Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - More than a dozen women terrorized and assaulted by man shrouded by a pillowcase with slits for eyes. Has the Pillowcase Rapist been caught?

Episode Date: February 11, 2020

Florida authorities have captured a registered sex offender who may be responsible for a series of rapes during the 1980s. Suspect Robert Koehler is accused of terrorizing over a dozen women while wearing a pillowcase to hide his face. Joining Nancy Grace to discuss: Jason Oshins: New York Defense Attorney   Cloyd Steiger: 36 years with Seattle Police Department, 22-year homicide detective and author of "Seattle's Forgotten Serial Killer: Gary Gene Grant"    Joe Scott Morgan Forensics Expert, Professor of Forensics at Jacksonville State University and author of "Blood Beneath My Feet"  Caryn Stark: NYC Psychologist Shera LaPoint: Genetic genealogist, "The Gene Hunter" Levi Page: Investigative reporter, CrimeOnline.com   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. First one, then two, three, four, up to 11 and possibly more women asleep in their own apartments when suddenly they are attacked by a man with a pillowcase over his head. Slits cut the pillowcase for his eyes. Bound, tortured, and raped repeatedly. Will DNA catch the pillowcase rapist? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The Rape Treatment Center calls the pillowcase rapist a crafty criminal who's thrilled to pieces he hasn't been caught in five years. Police say they expect the recent publicity will make him more cautious, but they don't believe it'll stop him. The pillowcase rapist terrorized more than 40 women from South Miami to Deerfield Beach, and no one covered the case more closely than former Miami Herald reporter and author Edna Buchanan. She even included him in her first novel. It appears at this writing that the pillowcase rapist is not struck since he attacked the quick-witted woman, victim number 44. You are hearing our friends at WPLG Local 10,

ABC reporter Ian Margol, the pillow-case rapist. Why is he called the pillow-case rapist with 40 plus victims? And how has he gotten away with it? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Take a listen to this. According to records dating back to 1981, the pillowcase rapist was a suspect who used a pillowcase, a towel, or a shirt to conceal his identity while breaking into homes and raping women in South Florida for years. That case not going anywhere until this weekend with the arrest of a six-year-old sex offender right here in Brevard County. Now this is all according to a Miami Herald reports. Take a look. Six-year-old Robert Eugene Kohler was arrested Saturday. According to jail records, he was arrested at his home in Palm Bay for an out

of county warrant being held right now in the Brevard County Jail. The Miami Herald reporting that he believes he is the pillowcase rapist. The Miami Herald reporting the pillowcase rapist attacked at least 44 women from 1981 to 1986. The case involving local and state authorities and a task force to find the pillowcase rapist was disbanded in 1987. No breaks in that case until now. And what a break it is. Again, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Typically, the so-called pillowcase rapist would hide his identity with pillowcases, towels, or shirts before he would attack his victims. How did he get away with it for so long? In fact, he was even a registered sex offender.

His name, Robert Eugene Kohler. Robert Eugene Kohler. And he's suspected in being a killer in a high-profile case where bedding was used to hide his face. Kohler already had a sex battery conviction in Palm Beach County, but how did he manage to get away with this many crimes for this long? With me, an all-star panel. Renowned attorney Jason Ocean is joining me from New York. Cloyd Steiger, Seattle PD, 22 years in homicide, author of Seattle's Forgotten Serial Killer,

Gary Jean Grant at cloydstiger.com, Joseph Scott Morgan, professor for forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, Karen Stark, psychologist joining us from Manhattan at karenstark.com, Cheryl LaPointe, genetic genealogist, the gene hunter. But right now to Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Levi, start at the beginning with the first victim. Well, Nancy, the MO of the pillowcase rapist is that he would break into homes or apartments of his victims. He had a pillowcase and he would cover their face and they couldn't get a good look at him. But some of his victims reported seeing a man wearing a mask with eye

slits cut out of it, made from what looked like a pillowcase. And he would rape them using a knife like object. And before leaving the scene, he would take items from their apartments or townhomes like jewelry or their underwear. And he preyed on women in Miami-Dade and Broward County, Florida. This is in South Florida. And law enforcement claims that this rapist had 44 victims in the 80s. And he singled out one apartment complex in Broward County. and he had five victims from one particular apartment complex there. His victims, most of them were young, single professionals. Their occupations ranged from flight attendants, a teacher, health spa instructor, models, nurses, even an insurance executive. But there was one attack, Nancy, that broke the mold, and this was his last

