:01):
twenty sixth, nineteen ninety seven, so a little over a
year later in the woods, a few miles away from
where she was waiting to be picked up. Her prosthetic
legs were found elsewhere her prosthetic us were with her.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Now was this before he went in the army?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
This is uh?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
He joined? When did I say he joined the army?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
He got out it. So this was right before, yeah,
right before, so he had already committed.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Joined the army murder. Okay, maybe maybe seems likely, but
maybe a cause of death could not be determined because
it was so long with her, she was left outside
for so long. But Israel was eighteen, he was living
in the area at the time. He would neither confirm
her deny being involved with her. Okay, okay, so a
(16:44):
definite maybe I would say a probable yes, yeah, pretty much.
There was another twelve year old girl from Colville, Cassandra Emerson,
who was reported missing in June of nineteen ninety seven.
So about two months after Julie was found, the mobile
home she lived with her mother caught fire. The mother
died in the fire, and Cassandra's body was found in
(17:04):
nineteen ninety eight. Another year later, several miles away, Israel
admitted his first act of arson was a mobile home
in Colville, and that's all they would admit to. He
didn't say it, okay, that mobile home. There were not
a rash of mobile home fires at the time, So
you want to connect that dot, feel free. I think
(17:25):
that's pretty likely as well. Israel admitted to five additional
murders in Washington State, one victim in two thousand and one,
double homicide of a younger couple between two thousand and
one and two thousand and five, and two additional victims
in two thousand and five in two thousand and six.
Don't have a lot of details on that, so I
(17:47):
don't know. If I don't think they were proven. I
think he just admitted to it without the physical proof
to back those up. He did give credible confession to
one murder in New York State. As I know, it's
still open. There's not a whole lot available on that,
so that's another likely. In two thousand and seven, there
(18:09):
were a string of crimes in the Boca town Center
Mall in Boca Raton, Florida, by the quote unquote Boca killer.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Oh God, a name, yep.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
May have been Israel Keys maybe not. Fifty two year
old Randy Ann Mallets Gorenberg got that. Now call her, Yeah,
I'm going to call her Randy. She was abducted from
the Boca town Center Mall parking lot on March twenty third,
two thousand and seven. Her body was found elsewhere about
an hour later with two gunshot wounds on August seventh,
(18:46):
two thousand and seven, a woman and her young son
were kidnapped. They were released unharmed after the kidnapper forced
the woman to withdraw cash from an ATM nearby. The
kidnapper wore a mask, but the physical description matches Israel.
Remember I said he was a big dude, right. So,
then on December twelfth, two thousand and seven, forty seven
(19:07):
year old navy boat I'm going to botch this one,
bo chkioh. I don't know why that's so difficult and
her seven year old daughter, Joey were found fatally shot
in their vehicle in the mall parking lot.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
So these are likely, right, Surprised he didn't kill the
other two, just had them withdraw cash.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Take the cash. And yeah, so I don't know ties
in maybe with the bank robbery kind of thing. I
don't know. Who knows what was going through his mind.
Forty eight year old excuse yeah. Forty eight year old
Deborah Feldman went missing from her Hackensack, New Jersey, apartment
April eighth, two thousand and nine. Said he was all
over the place. Israel searched for her missing case on
(19:52):
his computer. Does it tie in together? Maybe maybe not.
When investigators showed him a photo of her, said, I
don't want to talk about her yet.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
M Okay, well that proof no is that?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Is that a giant? You know? Maybe look into this
mort Yeah, her body has not been recovered, but it's
believed she may have been buried. That he may have
buried her in Tupper Lake, New York, which we had
mentioned earlier from his bank robbery. Okay, So, and.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I'm also wondering that ten acres he had hu that
be a burial ground.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Maybe maybe I don't know what happened to it yet,
there's there's no documentation of him living there of doing anything.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Yeah, I would get some cadaver dogs and go over
those ten acres.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
And ten acres is a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah, and he he did a lot of killing.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
He did that certainly seems that way. Yeah, that we
know of. I would say one is a lot, but
this seems to be more we know of.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah. So the first confirmed murders that we know about
happened on June eighth, twenty eleven, in Essex, Vermont, Israel
broke into the home of forty nine year old Bill
Currier and fifty five year old the Rain courier. He
tied them up and drove them to an abandoned farmhouse.
(21:20):
Israel then shot Bill. He sexually assaulted and strangled the Rain.
