He’s one of the scariest serial killers — and also one of the most mysterious. When Israel Keyes was arrested and indicted for the 2012 kidnapping of 18-year-old Anchorage native Samantha Koenig, investigators had no idea that they were just scratching the surface of what Israel was capable of doing. Now, in Oxygen’s two-hour special event Method Of A Serial Killer, true crime fans will learn how detectives were able to trace Israel’s footsteps in order to take him down. Watch an exclusive sneak peek below!
According to local paper
Anchorage Daily News, Israel kidnapped Samantha from her job as a barista at the Common Grounds coffee stand and tied her hands with zip ties. He drove to her to his home where he locked her in his shed, where he later returned and sexually assaulted her before strangling her to death. After leaving Samantha’s dead body for nearly two weeks while he enjoyed a cruise, Israel returned and attempted to get $30,000 in ransom from Samantha’s family before he dismembered her and stuffed her body through a hole he cut into the top of the frozen Matanuska Lake.
In March 2012, Israel eventually confessed to the murder of Samantha, but his confession spiraled and led detectives to believe that he had more than one victim. He’s been called one of the most “meticulous” serial killers, and investigators later learned that Israel stashed away kill kits which included ligatures to tie people up, shovels, and ammunition. The kill kits sat in their designated spots for years until Israel found his next victim and he spent nearly a decade traveling around the United States to find his victims — which made it hard for detectives to track all of his murders down because unlike most serial killers, he did not have a pattern or a type and it is believed that he’s killed at least 11 people.
Israel slowly started to reveal details about his life to detectives while he awaited trial for Samantha’s murder but he ended up committing suicide in his jail cell nine months later, according to
ABC News. Viewers will learn how detectives were able to piece together the rest of the puzzle and find the rest of Israel’s victims.
Be sure to tune into Oxygen’s Method Of A Serial Killer, airing on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. EST on Oxygen.