Peter Alex Keller - Research Paper Example

? Peter Alex Keller - Peter Alex Keller Introduction Peter Alex Keller, 41, a resident of North Bend Washington, was formally charged with first degree murder and first degree arson on Wednesday, 25 April in King County Superior Court, after he shot his wife , Lynnette, 41, and daughter, Kaylene, 18 with .22 caliber gunshot and fled to the woods. After murdering his family and pets, Keller torched his rental home at 47227 S.W, 159th Street North Bend before heading on The Rattlesnake Ridges to hide in a bunker he spent eight years in building. According to court documents, Lynette and Kaylene died due to injuries from gunshot wounds to the head, inside. The week following the murders, the police searched the whole area for the forty-one year old suspect. Meanwhile, the county prosecutors were compiling a case against the suspect who was missing after the police discovered bodies of the two victims at the burned down North Bend house. Keller’s disappearance added fuel to the speculation about the real identity of the killer and if the police found him, he would be sentenced to 51 to 65 years in prison. Due to the discovery of Keller’s car, the police knew he was hiding in the woods and warned hikers as well as community members that a killer was on the loose in the woods. (Anonymous, 2012). The Investigation According to the court documents, Keller had been planning to murder his family and pets since quite a while. Using an Issaquah branch of Chase Bank on Friday, April 20, withdrew $6,200. The same day in the evening Keller switched off his cell phone. Furthermore, he took Monday, Thursday, and Friday before the murders off from work. According to court documents, Keller when questioned by a co-worker about when he was going to return to work, he replied, “I may not come back next week, the week after that, or maybe never”. The court records also state the fact that one Keller’s co-workers reported about the firearms Keller possessed which included high powered rifles with scopes, and silencers. According to the co-worker, Keller had not informed his wife about the silencers because they were excruciatingly expensive. The police during their search of the burned house, found two empty boxes for silencers on the master bedroom’s floor. The police also found on the bedroom’s floor, one box of .22 caliber bullets, spent .22 shell casings along with few empty firearms boxes. (Anonymous, 2012). At the crime scene, detectives found that the shed door was open which suggests that it was most probably used by Keller to hide plastic gas cans filled with gasoline. During the crime scene investigation, the detectives found seven cans of gasoline which had been placed in different parts of the house. The reports of arson investigators suggested that the house was deliberately set on fire. This was a very important piece of evidence which proved that Keller was the murderer. The investigators found that the fire was initiated by placing a one gallon plastic gas on a skillet which was placed on the stove. The burner ignited fumes inside the can and the fire spread quickly which damaged the kitchen roof and it collapsed partially. According to the evidence found inside the house, the arson investigators concluded that the fire started to spread within half an hour after the gasoline can was placed on the burner. The firefighters found and removed two five-gallon gas cans and three two-gallon gas cans from different strategic locations inside the house. After the fire was put out, the firefighters removed the two victims. The firefighters who found Kaylene on top of a bunker bed stated that her body was limp which meant that she had died a short while ago because rigor mortis had not set in. According to the charging papers, the firefighters stated that “death had occurred within a short period of time”. Lynette’s hair contained a spent shell and there were two gunshot wounds on her head. Of the two gunshots wounds, one was behind her right ear and the other on top of her head. On the other hand, the medical report stated that Kaylene had a contact wound on her left ear. The firefighters found two dead pets, one dog and a cat inside the house. On Monday, upon x-ray, the medical officer found that the two pets had been shot to death. (Anonymous, 2012). Keller was missing from the crime scene along with the family car, a red Toyota Corolla. The car was found parked out side the North Bend library. The car showed no signs of being stolen and all its doors were left unlocked. The keys had been left in the ignition. The discovery of the car further cleared that indeed Keller was the killer. The location of the car was key evidence which suggested that Keller might have fled off to the woods. The speculation was confirmed once police found out about Keller’s frequent hiking trips to the woods from acquaintances and family members. (Anonymous, 2012). The court documents state that Keller was a gun collector and owned body armor. Kaylene’s boyfriend reported that Kaylene had often mentioned about her father’s preparation for the end of the world. Her boyfriend also reported that within the two weeks before the murders Keller had purchased a laptop. The court documents state that the laptop was not found in the North Bend house. Keller was reclusive according to Lynette’s family members, who stated that Keller “had a fascination with trains and guns; that he had a survivalist mentality and distaste for authority”. (Anonymous, 2012). Conclusion After committing the murders Keller hid in a remote bunker in which he recorded a chilling video of himself. In the confession video, Keller claimed responsibility for murdering his wife and daughter. In the video, Keller says he committed the murders because he was bored with civilian life. (Green, 2012). Moreover, in the confession video Keller claimed that “robbing banks and pharmacies.... at least it’ll be exciting”. Keller shot himself when the SWAT team discovered his bunker and closed in on it. (Parsons, 2012). The police blew the top off Keller’s bunker after a 22 hour standoff. The ridge was built in the Cascade Mountains and was cleared by the bomb squad in order to detect booby- traps before the detectives could swarm the place. The police found the bunker by detecting a whiff of smoke and a freshly cut tree. To locate the bunker, the SWAT team spent almost seven hours crawling over the dangerous slope of the mountain where the hiding place had been carved in. Throughout Friday evening, the SWAT team kept a close watch on the bunker. The court documents state that the bunker’s light switched off and on throughout the evening and Keller had all the necessary items required for living such as generator, food, and water. When the bunker was blown off by the police they found that it had multiple levels, was heavily camouflaged and stocked with weapons. (Thompson, 2012). The investigation could have yielded fruitful results if Keller would have been caught alive. The police SWAT team should have acted more aggressively to ensure that the suspect was caught alive. The key evidence which suggested that Keller was the murderer was his weird disappearance from the crime scene. The discovery of his car near the library suggested that he was hiding in the woods. His weird disappearance coupled with claims of his family members about his frequent hiking trips confirmed that he was hiding in the woods. The case was closed with the death of Peter Alex Keller. (Swanson et al, 2012). References: Anonymous, April 26, 2012. “Fascination with guns, distaste for authority’: Police sat reclusive North Bend double murder suspect likely at large in woods”. Snoqualmie Valley Record. http://www.valleyrecord.com/news/149141785.html Swanson, C., Chamelin, N., Territo, L. & Taylor, R., (2012). 11th Ed. Criminal Investigations. New York: McGraw-Hill. Parsons, C. July 13, 2012. “Revealed: Man who slaughtered family then hid in mountain bunker recorded this chilling video saying he was bored with life”. UK: Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2172996/Peter-Keller-Man-slaughtered-family-hid-mountain-bunker-recorded-chilling-video-saying-bored-life.html Green. J, S. July 12, 2012. “North Bend Killer’s chilling video: “Just taking what I want for as long as I can”. The Seattle Times. http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/topic/peter-keller/ Thompson, E. July 28, 2012. “Sheriff: Body found in Washington Bunker”. USA: The USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-28/washington-fugitive-Peter-Keller/54592592/1 Read More