Their bodies have not been found either. Israel had put
together a murder kit. He called it a murder kit,
which he hid near the courier's house two years before
committee the murder. He planned ahead.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, afterwards, he moved his kit to Parishville, New York,
which is just east of Potsdam, which is where investigators
found it where he said he hid it. They went
and they found it. Remember we talked about Potsdam a
couple months ago, the murder of Garrett Phillips that happened
back in twenty eleven. He wasn't It was about the
(22:02):
same time, but you know, Israel doesn't seem to be
involved in that one. The third confirmed murder was on
February first, twenty twelve, in Anchorage, Alaska. Israel kidnapped eighteen
year old coffee barista Samantha Tesla Kanig from the coffee
booth where she worked. He took her personal property, including
(22:23):
a debit card. He sexually assaulted her, and then killed
her The next day. We're gonna come back and talk
about this case. So set that one aside for a
little bit. This is the one that we're gonna We're
gonna do a deep dive on.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 2 (22:37):
At five point thirty am on February fifteenth, twenty twelve,
fifty eight year old electrician James Tidwell Junior finished up
his night shift and then went missing in Mount Enterprise, Texas.
The next day, February sixteenth, there was a bank robbery
in Azel, Texas, which is about a three and a
half hour drive from Mount Enterprise. The suspect wore a
(22:59):
white Hart hat like James did at work, and had
a dark haired wig that matched James's hair. It wasn't James,
and when asked how he got the hair, Israel said,
and I quote, you don't have to buy real hair
to get real hair. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
We've had people who, yes, cut off hair and faces,
and this guy is a whole different level of depraved.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
And he probably knows the best route to get anywhere
in the country.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Did he drive from Anchorage to Vermont to Texas? Do
we know how he got around?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Don't know at this for all of these I don't know.
I'm assuming he drove because if you fly, they know
where you are. Right at this point you have to
show ID you know, we're in the two thousands, they
would know where you were unless you charter your own plane,
which I guess if you rob a good bank then
maybe you try, you could, you know, but I would
guess at this point, he's driving all over the place
(24:04):
with this, So how about a second break?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
And yes, that would be good.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, why don't we contemplate all that and we'll come
back right after this.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
This is Hudson River Radio dot com. This is Hudson
River Radio dot com. We are back. We are bouncing
around the country committing a series of horrific crimes of
all kinds.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Crazy. Yeah, I don't know if he's stopped at any museums,
check out any of the local sites, or it was
just all business. I don't I don't know.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Well, a quick recap on the case that we're going
to go over. February first, twenty twelve and Anchorage, Alaska,
Israel kidnapped eighteen year old coffee barista Samantha Kanig from
the coffee booth where she worked. He took her personal property,
he took her debit card. He sexually assaulted her and
then killed her the next day. He then stored her
body in his backyard shed. Remember he was in Alaska
(25:05):
as a contractor. He headed south to Texas to visit
his mother and a few siblings, who all tried to
get him to return to his old faith of white
supremacy craziness. He told them, you don't know the depths
of darkness that I have gone to. You don't know
what I've done, which is true, that is very true.
(25:26):
He may have then gone to New Orleans for a
cruise around the Gulf of Mexico with his family. Maybe
maybe not. I only found that in one source, but
the return of his cruise coincides with the technics murderer
of Tidwell the Electrician. Okay, so maybe Israel made his
way back to Alaska, where he removed Samantha Kaynigg's body
(25:50):
from the shed. He applied make up to her. He
then sewed her eyes open with fishing line to make
it look like she was still alive. He propped her
up along with a recent copy of the Anchorage Daily
News newspaper, and using Samantha's cell phone, he demanded thirty
thousand dollars in ransom to be deposited into her account
(26:13):
for her return. Some of that money was actually deposited
into the account. Israel then dismembered Samantha's body and tossed
it into the Matta Nuska Lake. I hope, I said
that right, Mattaanuska Lake north of Anchorage, where she was
later recovered by the FBI.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I mean, after all that time, she looked alive enough
enough in.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
The picture and with the current newspaper that, yeah, some
of that ransom was paid.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And then when the family finds out this.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Oh boy. Ok. Yeah, so at this point the FBI
and law enforcement knew that Israel was Samantha's murderer. When
Israel's house was searched, they found a lot of books
about serial killers. Not surprising, he studied them methodically. Also
not surprising, he idolized Ted Bundy. You may recall that
(27:09):
he doesn't fit the normal serial killer model with the
victim profile. Unlike other serial killers, he avoided any attention
because he didn't want to be labeled as a copycat.
He wasn't looking for a publicity like some of them do.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
He wasn't writing letters taunting the meeting.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
For the radar. Yeah, police were able to track Israel's
use of Samantha's debit card, remember that he took as
he traveled around the southwest US in a rental car.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
For this son.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Characteristically stupid of him.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
It was. It was a law enforcement bulletin had been
released with information on Israel's car along with other details
of the case, so at least law enforcement was aware.
