Two Bodies For A Cigar, Israel Keyes Told Investigators

Suspected serial killer Israel Keyes, dead by his own hand after he was arrested for his final murder, offered investigators a callous bargain before his death — two bodies, for a cigar.

When murderers like Keyes are apprehended, one of the main focal points of investigations lies in extracting as much information about the location of remains as possible — and Keyes offered the exchange of two bodies for a cigar, a vulgar bargain to end the pain of suffering families who may never have learned the fate of their loved ones.

Keyes was “cheerful” in videos during which he discussed up to a dozen brutal killings he claimed to have carried out. ABC said of the jailhouse tapes that the now deceased killer — who wished to be executed so his young daughter would be spared the pain of her father’s incarceration — detailed his crimes and made the offer of the locations of two bodies for a cigar.

He said of his desire to be put to death:

“I’ll give you every single gory detail you want, but that’s what I want because I want my kid to have a chance to grow up. She’s in a safe place now. She’s not going to see any of this. I want her to have a chance to grow up and not have all this hanging over her head.”

Keyes was apprehended in March of 2012 after the murder of Alaskan barista Samantha Koenig and committed suicide in jail in December of last year. In the tapes, Keyes lays out his perspective, adding:

“I’m not a person that can be bullied and at this point I don’t care. There’s not anything they can threaten me with or say to me or take away from me or give me, except for what I want, that is going to make me do what they want. I’m happy to help, but it’s on my terms.”

Hours of tapes were released after an Alaska newspaper requested them, and, in the two bodies for a cigar bit, Keyes bargained:

“All right. I’ll give you two bodies and a name … I can give you one of the murder weapons and the rest of the story, like everything that happened, but I’m not going to give you the rest.”

Keyes paused, then added: “If I get a cigar … I’ll do half a smoke before and if I can get the rest of it afterward.”