Peter Keller: The Family Annihilator Who Vlogged

[00:00:18] Hey everyone, my name is Nikki Young and this is Serial Napper, an international true crime podcast. I'm back with another true crime story to lull you to sleep or perhaps to give you nightmares. On April 22, 2012, several residents living in a quiet neighborhood located in North Bend,

[00:00:40] Washington called 911 after seeing flames coming out of the window of a neighboring home. Thankfully, firefighters arrived on the scene and were able to put out the fire quickly. But when they took a closer look at the remnants of the house, they would make a gruesome discovery.

[00:00:59] Two bodies untouched by the fire but both shot in the head. They belonged to 41-year-old Lynette Keller and her 19-year-old daughter, Kayleen. Missing from the residence was the patriarch of the house, 41-year-old Peter Keller. Investigators weren't immediately

[00:01:17] sure if he was missing or in danger, but things became much clearer when they discovered a hard drive in the home containing hours of Peter's vlog footage. What was featured in these videos would shock even the most seasoned of investigators. Launching

[00:01:36] a SWAT search for an underground bunker police believed was connected to Peter and the fire. Tonight, we're talking about a husband and a father who lived a double life as a devoted family man while plotting to annihilate his family and live out the remainder of his life

[00:01:55] in an underground bunker. So let's jump right in. If you've been listening to Serial Napper for any length of time, you know that my episodes typically focus solely on the victims. I will absolutely be honoring the victims here

[00:02:11] too, as I always do, but for this particular story, I think it's equally important that we talk about the perpetrator. People like Peter Keller, who outwardly appear to be nothing less than doting husbands and fathers, yet they lead a double life that inwardly has

[00:02:27] them planning to kill those closest to them, they terrify me. All murders are terrible, but the idea of being able to kill your spouse and your own child is particularly heinous. So we're going to be taking a closer look at who Peter Keller was before he became a

[00:02:46] family annihilator. Peter Keller was born on February 5, 1967. From an early age, it was clear to those who knew him that Peter was a huge introvert. Growing up in Oregon, he was quiet and enjoyed

[00:03:01] spending much of his time alone. In high school, that would all change when he met Lynette. According to a video that Lynette would post to social media, the first time that they met in school, she wasn't all that interested in him. But she completely changed

[00:03:18] her mind the second time they met, and from that day forward, they were basically inseparable. They became best friends which quickly grew into a romance. Now Lynette was born in Pomona, California, and she just so happened to be a twin. She

[00:03:35] had a twin brother. She moved to Oregon from Laguna Hills when she was young, and she attended Aloha High School in Beaverton, Oregon. Lynette was smitten with Peter, but maybe not as much

[00:03:48] as he was with her. Just three months after they began dating, Peter started to talk to Lynette about marriage. According to Lynette, at that point in her life, she had no plans of ever marrying anyone. But when he popped the question just a short while later, she

[00:04:06] immediately said yes. She felt like he was the love of her life. There was no indication that there was anything dark hiding inside of him at that point. And the pair, they would get married. Shortly after that, on April 22nd, 2012, their baby girl, Kayleen, would

[00:04:26] be born. The new family would move from Oregon to North Bend, Washington, a scenic city of only around 7,500 people. North Bend can truly be described as a haven for outdoor enthusiasts. The city? It's surrounded by lush mountains, lakes, and hiking trails, so it's really easy

[00:04:48] to find a peace of serenity, if that's what you're looking for. It was here that the Keller family would live a life that looked like any other from the outside. Lynette Keller, she was described by those who knew her as accomplished and very generous, even going

[00:05:05] as far as to buy Christmas presents for those in her community who couldn't afford to buy their own. Peter Keller, he doted on his wife, and he's been described as a loving father to their daughter, Kayleen. The beautiful and vibrant Kayleen, she finished high school

[00:05:22] and she registered to be a student at her local community college. Her dream was to one day become a successful video game designer, and she was in the process of doing everything that she needed to do to make that happen. She had a boyfriend named Carson, who she

[00:05:40] deeply adored. Things were going really well in her life. While they were living in Washington, Lynette would become injured from a workplace accident and unable to work outside of the home. This caused a pretty significant financial strain on the family. Peter worked full time

[00:06:00] in computer refurbishing, while Lynette, she received monthly disability checks, but it just wasn't enough to support the family or at least let them be comfortable. To help bring a little more money in, Lynette would start her own scrapbooking and paper flower