On the morning of March thirteenth, twenty twelve, Israel Keys
was located in the parking lot of the Cotton Patch
Cafe Ink in Texas near the Louisiana border. He was
(28:03):
arrested by Texas Highway Patrol Corporal Brian Henry and Texas
Ranger Stephen Rayburn. Props to both of them for catching
this guy. Israel had cash that was stained by a
die pack during a bank robbery on him, okay, and
he had Samantha's ATM card and cell.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Phone, so pretty good clues They've got him.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah. He was charged with fraud in Texas over all
of that, and then he was extradited back to Alaska.
He eventually admitted to Samantha's murder. He was indicted and
trial was set to begin in March of twenty thirteen,
a year after his arrest, he was being represented by
federal public defender Rich Kurtner. While incarcerated, he initially cooperated
(28:52):
with state and federal investigators. He said that he didn't
want any publicity because of his daughter, the one he
had on the reservation. Oh, okay, and he said he
wanted to be executed within a year. He just flat
out said that, all right, okay, can you choose that? Well,
there are no secret arrests in the United States. They're
(29:15):
all made public and you find out about them. When
his identity was made public after he was arrested, he
shut down and stopped cooperating. Okay, all right, he didn't
want that public Excuse me, he didn't want that publicity.
On May twenty third, twenty twelve, during a court hearing,
Israeli used a piece of a broken pencil to pick
(29:36):
his handcuffs and tried to run out of the courthouse.
He did not make it very far because the US
marshals tased him and he flopped to the ground, but
he tried. Israel was being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex,
where he somehow managed to conceal a razor blade in
his cell, which is not difficult to do you. I mean,
(30:00):
you think of a razor blade, just real flat, really easy,
stick in a crack somewhere, or even tape it up
underneath something. Even if you run your hand along something,
you're not going to find it. His security restrictions mandated
that he used an electric razor under supervision, so it's
unknown how he got the blade in.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
But again, you know, well he could all the drugs
and everything else that get in.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, you could point fingers at correction officers and on it,
but I mean that's just about impossible to catch. On
December second, twenty twelve, he cut his wrists and strangled
himself with a bed sheet. He left a note with
a pentagram drawn in blood and drawings of eleven skulls,
one of which had the phrase we are one written
(30:44):
on it. Don't know what that means, but the FBI
believes that the eleven skulls represent his eleven victims. No murder, yeah, yep, wow,
there you have Israel keys.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I don't know what to say.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I mean, the probably the or one of the best
traveled murderers that, yeah, and such a.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Diverse range of crimes.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
I mean, you know, bank robbers are usually bank robbers,
you know, but sexual predators and serial killers and satanic
ritual killers and propping the dead girl up and putting
makeup on her and stitching her eyes open with fishing lines.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Yeah, well that was his downfall, that one murder. Because
he used her debit card to use car.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
That's unusual. Why would he have. Maybe he wanted to get.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Car, he wanted to bring it all to an end.
I don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Well, wow, I think I need a shower and a sedative.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Fair enough, all right, So would you like that? I'm sorry,
go ahead, Yeah, I was gonna say, you take us
out after I'll take us out after that, and you
just kind of watch your back, I guess. All right.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Murder
in the Hudson Valley. We'll see you next time. Unless
you are a victim the Murder in the Hudson Valley.
(32:14):
To be careful. This is Hudson River Radio dot com.
Hudson River Radio dot Com. I'm Linda Zimmerman, I'm Brian Harrowitz,
and this is Murder in the Hudson Valley on Hudson
River Radio dot Com. And welcome. I am indeed Linda Zimmerman,
and you are Brian Harrowy.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I am not. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
No you are not.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Oh no, you are not Linda Zimerman and I am
not Brian Horowitz. So you have an ambush for me
this season?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I do, I do? All right. I ran the name
by you to see if you had heard, and you hadn't.
We are going to be talking about Israel Keys, someone
you have not heard of, which I'm kind of surprised
with your background.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, let's see what the story is. Maybe I'm just
not connecting the name with the murder, okay for murderers.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, this one is going to take us all around
the country. So, oh, you're gonna have to pack for
twenty and eighty degree weather. Get ready for this. There
you go. Israel Keys. He was originally from Utah, born
in nineteen seventy eight, he was the second of ten children.
(01:09):
His parents were active in the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Saints, as is the entire state.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Of Utah Many. His father was even a missionary in
Germany for a time, so they were heavily involved in
the church. They wound up leaving the church and they
moved to a remote part of Washington State, north of
the city of Colville in Stephens County. When Israel was five,
(01:38):
they lived in isolation in a one room cabin without
electricity or running water, with the ten children. With ten children. Oh,
remember this is nineteen eighty three, not eighteen eighty three.
