Imo, no matter what happened Keyes was going to find a way to kill himself once he was caught.
Sociopaths who are often narcissists like Merritt never care about how their children may be hurt by what they have done.
Merritt didn't give a flying flip about his children even before he made them children of a quadruple murderer.
Its heartbreaking actually how murderers like him will use their children as mere pawns to save their own worthless hide.
I'm glad he didn't put his children on the stand in the penalty phase even though he knew they would lie for him.
Sociopaths tend to see their children as mere ornaments, and see them as a mirror or extension of themselves, only there to put the sociopath in a better light for appearance sake.
Appearances are very important to one. Not what they truly are inside, but what they want others to think they are.
Having a wife/husband/partner or children helps them carry out their mask of deception by faking 'normalcy.'
They don't have any type of emotions or bonds normal parents deeply have for their children. They are simply there to make them look better.
That is why it never bothered him one bit if they became homeless or didn't have food to eat. It take ones with a conscience to really care about others. CM didn't nor does he care now
Imo, when he blasted to all ...who would listen.. how bad supposedly Summer was, and verbally critical of their two little sons he thought that is what normal people would do.
So he had to fake what he thought was normal in his sociopathic mind.....when in truth no normal minded true best friend would ever utter such hideous revolting things... especially under the trying circumstances surrounding the entire family vanishing into thin air.
What's even more disheartening is there were those who believed him at the time.
It does show how easily a sociopath can always seem to find a few who will believe their pathological lies no matter how odd their statements or lies may be.
Many SKs are sociopaths, and they were able to lie to all of their many victims, where they were able to lure their victims into going with them willingly at first.... rather than forcing them.
Its chilling how well many of them can deceive their targeted victims into believing them.
Jmhoo