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Why prosecutors could hold off filing more cases against the 'Pillowcase Rapist' suspect

Miami Herald - 2/17/2020

Feb. 17--Detectives first arrested the Kendall Rapist in 2009, more than a decade after he robbed and attacked women in public spaces throughout Southwest Miami-Dade. Over the ensuing months, as more victims were interviewed and DNA results from the crime scenes confirmed they had the right man, prosecutors wound up filing nine separate cases.

But justice took a long time.

It was not until six years later that William Angel Rivera, faced with damning DNA evidence, finally pleaded guilty to eight of the nine cases, agreeing to spend 35 years in prison. In Miami's notoriously slow and overwhelmed criminal justice system, victims had to wait as the case became mired in scheduling delays, changes in attorneys, defense depositions and lawyers poring over thousands of pages of evidence.

The strategy for the suspected Pillowcase Rapist may be different.

Despite DNA evidence linking him to at least 25 rapes from the 1980s, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office has so far only charged 60-year-old Robert Eugene Koehler in one case. Prosecutors last week formally charged Koehler, of Palm Bay, with armed kidnapping and armed sexual battery -- felonies that could put him away for life.

An office spokesman won't say when, or if, other charges could be filed, even as police departments look to build viable prosecutions. "Presently, the SAO focus is on proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, the filed case now in our criminal court," said Ed Griffith, an office spokesman.

But outside legal experts say it's a smart strategy to focus on swiftly convicting and imprisoning Koehler on one rock-solid case -- with other cases waiting in the wings, just in case. Authorities could have more cases prepped and ready to file as soon as Koehler's case concludes.

"The prosecutor would be wise to focus all efforts on one case at a time," said former Miami-Dade prosecutor John Priovolos, who is not involved in the case.

"This will prove to be a more efficient way to attain justice for both the defendant and the victims. Typically, after a defendant is convicted of an offense, additional cases are resolved by plea deal. Streamlining the process and focusing on one victim at a time will serve to attain justice for all parties involved."

Koehler, a handyman and electrician who lived in Miami during the early 1980s, has pleaded not guilty. Miami-Dade Assistant Public Defender Damaris Del Valle, who is representing Koehler, declined to comment.

One victim in an uncharged case approves of the approach. Mimi Calvo was a 26-year-old Eastern Airlines flight attendant when the suspected serial rapist broke into her apartment at the Alisian Lakes complex in Northwest Miami-Dade.

He threw a pillowcase over her head, raped her and warned her to not call the "PSD" -- the Public Safety Department, the former name of what is now Miami-Dade Police. Over the decades, as Calvo got married and had two children, she kept a folder filled with newspaper clippings and a police card with her case number.

She found about Koehler's arrest from a Google alert for "Pillowcase Rapist" she set up on her account years ago. Calvo has been in touch with Miami-Dade and police detectives, but has not been told whether a DNA sample from a rape kit taken the night of the attack has been matched to Koehler.

"He just needs to be put behind bars. I don't care if it's me that puts him there or not," said Calvo, 64, who now lives in New York. "He needs to be stopped and put away for life."

It's not unusual for criminal cases in Miami-Dade, Florida's largest circuit, to take years before going to trial, or ending in a plea deal.

Murder cases, or those with multiple defendants, generally take the longest. Just on Wednesday, a judge sentenced Danyan Mangham to life for a double murder, 15 years after he was arrested for gunning down two men in South Miami-Dade. Before his sentencing, he was Miami's longest-serving jail inmate in a case delayed by questions over his mental competency.

Prosecutors in April will finally try Jorge and Carmen Barahona, who are accused of torturing and murdering their adopted daughter, Nubia, and abusing her twin brother. The couple has been jailed awaiting trial since 2011. A Miami-Dade judge is pushing the case in April, despite requests from the defense to delay the trial date.

Serial rape cases don't go quickly either. Tavares Canty isn't going to trial anytime soon.

Canty, 36, was arrested in May 2018 on suspicion of attacking two women inside their Little Haiti homes. One was raped in front of her 2-month-old baby. The other, caught by surprise inside her doorway, fought Canty off before he ran away, police said.

After his arrest, police departments began filing more cases against him. Two were dropped, records show. Canty is now facing felony charges in three cases. Over nearly two years, five separate trial dates have been postponed, according to court records, as doctors have evaluated his mental health.

His defense attorney did not return a request for comment.

There's a lot of reasons why cases of all stripes linger in Miami. The case loads are crushing. The turnover among prosecutors, assistant public defenders and judges is especially high, which can slow down the progress of a case.

Once a defendant is arrested, the clock starts ticking on a defendant's right to a speedy trial -- 175 days for felonies, but that can be waived by the defense. South Florida legal experts say delays favor the accused.

"Miami lawyers are very good and they know that the longer a case drags out, the weaker it becomes, especially when the crimes happened so long ago," said defense lawyer Richard Gregg. "The memories of the witnesses fade, or the witnesses leave town and don't want to cooperate anymore."

And in Florida, unlike most other states, criminal-court defendants are entitled to have their lawyers question witnesses during sworn depositions before trial. Scheduling the depositions can be a headache, particularly in complex cases with many witnesses.

"The deposition process also subjects victims to re-telling their traumatic experiences in a forum where defense attorneys are allowed to ask the most investigation of questions," said Jane Anderson, a former Miami-Dade prosecutor and attorney advisor at AEquitas, a non-profit that provides resources and training for prosecutors in sexual-violence cases.

In Koehler's sole charged case, depositions would likely be limited to group of police investigators, DNA analysts and the victim herself.

He is charged for a 1983 attack on a 25-year-old woman in Northwest Miami-Dade. At a press conference shortly after his arrest in Palm Bay, Miami-Dade police and prosecutors said DNA tests have linked him to at least 25 cases.

The Pillowcase Rapist terrorized women in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, breaking into the apartments or townhomes of women living alone. He got his moniker because he would sometimes use a pillowcase, or some other fabric, to cover his victim's face, or his own.

By 1985, Miami-Dade police started a massive task force aimed at catching the intruder, who left little evidence behind.

Detectives checked out hundreds of leads, interviewed potential suspects and conducted stakeouts. An artist even created a sculpture based on the description of one victim who managed to see his face.

The case, however, went cold. The task force was disbanded. Koehler, police said, did not stop his attacks. He was arrested in 1990 after breaking into a woman's apartment and raping her in Palm Beach County.

Detectives did not link the case to the Pillowcase Rapist, despite the similarities to the years-old attacks in the neighboring counties. After his conviction in the 1990 case, his DNA was never entered into a law-enforcement database. Investigators say they later identified Koehler by analyzing familial DNA, including from his son, who gave police his DNA sample after a domestic-violence case last year.

A search of Koehler's Palm Bay home, as first reported by the Miami Herald, revealed a "dungeon"-like space under his floor. Two safes were also found, including one that had a possible knife used in the attacks, and a host of women's jewelry, possible trinkets kept by Koehler, prosecutors said.

Since then, detectives in Miami-Dade and from agencies across Florida have been exploring old case files and fielding calls from women who may have been victims.

Calvo, the Miami victim from 1981, said she is is willing to testify. Calvo, who agreed to be identified, said she feels no shame about being attacked so many decades ago, but still worries about her safety when she travels for work.

Most importantly, she wants to know whether Koehler's DNA matches samples taken from her after her attack.

"So that I can finally put that part of my past behind me," Calvo said.

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