Walking with a handheld camera through the remote Cascade foothills of Washington, Peter Keller looked into the lens and said: ‘I used to sit here and think, you know, this is all crazy,’
Dressed in a casual gray sweatshirt, the 41-year-old might look like a vlogger in the wild to passers-by.
‘After I thought, I knew better,’ Peter continued. ‘I don’t feel bad. It’s just the way it is. I don’t have to worry about Lynnettee or Kaylene. Everything will just be taken care of.
‘It’ll just be me.’
But Keller isn’t your average vlogger. She may have been documenting her daily activities like any other camera-wielding social media star, but instead of filming a shopping spree or the odd Q&A, she revealed something more sinister.
In the video diary, Keller described his plans to kill his wife, Lynnettee, 41, and their daughter, Kaylene, 18.
He also filmed the construction of a secret bunker in the woods 25 miles from his home in Seattle. That’s where the father-of-one plans to escape to, after his beloved family is ‘taken care of.’ Keller, who fixes computers for a living, has stocked the bunker with 13 guns, boxes of ammunition, countless beans, vodka and gasoline. Keller figured he could live there for years without being noticed.
How Peter Keller plans to ‘live’
‘The connection with reality is broken,’ crime expert Ava Glass explains. The author, who has worked as a police reporter in America and with MI5 spies in England, revisits the Keller case in the latest season of Killer Caught On Camera.
“If you watch the video, Keller is having a lot of fun when he’s building bunkers and stacks,” Ava told Metro.
‘He talked about how he was going to strengthen the roof to hide it, and kept saying “I could get caught, I imagine I would. But if I don’t, I could easily live here for six months and then I’d be gone like that.” Keller prepares the escape route. He’s very practical and proud, almost like “yeah, it’s going to be good.” And that plan, to kill his wife and daughter who loves him, is just horrible.’
In several clips, Keller explained how he would rob banks or chemists to earn money to survive after killing his wife and daughter. He gave no specific reason for wanting to kill. However, he reiterated that it was an act that ‘had to be done’ that would mark the ‘end.’
On April 23, 2012, the 41-year-old made a terrible plan. Keller shot and killed Lynnettee and Kaylene while they were sleeping and also fatally shot the family dog Dino. He tried, unsuccessfully, to burn down the house and then fled to a secret bunker in the forest.
Meanwhile, the police are trying to track down the missing father.
Killer hunter
Detectives analyzed and supplemented several photos found at the Keller family home that eventually led to an area called North Bend near the Rattlesnake Ridge Trail in the Cascade foothills. He also found a hand-drawn sketch of the bunker at Keller’s house, so he knew what he had to hide.
Once in the forest, the police saw smoke in the distance. Plumes came from Keller’s wood stove in the bunker as he cooked food. Armed police were dispatched to the scene with megaphones on April 27, they tried to talk to Keller and asked him to surrender.
After a 22-hour standoff, the SWAT team set off a small explosion near the bunker and fired tear gas into the door in an attempt to kill the cowardly killers. A ‘pop’ was heard from inside the hide shortly after this.
In the bunker, the police found Keller’s body with a pistol and a radio by his side.
The killer had predicted his own death in a video recorded two weeks before killing his family. Laughing, Keller told the camera: ‘I had an escape and it was death. I can always pick myself up. I’m fine.’
More than a decade since the murders of Lynnettee and Kaylene, true crime fans are still baffled by the lack of a motive, with countless Reddit threads discussing the murders.
Crime without motive?
On paper, the Keller family was happy and had no money or domestic problems. Lynnettee was a hard worker and very generous, dearly missed by her loved ones. Mothers would give gifts to less privileged members of the community and enjoy cooking traditional Mexican food for friends and family.
Meanwhile Kaylene is ‘beautiful and energetic’, studies at Bellevue College and has a loving boyfriend. Kaylene’s graduation video was found at her home, as well as fun clips from family vacations. Her obituary described her as ‘a strong student who cared about nature and the environment, a baker who could tempt anyone off a diet and enjoyed spending time outdoors with friends and her beloved dog.’
Sgt. Cindi West of the King County Sheriff’s Office, will later tell the press that there does not seem to be a clear motive behind the slayings of the two women. He said after Keller’s body was found in his bunker, he said: A friend has indicated that he thought the world would end at some point. We know he has in the past owned several rifles, scopes and pistols. He bought a bulletproof vest.’
As well as weapons and ammunition, detectives found thousands of dollars hidden in Keller’s bunker. The cash was given to a scholarship fund established in Kaylene’s memory to support female students at the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington. Kaylene had dreamed of going there and studying video game design, said her family.
Gene Rocha, Lynnettee’s twin, later said his sister’s killer was ‘a very quiet man.’ He said he was unable to watch the video diary recorded at the time of the murder. ‘Won’t give an answer,’ added Gene.
Caught on camera
For Ava, revisiting the Peter Keller case for Killers Caught On Camera was an uncomfortable experience. When he was a crime reporter in the 80s and 90s, there weren’t viral clips on social media clips or much of a digital trail to go by. Insights into the killer’s motives often come through the memories of witnesses or through details disclosed in court proceedings.
‘Having that video (of the Keller case) is very interesting. It’s something I never worked on when I was a crime reporter,’ he explains.
‘You see Keller in the clip confessing to the crime, which is crazy, but at the same time it still doesn’t explain anything. Murder is pointless. He’s a madman in the woods with a plan to kill his family, and he’s convinced.
‘It feels like a movie, or a Stephen King novel. When I was a reporter I thought I could figure out the motive for a murder 9 times out of 10. Maybe it had something to do with anger, drugs, or poverty. But now, we’re seeing a lot of cases that are getting more wild and inexplicable attention.’
Murderer: Caught on camera S2 premieres on TRUE CRIME on Thursday, September 5 at 10pm, with episodes airing weekly and available on WATCH FREE UK after broadcast.
Do you have a story you want to share? Contact Kirsten.Robertson@metro.co.uk by email
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
MORE: Channel 4 series defends police after being accused of ‘bashing’ UK city
MORE: Netflix’s ‘best crime documentary in years’ 8,400,000 views in just one week
MORE: One of Britain’s most vicious killers is a woman you’ve never heard of
Get the latest must-know news, great stories, analysis and more
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