No electricity, no water at all. Yes, yeah, by choice,
by choice. Yeah, you would think so. While in Colville,
(02:01):
the family began to began to attend a different church
called the ARK, which Israel would later describe as an
Amish type environment. In reality, the ARC was a white
supremacist organization, so they didn't. Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
The family became friends with a guy named Chevy Kehoe,
who was later convicted of a triple murder in nineteen
ninety six. So they're associating with top quality people.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So we have keys and keiho.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
They also attended a different church, the Christian Israel Covenant Church,
which preached British Israelism. I had never heard of this before,
informed me, Yeah, what is British Israelism is a bad crap,
crazy idea that the British were descendants of the ancient
(02:56):
lost tribes of Israel. That's Israel and wound up in Britain.
Absolutely no proof, nothing to back that up. But this
is what they believe. And they also believe that mixed
race marriages were unacceptable.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Great with that whole white supremacist.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, yeah, let's take care of fellow man. Not so
much so. The Keys family would make some of the
ten children sleep outside in a tent because their cabin
was too small to fit everybody in Washington in the wind,
Washington in the winter. Yep, yep. The children also had
to hunt for their own food. They had to work
(03:37):
on nearby farms to help support the family. As I
don't know, I guess you do. What can I say? Also,
around this time, Israel became a crazy hunter killing, in
his words, quote anything with a heartbeat we have.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Oh okay, we.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Have discussed many times before, animal cruelty, torture of animals.
That kind of stuf is. One of the giantessts of
red flags that you can come across.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Is that a word, giant, Tista.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I am making up words to make my point. You
don't not forget this. Israel admitted that he skinned a
deer alive. He began to creep out the other white supremacists,
some of whom decided not to associate with him. Wow, okay,
giant white flag with red in it. I guess I
(04:29):
don't know when white supremacists say you're a little too
nuts for me.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Right, So Israel was a bad kid. This is not
a shocker. He was over six feet tall by age fourteen,
so he was intimidating to a lot of people. He
was a big kid. He shot up the neighbor's house
with a bb gun. He started fires in the woods.
He would break into houses along with a friend and
(04:56):
stole guns, which he would then turn around and sell.
Even that friend with whom he was breaking into houses
and selling guns, got creeped out and stopped hanging out
with him. Wow. Israel tied up and tortured a cat
in front of family friends, causing one of them to vomit,
which Israel found amusing. He thought it was funny.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Why didn't anybody stop this kid?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah? Well his mother now now, Later on said that
she noticed, quote, some troubling signs about Israel. Do you
think what was her first clue? Yeah? What was the
ninth clue? Maybe fifteenth clue? Maybe as a mom, you
kind of stepped in it by joining a white supremacist organization,
(05:42):
two of them actually. Israel himself realized that he was
different from the other kids a little bit, so he
made an effort to keep his anti social behavior to himself.
He would later say, as a quote from Israel, I've
known since I was fourteen that there were things that
(06:02):
I thought were normal and that were okay, that nobody
else seemed to think were normal. And okay, Well that's true,
all right, all right? He got that part right. By
the time he was a teenager, we're talking nineteen ninety
five to nineteen ninety seven, he had become a very
skilled carpenter. I guess when you're living in the woods,
(06:23):
you don't have a choice.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
He built another cabin for his family. I guess he
got sick of the tent. He worked for a local
contractor and apparently did good work. Privately, he was keeping
a journal documenting his guilt and sins that he felt
from being involved. I guess stuff that he was taught
from being involved in these white supremacist churches. He was
writing him down. Later investigations showed that in the summer
(06:48):
of either nineteen ninety seven or nineteen ninety eight, after
the family had moved to Oregon, Israel attacked his first victim.
He stalked a girl that was tubing down the Dashoots River.
He later admitted that he violently sexually assaulted this girl
at knife point, but he wasn't violent enough. He planned
(07:09):
to murder her, but changed his mind. He wound up
letting her go back on the tube and down the river.
He later said, quote, I made up my mind. I
was never going to let that happen again. He regretted
not being violent enough and not actually murdering.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
That was his regret, not that he violently assaulted her.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yep, that he wasn't violent.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
And he wasn't violent enough and didn't didn't finish her off.
Shortly after that, the family relocated to Smyrna, Maine, total
other side of the country. Okay, which actually was may
still be.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
I don't know if I can interrupt, So he was
never arrested for that at that time.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
No, Okay, nope, Smyrna, Maine at the time. I don't
know if it still is Uh was actually a heavily
Amish community like he thought he was in the first
time around. Due to his parents' religiousness, the kids were
forced to secretly do gets kids stuff like go to
the movies, all that kind of stuff. They were not
allowed to do it, but there were ten of them.
