Are there BC victims of a confessed US serial killer?
Posted January 14, 2014 7:14 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The FBI in Alaska is still trying to figure out if a notorious serial killer who started his life of crime in the Pacific Northwest of the United States in 1996 may have had any victims here in BC.
Israel Keyes made at least two stops in BC and is believed to have killed up to 11 people throughout the US.
The investigation into whether there were local murders has become much harder since Keyes killed himself in prison at the end of 2012.
“There could be victims in Canada, but we don’t know that,” says Assistant Special Agent Kevin Donavan with the FBI in Alaska.
In an interrogation with the FBI before his death, Keyes was asked about Canadian victims; he made a comment about how Canadians don’t count.
“The FBI’s efforts are ongoing to locate and identify all of Israel Keyes victims. We are working with the RCMP, Interpol Ottawa and other Canadian law enforcement agencies to try and determine if Israel Keyes committed any murders in Canada,” adds Donavan.
The FBI has asked police in any areas with unsolved murders to talk to them so ties may be looked into
Finding victims in Canada could be extremely difficult
Other than telling his police interviewers that “Canadians don’t count,” Keyes has not directly said anything about crimes during his time in BC and Quebec.
“It gives pause for thought and reflection, depending on what other information might be available,” says University of Ottawa criminology professor Ron Melchers.
“The only way to determine if there are victims is to go from the confessions he has made, but I don’t believe anything in those confessions would suggest there are victims in Canada,” he tells News1130.
That leaves investigators relying on evidence found at a crime scene or traces from a body, which might be very difficult.
“We don’t know where those crime scenes might be and I gather this is not a person who has left very much trace evidence of his crimes. My guess would be it is pretty much impossible to determine if there were victims in Canada.”
“They have open investigations and are following up on leads, beginning with crimes that he confessed to which he may or may not have committed. Very often, in cases like this, the infractors are narcissists and will confess to crimes simply for the attention it brings them,” explains Melchers.
He tells us it can be hard to determine what information is reliable.
