Authorities deduced from hours of interviews with an Alaska serial killer that he may have killed close to a dozen people, and that he killed for pleasure and was only conflicted about how his notoriety would affect the ones he loved.
Israel Keyes confessed to killing eight people before he committed suicide last weekend in an Anchorage jail, but FBI and Anchorage Police Department investigators said Friday they think he may have had up to three additional victims.
"Based on some of the things he told us, and some of the conversations we had with him, we believe the number is less than 12," FBI Special Agent Jolene Goe-den said. "We don't know for sure. He's the only one who could have ultimately answered that."
Keyes slit his wrist and strangled himself with bedding Sunday at the Anchorage Correctional Facility.
He was facing federal murder charges in the kidnapping and death of 18-year old Samantha Koenig, who was abducted from an Anchorage coffee stand Feb. 1.
Goeden and Anchorage Police officer Jeff Bell conducted up to 40 hours of interviews with Keyes after his March arrest in Texas. During that time, Keyes confessed to killing Koenig, along with Bill and Lorraine Currier in Vermont, and five other people - although details for those victims were scarce.
The interviews also revealed Keyes' motivation, which was simple, Goeden and Bell told The Associated Press.
"He enjoyed it. He liked what he was doing," Goeden said. "He talked about getting a rush out of it, the adrenalin, the excitement out of it."
Keyes also liked seeing coverage of his crimes in the media and he appeared to enjoy talking about some of the killings with investigators, Goeden and Bell said.
Keyes' crimes started small with burglaries and thefts - until the urge escalated to murder. Bell said Keyes told them the first violent crime he committed was a sexual assault in Oregon, in which he let the victim go.
Keyes said the rape occurred sometime between 1996 and 1998 along the Deshutes River near Maupin, Oregon, after he got the girl away from her friends. The girl was between the ages of 14 and 18, and would be in her late 20s or 30s now. No police reports were filed, and the FBI is seeking more information the crime.