Good luck keeping track of ten right to sneak off
(08:13):
and go do things that normal kids would do that
they weren't supposed to be doing. Israel just hit the
wall with all this religious stuff and denounced the Christian faith.
His parents kicked him out over his blasphemy and ordered
the other brothers and sisters to have no contact with Israel.
(08:33):
So Israel logically turned to Satanism and decided to plan
a ritualistic murder.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Logical step, yes, that's the logical next step.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yeah. In July of nineteen ninety eight, he moved to
New York State and enlisted in the army. He apparently
did well as a soldier, which is something that we
have seen a few times before. Somebody that all of
a sudden now has structure in their life and a
schedule and they're being told to do things, and they
(09:05):
follow it, and they can handle that well. For some reason,
it just clicks with them. He was an awarded an
Army Achievement Medal for his service. He was honorably discharged
in two thousand and one. Okay, the only major thing
of note during that time was that his colleague said
that during the week he was quiet and mostly kept
(09:25):
to himself. Have we heard that before about crazy neighbors?
But on weekends he was known to down entire bottles
of wild turkey bourbon. It would take me a year
to down a bottle of wild turkey bourbon, and I
like bourbon. He was arrested for dui in that span
(09:47):
as well, not really the biggest thing. Later investigations revealed
that during his time in the army he attempted to
rape a sex worker while he was on leave over
in Egypt, and also a college student while he was
on leave.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
In Israel, and the Army didn't do anything.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
The Army was not aware at the time. Came later, Yeah,
they didn't. They weren't aware of this at the time.
He denied any murders during those three years he was
in the Army. He only only committed other crimes, but
not murders, so not. At some point, also in this timeframe,
he bought ten acres of property in the town of Constable,
(10:27):
New York, up in Franklin County. It's north of Malone
along the Canadian border. Oh that's way up there, way
up there. Yeah. I saw no evidence that he actually
lived there. It seems like he just built, bought the property,
and just had it. He didn't actually move to that
property after the army. Israel moved around a lot, he
lived in the He lived on the Maca Reservation in Washington.
(10:51):
Wound up having a daughter with an American Indian girlfriend.
I don't know anything further about the two of them.
Apparently they really protected their privacy after Israel's case came
to light. Okay, so I honestly didn't even do any
further digging, because give them their privacy. In two thousand
and seven, he moved to Alaska and started keys construction.
(11:13):
He had a good reputation as a contractor, but a
number of female customers would later say that he had
crazy mood swings and that his facial expressions alone made
them uncomfortable. Just the way he looked at these women.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Ah, that gives me goosebumps just thinking of what this guy.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I think we've all had some level of that experience
where somebody who's just nuts just looks at you and
you could see straight through into the craziest deep inside.
It's hard to explain, but when you experience it, you
know it's there.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Oh yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah. The FBI would later confirm that Israel robbed a
bank in tupper Lake, New York in two thousand and nine.
I know where tupper Lake is. Yes, they're not sponsoring us,
but the Racket River Brewery standing. We stopped there many
times on our way up and down upstate. So if
somebody is listening from that area, you got your free plug,
(12:06):
go check it out. Uh. He confessed to another bank
robbery in Texas, and the FBI also reported that Israel
burglaries between twenty and thirty homes across the country, as
well as committing several bank robberies between two thousand and
one and twenty twelve. So he was a busy boy.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
It's isn't it a little odd to go from a
sexual predator to a bank robber. It's usually different skill.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Sets, I guess you gotta financial hobby somehow, I don't.
I guess yeah, Yes, he did a lot of traveling.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Just complete disregard for any loss.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah. By the two thousands, guests was getting super expensive,
So I guess you gotta make it up somehow.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Rob a bank.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So all right, all right, we're gonna take a break
and let that all just just you know, kind of
sore in your brain for a little bit, because it's
going to get worse. Okay, we'll be right back. Hudson
Riverradio dot com Lutson Riverradio dot com.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
We are back with the infamous Israel Keys. Now, has
he had any legal action taken against him by this point?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Or this is all things that came out later.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
This is all it came out later, except for that dadcast,
except for that wow a soldier who drank oay exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, nothing to see here.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
So you may remember that I mentioned he wanted to
commit a ritualistic murder. Yes, well, Israel would plan for
months before committing a crime. He targeted random people around
the country with no pattern. He is one of the
few serial killers that had no specific victim profile, something
that we've seen over and over. They have their type
(13:57):
this is right. One that doesn't. He chose his victims randomly,
but he would plan out the details at least months
in advance, if not longer. He would turn off his
cell phone while he was traveling, and he would pay
cash for things that he bought to make it difficult,
if not impossible.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
To Okay, I hate to say it, but you know
that's smart. You know how many people have gotten caught
by their cell phone being pinged or credit card or there.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Was that one where the guy paid off the hit
man with a check a person.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
You know, you want to make sure you get your
tax deductions at the end.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Of the Yeah, there you go. Is there a column
for that?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Did you know what ransom money is a write off?