known attack in the 80s, and it was an 82-year-old woman who was described as frail, and even though she was older than the rest of his victims, her account matched their stories to a T. He used a pillowcase. He covers his head, had isolates cut out. He used clothing to cover up their face during the rape. But what is extraordinary is, Nancy, this 82-year-old woman chased him out of her home using a dish towel rack. And South Florida was living in fear, Nancy, in the 80s with this maniac on the loose. And what's really scary is, Nancy, at one crime scene, he left behind underwear that did not belong to the victim. And one of the underwear was a little pair of underwear that a little girl would wear. Oh, no, because that suggests to me that there are child victims. You know, to Floyd Steiger, 36-year Seattle PD, homicide detective,

it's amazing to me and confounding. Clearly, this guy is from the Miami-Dade and Broward area because all of his victims are right there in that cluster of three major Florida counties. It's hard for me to believe that he would

drive a long distance to come repeatedly to the same tri-county area so that gives me a clue right there yeah there's a thing called geographical profiling and i think if you look at this guy's history you're going to find that he either lived or worked very close to the complex that levi mentioned where five rapes happened and had some reason to be in the others although as he gets better in his practice he might prowl out a little bit but I think you're right he's going to be in that area and from that area. To Karen Stark, New York psychologist. Karen, what does it mean to you that he would use a

pillowcase over his head with the eyes cut out? Well I think that that was his version of a mask Nancy and it he didn't go to a lot of trouble to try and get something that would really be the kinds of thing that other people who would be in that position would use. He would just take what was convenient, a pillowcase, make two slits, and that was it. But he was very smart because he also covered the face of the victim. Take a listen. So with the assistance of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, he was taken into custody. Kohler was then transported here to Miami, where yesterday a judge issued a search warrant to collect DNA directly from him, where they swabbed his mouth at the jail. That DNA sample was taken directly to the crime laboratory where analysts worked literally all through last night to be

able to make and confirm 100% that Kohler is the source of that male DNA that was found in so many of those pillowcase rapist cases. Wow. So it ended up being a matter of genetics. But speaking of M.O.'s to Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert, what about the fact that many people believe the pillowcase rapist went silent because the last victim saw his face. I think that it is significant. It would kind of knock him back out of his comfort zone. As Cloyd had mentioned just a second ago, this goes to kind of geographic sourcing relative to him watching the area, him being familiar with it. And he may even be very familiar with the motives of the police or the drivers of the police. How are they investigating this case? So he may have dropped off of the map or there's another possibility. He could very well have changed

his M.O. in the way he was handling things. There might not be connectivity quite established yet between older cases and newer cases. So that remains to be seen. I think that it's very troubling what Levi had mentioned relative to the underwear of the small child. It's kind of unlikely, but I think that it's something that needs to be considered. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The authorities say that Robert Kohler used a pillowcase, a t-shirt, or a towel to conceal his identity. He allegedly assaulted more than 40 women between 1981 and 1986 at their townhomes and at their apartments. THE SUSPECTED PILLOW CASE RAPIST WAS ARRESTED IN POMPEO AND BROUGHT BACK TO MIAMI-DADE. HE WAS ARRESTED IN POMPEO AND

BROUGHT BACK TO MIAMI-DADE. HE ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTED MORE THAN 40 WOMEN BETWEEN 1981 AND 1986 AT THEIR TOWN HOMES AND APARTMENTS. HE WAS ARRESTED AT HIS HOME IN POMPEO AND BROUGHT BACK HERE TO MIAMI-DADE.

PROSECUTORS AND VICTIMS OF 44 SEX CRIMES HAVE BEEN WAITING NEARLY 40 YEARS FOR THE ARREST OF THE SUSPECTED PILLOW CASE RAPIST. of the suspected pillowcase rapist. The 60-year-old Palm Bay resident has a sexual offense history in South Florida. Robert Kohler has been a registered sex offender since a 1991 conviction in Palm Beach County. Now he's accused of dozens of sexual assaults from the 1980s. Miami-Dade police suspect Kohler is a serial rapist who used a pillowcase to blindfold his victims.

