Tuesday, May 21, 2013

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New Details Emerge About Israel Keyes' Vermont Victims
U.S. Attorneys in Vermont held a press conference Monday
By Lauren Maxwell
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ANCHORAGE - Israel Keyes has admitted he killed at least eight people but the only victims he has ever identified by name are Samantha Koenig and a couple in Vermont, Bill and Lorraine Currier. That was a surprise to authorities in Vermont who had no suspect in the June 2011 murder case until they got a call from authorities in Alaska. They said the couple had no connection to Keyes or a reason why they should become his victims.

“By all accounts they were friendly, peaceful good people who encountered a force of pure evil acting at random,” said U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin.

Keyes was in custody for the murder of Samatha Koenig, which authorities say he confessed to early on.

But he also spoke to them in depth about the Currier murder in Vermont. Keyes said he flew from Anchorage to Chicago in the summer of 2011 with the idea of murdering and kidnapping someone.
He rented a car in Chicago and drove east to Vermont. He checked into a hotel in the tiny town of Essex and started scouting for a victim.

“Keyes was specifically looking for a house that had an attached garage, that had no cars in the driveway, did not have children and did not have a dog,” said Chittenden County State Attorney T.J. Donovan.“ Keyes was also looking for a type of home where he could predict the layout of the house and easily identify where the residents would be sleeping.

Keyes told them he wore a headlamp to see in the dark when he broke into the home, and rushed into the bedroom in what he called a “blitz attack.” He bound them with zip-ties then forced them into their own car and drove to an abandoned farmhouse. Keyes said he put the man and wife on separate floors. At one point both almost managed to escape. In the end, Keyes shot Bill Currier in the basement, then sexually assaulted his wife on the floor above.

“During this sexual assault Israel Keyes strangled Lorraine to the point where she lost consciousness,” said Donovan. "Keyes then brought Lorraine, who was still alive, to the basement. Lorraine did not appear to be totally aware of her surroundings at this time. Keyes then strangled Lorraine Currier to death.”

Police say Keyes put both bodies in garbage bags and hid them in the basement of the farmhouse, which was later torn down. Their bodies have never been found.

Authorities say they were careful not to talk to the media about Keyes' role in the Vermont murders until now because he had threatened to stop talking about other victims if his name was publicly connected to the killings.