[00:06:17] business. She was incredibly creative with a good eye for combining different designs and mediums, so her scrapbooking business really thrived. She'd sell her crafts online and at local craft fairs, so she was a well-known name within her community. Lynette would vlog

[00:06:37] to her audience in the online crafting space. She had a decent-sized audience on YouTube. People would subscribe and watch her crafting tutorials, tips and tricks, and her giveaways. It was an outlet for Lynette, who spent much of her time confined to the house with her

[00:06:55] injury. She was candid about her highs and her lows, and she talked a lot about her family, including her husband. The way she spoke of Peter was always very positive. She spoke

[00:07:09] of how he took care of her when she was injured and how thankful she was that he supported her and her business. In one clip that she posted online, she spoke of how she had an upcoming doctor's appointment that she was just really dreading, and so her husband,

[00:07:25] he slipped her a $20 bill in her wallet and told her to go get herself something at Michael's craft store just to make her feel better. He's here, he's supporting me, he takes care of me. Even though I can't go back to work

[00:07:37] and I'm home in pain all the time, he gave me my scrapbooking room. It was my dream come true. He's a great guy. He stuck around with me. Some guys kind of leave when you get that

[00:07:51] it's part of your vow. But anyway, don't want to get onto that. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Pretty much this is my anniversary present. I'm so thankful that my husband was able to

[00:08:05] give me that so I could stock up on supplies for me. And I also got some stuff for you guys too. It all sounded very sweet, but later, some who knew the couple on a more personal level

[00:08:18] would say that Peter was really cheap and controlling of the finances. Many times, Lynette would actually have to borrow money from friends and family because Peter wouldn't give her cash when she asked him. But of course, no one really knew what was going on behind closed

[00:08:35] doors because we never truly know how a relationship and a marriage functions. We only really know what we've been told. But from the outside looking in, they looked like a very loving family who toughed it out together through thick and thin, the good times and the bad.

[00:08:59] Little did anyone know that while Lynette was vlogging about her business and her family to the crafting community, her husband Peter, he was filming a vlog of his own. But the things that he was talking about were dark and sinister.

[00:09:17] Well, it's about two weeks before we finally drop out of society, fully commit to this. This is probably going to be my last video until after that. I just wanted to get one

[00:09:30] last video in before that time. So far, I'm coming to terms with it. I'm doing okay. It's starting to accept it and doesn't really freak me out anymore like it did sometimes.

[00:09:48] Today is probably the nicest day it's been in a long time. As you can see, I have about three loads left before the final. Been doing pretty good lately, getting about two loads up a week, about 100 pounds each week now of supplies and material. At this point, I

[00:10:19] don't know what's going to happen. I may get caught right away. Basically, if I get caught, I'm just going to shoot myself. So I mean, I could basically be dead in two weeks or

[00:10:33] three weeks. I don't know. It's all up to chance at this point. So I don't think anyone knows where I'm at. But if they put it together, who knows? At this point, I have to take that

[00:10:46] chance. So that's just going to be a point of, you know, go as far as I can. I do have my escape, and that's death. Can always shoot myself. And I'm okay with that. So I'm getting to the point

[00:11:06] where just trying to live and pay bills and live as a civilian and go to work, it just freaks me out. It's actually more comfortable for me to think about living out here, robbing banks,

[00:11:23] pharmacies, just taking what I want for as long as I can. At least it'll be exciting. Won't be boring. And I don't have to worry about Lynette or Kayleen. And everything will be taken care of.

[00:11:40] Well, before, you know, a while ago, I used to sit here and think, you know, this whole thing is just crazy at times. And then I think about it and it would make sense. And

[00:11:55] it's like, okay, this is what I got to do. But, you know, now, I guess with time, I just think that way all the time. That this is what I got to do. I don't even question it anymore. It just

[00:12:13] seems like everything makes so much sense now. You know, just the more I've thought about it, the more I understand it. I don't really feel bad about it. It's just the way it is. You know,

[00:12:36] certain things happen that cause this to happen. So I just kind of accepted it and just rolling with it. Over the last few years, Peter had begun to change. He was displaying behaviors of being clinically depressed while his wife was on video talking about how her amazing husband

[00:13:03] was financially supporting her dreams of owning her own business. Peter, he spoke to the camera about how he felt financially drained due to his wife spending all of the money in their bank accounts. He also became increasingly paranoid about the future and the possible impending end