In 1986, the Associated Press called the pillowcase rapist the most hunted man in South Florida history. You are hearing our friends joining us from CBS Miami. That was Peter Dionch speaking. Finally, a guy in custody. Now he's up in his 60s. I don't get it. Levi Page, if he's in his 60s, how old was he when all of these rapes were occurring? Nancy, he was in his 20s and 30s when he committed these rapes. Wow. What does that say to you, Karen Stark, psychologist joining us, that he has been doing this now for 40 years and starting in his early 20s? Well, it shows exactly what you would expect in this kind of profile, that once he begins to do it, he can't stop himself. And the question is, did he get worse? Did he start to have fantasies about

doing more harm if he's doing it for so many years? But it doesn't surprise me that he keeps on. Guys, we were talking about a guy called the pillow case rapist. Now, what about the evidence, including a dungeon in progress found at his residence? What can that reveal about his mindset? But how did the case get cracked to start with? Take a listen to our friends at Local 10 ABC. They have linked now DNA to 25 different rape cases from South Miami to Deerfield. This is 40 years in the making and tonight with no bond the alleged pillowcase rapist is in custody here. Robert Kohler. It took a matter of minutes for the appearance of a man police have wanted 36 years. Robert Kohler, transferred from Brevard County,

suspected as the notorious pillowcase rapist, suspected in fact in dozens of rapes with similar M.O.s, covering victims' faces with material like pillowcases. Miami-Dade's new police director was in high school at the time. The whole department, the community was mobilized. A lot of sweat and tears were put into those cases and this guy was eluding it. The arrest warrant details how evidence from a rape in northwest Miami-Dade in December 1983 became a DNA match in January 2020. I want to focus right now on what

was found in his home. Take a listen to WFLA News. Found within one of those safes were a number of items of women's jewelry, things that looked like trinkets, possibly souvenirs, if you will, of his prior offenses. In addition, what was found in one of those safes was a metal nail file that was wrapped in a protective covering, which seemed like a strange object to hide away in a safe, unless, of course, it was the weapon that the offender had used, because many of the victims described the weapon as being a sharp, pointy object, something like an ice pick, which a nail file certainly would fit the bill. And so it appeared as though that may also have been a souvenir, if you will, that this man had. In addition,

the police found what appeared to be, for lack of a better term, a dungeon in progress. He had excavated a little room underneath the floor of his house that was very disturbing for the investigators to see. And we feared very much that had we not gotten him into custody, that he may have had other plans even worse than what he executed on all of these women from these cases. A dungeon in progress, jewelry taken from victims saved as mementos. Now, this is a guy that was raising a daughter and son with various girlfriends. Although one neighbor said, Erica Wenzel, quote, I kept him as far away from us as I could. The neighborhood just feels safer now that he's gone. Isn't it unusual, Cloyd Steiger, that people get a gut instinct on other people and then

they turn out to be predators? Yeah, well, this guy has predator written all over him, everything about him. I'm sure he fantasized continuously about these crimes, but you're right. People will get what they call spidey sense that this guy's no good. It makes the hair crawl on their back. And so they stay away from him. And you should always trust that instinct. Guys, we are talking about the so-called pillowcase rapist. But how in the end was he finally caught? I'd like to say it was police work, that it was an epiphany, and suddenly everything fit together. But it was good old-fashioned science.

Take a listen to this. The FDLE began to do familiar DNA searches, which allowed them to identify persons with DNA profiles similar to the profile of the offender. So on that theory, such individuals were likely related. So when the son of Robert Cola was arrested last year for felony domestic violence, remember the mandatory collection of DNA is only required in felony cases. His DNA was entered into the database and DNA, I'm sorry, FDLE determined that the DNA of the son was so similar to the DNA of the then unknown offender that the offender had to be the man's father. That's from our friends at WFLA News Channel 8. First of all, to Jason Oceans, New York defense attorney joining us from Manhattan. Jason Oceans, New York defense attorney, joining us from Manhattan.

