The photo sent as ransom for Samantha Koenig can be described as horrific and terrifying. The image is truly chilling, to say the least.
Samantha Koenig fell victim to the serial killer, Israel Keyes. The young woman was only 18 years old when she was abducted and brutally killed by her abductor.
On February 1st, 2012, Samantha was taken from a coffee shop where she was employed as a barista in Anchorage, Alaska.
That evening, just before 8 p.m., she was held at gunpoint, informed that it was a robbery, and ordered to turn off the lights.
According to The New York Post, after Samantha turned off the lights, her abductor tied her hands, entered through the window, gagged her with napkins, and then forced her out of the coffee stand and into his pickup truck.
He then drove her to his residence, claiming that he only intended to hold her for ransom. However, it was all a deception, and the young woman encountered her worst nightmare.
After taking Samantha’s debit card and cell phone, her captor no longer had any use for her alive. Around 2 AM, he removed her from his truck and relocated her to his tool shed, where he secured her by the neck.
Keyes resided in Anchorage with his 10-year-old daughter and his girlfriend, Kimberly. Following the relocation of Koenig to the tool shed, Keyes checked on his daughter and girlfriend.
Sitting in front of Samantha, Keyes consumed alcohol and detailed how he would assault and murder her by strangulation using the rope around her neck.
He carried out his threat. He left Koenig’s body in the shed, returned to his house, and prepared for his departure.
Promptly at 5 AM, he hailed a cab to the airport to catch a flight to New Orleans for a two-week Caribbean cruise he had scheduled with his family.
The Process of Taking Samantha Koenig’s Ransom Photo by Keyes
Upon his return from the trip, Keyes retrieved Koenig’s frozen body, which had been preserved during his absence. He then prepared and arranged the body in a manner that suggested she was still alive.
He propped her eyes open, positioned her upright, and snapped a polaroid photograph of her with a copy of the Anchorage Daily Newspaper that was four days old.
He then sent this photograph to Koenig’s family, demanding $30,000 to be deposited into her account. By that time, Keyes had already obtained access to her debit card, and Samantha’s family complied with the demand.
These gruesome details branded him as a “heartless serial killer” devoid of any remorse.
