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A maximum security interview with Kevin Coe

Posted: Sunday, June 01, 2008 10:24 PM by Dateline Editor
Filed Under: , ,

By Sara James, Dateline Correspondent

Being a network reporter means having the opportunity to travel to some places which are, to say the least, out of the ordinary -- such as the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

I made the trek there on a bright, sunny day, and as I waited in the prison yard for the interview subject to show up,  I leaned back against a 30-foot wall festooned with concertina wire.  A guard beckoned me over. "Hey, ma'am, that's a No Go Zone," he informed me.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Move away from the wall, please.  It's a shoot-to-kill zone."

I didn't waste any time following instructions.

If such precautions seem extreme, it's worth remembering that this prison is home to some notorious prisoners, and I was there to interview one of them.

When I met Kevin Coe, it was easy to see the handsome man he would have been in his 30s. He has blond hair, blue eyes, and a chiseled jaw. He seemed like the last person anyone in Spokane would have suspected as the terrifying figure from a nightmare which lasted for years.

But police say that Kevin Coe was the South Hill Rapist, a rapist who is believed to have been responsible for dozens of attacks.  A rapist whose brutality would leave his victims in terror from the day when they were thrown to the ground, a hand shoved down their throat, and raped, until now.

Indeed, one victim told us she was so traumatized, she never told her children about her attack all those years ago until she agreed to be interviewed by us. 

As we sat down there in the prison, where Kevin Coe agree to speak publicly for the first time in a decade, he insisted, again and again, on his innocence.  And yet, as those blue eyes locked onto mine, never flinching, I knew that Coe has also been labeled a psychopath,  and for a psychopath, a lie in the service of self-preservation is easy. 

What is the truth about what happened in Spokane, all those years ago?  Should Kevin Coe be freed, having served his time, or is he a danger to society?  After you watch his interview, I think you'll find you have an opinion.

Click here for the full report on "The Case of the South Hill Rapist."

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Comments

After watching the story of Kevin Coe, I have but one question.  Since his arrest, have there been any similar rapes committed in the South Hill area and if not, is that not proof enough that he is indeed, the rapist and should never be allowed to walk the streets of any town, a free man.

N. Norman, New Jersey (Sent Sunday, June 01, 2008 11:25 PM)

Watching Dateline this evening from Florida to Washington I noticed one thing in common, all of the women involved had brown eyes.  It made me question are ladies with brown eves mor prone to be the targets of rape or robbery than other colors of eyes?

jwp, Lincoln County, Oregon (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 2:14 AM)

I suggest everyone who is interested, to read the book "Son" and read about all the evidence they have, not discussed in the program and read about what a bizzare family he came from and his relationship with his strange mother. It was extremely interesting. I can tell you nonone in Spokane believes he is innocent.

Judy Layton (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 2:18 AM)

This report does not mention the hundreds of attacks that were not taken to trial, some not reported. (360 plus suspected victims at the time of the trial.) So many....Don't imagine the police know all the attacks.  This man tried to sell his clothes to another man of his size and general appearance, had many ways of hiding his behavior from others.  He would pick up his victims and THROW them to stun them.  He is a terrifying person. He should never get out.

Still Scared, Spokane, Washington (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 11:26 AM)

The question of his guilt or innocence is moot at this point. He's done his time. What every American should be frightened of and outraged about is the state of Washington keeping him in prison after he has completed his sentence. We are a nation of laws and consistent rule of law, and we cannot change the rules after the fact. Yeah, he's probably the one, but we have to bite the bullet and let him go. To make up a last-second new rule that keeps him--or anyone else--locked up after he's done his time is horrifically un-American, much more like something out of some gulag horror story, and we are all in danger if we allow it.