Jason Oceans, I'm sure that the defense attorneys are going to try and defeat or suppress any evidence of familial DNA. What I understand is his son was charged on domestic abuse. When his DNA was entered into the system, it was a quasi-match, not a direct match, but an associated match to DNA found, I guess sperm, of the pillowcase rapist. Now, how can the defense attack this, and what's the chance they'll win? Nancy, you know, as science becomes so much more sophisticated and the ability to really lock it down without defense attorneys being able to dissect it because it's brand new, it's unproven, these cases become much harder to isolate. You know, the concept of attacking the victims, which is very common in jurisdictions. You're battling science. So, you know, the recollection of everyone is going to be off a bit. And I think that's where you can go after, you know, your case, if you're trying,

it is the recollection of defendants, of victims that are many, many years old. You could certainly cross them very well. But the science probably at the end of the day and the commonality of it and its use and how it was done, it becomes almost, you know, too much of a hill to overcome. To Cheryl LaPointe joining us, genetic genealogist, the gene hunter. Cheryl, thanks for being with us. Cheryl, right now, only a handful of states allow familial DNA. Defense attorneys arguing that it's a violation of their rights to use this technique. But explain to me, Shira LaPointe, how it works. Let's get an understanding of what familial DNA

is. Nancy, familial DNA is a search that law enforcement does through their DNA databases, which are databases like CODIS, where they actually look for genetic information that's going to pinpoint a relative of a person that they're looking to identify. So they won't have an exact match to the criminal, but they will have a partial match. Normally that would show you a close family member, like a child, a parent. And in this case, that's exactly what happened. They were able to find a match to a son, like you said, that had been arrested for a felony domestic violence charge last year. And there is no doubt that the DNA does not lie. And in my opinion, this, in so many cases, we're going to see DNA matches to, it's going to be a partial match to this son's DNA. And then what needs to be done is the perpetrator's DNA needs to be taken, which I know was already done. And I believe they've already connected him to about 25 cases. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE.

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THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE.

THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE.

THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY IS IN THE CASE. THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES

SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES

SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY THE DETECTIVES SAY I just, like I said, you know, just the way he looked at people. Absolutely horrified. Jennifer Pritchett grew up on Kohler Street in Palm Bay. She remembers as a young girl being warned to stay away from his house. With that many women that he's accused of, I cannot believe that it has taken this long to arrest him or find him. It's difficult to hear from the courtroom microphone,

but Kohler tells the judge he is not guilty. You are hearing from our friends at CBS Miami. That was Peter Dench speaking. Guys, when the neighbors say, I want my children to stay away from him, you know what's freaky about that? My husband, David, has relatives in Florida. Where doesn't really matter, but they were telling me when we were at a get-together at their home, they were pointing across the street and saying, you know, that guy is really weird because one, two, three, and four, and we just stay away from him. And he's always been that way. And the other neighbors have commented on it to them. You know what's amazing? Lloyd Steiger, Seattle PD, homicide author, Seattle's forgotten serial killer, Gary Jean Grant. You get a gut feeling.

Not always, but a lot of times. Like when I would be in court, Cloyd, twice a week there would be an arraignment calendar. At the beginning of the week on Monday with like 100 plus new felony cases, we'd usually pick another day during the week as a plea calendar for anybody that wanted to plea, clearing the way for whoever was left standing would be going to trial on the trial calendar in a week. Certain people, certain defendants, you know, no problem. You jack a car fine, you know, you got an ounce of pot, who cares, blah, blah, shoplifted, pay restitution, and you will clear your record. But there will be certain people, Cloyd, certain people. And I would lock eyes with them across the courtroom. And I would just know,

I can't describe it, Cloyd. I would know I'm going to have to try him because he's not going to plead. And if he gets out, he's going to kill somebody. It's just a feeling. It's just an instinct. And I didn't really get it that often, you know, but I would get it. And, you know, I really believe it is something born of thousands of years of evolution. I can't really describe it, Cloyd, but you probably felt it as a cop. Yeah, all the time. And a matter of fact, you don't have to be a cop to feel it. You just have to be a person.

