Israel Keyes is the most terrifying serial killer you’ve probably never heard of - Serial Killer Documentary

Israel Keyes is all of your worst fears personified into one of the most terrifying serial killers of the 21st century.

February 1, 2012, began like any other day at work for 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, but it ended in unspeakable tragedy.

Finishing up her shift at the Common Grounds coffee stand in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, the young barista was approached by a man wearing a ski mask who ordered coffee – a man who would later be named as Israel Keyes.

After Samantha handed him the order, Keyes pulled out a gun and demanded money, and the terrified teen quickly complied.

Forcing himself inside the stand, Keyes tied the young woman’s hands together with zip ties before forcing her into his white Ford Focus, where she tried – and failed – to escape the abductor, who held a gun to her head and said he would kill her if she tried again.

Driving around town with Samantha still bound in the vehicle, Keyes explained to the terrified teen that this was simply a kidnapping for ransom and that if she cooperated, she’d be returned to her family unharmed.

Keyes kept Samantha alive for several hours and even drove back to her coffee stand to retrieve her mobile phone. He then used it to send a fake text message to her boyfriend, who was due to pick her up after her shift.

The text read: “Hey, I’m spending a couple of days with friends, let me dad know.”

Keyes took Samantha to his property, where he tied her up in a shed. He turned his radio up so no one could hear her screams and pleas for help.

After demanding Samantha’s address, Keyes made his way to retrieve her ATM card from her boyfriend’s truck.

In a gut-wrenching twist, while stealing the debit card, Keyes was confronted by Samantha’s boyfriend – who was already on edge after discovering Koenig was not at work when he arrived to pick her up as well as having received the strange text message from her phone earlier, which had, in fact, been sent by Keyes.

Thinking he was a random burglar attempting to break into his car, Samantha’s boyfriend ran inside to get help, while Keyes fled.

Returning to his property, Keyes poured himself a glass of wine as he returned to his shed and raped a sobbing Samantha.

He then strangled her to death.

Keyes returned inside, packed for a pre-planned cruise in New Orleans, woke his daughter for school, and left for the airport.

Returning to Anchorage on February 17, 2012, Keyes began preparing a ransom note, but first, he decided to remove Samantha’s body from the cupboard.

He applied makeup to Samantha’s face – frozen and lifeless – before unsettlingly sewing her eyes open with fishing line to give her the appearance of being alive. He then took a Polaroid of her “holding” up that day’s newspaper.


True Crime Podcast 2023 Police Interrogations, 911 Calls and True Police Stories Podcast