Episode 196: The Murders of Bill and Lorraine Currier
50-year-old William “Bill” Currier and his wife, 55-year-old Lorraine, lived in Essex, Vermont. The couple married in July of 1985, and while the two didn’t have children, they had wonderful relationships with each other, family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. They enjoyed having quiet nights in with their pets. Bill was an animal care technician at the University of Vermont, loved animals and was always chatting with and checking on his neighbors and making friends. Lorraine worked at Fletcher Allen Health Care and was kind, patient and had a great personality for working in healthcare.
On June 8th, 2011, both Bill and Lorraine were last seen at each of their jobs leaving at the end of their work days and heading home. Neighbors saw the couple at their home on Colbert Street after work, but the next day on June 9th, concerned coworkers at both jobs immediately noticed when both Bill and Lorraine didn’t show up for work. The couple was reliable, on time and both enjoyed their jobs, so their absences were noticed quickly. Police arrived for a wellness check and found a window from the garage into the house had been broken and the phone lines had been cut. Their car, a dark green 1996 Saturn sedan, wasn't in the garage or driveway, and Lorraine’s handgun was also missing. Police and family were immediately concerned at the discovery of Lorraine’s contact lenses, glasses and Bill’s insulin still in the home as they never left without them.
Two days after the Curriers went missing, on June 11th, 2011, their car was found in a parking lot in the 200 block of Pearl Street in Essex Junction. The car had clearly been abandoned and was found tucked away between two apartment buildings next to a dumpster. A witness saw a glimpse of a man driving the car and they were able to give a description that police drew into a sketch. This was the only lead until July of 2012 when police announced that the Curriers were victims of homicide and they suspected a man named Israel Keyes.
Keyes grew up in a large family that was very religious and strict. They lived in remote areas, often with no running water or electricity, but attending church frequently. From a young age, Keyes began hurting and torturing animals, stealing, breaking into homes and becoming interested in guns. Other children began actively avoiding and even running away from Keyes as he grew older and his behaviors grew more violent and disturbing. He was a skilled carpenter by the age of 16, and he showed great promise in this. Keyes eventually told his parents he rejected their religious faith, resulting in him getting kicked out of the home. His resentment fueled an escalation in violence.
In the summer of 1997 or 1998, Keyes stalked a teenage girl in Oregon who was tubing down a river with her friends. He then approached her and threatened her with a knife before violently sexually assaulting her. He had originally planned on killing her but let her go. He later told police “I was too timid. I wasn't violent enough. I made up my mind I was never going to let that happen again." Keyes enlisted in the army, began drinking heavily and getting a DUI. After his honorable discharge in July of 2001, he relocated to Neah Bay, Washington to be with a girlfriend he had met. Keyes later admitted that he was excited to be discharged so he could kill someone. He moved to Anchorage, Alaska and began his own construction business in 2007 while traveling across the country in rental cars, breaking into homes, committing bank robberies and burying “kill caches.” These caches were often buckets containing supplies like zip ties, Drano, guns, silencers, and other things Keyes would later use to kill victims. There are still several kill caches buried around the country.
On February 1st, 2012, Keyes pulled up to a coffee booth in Anchorage, Alaska and kidnapped 18-year-old Samantha Koenig. He stole money, her debit card and other belongings and then sexually assaulted her. The next day, he murdered her and left her body in a shed in his backyard. Keyes then got on a flight to New Orleans and went on a two-week long cruise to the Gulf of Mexico. When he returned, he applied heavy makeup to Samantha’s face, sewed her eyes open with fishing wire and posed her with a newspaper to make it seem as though she was still alive. He requested $30,000 in ransom money, and when $5,000 of this hit Samantha’s account, Keyes dismembered her and disposed of her body over multiple trips to Matanuska Lake.
He then began making ATM withdrawals of the money in Alaska and throughout southwest states of New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. His rental car was spotted on one of the cameras, leading police on a pursuit and eventually pulling Keyes over for speeding in Texas. In the car with him were stacks of bills with dye from bank robberies, Samantha’s phone and her debit card. Upon his arrest, Keyes told police he was responsible for other murders and would give them additional information in exchange for him receiving the death penalty.
After telling police he murdered two people on the opposite side of the country and being shown a photo of Bill and Lorraine Currier, Keyes admitted to their murders. Over the course of multiple interviews, Keyes admitted to flying into Chicago from Alaska, renting a car and driving out to Maine to see his brother. He made several stops along the way, one at a remote cabin he owned in upstate New York and one in Burlington, Vermont to retrieve a kill cache he had buried two years prior. He then scouted out the area, checked into a hotel in Essex, Vermont and walked to the Currier’s home he had chosen because of its appearance and seeming as though there were no children in the home.
He went into the garage, broke a window to get inside, and then restrained Bill and Lorraine with zip ties before interrogating them on items in the home that he could steal such as guns, cash, prescription medications and their debit card information. Keyes then got them into their car, drove them to an abandoned farmhouse he had found earlier and dragged Bill inside. Lorraine attempted to run, but Keyes tackled her and got her inside the house, tying her to a bed. Throughout this ordeal, both Bill and Lorraine fought bravely and relentlessly for their lives.
Keyes beat Bill with a shovel after he began to break free of his restraints, then shot him multiple times after Bill got up and began fighting to get to Lorraine. Keyes raped Lorraine, choking her until she passed out, then brought her to the basement to show her Bill’s body before strangling her from behind with a rope. He then covered both bodies in Drano and debris from the home before leaving. Keyes had intended to burn the house down, but the sun was rising and it would draw attention so he left the bodies and the home, assuming during demolition any evidence would be destroyed. He then left the Currier’s car in the parking lot, got into his rental car and drove the rest of the way to see his brother. The FBI frantically located the farmhouse and learned that it had indeed been demolished. After an eleven week search from the FBI, state police and Essex police of the landfill where the demolished parts of the home were sent to, no evidence was found.
State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan stated “It is clear from the facts of this case that, though confronted with death, Bill and Lorraine showed extraordinary bravery and extreme dedication and love for one another. They fought to the end."
On December 12th, 2012, while in prison at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, Keyes was found dead with his bed sheets around his neck and both of his wrists slit. He had managed to hide a razor blade in his cell. With him was a vague suicide note and a drawing in Keyes’ blood of eleven skulls. The FBI feels the skulls indicate the true number of his victims.
The bodies of Bill and Lorraine Currier have not been located. Anyone with any information is asked to please call the Essex Police Department at (802) 879-4923. Tips may also be submitted anonymously at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit or by texting keyword VTIPS to 274637. Anyone with any information on the Curriers or the other suspected victims of Israel Keyes is asked to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Image sources:
nypost.com - “How a Vermont couple ended up in a serial killer’s gruesome chain of carnage”