And I think that's a primal instinct built into people. It's also built into animals in the wild. You know, it's just that, you know, your radar goes up because there's something going on. They're putting off some vibe. And I completely agree with you. Guys, we are talking about the so-called pillowcase rapist. Because first thing he would do as his M.O. is attack the woman with his face covered with a pillowcase, eyes slit in there. And it reminds me of just scary pictures that I've seen. Karen

Starr, if you see that in your home, that the first thing you do is you feel fear. There's an intruder in your home. They're masked. All you can see are slits for eyes through a pillowcase. And I guess that was the whole point of it, to instill terror. And I think there's no doubt in my mind, Nancy, if you think about what a pillowcase represents, you know, just the fact that there's this person with this white thing over their head. It's very frightening. Think of the Klan. I mean, the fact that there's this person with this white thing over their head.

It's very frightening. Think of the Klan. I mean, the fact that they would use a sheet, something like that, where someone's coming in, covered up with this white thing over their head. And on top of that, it's somebody who doesn't belong there. So terror, absolute terror. And paralysis. It's kind of when you're in a situation like that, it's fight or fright, and you just freeze a lot of the time and can't defend yourself. What's amazing is that someone who is 82 years old was able to fight him off.

Yeah, and with a dish towel dispenser. She fought him off with that, and that tells me a lot about him right there. What about it, Joe Scott Morgan? I mean, an 82-year-old woman fought him off with that and that tells me a lot about him right there what about it joe scott morgan i mean an 82 year old woman scared him off this is after he's raped that we know of 40 plus women but this lady ran him off with a dish towel dispenser what does that tell you well this guy this guy's sitting on pins he's's very cowardly, obviously, that he would attack this helpless woman in the first place. And he doesn't want to be found out. And Nancy, like a thunderbolt, this just kind of hit me just a few moments ago.

We talk about how young he was. I think that Levi had mentioned that earlier, when all of this started, let's reflect back just a second. As he has gotten older, as with a lot of men, he's probably experienced some level of impotence. And those things that are driving in his mind that get him so sexually excited, he's not physically capable of carrying out the act. And I think that one of the things that's so very odd- Wait, wait, wait, wait, stop. What did you just say? I've never known you once in life to pause or stutter, but could you repeat what you just said? He's unable to perform.

Who's unable to perform? The rapist that we're talking about. Okay, I thought he left semen. Obviously he performed. Okay. Joe Scott, maybe you and I have a different idea about performance. I don't know what you mean by performance. You mean raping somebody?

Getting an erection? What are you talking about a performance? Joe Scott, see, you messed with the wrong woman right now. What do you mean he was unable to perform? You make it sound like I'm watching halftime at Super Bowl. Yeah, I'm specifically referring to his inability to perform physically. And that's one of the ominous clouds that's hanging over this, as was mentioned earlier.

Because he is incapable, probably of performing at the same level that he had, he's now begun to work on a dungeon in his home. Because now he wasn't taking people captive. If he is entertaining this thought, he has to spend more time with them. And he's developing this area in his house. This gives it a much more ominous tone where he's at a point where he'll have to spend more time with him in order to facilitate this act that he's attempting to go through. Joe Scott, you just made perfect sense. Now that you, you know, Jackie, why did you interrupt him?

You're so rude. See, if you had let him finish, then we would have known what he was talking about. But no, you had to jump in like a steam locomotive and like cut him off. Are you sorry you interrupted like that? Okay, good. Yeah, don't let that happen again. So Joe Scott, I've been thinking about this. Excuse me, Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University. Joe Scott, I've been thinking a lot about this dungeon. And I'm sure Jason Oceans is just like trembling with rage because a jury's going to think the same thing why in the hay is he building a dungeon under his house yeah the neighbors had a freaky feeling that's right and we know why so now i get it joe scott you're saying that he no longer wanted to break into somebody's apartment and rape them he wanted to kidnap them, bring them there. And then what are you going to