David Brothers, Tampa FL (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 11:31 AM)

Although a strong believer in "doing your time and being done" ... Coe and others of his nature need to be placed in protective custody for life.  It is not only for the general public but for their own saftey.  What the program left out was the many, many, many cases of sexual agression (that started when he was a young teenager) that has been left in his wake. These rapes were not his starting block. And for thoes who wondered if the assults ended when he went to jail... yes.  They did. Completely. He is not a theif that can do his time and be done.  He is a damaged mind that doesn't understand or accept what is right and wrong. The small fact that he still can not be truthful about his assults shows that this man is a danger to himself and to others. Laws like these need to be taken with a grain of salt, used only in the most extreem cases, but denying that there is a need for protection like this is being ignorate or hard minded.  Not everything in law can be cut and dry, black and white.  Coe is in that gray area of the law and this placement is best for us and for him. We all deserve a chance to be forgiven and move on, but what do you do with thoes people who don't see what they did wrong?  They haven't learned.  They haven't become rehabilitated.  They are not fit to be trusted to do what is right when they can't see what is right and wrong.  

Spokane Woman (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 1:40 PM)

Dear Ms. James:
I had decided to touch my remote to see what was broadcasting and I discovered your interview and story of Mr. Coe was already under way. I decided to look up the date of the crime. Ah! Heh Hem! 1978.

In 1978, I didn't know Carol King's favorite home (IDaho) when I had made a stop their on my way to a job interview on the coast of Oregon.  I luckly made it to the job interview through family and friends. I also had to still take a Professional Examination Service Exam before I started my licensed position in the Physical Therapy Department in the hospital on the coast of Oregon.

 So, I didn't know about the case. I didn't drive into Spokane at the time, and I didn' know Carol King's favorite home was in Idaho. (You know, "You've Got A Friend," by Carol King)

Sincerely,
James Erdmanczyk
Registered Voter

James Erdmanczyk (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 2:05 PM)

I was in my early 20's, living in the lower South Hill area of Spokane during this time.  As a then-single woman, your program brought back to me the paralyzing fear that overtook us back then.  I did not sleep at all last night.  I kept seeing his face, now and as it was then.
He is a psychopath and if he is ever released, many Washington women will never sleep peacefully again.

Another Kind Of Victim; Seattle, WA (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 3:43 PM)

To reply to David Brothers of Tampa Fl...I can't believe that you have a woman that you love (wife, girlfriend, sister, daughter, mother).  If you did, you couldn't possibly say that even if he was the one, he should be free to possibly victimize someone else's beloved woman.

Christine, Portland OR (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 6:46 PM)

This new law for violent sexual predators, came into effect because of these crimes.  Coe has lost his rights to roam streets. The countless women he brutally attacked and now having DNA evidence to prove his actions, is as American as I see it to keep him locked up. He has not shown any remorse or sought mental help in anyway.  KEEP HIM LOCKED UP!

AMG Louisiana (Sent Monday, June 02, 2008 7:03 PM)

I can understand how the gentleman from Tampa feels, because that is what America is based upon, but if this man gets out and he rapes one more person-it is safe to think it won't be the gentleman's daughter from Florida!  How many people will we release who will rape and murder again?  And what if it happened to your daughter-would you feel differently? I have 4 daughters and worry constantly that something like this could happen to them.   Please don't turn someone loose who could hurt someone else's daughter again.

              D. Moore  Idaho

D. Moore (Sent Tuesday, June 03, 2008 2:24 AM)

Having seen what has happened to others as a result of Sexually Violent Persons being released from prison I can only say  that while I don't necessarilly agree with the full degree of the law of keeping persons like Coe locked up after their release from prison; I will say that the law was made for persons like Coe. After watching the story and doing some research on Coe, I couldn't agree more that in extreme cases like Coes', persons like this not only should be confined to a Mental Institution, but based upon thier acts deserve to be locked up and put away forever. If not, Coe and others like him will repeat their crimes over and over. Therefore, in cases like Coes', the Sexually Violent Persons Act is justified.

