congenitaldisease:

Israel Keyes was an American serial killer who enjoyed the thrill that accompanied a kill. He was known to study serial killers and their modus operandi so that he could devise his own methods. He committed a string of rapes and murders, beginning in the 1990′s until he was apprehended in 2012. He confessed to killing at least 8 people - he raped and killed mostly women but on at least one occasion, he killed a couple. He lived in numerous states over the years and authorities have tried to link him to multiple unsolved murder cases. He also confessed to committing bank robberies in New York and Texas. Keyes had hidden “murder kits” around various areas in the USA - the sole purpose to dispatch and dispose of victims if he ever felt the urge to kill nearby. His last known murder is that of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, who was a barista which worked in Anchorage, Alaska. He kidnapped her and raped and strangled her to death. He then took her body and hid it in a shed for two weeks while he went on a cruise. After those two weeks, he returned to her body, taped open her eyes to make her appear to be alive and took a photograph of the girl with a newspaper to prove the date. He then wrote a ransom note demanding $30,000 from her family. He then dismembered her body and disposed of it in a frozen lake. The ransom note was paid and police were able to track Keyes down and apprehend him. During questioning, he was often asked “Why?” to which he always replied “Why not?” He was linked to at least 11 murders but it is believed that he killed many more. He lived in numerous states over the years and was somewhat transient and travelled frequently. Authorities have been attempting to link him to multiple unsolved murder cases. On 2 December, 2012, he committed suicide in his jail cell.