• Chilling details released in Alaska barista's killing

    Newly released video including a jailhouse interview reveal more insight into the mind of the late self-confessed serial killer Israel Keyes. KING's Chris Daniels reports.

    By Rachel D'Oro, The Associated Press

    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.

    Mark Thiessen / AP

    During a news conference, police show surveillance video of Samantha Koenig, 18, making a cup of Americano coffee for a customer who shortly after abducted her Feb. 1, 2012, in Anchorage, Alaska. Police on Tuesday released the surveillance camera footage from the February abduction at the Common Grounds espresso stand in Anchorage.

    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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  • Serial killer found dead in Alaska jail cell, officials say

    A man accused of murdering an Alaska woman and at least seven other people has taken his own life, according to police. KTUU's Rhonda McBride reports.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A confessed serial killer awaiting trial for the kidnapping death of an Anchorage teenager was found dead in his jail cell Sunday in an apparent suicide, law enforcement officials said.

    Israel Keyes had admitted to abducting and killing 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, who disappeared in February from an espresso stand in Anchorage, officials said at a news conference Sunday.


    Keyes also admitted to killing a Vermont couple, Bill and Lorraine Currier, in June 2011, and up to five more people whom he did not name, prosecutors said.

    Keyes revealed his past crimes in dozens of hours of interviews conducted after he was arrested for Koenig's death, officials said.

    "He did tell us that he had killed other people and that there were bodies of up to four other people in Washington state, as well as a body disposed of in New York state," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis said after the press conference.

    There may be even more murder victims, Feldis said.

    Keyes also admitted to two bank robberies, one of them committed in Texas after Koenig's murder, Feldis said.

    FBI officials said they considered Keyes to be a serial killer, NBC station KTUU reported.

    "We've developed information that he was responsible for multiple additional victims. To our knowledge there are no other victims here in Alaska. They're all in the Lower 48," FBI Special Agent Mary Rook told the station.

    "We do know he traveled extensively and he didn't always stay where he landed. He would land in one airport, rent a car and drive hundreds of miles,” she added.

    AP

    Alaska barista Samantha Koenig, 18, was abducted after she closed up a coffee stand in Anchorage.

    Father of abducted barista, 18, pleads for her return

    The FBI told the station that it had spoken with its behavioral analysts in Quantico, Virginia, to get insight into Keyes’ personality.

    "He was very, very sensitive to his reputation," Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew said, according to KTUU.  "As odd as that sounds, we had to keep things extremely quiet in order to keep him talking with us."

    Details about the cause of Keyes' death were not released, but a spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers said he was alone in his cell and that foul play was not suspected.

    Texas arrest in case of abducted 18-year-old Alaska barista

    Sunday's news conference was the first public release of many details about a case that has transfixed Anchorage residents.

    Koenig's disappearance from the coffee stand in February triggered a city-wide search and a reward fund. Keyes was arrested in Texas after using a debit card linked to Koenig.

    Investigators found Koenig's body in early April in an iced-over lake north of Anchorage. Officials said Sunday that Keyes' initial confession led them to that location, and that he had admitted using a chainsaw to cut a hole in the ice to dump her body in the lake.

    Body in icy lake is missing Alaska barista, police say

    Koenig's body is the only one of Keyes' victims that has been found, officials said Sunday.

    Although Keyes told investigators that he placed the Curriers' bodies in an abandoned Vermont house, that house was demolished and searchers were unable to find the victims' remains at the site, officials said.

    Law enforcement officials described Keyes as methodical and a frequent traveler, able to conceal his actions and dispose of his victims' bodies without easy discovery.

    Keyes, 34, was a self-employed carpenter and Army veteran who had been stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington state. He moved to Anchorage in 2007. He also had a house and property in Constable, New York.

    He had been scheduled for trial in March on federal charges, and faced a possible death penalty.

    The investigation into Keyes' crimes - some of which date back 14 years - will continue, a process that could take years, officials said.

    "Mr. Keyes never showed no remorse for his actions," Feldis told KTUU.

    Michelle Tasker, a spokeswoman for the Koenig family, told KTUU Sunday that news of Keyes' apparent suicide was not the outcome they wanted.

    "We would've obviously liked for him to have gone in front of a jury of his peers and answer for what he's been accused of doing," said Tasker. "He did an injustice again to Samantha."

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Body in icy lake is missing Alaska barista, police say

    Mark Thiessen / AP

    FBI Special Agent in Charge Mary Rook addresses a news conference in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday.

    By NBC News and msnbc.com news services

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Divers searching an icy Alaska lake found a body they believe is of 18-year-old barista Samantha Koenig, who was abducted two months ago from a drive-up coffee stand, authorities said Monday.

    A dive team recovered the body in icy Matanuska Lake, about 35 miles northeast of Anchorage, Police Chief Mark Mew told reporters at a news conference, and will conduct forensic tests to confirm that it belongs to Samantha Koenig.

    Investigators believe she died within hours of her Feb. 1 abduction from the Anchorage coffee stand, Mew said.


    "Investigators further believe that the person responsible for Samantha's death acted alone, and we're confident we have that person in custody," he said, adding that charges for Koenig's kidnapping and murder "will be forthcoming."

    The sole person held in connection with Koenig's disappearance is Israel Keyes, a 34-year-old Anchorage construction contractor.

    He was arrested last month in Lufkin, Texas, and charged in federal court with illegally using another person's bank card to withdraw cash in various states. He has pleaded innocent and was being held without bail.

    AP

    Anchorage barista Samantha Koenig, 18, in this police file image.

