MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Robert Eugene Koehler, who some believe is the man known as the “Pillowcase Rapist,” arrived Wednesday at the jail in west Miami-Dade, facing charges of sexual battery with a deadly weapon for a rape case that dates back to December 1983.
Hi arrest warrant alleges that Koehler broke into a woman’s home one night armed with what may have been an ice pick.
Detectives said he raped the woman and “rolled the victim over into a face up position on the bed, keeping her face covered with the blanket. The defendant also at this time placed a pillow over the victim’s face.”
Once Koehler finished, he fled the scene, authorities said.
The warrant states that plenty of DNA evidence was left behind but no one was ever charged with the crime.
Then, nearly 40 years later, a lead came in when Koehler’s son was arrested and his DNA was a close match for the decades-old case, the warrant stated.
Detectives said they followed Koehler to a public area near Orlando and swabbed for his DNA, eventually taking him into custody in Brevard County.
Many people throughout South Florida were grateful for the arrest since the MO of that case matches up with that of a man who terrorized women in the area for years.
Authorities said the “Pillowcase Rapist” attacked more than 40 women from South Miami to Deerfield Beach in the 1980s, but he disappeared and was never arrested.
Now Koehler’s arrest may change everything.
Detectives said they will now get a swab of Koehler’s DNA directly from him and check that against the DNA they have on record.
Right now, he’s only facing charges in connection with one rape case, but if it turns out he is the Pillowcase Rapist, you can expect plenty more charges to follow.