Speaker 1 (14:43):
If you pay No, I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
If you pay kidnap ransom money, that's a write off
on your taxes.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Wow, I wonder how many times H and R block
here's that per year there was the ransom money?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, I don't know. I wonder. I don't.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Well, see, now, now you've just given all these crazy
people in the audience and out. If they're in debt,
maybe they can you know, they're having some financial problem,
they can claim ransom money.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I go for the tax deduction.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Let us know how that plays out for you.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, blame Brian, Yeah, bring it.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
All right. So Israel has three confirmed murders and a
number of possible ones. So I thought I would just
go through them in chronological order. Okay, So some are
the possible ones, some are confirmed. So we just I
figured chronological is that kind of the easiest way to
follow his activities here? So we start with Julie Marie Harris,
(15:40):
who was a twelve year old special special Olympian in skiing.
Oh god, she was a double amputee. She went missing
in Colville, Washington, member the first Yez church that they
were involved with. Uh. She was waiting for a ride
on March second, nineteen ninety six. She was outside waiting
to be picked up. Her body was found on April
(16:01):
twenty sixth, nineteen ninety seven, so a little over a
year later in the woods, a few miles away from
where she was waiting to be picked up. Her prosthetic
legs were found elsewhere her prosthetic us were with her.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Now was this before he went in the army?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
This is uh?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
He joined? When did I say he joined the army?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
He got out it. So this was right before, yeah,
right before, so he had already committed.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Joined the army murder. Okay, maybe maybe seems likely, but
maybe a cause of death could not be determined because
it was so long with her, she was left outside
for so long. But Israel was eighteen, he was living
in the area at the time. He would neither confirm
her deny being involved with her. Okay, okay, so a
(16:44):
definite maybe I would say a probable yes, yeah, pretty much.
There was another twelve year old girl from Colville, Cassandra Emerson,
who was reported missing in June of nineteen ninety seven.
So about two months after Julie was found, the mobile
home she lived with her mother caught fire. The mother
died in the fire, and Cassandra's body was found in
(17:04):
nineteen ninety eight. Another year later, several miles away, Israel
admitted his first act of arson was a mobile home
in Colville, and that's all they would admit to. He
didn't say it, okay, that mobile home. There were not
a rash of mobile home fires at the time, So
you want to connect that dot, feel free. I think
(17:25):
that's pretty likely as well. Israel admitted to five additional
murders in Washington State, one victim in two thousand and one,
double homicide of a younger couple between two thousand and
one and two thousand and five, and two additional victims
in two thousand and five in two thousand and six.
Don't have a lot of details on that, so I
(17:47):
don't know. If I don't think they were proven. I
think he just admitted to it without the physical proof
to back those up. He did give credible confession to
one murder in New York State. As I know, it's
still open. There's not a whole lot available on that,
so that's another likely. In two thousand and seven, there
(18:09):
were a string of crimes in the Boca town Center
Mall in Boca Raton, Florida, by the quote unquote Boca killer.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Oh God, a name, yep.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
May have been Israel Keys maybe not. Fifty two year
old Randy Ann Mallets Gorenberg got that. Now call her, Yeah,
I'm going to call her Randy. She was abducted from
the Boca town Center Mall parking lot on March twenty third,
two thousand and seven. Her body was found elsewhere about
an hour later with two gunshot wounds on August seventh,
(18:46):
two thousand and seven, a woman and her young son
were kidnapped. They were released unharmed after the kidnapper forced
the woman to withdraw cash from an ATM nearby. The
kidnapper wore a mask, but the physical description matches Israel.
Remember I said he was a big dude, right. So,
then on December twelfth, two thousand and seven, forty seven
(19:07):
year old navy boat I'm going to botch this one,
bo chkioh. I don't know why that's so difficult and
her seven year old daughter, Joey were found fatally shot
in their vehicle in the mall parking lot.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
So these are likely, right, Surprised he didn't kill the
other two, just had them withdraw cash.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Take the cash. And yeah, so I don't know ties
in maybe with the bank robbery kind of thing. I
don't know. Who knows what was going through his mind.
Forty eight year old excuse yeah. Forty eight year old
Deborah Feldman went missing from her Hackensack, New Jersey, apartment
April eighth, two thousand and nine. Said he was all
over the place. Israel searched for her missing case on
(19:52):
his computer. Does it tie in together? Maybe maybe not.