do with them at the end? Just drop them off at the supermarket? Uh-uh. He would have had to have killed them, Joe Scott. Yeah, you're right. And he would have to spend a tremendous amount of time and energy. You know, you go back to this idea of what he's physically capable of and incapable of at this point in his life. Can you imagine trying to kidnap somebody, force them into a vehicle, transport them to this location, and then keep them bound up? We've covered hundreds of cases together, Nancy, and we know that many times that this whole tying people up thing doesn't work out well. You think about somebody that's advanced in years now, how's he going to facilitate this? And so it's a real

head scratcher that, you know, you have a lot of these serial events that I've worked on throughout my career where, you know, these people, they're kind of actively learning as they go. It's like this guy just went to this dead space, this pause, and then now he's going to make this big physical leap. And it kind of gives you an idea of how just voracious he was. He wanted to satisfy these urges. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. He terrorized, literally terrorized women from south of Florida, THE FAMILY IS IN THE HOSPITAL. THE FAMILY IS IN THE HOSPITAL. THE FAMILY IS IN THE HOSPITAL. CRIME STORIES WITH NANCY GRACE.

HE TERRORIZED, LITERALLY TERRORIZED WOMEN FROM SOUTH OF FLORIDA THROUGHOUT FLORIDA. HE ASSAULTED THEM FROM SOUTH MIAMI ALL THE WAY UP TO DEER FIELD BEACH. ROBERT COLER IS ACCUSED OF RAPING OVER 40 WOMEN IN THE 80s THROUGHOUT THE STATE OFTIVES ARE TELLING THE STORY TO THE POLICE. THE DETECTIVE IS A

POLICE OFFICER FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA KNOWN IN THE NEWS AS THE PILLOWCASE RAPIST. POLICE SAY HE USED A PILLOWCASE SOMETIMES A SHIRT OR TOWEL TO HIDE HIS FACE AND HIS VICTIMS. NOW MORE THAN 30 YEARS LATER DETECTIVES ARE TYING HIM TO THE

CRIMES BY USING HIS OWN SON'S DNA. THE KEY BREAK IN THIS CASE CAME WHEN COLER'S SON WAS ARRESTED LAST YEAR. THE D.N.A. WAS A CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER. HE WAS A CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER LAST YEAR. AND HIS D.N.A. PROVIDED A CLOSE FAMILIA MATCH FOR THE UNKNOWN RAPIST.

POLICE SAY D.N.A. FROM A RAPE KIT FROM ONE OF THE CASES MATCHED HIS SON'S D.N.A. ALTHOUGH THE 60-YEAR-OLD PALM BAY RESIDENT WAS A CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER, THE STATE ATTORNEY SAYS HIS CRIME WAS COMMITTED BEFORE THERE WAS

MANDATORY COLLECTION OF D.N.A. FROM FELONY CRIMINALS. JOINING US FROM CBS MIAMI, DNA from felony criminals. Joining us from CBS Miami, that was Amber Diaz. A lot of confusion surrounding the pillowcase rapist. We know of at least 40 victims. And what's amazing is you should see the composite. You can look at it yourself at crimeonline.com. There is a composite drawing of him given by a 36-year-old victim, and it looks identical to him at that time right down to the thin mustache over the top of his lip the nose structure the eyebrows the hair the everything another question i've got in addition why they couldn't find him with that awesome composite is what happened levi page crime online.com investigative reporter isn't it true true they had Kohler in their clutches and they let him go with no jail time for a 91 sex battery conviction? What the heck?

Yes, Nancy. In 1990, he was actually arrested for raping a woman and pled guilty in 1991 after DNA matched him to that rape. And he was sentenced to probation, and his record indicates that he violated the probation. He failed to complete a psych exam, and he served 120 days behind bars, Nancy, but here's the details of that rape case, and here's why some people are kind of pissed off. At 3 a.m. October 14, 1990, a woman in Palm Beach called 911. She said she'd been raped in her apartment, and she told law enforcement she fell asleep. She woke up at 3 a.m. by a man in her bedroom, and he threatened to kill her and said, if you don't struggle, you won't get hurt.

