ANCHORAGE - Serial killer Israel Keyes cut his wrist and used bedding from his jail cell in an attempt to strangle himself, according to a report by state troopers.
The state medical examiner's office still has not announced an official cause of death. And the Department of Corrections is still not commenting on why Keyes reportedly had been taken off of suicide watch.
When a death occurs in a state-run facility, the state troopers investigate.
So when Keyes, the murderer of 18-year-old barista Samantha Koenig, was found dead in his cell at 5:57 Sunday morning, troopers proceeded to piece together what happened.
They found he used a disposable razor embedded in a pencil to slit his wrist. How he got the razor, the Department of Corrections won't say.
And Keyes attempted to strangle himself with bedding.
Captain Craig Allen, commander of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, explained: "In this particular circumstance, the bedding was around his throat or neck and the other end was attached to, in a loop to his foot, and just by extending his leg it causes enough tightening to create that strangulation event."
Keyes was alone in his cell, so foul play never was suspected.
But whether or not his jailers followed proper protocols in handling him is most likely beyond the troopers' jurisdiction.
Allen said, "If I were to have an opportunity to investigate something like that, it would be a criminal investigation into wrongdoing within a facility, and there's no indication that this suicide event is going to lead to that yet."
Several bloody pages were found in the cell, and an FBI spokesman has confirmed that it's a suicide note.
"We've provided those to the FBI,” Allen said. “My understanding is the FBI has directed those to their crime lab or their laboratory in Quantico."
It will be the last look inside the twisted mind of a man who killed for pleasure.
Troopers say that video from the hallway outside Keyes' cell is being reviewed to see when he was checked on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