When investigators showed him a photo of her, said, I
don't want to talk about her yet.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
M Okay, well that proof no is that?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Is that a giant? You know? Maybe look into this
mort Yeah, her body has not been recovered, but it's
believed she may have been buried. That he may have
buried her in Tupper Lake, New York, which we had
mentioned earlier from his bank robbery. Okay, So, and.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I'm also wondering that ten acres he had hu that
be a burial ground.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Maybe maybe I don't know what happened to it yet,
there's there's no documentation of him living there of doing anything.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Yeah, I would get some cadaver dogs and go over
those ten acres.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
And ten acres is a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah, and he he did a lot of killing.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
He did that certainly seems that way. Yeah, that we
know of. I would say one is a lot, but
this seems to be more we know of.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah. So the first confirmed murders that we know about
happened on June eighth, twenty eleven, in Essex, Vermont, Israel
broke into the home of forty nine year old Bill
Currier and fifty five year old the Rain courier. He
tied them up and drove them to an abandoned farmhouse.
(21:20):
Israel then shot Bill. He sexually assaulted and strangled the Rain.
Their bodies have not been found either. Israel had put
together a murder kit. He called it a murder kit,
which he hid near the courier's house two years before
committee the murder. He planned ahead.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, afterwards, he moved his kit to Parishville, New York,
which is just east of Potsdam, which is where investigators
found it where he said he hid it. They went
and they found it. Remember we talked about Potsdam a
couple months ago, the murder of Garrett Phillips that happened
back in twenty eleven. He wasn't It was about the
(22:02):
same time, but you know, Israel doesn't seem to be
involved in that one. The third confirmed murder was on
February first, twenty twelve, in Anchorage, Alaska. Israel kidnapped eighteen
year old coffee barista Samantha Tesla Kanig from the coffee
booth where she worked. He took her personal property, including
(22:23):
a debit card. He sexually assaulted her, and then killed
her The next day. We're gonna come back and talk
about this case. So set that one aside for a
little bit. This is the one that we're gonna We're
gonna do a deep dive on.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 2 (22:37):
At five point thirty am on February fifteenth, twenty twelve,
fifty eight year old electrician James Tidwell Junior finished up
his night shift and then went missing in Mount Enterprise, Texas.
The next day, February sixteenth, there was a bank robbery
in Azel, Texas, which is about a three and a
half hour drive from Mount Enterprise. The suspect wore a
(22:59):
white Hart hat like James did at work, and had
a dark haired wig that matched James's hair. It wasn't James,
and when asked how he got the hair, Israel said,
and I quote, you don't have to buy real hair
to get real hair. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
We've had people who, yes, cut off hair and faces,
and this guy is a whole different level of depraved.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
And he probably knows the best route to get anywhere
in the country.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Did he drive from Anchorage to Vermont to Texas? Do
we know how he got around?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Don't know at this for all of these I don't know.
I'm assuming he drove because if you fly, they know
where you are. Right at this point you have to
show ID you know, we're in the two thousands, they
would know where you were unless you charter your own plane,
which I guess if you rob a good bank then
maybe you try, you could, you know, but I would
guess at this point, he's driving all over the place
(24:04):
with this, So how about a second break?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
And yes, that would be good.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, why don't we contemplate all that and we'll come
back right after this.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
This is Hudson River Radio dot com. This is Hudson
River Radio dot com. We are back. We are bouncing
around the country committing a series of horrific crimes of
all kinds.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Crazy. Yeah, I don't know if he's stopped at any museums,
check out any of the local sites, or it was
just all business. I don't I don't know.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Well, a quick recap on the case that we're going
to go over. February first, twenty twelve and Anchorage, Alaska,
Israel kidnapped eighteen year old coffee barista Samantha Kanig from
the coffee booth where she worked. He took her personal property,
he took her debit card. He sexually assaulted her and
then killed her the next day. He then stored her
body in his backyard shed. Remember he was in Alaska
(25:05):
as a contractor. He headed south to Texas to visit
his mother and a few siblings, who all tried to
get him to return to his old faith of white
supremacy craziness. He told them, you don't know the depths
of darkness that I have gone to. You don't know
what I've done, which is true, that is very true.