He removed her clothing, put her arms behind her head, placed something over her face, very similar to the other attacks, and he raped her. And this account, like I said, very similar to the other victims in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. And at 3.30 a.m., a police officer pulled over Kohler. He was driving a white Camaro. He made an illegal U-turn, and they let him go because there was no physical description of the rapist at that time. They questioned him at a later date when they said, wow, this is weird. When we pulled him over, he was sweating. He was nervous. He was acting fidgety. He could be this rapist. So they questioned him. They got his DNA. The DNA matched. But here is where people are mad. He was never connected to the other rapes in the 80s because they did not enter his DNA into a database.

And people there say it was mandatory that they had to do so. They dropped the ball. Oh, dear Lord. And I assume after that 91 case where he was convicted on sex battery, he committed more rapes after that? It is believed so, Nancy. Oh, my stars. To add insult to injury. Cheryl, a point genetic genealogist, the gene hunter, isn't it mandatory? I mean, that's why we have a DNA database. We've got a fingerprint database.

We have a DNA database. We have a firearm database. We've got a fingerprint database. We have a DNA database. We have a firearm database. Shira, that's the whole point of it. When there's a rape, you enter the DNA profile into the database. Nancy, yes, that is the point of it. But unfortunately, there seems to be situations when things fall through the cracks. And this evidently was one of them. You know, if it had been mandatory in 91, he would have been caught then for sure, and again in this situation. And it proves how important it is that all of these violent crimes, when we have these situations, it needs to be mandatory.

There needs to be a better protocol. I believe things are improving, but through the years, we definitely have had situations where things have fallen through the cracks, and this is one of them, unfortunately. I want to circle back to something off DNA to Levi Page. What can you tell us about the dungeon? Why do they think it was a dungeon and not just him building a basement? Well, you know, Nancy, in Florida, they don't have basements. So that's what's so odd. And it was described as a dungeon in progress.

And it was a hollowed out space under his home. Why are you saying there are no basements in Florida? They don't have basements in Florida. It's not like other places because, you know, it floods, hurricanes. Let's go out to Oceans 1. Jason Oceans joining me out of New York. Jason, for a New Yorker, you seem to know a lot about basements in Florida. My brother lived in Orlando for over a decade and a half, and we've had property down in South Florida for many years in the family. No basements based on the water table. They're just not built as part of the structure. You don't have a water table too close to the ground,

and that's why there are no basements in Florida. Did not know that little known fact. Now, I can add that into my encyclopedia of facts that I could just pull out whenever I need to. Wow. So he's down there digging a dungeon that conjures up a lot of horrific images. For those of you just joining us after years of investigation, finally an arrest of the pillowcase rapist. And I got to tell you, I know those victims are spitting mad right now because this guy was arrested years into his decades of terror with a sex battery. And he was convicted. But the cops did not put his DNA into the database. Wow.

You know, what about it, Karen Stark? Why do serial offenders collect mementos? It's like, Karen, you've seen some of my many, many, many scrapbooks I've made for the twins. And I put mementos in there, tickets, photos, just all sorts of memorabilia. Why do serial offenders do that? For the same reason that you did it, Nancy, only yours is harmless. It's actually a wonderful thing to recall what happened, to have good memories so they'll know in the future. That's why serial killers and rapists do the same thing. They want to remember what happened, relive it, actually enjoy it, and feel good about their conquest.

You know, I think it's a way of reliving it and being able to not forget any of the details. So, Levi Page, let me ask you, after the 91 conviction on sex battery, did he go on to rape more people after that? There's no reported rapes after that, Nancy, but law enforcement in South Florida thinks that it's a possibility and they've created a hotline asking any other victims from the 80s or 90s or even after to come forward because they're trying to collect as many rape victims as they can to bring as many rape cases forward as possible. Just FYI, anyone sentenced to prison for sex battery is ineligible for a good time and you have to serve the entirety of your prison sentence day for day. What does that mean, Jason Oceans? Day for day relative to the time back out from when it first happened. So he's not going to get any credit for any good time, no nothing. So it's going to be a full sentence. They're not going to cut it short. A good time is usually an incentive for those inside to work their sentence off. So in the Bureau of Prisons, it adds to control of the prisoners.

And here it's don't care. So there'll be a lot of isolation and any infractions will be dealt with, you know, severely. We wait as justice unfolds. The so-called pillowcase rapist Robert Eugene Kohler now behind bars where he belongs. Nancy Grace Constory signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.