Crews filling in murder suspect’s bunker hideout
May 2, 2012, 6:11 AM | Updated: 8:23 am
Crews expect to have murder suspect Peter Keller’s bunker
dismantled and filled in by Wednesday.
Keller fled to the bunker after authorities say he killed
his wife and teenage daughter. He killed himself during a
standoff with police last weekend.
On Tuesday, crews from King County and the State
Department of Natural Resources bagged and removed
material from the hideout. They also dismantled the top of
the bunker and started filling it in with wood and dirt.
Keller had spent eight years building the bunker in the
Rattlesnake Ridge area in east King County. SWAT teams
found the bunker last Friday.
His bunker comprised 2 1/2 levels. Keller had excavated a
giant horseshoe-shaped gash in the side of the ravine,
hacking into the bedrock in some places. He downed trees,
15 inches in diameter, that had been growing for half a
century, skinned them of bark and split them lengthwise,
apparently using a chainsaw. With 18-inch lag screws and
10-inch nails, he fashioned a sort of underground log
cabin.
The bunker’s lower level was a long, narrow hall, the
width of his wingspan, where he stashed bottles of water
and Coke, lined neatly on shelves. There was a clear
plastic jug of beans; a sealed bucket of barley, with
silicone packets to suck out unwanted moisture; a bucket
of candy, 100 Grand bars were a favorite. There was a
generator, PVC pipe for water, and extra Ziploc bags for
keeping supplies dry.
Detectives are studying more than 120 pieces of evidence
collected from the bunker in hopes of learning what
motivated the murders and his survivalist philosophy.
Keller’s wife, Lynnettee, and 18-year-old daughter,
Kaylene, were found shot dead in their burning home on
April 22.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