[00:13:24] of the world. He became a survivalist. And as early as 2004, he actually started to build a secret bunker 1300 feet up the side of Rattlesnake Mountain just in case. His friends and family thought that he had become a little reclusive, but actually, he was really busy building a

[00:13:48] multi-story bunker deeply embedded into the mountainside about an hour's hike away from his home. He called it Camp Keller, and for years, this became his obsession. If someone were to happen upon it by accident, they wouldn't have a clue what they were looking at. The

[00:14:09] makeshift bunker was built right into the mountainside, and then it was covered with a tarp and then concealed by a ton of brush. He would park his truck at the head of the trail and then

[00:14:22] manually bring up all of his supplies, which would have been quite the task. While in his vlog, he complained about his strained finances, he simultaneously spent thousands of dollars stocking his bunker with guns and supplies like food and drinks, in particular, vodka.

[00:14:44] Inside the bunker, he installed a kitchenette complete with a power generator and a wood-burning stove, which he made out of a metal garbage can. He even rigged it to a chimney to allow the smoke

[00:14:57] to escape out the top of the bunker, a feature that would ultimately lead to his downfall, but more on that later. Anything else that he required to complete Camp Keller was taken from

[00:15:09] the surrounding forest. This had been a dream of his since he was a teenager, but now that he had started building out this bunker, the plans kind of changed. Camp Keller was no longer just a safe

[00:15:24] place to hide out in case the end of the world was truly coming quickly. It was a place where Peter had decided he'd live until the end of his days, no matter how limited they were. And his

[00:15:36] wife and daughter? They were just not included in this plan. Now I have no idea where either of them thought that Peter was spending his time, but they certainly didn't know his intentions. I have no

[00:15:48] idea if they knew about this camp or they didn't, but they obviously didn't know what he was planning. All would be revealed on April 22nd, 2012. It was a quiet day in the neighborhood where the Kellers

[00:16:01] lived, but that peace was interrupted when their neighbors heard an explosion and saw flames coming out of the windows of the Keller home. Thankfully, 911 was called and the fire department arrived on the scene quickly because this situation could have ended up even more devastating. Firefighters

[00:16:23] battled the flames and were able to put them out without incident. It quickly became apparent that this was an act of arson. Whoever had set the fire intended for the damage to be extensive.

[00:16:37] Investigators would discover the remains of a red gas can melted on the kitchen stove. It appeared to have been heated on the stove until it caused an explosion. They also found a homemade explosive

[00:16:51] device, as well as boxes of ammunition, things that just appeared to be left behind to cause another explosion. The question was, what was this fire intended to hide? Investigators would

[00:17:06] get their answers soon, and it was shocking. In a part of the home that had been untouched by the fire, they would find two bodies. It was Peter's wife, Lynette, and his teenage daughter, Kayleen,

[00:17:22] both shot in the head. Beside them laid their dog who had also been killed. There was no sign of Peter Keller in the home, and at first the police didn't know if he was in danger or if he

[00:17:36] was on the run. Then they found a hard drive, which contained hours upon hours of Peter's vlogs. When they watched the tapes, it became clear that Peter was the one behind the fire, and he was

[00:17:51] likely now in hiding. They watched the recordings of Peter building his mountainside bunker while he spoke of how sick he was of his life. He was sick of his job, sick of being broke, and sick of

[00:18:05] participating in society. He planned to live out the rest of his days in his bunker, alone, without his wife and daughter, or to be killed there. There was no other way out, according to Peter.

[00:18:21] A warrant was issued for his arrest relating to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson. The police knew that they had to find him quickly before anyone else got

[00:18:34] hurt. Peter was known to have a sizable gun collection, all of which appeared to be missing from the family home. His bank records also showed that he withdrew all of the money from their account, about $6,200 in cash. His red Toyota pickup truck and his mountain bike were both

[00:18:56] missing. Wherever he was heading, he wasn't planning on being found. Investigators speak to Peter's co-workers who say that he had actually gone to work that day, but he left a little bit

[00:19:09] early. Before he headed out, he arranged to take some time off from work and he told them that he might not be back next week or ever. According to court papers, quote, they said he had a

[00:19:22] fascination with trains and guns, that he had a survivalist mentality and distaste for authority. They said he would likely fight if confronted by police. They said he spent most of his free time in the woods. Police also interviewed family and friends, including Kayleen's boyfriend and