(25:26):
He may have then gone to New Orleans for a
cruise around the Gulf of Mexico with his family. Maybe
maybe not. I only found that in one source, but
the return of his cruise coincides with the technics murderer
of Tidwell the Electrician. Okay, so maybe Israel made his
way back to Alaska, where he removed Samantha Kaynigg's body
(25:50):
from the shed. He applied make up to her. He
then sewed her eyes open with fishing line to make
it look like she was still alive. He propped her
up along with a recent copy of the Anchorage Daily
News newspaper, and using Samantha's cell phone, he demanded thirty
thousand dollars in ransom to be deposited into her account
(26:13):
for her return. Some of that money was actually deposited
into the account. Israel then dismembered Samantha's body and tossed
it into the Matta Nuska Lake. I hope, I said
that right, Mattaanuska Lake north of Anchorage, where she was
later recovered by the FBI.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I mean, after all that time, she looked alive enough
enough in.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
The picture and with the current newspaper that, yeah, some
of that ransom was paid.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And then when the family finds out this.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Oh boy. Ok. Yeah, so at this point the FBI
and law enforcement knew that Israel was Samantha's murderer. When
Israel's house was searched, they found a lot of books
about serial killers. Not surprising, he studied them methodically. Also
not surprising, he idolized Ted Bundy. You may recall that
(27:09):
he doesn't fit the normal serial killer model with the
victim profile. Unlike other serial killers, he avoided any attention
because he didn't want to be labeled as a copycat.
He wasn't looking for a publicity like some of them do.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
He wasn't writing letters taunting the meeting.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
For the radar. Yeah, police were able to track Israel's
use of Samantha's debit card, remember that he took as
he traveled around the southwest US in a rental car.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
For this son.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Characteristically stupid of him.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
It was. It was a law enforcement bulletin had been
released with information on Israel's car along with other details
of the case, so at least law enforcement was aware.
On the morning of March thirteenth, twenty twelve, Israel Keys
was located in the parking lot of the Cotton Patch
Cafe Ink in Texas near the Louisiana border. He was
(28:03):
arrested by Texas Highway Patrol Corporal Brian Henry and Texas
Ranger Stephen Rayburn. Props to both of them for catching
this guy. Israel had cash that was stained by a
die pack during a bank robbery on him, okay, and
he had Samantha's ATM card and cell.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Phone, so pretty good clues They've got him.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah. He was charged with fraud in Texas over all
of that, and then he was extradited back to Alaska.
He eventually admitted to Samantha's murder. He was indicted and
trial was set to begin in March of twenty thirteen,
a year after his arrest, he was being represented by
federal public defender Rich Kurtner. While incarcerated, he initially cooperated
(28:52):
with state and federal investigators. He said that he didn't
want any publicity because of his daughter, the one he
had on the reservation. Oh, okay, and he said he
wanted to be executed within a year. He just flat
out said that, all right, okay, can you choose that? Well,
there are no secret arrests in the United States. They're
(29:15):
all made public and you find out about them. When
his identity was made public after he was arrested, he
shut down and stopped cooperating. Okay, all right, he didn't
want that public Excuse me, he didn't want that publicity.
On May twenty third, twenty twelve, during a court hearing,
Israeli used a piece of a broken pencil to pick
(29:36):
his handcuffs and tried to run out of the courthouse.
He did not make it very far because the US
marshals tased him and he flopped to the ground, but
he tried. Israel was being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex,
where he somehow managed to conceal a razor blade in
his cell, which is not difficult to do you. I mean,
(30:00):
you think of a razor blade, just real flat, really easy,
stick in a crack somewhere, or even tape it up
underneath something. Even if you run your hand along something,
you're not going to find it. His security restrictions mandated
that he used an electric razor under supervision, so it's
unknown how he got the blade in.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
But again, you know, well he could all the drugs
and everything else that get in.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, you could point fingers at correction officers and on it,
but I mean that's just about impossible to catch. On
December second, twenty twelve, he cut his wrists and strangled
himself with a bed sheet. He left a note with
a pentagram drawn in blood and drawings of eleven skulls,
one of which had the phrase we are one written
(30:44):
on it. Don't know what that means, but the FBI
believes that the eleven skulls represent his eleven victims. No murder, yeah, yep, wow,
there you have Israel keys.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I don't know what to say.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I mean, the probably the or one of the best
traveled murderers that, yeah, and such a.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Diverse range of crimes.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
I mean, you know, bank robbers are usually bank robbers,
you know, but sexual predators and serial killers and satanic
ritual killers and propping the dead girl up and putting
makeup on her and stitching her eyes open with fishing lines.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Yeah, well that was his downfall, that one murder. Because
he used her debit card to use car.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
That's unusual. Why would he have. Maybe he wanted to get.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Car, he wanted to bring it all to an end.
I don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Well, wow, I think I need a shower and a sedative.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Fair enough, all right, So would you like that? I'm sorry,
go ahead, Yeah, I was gonna say, you take us
out after I'll take us out after that, and you
just kind of watch your back, I guess. All right.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Murder
in the Hudson Valley. We'll see you next time. Unless
you are a victim the Murder in the Hudson Valley.
(32:14):
To be careful. This is Hudson River Radio dot com.
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