FILE - This undated handout photo provided by the Anchorage Police Department shows Israel Keyes. Keyes, charged in the death of an Alaska barista, has killed himself, and authorities say he was linked to at least seven other possible slayings in three other states. Keyes was found dead in his Anchorage jail cell Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Officials say it was a suicide. (AP Photo/Anchorage Police, file)
FILE - This undated handout photo provided by the Anchorage Police Department shows Israel Keyes. Keyes, charged in the death of an Alaska barista, has killed himself, and authorities say he was linked to at least seven other possible slayings in three other states. Keyes was found dead in his Anchorage jail cell Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Officials say it was a suicide. (AP Photo/Anchorage Police, file)
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Essex, Vt., police, Bill and Lorraine Currier are seen. Investigators say Israel Keyes, found dead of an apparent suicide in an Alaska jail, was not only suspected of killing Anchorage barista Samantha Koenig but may be linked to seven other possible slayings around the country, including the Curriers, of Essex, Vt.. The bodies of the Curriers have never been found. They were last seen leaving their jobs on June 8, 2011. Anchorage police chief Mark Mew said Keyes confessed to killing Koenig, as well as killing Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, Vt. Keyes, 34, also indicated he killed four others in Washington state and one person in New York state, but didn't give the victims' names, authorities said. (AP Photo/Essex police, File)
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Anchorage Police Department shows Anchorage, Alaska, barrista, Samantha Koenig, 18, is pictured. Investigators say Israel Keyes, found dead Sunday, Dec. 2, of an apparent suicide in an Anchorage, Alaska jail, was not only suspected of killing Koenig but may be linked to seven other possible slayings around the country, including the Curriers, of Essex, Vt.. The bodies of the Curriers have never been found. They were last seen leaving their jobs on June 8, 2011. Anchorage police chief Mark Mew said Keyes confessed to killing Koenig, as well as killing Bill and Lorraine Currier. Keyes, 34, also indicated he killed four others in Washington state and one person in New York state, but didn't give the victims' names, authorities said. (AP Photo/Anchorage Police Department)
FILE - In a Thursday, April 19, 2012 file photo, Samantha Koenig's grandmother Florence Milton, left, and mother Darlene Christiansen, right, paid their respects at an open house memorial for Koenig at Legacy Funeral Homes in Anchoragey. Israel Keyes, who prosecutors say abducted and killed 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, was found dead in his Anchorage jail cell of an apparent suicide Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Investigators say Israel Keyes was not only suspected of killing Koenig but may be linked to seven other possible slayings around the country, including Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, Vt. The bodies of the Curriers have never been found. They were last seen leaving their jobs on June 8, 2011. Anchorage police chief Mark Mew said Keyes confessed to killing Koenig, as well as killing Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, Vt. Keyes, 34, also indicated he killed four others in Washington state and one person in New York state, but didn't give the victims' names, authorities said. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bill Roth, File)
FILE - This undated handout photo provided by the Anchorage Police Department shows Israel Keyes. Keyes, charged in the death of an Alaska barista, has killed himself, and authorities say he was linked to at least seven other possible slayings in three other states. Keyes was found dead in his Anchorage jail cell Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Officials say it was a suicide. (AP Photo/Anchorage Police, file)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? A man found dead of an apparent suicide in an Alaska jail was not only suspected of killing an Anchorage barista, but also killed a Vermont couple and may be linked to five other possible slayings around the country, investigators said.
Israel Keyes, who had also confessed to killing a Vermont couple, was found dead in his cell Sunday, authorities said at a news conference that included U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler, the FBI, and Anchorage police.
Keyes was to stand trial in March in Anchorage federal court for the slaying of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, who was abducted from a coffee kiosk in the city last February. He was later arrested in Texas after using the victim's debit card.
Anchorage police chief Mark Mew said Keyes confessed to killing Koenig, as well as killing Bill and Lorraine Currier, of Essex, Vt.
The bodies of the Curriers have never been found. They were last seen leaving their jobs on June 8, 2011. Co-workers reported them missing the next day. Authorities in Vermont held a news conference Monday saying they confirmed Keyes was responsible because he described details investigators had not released to the public.
Keyes didn't have a clear pattern in victims, who ranged widely in age, authorities said. Money appeared to be just a partial motive.
Authorities said they may never know the full extent of Keyes' crimes because he parsed out only a little information at a time, withholding names and locations of most of his victims.
Keyes, 34, also indicated he killed four others in Washington state and one person in New York state but didn't give the victims' names, authorities said.
Authorities wouldn't say how Keyes killed himself, only that he was alone in his cell. An autopsy will be conducted.
Keyes could have faced the death penalty in the Koenig case.
The FBI contends Keyes killed Koenig less than a day after she was kidnapped. Her body was recovered April 2 from an ice-covered lake north of Anchorage.
Koenig's disappearance gripped the city for weeks.
A surveillance camera showed an apparently armed man in a hooded sweat shirt leading Koenig away from the coffee stand. Koenig's friends and relatives established a reward fund and plastered the city with fliers with her photo in hopes of finding the young woman alive.
Prosecutors said Keyes stole the debit card from a vehicle she shared that was parked near her home, obtained the personal identification number and scratched the number into the card.
After killing Koenig, Keyes used her phone to send text messages to conceal the abduction, according to prosecutors. He flew to Texas and returned Feb. 17 to Anchorage, where he sent another text message demanding ransom and directing it to the account connected to the stolen debit card, according to prosecutors.
Keyes made withdrawals from automated teller machines in Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas before his arrest in Texas, according to prosecutors. He was charged with kidnapping resulting in Koenig's death.
Koenig's family said there was no apparent previous connection between the teen and the suspect. Reached by phone Sunday, Koenig's father, James Koenig declined to comment on Keyes' death.
Authorities in Vermont said they had been working with investigators in Alaska since April on the Currier case.
Investigators have determined that the couple's home was entered forcibly, and that there was evidence of a possible struggle.
Their car was stolen and was recovered several days after their disappearance at an apartment complex about three-quarters of a mile away from their home.
Marilyn Chates, Bill Currier's mother, told The Associated Press that police contacted her some time ago to tell her about Keyes' confession and to tell her that they believed the couple's killing was random.
Certificates of presumed death were issued over the summer and a memorial service was held in late summer, she said.
Vermont authorities called Chates on Sunday to tell her of Keyes' suicide.
"After some thinking, our family has been saved the long road ahead ? trials, possible plea agreements and possible appeals ? and perhaps this was the best thing that could have happened," she said from her home in Florida Sunday evening.
Keyes was thorough and methodical in disposing victims, authorities said Sunday. Only Koenig's body has been recovered.
There may be victims in other states, besides the four states noted by Keyes, said FBI agent Mary Rook.
Keyes also confessed to bank robberies in New York state and Texas.
___
Associated Press writer Rebecca Miller in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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