[00:19:43] Lynette's twin brother. Everyone was completely shocked. From their experience, Peter was nothing but a doting husband and father who completely spoiled his teenage daughter. Lynette's brother described Peter's relationship with his daughter as loving. He said, quote, we'd go there for

[00:20:05] holidays and it was like every father and daughter relationship. She'd look at her father and say, Daddy, can I have this? And he'd say, sure. Though he spent a lot of time out in the woods by himself,

[00:20:20] he was also very present in the home. There weren't any red flags or really any indication that he might do something like this. Because Peter had taken extensive video and tons of photos of his bunker and the surrounding area, investigators were able to piece together a

[00:20:39] possible radius where the bunker might be. They had two police trackers disguised as hikers walk through the trails near where they thought it could be located, but no luck. They couldn't find

[00:20:52] anything. So they deployed an aerial search and in the end, it was his makeshift chimney that would give him away as they were able to see smoke coming out of the thick of the trees, all from his

[00:21:06] bunker. A SWAT team was deployed to move in on the bunker, but they had to be careful. They would really only get one shot at this and at this point, they didn't know who was inside or what

[00:21:20] their intention might be. It wouldn't have been safe to just barge through the bunker door with no idea what stood on the other side. So they decided to smoke them out. SWAT surrounds the bunker and

[00:21:34] tosses a gas canister inside, hoping that if Peter is in there, he'll be smoked out. They throw it in, they wait 10 minutes, and no one comes out. They decide to try again and they throw another gas

[00:21:48] canister into the bunker, but again no one comes out. At this point, the standoff between Peter and the SWAT team, it's been going on for nearly 24 hours and the team, they're getting exhausted. So

[00:22:04] this time, they throw a grenade into the rooftop of the bunker and they yell for Peter or whoever's inside to come out with their hands up. This is when they hear a pop, which sounded like a gunshot.

[00:22:19] Peter had shot himself with a pistol. Peter had ended his life just like he said he would in the videos. Inside the bunker, authorities were in awe of how complex this bunker was. They discovered

[00:22:34] that Peter had utilized a system with pulleys and ropes to help him pull up these large pieces of logs and equipment because he had built this hideaway completely on his own without any other

[00:22:47] help. It was a multi-level structure that had everything that you need to survive for a great length of time. Tons of food, alcohol, pop, soda, and a massive stash of weapons, ammunition, bulletproof vests, and cash. There was also a radio and a police scanner so Peter was tracking

[00:23:10] his own manhunt all along. If there is one small glimmer of hope in this tragic story, it's the legacy that has been left behind in Lynette and Kayleen's honor. Using the money that was recovered from that bunker, in addition to the rest of Peter Keller's assets, the Kayleen

[00:23:30] Keller Memorial Scholarship was established. This scholarship is for other female students who want to study video game technology, specifically at DigiPen Institute of Technology, which is exactly what Kayleen Keller dreamed of doing someday. This was a crime that truly shook

[00:23:51] authorities, the community, and those who were close to the Keller family. Everyone knew that Peter was outdoorsy and had recently turned into kind of a survivalist over the years, but many people enjoy stocking up on supplies, planning, and also building makeshift camps in the woods.

[00:24:12] He could have simply quit his job and lived out the rest of his days in this bunker that he built. But why did he kill his wife and his daughter? The two people who he always went out of his way

[00:24:25] to love and support. What causes an individual to go from wanting to remove themselves from society to wanting to kill his entire family? In all of his hours of video recordings, Peter Keller never said why he decided to kill his wife and his daughter, and so for now,

[00:24:47] we don't have any answers as to what makes a loving husband and father become a family annihilator. That's it for me tonight. If you want to reach out, you can find me on Facebook at Serial Napper.

[00:25:01] Did you know I also have a Serial Napper true crime discussion group? It's called Serial Society and I'll have the link in my show notes. I'd love to chat with you about all of the cases that I cover

[00:25:11] and everything else going on in true crime. You can find my audio on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. I post all of my episodes in video format over on YouTube, so go check it out.

[00:25:26] And if you're watching on YouTube, I would love if you can give me a thumbs up and subscribe. I'm over on x, formerly known as Twitter, at Serial underscore Napper and I post things on TikTok.

[00:25:38] Serial Napper Nick, that's all one word. Until next time, sweet dreams, stay kind, especially in the comments. Bye.