PrayerPrince (Sent Tuesday, June 03, 2008 5:01 PM)

coming from someone who was kidnapped and raped, the time they get to heal you and make you safe is never enough. Mine did 23 years. Got out and raped again. If you have it in you to do once, you'll do it again. It's a sickness that cant be detained. And to say let him out because he did his time..what about the prison sentence those women will live with till they're last breath,. What would you tell them... No one who's ever been victimised or known someone who was/is being victimised in such a  way would think to let him out on a test trial to see if...

minnesota (Sent Wednesday, June 04, 2008 3:21 PM)

To jwp,

Brown is the most common eye color...

sew (Sent Thursday, June 05, 2008 11:44 AM)

1989, At the Wall's, I was, Forced, to be celled next to Coe, personally know his heart, mind, soul & spirit. Respectfully request contact regarding the on going issues.

Robert D. Jensen (Sent Saturday, June 07, 2008 5:00 AM)

If he his set free, I can tell you that he will not live long.  There are many law abiding men who would go to extreme lengths to make sure their wives and daughters are safe from him.  Myself included.

G. Willikers Washington state (Sent Tuesday, June 10, 2008 10:10 AM)

I think David Brothers  should should share with us the words he would use to explain his position to his mother, wife, sister, daughter, etc.  Or better yet, go to each one of them and offer your outrage at the persecution of this guy.  It's almost like he can relate in some way.

A Dad, Fort Smith, Arkansas (Sent Saturday, June 14, 2008 12:04 PM)

When is Dateline going to do something DIFFERENT and thought provoking and actually look at the HUNDREDS of Saddamists in prison and Saddam era paperwork that all show Saddam's regime assisted al Qaeda members as documented by the IDA report and www.regimeofterror.com?

Mark E, Chicago, IL (Sent Tuesday, June 17, 2008 8:22 AM)

although it may be easy to say that on principle a person who has served his time for a crime should then be set free- with such a violent and dangerously psychotic personality as Coe, it gives me comfort to know that he is not being set free to terrorize or victimize anyone else. I feel for all his victims. I can't understand why more wasn't done to examine Coe's pyschotic mother and her relationship such as it was with her son, and what about his father? There is hardly any mention of him in the story.

MattyB, Orange County, CA (Sent Tuesday, June 17, 2008 4:57 PM)

How do we honestly  know that these guys havent done this befor?Maybe they havent got caught intil now.If your even thinking about it and chatting with little girls,your sick,deserve to get caught and be ashamed.Im glad Dateline is doing this,keep up the good work!

MargieBoltonRichesin Greeneville,Tn (Sent Friday, June 27, 2008 6:34 PM)

I do not know anyone in Spokane because I moved here to seattle in 1995,but all I can say is that Mr.Coes name still brings fear to us women who live alone.I do not care if he served 23 years.He should get the death penalty! What about victims who will never recover? Keep Coe in there!

Bridget,seattle,washington (Sent Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:18 PM)

Alright, so as I was reading this I kept thinking, it's highly dobtful but if the person who was doing wasn't Coe was still out there, he simply could have stopped, also very doubtful since he probably wouldn't have been able to, making it seem like Coe really was the rapist.  But then the signature move and the fact they proved it was his DNA that matched that found in the one case he was convicted of, made me rethink that.  I don't care if it was only one person, that fact is he ruined her life, and he could do it to someone else or go after her again. He shouldn't have gotten his sentences reduced but since they were he needs to be locked up in that psychiatric hospital for life.

AKireland (Sent Tuesday, July 08, 2008 6:34 PM)

I was a news anchor in Spokane during Coe's reign of terror.  He has always been a lying psychopath, and I have no doubt he would have continued to rape - and eventually murder.  He is right where he belongs, at McNeil.  I would be most interested in a follow-up that included an interview with Robert D. Jensen.  

Former Spokanite, New York (Sent Friday, July 18, 2008 10:17 AM)

one thing i read about this case is that they never really came up with that much evidence against him

n.c. yakima, wash (Sent Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:44 PM)



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