On a night in 2009 Keith Randulich murdered his 4 year old sister with a steak knife by stabbing her repeatedly in the neck.
Events Prior to the crime
On the day of the crime 17 year old Keith asked his mother for permission to buy a firearm however she became enraged at the mere suggestion of a weapon. The reason Keith wanted to purchase this firearm, as stated by him in the interrogation, was to kill an individual he believed was abusing his 4 year old sister Sabrina. You might be asking why he didn’t report this to his parents, however Ketih claims that he did but they just brushed it off and told him ‘not too snitch.’ It is important to note that the claims of abuse have not been substantiated but may well have been true. Below Keith outlines the reaction his parents had when he told them about the abuse.
With the option of a firearm out of the picture Keith believed he could not take on the abuser due to the fact he was ‘bigger and taller’ than he was. That is when he decided to murder his little sister to ‘save’ her from the abuse she faced. This idea came to him at ‘3:30’ on the day of the murder according to Keith. It's quite incredible that Keith felt his only option in that moment was to murder his sister in order to end her pain. However tragic this was Keith’s decision and that night he would sadly act upon this.
That fateful night
On the night of the 22nd May 2009 Keith and his brother were tasked with looking after their little sister whilst their parents were out of the house. Interestingly it has been mentioned that Keith's brother was the one tasked with babysitting even though he was younger. Does this suggest there was something more going on? Once his parents left the house Keith then asked his brother if he could watch Sabrina before leading her down to the basement. All this time Keith had a steak knife from the kitchen stashed in his pocket. Below Keith describes this interaction knowing he planned on killing his 4 year old sister.
Once down in the basement Keith told his little sister to lie down and told her that he ‘loved her’. When describing this moment Keith becomes emotional however the emotions are in contrast to the act he has just committed.
Keith then describes what happened next and how he attacked Sabrina’s neck with the steak knife. A shocking comment made by Keith in which he states ‘she was fully conscious and talking to me during it.’ I can’t even imagine the sheer horror and torture the little girl went through in her last moments. A heartbreaking comment of 'why are you killing me' coming from a 4 year old just highlights the extreme sadness of this case.
Keith then called police saying ‘come quick’ before hanging up. This first call was then followed by a second along the same lines before a third and final call came in in which Keith said ‘I killed my sister’. Important to note this whole time Keith’s brother was just upstairs playing video games and was only alerted when the flashing lights of police turned up. He came downstairs to find a blood soaked Keith being led away in handcuffs.
He was then asked later in the interview why he targeted her neck area to which the detectives received a similar response.
It's quite interesting how Keith is able to openly talk about murdering someone he claimed to have ‘loved.’ He seems very relaxed during the interview and only becomes emotional at certain points.
Protector or Psychopath
It could be argued that Keith saw himself as his sister's protector and was actually helping her by doing this. This backed up by the fact that during his interview he kept on saying how he ‘didn’t want to do it.’ Again this is the word of Keith however when speaking he sounds almost genuine but I will let you make up your own mind from the clips.
However in other clips Keith seems so emotionless and relaxed about the whole situation that it’s hard to imagine anything other than a cold psychopath. It is also an unsettling image to see Keith sat in a chair in blood soaked pants describing his actions against his 4 year old sister. Below Keith describes how he stabbed Sabrina and almost seems to laugh when saying ‘like a maniac.’
Detectives also attempt to push another motive on Ketih of it being a sexually motivated attack on his behalf. They try to suggest that Keith killed her in order to silence her however Keith looks offended by these suggestions and calmly reiterates his reasoning. I can see why this was pushed given the other motive for the crime did not make much sense however Keith is quick to shut these down and stick to his original story.
I will leave you to determine whether you believe Keith’s reasoning or not given it can be argued either way. So what do you think Protector or Psychopath or both? Let me know in the comments…
What happened next?
Keith was sentenced to 40 years in prison without possibility of parole and still resides there to this day however he looks very different from the young kid who was first interviewed. No matter how you look at this case it is tragic that someone so young lost their life and the reason becomes immaterial. Below is Keith today.
Thank you for reading!!
T.S.
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