    Koenig was forced from her coffee stand at the end of her evening shift by what appeared to be an armed man, according to security-camera video. The video was not publicly distributed, but police said it showed a thin white man abducting the barista.

    Self-defense lessons
    The case has gained a lot of attention in Anchorage. Posters of Koenig have been prominently displayed around town and family members and friends established a reward fund for information leading to her return. Supporters have held candlelight vigils for the missing teen, and volunteers have offered self-defense lessons to other Anchorage baristas.

    Mary Rook, special agent in charge of the FBI's Anchorage Division said investigators believed there was no connection between the abductor and the Koenig family, according to NBC News Alaska affiliate KTUU.com.

    KTUU.com: Samantha Koenig's Body Found in Matanuska Lake

    Rook credited callers and officials who provided information in the case from Alaska, as well as the Lower 48, for their role in the investigation.

    AP

    This undated handout photo provided by the Anchorage Police Department shows 34-year-old Israel Keyes.

    "We received hundreds of phone calls from people in Anchorage and from many locations across the Lower 48," Rook said.

    "Likewise, when assistance was required in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, local, state and federal authorities moved quickly to support and move this investigation forward. In fact, were it not for the efforts of several very alert and dedicated Texas law enforcement officers, Samantha's abductor may still be at large."

    NBC News and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Texas arrest in case of abducted 18-year-old Alaska barista

    AP

    This undated handout photo provided by the Anchorage Police Department shows 34-year-old Israel Keyes.

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A man has been arrested in Texas in connection with the disappearance of 18-year-old barista Samantha Koenig, who was abducted from a drive-up Alaska coffee stand six weeks ago, police said on Thursday.

    Israel Keyes, the owner of an Anchorage construction company whose website says he served three years in the U.S. Army and moved to Alaska in 2007, was arrested on Tuesday in Lufkin, Texas.

    He was identified as a "person on interest" in the disappearance of Samantha Koenig, who was seized from the coffee stand on February 1, the Anchorage Police Department said in a statement.

     

     

    She is still missing, and police remain hopeful she is alive.

    Keyes' arrest was coordinated by Anchorage police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, local law-enforcement agencies in Lufkin and the Texas Rangers, according to the statement.

    NBC News affiliate KTUU's Ted Land reports on Israel Keyes' background

    He was being held at a federal facility in Beaumont, Texas, Anchorage police said. Details of the charges against Keyes were not released, and the federal arrest warrant was sealed, police said.

    AP

    Police say there is little doubt barista Samantha Koenig, 18, was abducted after she closed up a coffee stand Wednesday night.

    Koenig's whereabouts remain unknown and the public was still being asked to supply any potential information, Anchorage police said.

    Koenig was abducted as she finished her evening barista shift in an incident recorded on the coffee stand's video camera.

    Posters identifying her as kidnapped are displayed around Anchorage. Friends and supporters held a candlelight vigil two weeks after her disappearance, and a reward fund has been established by her father and others for information leading to her safe return.

    Det. Slawomir Markiewicz told the Anchorage Daily News that two Anchorage detectives had been in Texas for several days prior to the arrest working on the case.

    The Daily News reported that Markiewicz would not say if Keyes matched the description of the man seen in the video.

    "He's the only person we charged, and the only person of interest," the newspaper quoted him as saying. "And the biggest thing at this time is that we haven't found Samantha Koenig and we don't know her whereabouts."

    Missing barista abducted from coffee stand, Anchorage police say

    The Anchorage detectives will remain in Texas for several more days serving search warrants, he said. When asked if the arrest meant police are closer now to finding Koenig, Markiewicz replied, "Of course."

    Keyes, who has also lived in Washington state, was arrested in a restaurant parking lot in front of onlookers, according to Lufkin television station KTRE which first reported the story.

    It said he was first pulled over after committing a traffic violation, following which investigators found enough evidence in the vehicle to arrest Keyes for suspected kidnapping, it reported.

    Keyes' website says he moved to Alaska in 2007 and is "yet to have a dissatisfied customer". There was no answer at the Anchorage telephone number on the website when msnbc.com called.

    The Anchorage Daily News said neither Markiewicz nor Koenig's father know how Keyes might have known Koenig.

    "We haven't found evidence linking him to her," Markiewicz told the newspaper. "We don't know if he knew her before (she disappeared)."

    He added: "As I've said before, I believe this case will be solved. This is a step toward that goal, a big step."

    Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

  • Missing barista abducted from coffee stand, Anchorage police say

    By msnbc.com staff

    Samantha Koenig was last seen Wednesday night.

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An 18-year-old barista who disappeared from the coffee stand where she worked was abducted, police said Friday.

    Samantha Koenig was last seen late Wednesday night. Surveillance video showed her leaving the Common Grounds Espresso stand with a man wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and possibly a baseball cap, Detective Sgt. Slawomir Markiewicz said, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

    Markiewicz said it appeared the man was armed but wouldn’t say what sort of weapon he had.

    "The video leaves little doubt that she was abducted," Markiewicz told mnsbc.com. "No one has seen her since she left."

    Authorities have not identified the man in the video.

    The Associated Press reported that court records show Koenig filed for a protective order against a man in November, but the order was not issued because she failed to show up in court.

    Koenig had worked at the coffee stand for a little less than a month, Common Grounds owner Michelle Duncan Duncan told the Anchorage Daily News. She was energetic and bubbly and hadn't said anything to the other baristas about any kind of displeasure about the job, Duncan said.

    "What I know of her, it definitely seems uncharacteristic to just walk away at the end of the day and not be heard from," Duncan told the newspaper.

    Koenig is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes.

    Anyone with information is asked to call the Anchorage Police Department at 90-786-8900.

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