SPOKANE, WA – One of Spokane’s most notorious criminals could soon be released from the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.
An Aug. 28 email from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services sent to state lawmakers said Kevin Coe, 78, is scheduled for an unconditional release hearing on Oct. 2
Coe, referred to in media reports as the “South Hill Rapist,” was accused of a string of violent rapes that terrorized Spokane in the 1970s and 1980s.
He was initially convicted of four rapes, but in 1984, the state Supreme Court overturned Coe’s rape convictions partly because three of the four victims were hypnotized before identifying Coe as the rapist.
“In 1985, a second trial was held, this time in Seattle. The jury in the second trial found Coe guilty of three counts of first-degree rape. In 1988, the state Supreme Court overturned two of the convictions and upheld the third,” Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said in a Friday news release.
Coe served 25 years at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla, and after his release, the state petitioned to have him declared a sexually violent predator, and a jury agreed. Coe was then sent to the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island – located southwest of Tacoma in Pierce County – where he has been ever since.
“The SCC forensic evaluator, as well as the State’s expert [has] concluded to a reasonable degree of psychological certainty that Mr. Coe no longer meets civil commitment criteria as a sexually violent predator,” Emma Palumbo, government and community affairs manager at the Behavioral Health Administration at DSHS, said in an email. “The parties are in agreement that the case should be dismissed, so it is highly likely that it will be.
“Upon an order for unconditional release, Mr. Coe will be released as soon as within 24 hours and will be going to a licensed adult family home in the 30th Legislative District.”
Coe is asking to be released to an adult group home called Avalon Home.
Avalon Adult Home Care has a location in Milton, which is in the 30th Legislative District.
The Center Square left a message for the facility’s owner, but did not receive a call back.
Schoesler spoke with The Center Square on Friday about Coe’s likely release, saying it’s “unbelievable” the state would even consider such a decision.
“He was the primary suspect in, I believe, 44 rapes in Spokane,” he said. “The FBI profilers that were quoted in the book ‘Son,’ which was about his crimes, really felt that he was becoming so dangerous that if he hadn’t killed one of his victims, he would eventually, because of his sick, twisted mind.”
Schoesler said Coe has never participated in treatment or admitted guilt.
“Now DSHS may want to sweep this under the rug, but go back to Spokane and tell the families who had a member who was a victim that it’s all forgotten now. No, it isn’t,” the lawmaker said. “This was one of the most sick-minded people who ever walked the streets of Spokane. This was the most horrible sex crimes ever to come out of the Spokane area. And if he [hadn’t] been caught, he could have been another Green River killer.”
Schoesler believes DSHS intentionally kept this under wraps, knowing it would receive plenty of negative media attention.
“If I [were] doing something this stupid and this arrogant, I guess I wouldn’t show the light of day to people either,” he said. “I just don’t believe the victims and their families should have to deal with this. He gets his freedom, and [they] get the memory of the terrible attacks. That’s not right.”
