Serial Killer Israel Keyes Was Caught When He Broke His Own Rule

An analysis of serial killer Israel Keyes' behavior has revealed that he only got caught when his nature got the best of him.

According to Anchorage homicide Detective Monique Bell, he was captured for the murder of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig because he couldn't restrain himself. Keyes, who had been committing murder for a decade before being apprehended, would only rob convenience stores and cafes.

As we reported last week, he approached the barista at an Anchorage coffee stand, even as she didn't have a car. He would satisfy his urge of killing only when the victim had his or her own vehicle, that he would use to transport them.

“He basically had this rule, this unwritten rule, that he would travel outside and go to great lengths to distance himself from any of his victims,” Bell is quoted by ABC News as saying.

Before confessing to at least eight killings and committing suicide in his jail cell in Alaska, he admitted he had lost control of his actions.

“He told us he was losing control. He was losing the massive amount of self-control that he had,” Bell adds.

According to a statement made by Anchorage Police Officer Jeff Bell, he did not plan on ever being taken alive, which is why he resorted to suicide.

His modus operandi had been developed after researching the likes of Ted Bundy. He also read detective novels and watched movies about serial killers. Even so, he didn't see himself as one of them.

“He never identified himself as a serial killer. [...] That was one of the things that he wanted very much, as this investigation progressed, to keep from being identified as,” Doll explains. Keyes had a girlfriend and a daughter, alongside whom he kept the appearance of a normal life.

“He was very confident in that fact that he was successful in leading this kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde lifestyle and that no one would ever suspect him of doing these crimes, had he not confessed,” the detective describes.

He apparently “never expressed in any way, shape or form that he was ashamed or regretted any of his actions.”